insurance companies

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Back-Room Consensus: Require Health Insurance for All

Kennedy leads meetings with industry

(Newser) - A series of unprecedented back-room meetings among the biggest players in health care is close to a consensus: Any new legislation will require that every American have insurance, the New York Times reports. The next part, of course, is trickier: figuring out how to enforce it, how to make it...

Ledger's Insurer Settles With Daughter

Attorneys wanted $10M, but company wanted to look into suicide possibilities

(Newser) - Heath Ledger’s insurance company has agreed to pay at least part of the late actor’s $10 million policy to his daughter, Matilda. Ledger’s lawyers reached an out-of-court settlement with ReliaStar Life Insurance, which had balked at paying because of suspicions his 2008 overdose death was a suicide,...

Dow Falls 105 on Banks, Tech
 Dow Falls 105 on Banks, Tech 
MARKETS
Jan 22, 2009 3:23 PM CST

Dow Falls 105 on Banks, Tech

Jobs and housing data also dismal

(Newser) - Poor economic data and turmoil in the banking and tech sectors pushed stocks lower today, MarketWatch reports. Bank of America fell 13.3% after CEO Ken Lewis dismissed John Thain amid mounting losses in the wake of BoA’s merger with Merrill Lynch. The Dow closed down 105.30 at...

Insurers Buy Troubled S&Ls in Ploy for Bailout Cash

Crisis has insurance titans desperate for capital

(Newser) - Four huge insurers are in the process of buying small, troubled S&Ls in order to qualify for a chunk of the Treasury’s bailout cash, Bloomberg reports. Genworth Financial, Lincoln National, Hartford Financial Services, and Aegon NV have set their sights on US banks cited for “unsafe and...

Bailout Expands to Include Big Insurers

Feds look beyond AIG and banking industry to MetLife, others

(Newser) - The Treasury’s bailout is moving beyond banks to include major insurance firms hurt by bad investments, the Washington Post reports. Companies such as MetLife, the Hartford, and Prudential hope to be covered in the plan, under which the government would provide money in exchange for ownership stakes. Big insurers...

AIG Agrees to Freeze Executive Bonuses

NY takes tough action to limit payouts to curNewser Newsroom 1.15.0rent, former bigwigs

(Newser) - AIG will suspend bonus payments to its executives after getting pressure from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The ailing insurance firm, which recently got billions of dollars in loans from the Federal Reserve, also will stop $19 million in payments to a former CEO fired in June. Cuomo said...

Ex-AIG Chair Seeks Cushier Bailout Terms

Greenberg files letter with SEC asking for less 'onerous' deal

(Newser) - With the Fed now injecting capital directly into Wall Street's spiraling banks, AIG's former chairman worries the company got shafted, the Wall Street Journal reports. The insurer will go under if the government doesn't change its bailout terms from a two-year, high-interest loan to 10-year nonvoting preferred stock, Hank Greenberg...

Time for the Dow to Ditch Ailing AIG
Time for the
Dow to Ditch Ailing AIG
OPINION
Sep 16, 2008 3:45 AM CDT

Time for the Dow to Ditch Ailing AIG

Index should replace enfeebled AIG or GM with Apple or Cisco

(Newser) - The downsizing of American International Group should spur its ejection from the Dow Jones 30, Paul R. La Monica writes in CNNMoney. The company's inclusion in the index means its troubles will hurt the market even more than the tribulations of Lehman, Fannie and Freddie—its shedding of divisions will...

Embattled AIG CEO Steps Down
 Embattled AIG CEO Steps Down 
Jun 15, 2008 3:43 PM CDT

Embattled AIG CEO Steps Down

Board replaces Sullivan with Citi exec Willumstad

(Newser) - Martin Sullivan has stepped down as AIG's CEO, and the company's board named chairman Maurice Willumstad his successor, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal. The insurance giant's stock has plummeted more than 50% since October due to subprime writedowns, and Sullivan is still embroiled in legal battles with his former...

Insurers Quietly Hike Rx Costs
Insurers
Quietly Hike
Rx Costs
Apr 14, 2008 9:47 AM CDT

Insurers Quietly Hike Rx Costs

Plans slip in soaring co-pays for most expensive drugs

(Newser) - Pricey prescription drugs are getting pricier, and, the New York Times reports, insurance companies are asking patients to shoulder more of the burden. Insurers are quietly phasing out traditional drug plans, which charge a fixed co-pay of $20 or $30 to fill a prescription, in favor of so-called Tier 4...

India: Solution to US Health Crisis

Uninsured find cheap, top-flight care there; your HMO could be next

(Newser) - India is a top destination for uninsured Americans needing major surgery, the Chicago Tribune reports, with prices up to 85% lower than US rates. Last year, India welcomed 150,000 medical tourists, the Chicago Tribune reports—and now, HMOs want a piece of those savings. “Employers may soon follow...

Berkshire Hathaway's Q4 Income Off 18%

Insurance-industry woes mean 'that party is over,' Buffett says

(Newser) - Citing a decline in gains from insurance underwriting and sluggish investment returns, holding company Berkshire Hathaway said today that fourth-quarter income was off 18%—to $2.95 billion, from $3.58 billion—from a year earlier, the Wall Street Journal reports. Billionaire chairman Warren Buffett snuck in digs at Wall...

Was Company at Fault in Teen's Death?

Edwards champions cause of young patient, but case is not clear

(Newser) - Seventeen-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan, who died waiting for a liver transplant in December, has become the poster girl for John Edwards' call for a government-run health plan. Insurance giant Cigna denied her family's claim for the procedure, then reversed its decision a month later. She died shortly thereafter. But the story...

Battle Brews in Pharma's Market
Battle Brews in Pharma's Market
Nov 3, 2007 6:43 PM CDT

Battle Brews in Pharma's Market

Pfizer launches attack on generic drug that threatens Lipitor's dominance

(Newser) - Pfizer is trying to stave off its own heart attack now that its flagship cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor faces stiff competition from a cheaper generic. Lipitor is still patent-protected, but a very similar drug called Zocor isn't, and since a generic version called simvastatin hit the market, many doctors and insurers...

House Dems Call for Expanded Health Care Bill

Calls for both children's coverage and shoring up Medicare

(Newser) - The Senate reached a rare bipartisan agreement to beef up insurance coverage for low-income kids, and now House Democrats are proposing a health care plan with an even wider scope. Their plan yokes the children's coverage to big changes in Medicare, and is sure to heat up the confrontation between...

Fake Experts Fool Seniors
Fake Experts
Fool Seniors
Jul 8, 2007 9:27 AM CDT

Fake Experts Fool Seniors

Elderly cheated by 'certified' advisers whose shady offerings make millions

(Newser) - Elderly Americans are being duped out of millions by financial advisers with trumped-up credentials, the New York Times reports. Over 39,000 "certified senior advisers" have been rubber stamped by pay-for-service courses in the last decade, and they're selling popular—but unnecessary—financial products to the elderly.

Trade Center Insurance Settled
Trade Center Insurance  Settled
May 23, 2007 4:35 PM CDT

Trade Center Insurance Settled

After 5 years of squabbling, rebuilding can begin in earnest

(Newser) - The five-year battle over insurance claims for the World Trade Center was resolved this afternoon, reports the New York Times. The seven insurers disputing the claims settled; $4.55 billion will go towards rebuilding ground zero, which will accommodate the Freedom Tower and three large office buildings.

Insuring Against Political Risks
Insuring Against Political Risks
Apr 6, 2007 1:45 PM CDT

Insuring Against Political Risks

Coups, riots, civil wars: Companies buy huge policies covering political upheaval

(Newser) - Political-risk insurance has quietly become a billion-dollar industry, the Economist reports, as Western corporations doing business in the developing world crave protection against coups, embargoes and civil wars. The Berne Union, a syndicate of 30 of the field's biggest insurers, says members have $113 billion in outstanding policies in some...

Insurer Ties Employee Pay to Patient Health

Plan will offer bonuses for boosting patients' use of preventive services

(Newser) - The country's largest health insurer says it will pay up for good health--offering bonuses to employees who boost patients' use of preventive medical services. WellPoint Inc.'s plan is intended to encourage participation in programs like diabetes management, which helps patients handle their medical needs before they end up in...

Insurers Fighting Claims of Elderly
Insurers Fighting Claims of Elderly
Mar 26, 2007 10:36 AM CDT

Insurers Fighting Claims of Elderly

“They’ll do anything to avoid paying, because if they wait long enough, they know the policyholders will die."

(Newser) - Elderly patients who bought long-term care policies are finding their claims denied by companies calculating that they don’t have the resources or the energy to fight and are likely to die before their cases are settled. An investigation by Charles Duhigg identifies insurance companies that reject coverage for the...

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