Each insurance plan is required to mail an “Annual Notice of Change” to you during October of each year. This notice will give you the information on your premium for the next year along with any premium change. The plan is not required to send you a list of drugs it will cover for that year. You must find out if the prescription drugs you take will be covered by your plan for the next year.

The industry’s growing threats are forcing some radical changes. Some insurers, including Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., Genworth Financial Inc. and Lincoln National Corp., are applying to the government to buy thrifts so they can qualify for some of the federal bailout money that’s being injected into financial companies.

Analysts worry about insurance companies‘ deep exposure to securities backed by commercial mortgages, as well as potential losses on variable annuities. The annuities are policies that guarantee periodic payments to the investors.

Until recently, he said, those securities had been relatively immune from the meltdown in home-loan securities. “And now we’re starting to see real default fears.”

Construction and development loans have been the fastest-growing category of troubled loans for U.S. banks. Many banks have heavy concentrations of them in their lending portfolios, according to federal regulators.

“Banks with (commercial real estate) concentrations should take steps to strengthen their overall risk-management framework and maintain strong capital and loan-loss allowances,” Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said in guidance issued to banks earlier this year.

There is growing concern over life insurers large exposure to commercial mortgage-backed securities, based on increasing volatility in CMBS indexes.

Bonds backed by U.S. commercial real estate loans have weakened on fears that a stalled economy could lead to a wave of defaults on properties such as office buildings, stores and hotels.

Wachovia, in a research note, said it expected the sector to see “continued deterioration across a spectrum of asset classes, something which we’re only in middle innings.”

Late Wednesday, MetLife said it did not have exposure to two mortgages that have been reported as likely to default, and said most of its CMBS portfolio was highly rated.

“We have worked with many companies before in selling buy-sell agreements as well as key executive polices but not for a public company,” said Robert Finfer, chief executive of Integrity Capital Partners. “We are currently talking with two other companies that have a desire to obtain evaluations of policies that they are carrying on their books for key executives.”

Baker said employers were bracing for potentially bigger increases next year. “Historically, downturns in the economy have often correlated with higher medical trends,” she said.

There is mounting evidence that people are skipping checkups, tests and other medical care to cut their own expenses. Physicians and hospitals are reporting a drop in patient visits and revenue and a rise in late payments and unpaid bills.

That kind of “cost sharing discourages people from using services,” said Gary Claxton, Kaiser vice president and co-author of the benefits study. “The more cost sharing there is, the more it’s going to be discouraged. And when they are already worried economically, that’s got to amplify the effect.”

The trend toward higher deductibles could, in the long run, drive costs up by prompting people to wait until they are seriously ill before seeking care, said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a patient advocacy organization based in Sacramento.

Underwriters and brokers said Thursday there’s no question that shipping operators will face more expensive premiums as a result of the increased danger in navigating areas such as the Gulf of Aden and along the east coast of Africa.

The weekend hijacking of the oil tanker Sirius Star, the largest ship to be captured by pirates, has focused global attention on a problem area that has troubled people in the shipping industry for years.

“We would have estimated that a ship that size was off limits, but now it appears that no ship is off limits,” said Brendan Flood, a marine underwriter at Hiscox, an international specialist insurer with a syndicate at Lloyd’s of London. “This one takes it to a new level.”

Exactly how much rates will go up is commercially sensitive material in a highly competitive industry, said Neil Smith, the senior manager for underwriting for Lloyd’s Market Association.

Still, Flood said Hiscox would be reviewing rate levels “because our perception is that the risk is enhanced.”

While insurers will be revising the rates for the high-risk area, he said ships’ operators are not going to find themselves in a situation where they can’t obtain insurance.

Large ships generally carry three separate types of insurance. Marine or hull insurance covers physical risks, like grounding or damage from heavy seas. War risk insurance covers acts of terrorism, and, increasingly, piracy. A third type of policy, protection and indemnity, covers issues with the crew.

The war risk policy includes a clause that requires extra insurance charges for ships that venture into high risk areas like the Gulf of Aden, said Peter Townsend, head of marine hull insurance at London brokers Aon.

“They’d still cover a vessel which visited those parts of the world,” Townsend said, “but they’d charge an additional premium.”

The Gulf of Aden, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, is one of the busiest waterways in the world. Over 20,000 vessels pass through it each year.

The Gulf of Aden was flagged as an area of concern by Lloyd’s Market Association in May, Smith said. The coast of Somalia had been problematic for several years before that, with ship captains urged to stay at least 200 miles off the coast.

Ship owners can purchase separate kidnap and ransom insurance for their crew, Flood said. And delays to cargo could be covered under a separate insurance policy, Smith said.

Flood said one of the reasons insurers were willing to provide insurance for ships in the Gulf of Aden was that the hijackers have behaved relatively sensibly.

“Everything so far has been unfolding in an orderly fashion,” Flood said. “Ransoms have been paid, and hijackers have gone out of their way not to damage ships, not to injure people.”

He said his firm isn’t yet recommending that ships hire private security, something that has been suggested by U.S. and British officials.

Idaho Department of Labor Director Roger Madsen announced the rate increase on Wednesday to the Workforce Development Council meeting in Boise.

The across-the-board increase in the more than a dozen rate classes is mandated by legislation developed by business and labor and approved unanimously by the Legislature in 2005. In conjunction with the increase in employer tax rates, the maximum weekly benefit for workers will decline about 3 percent.

Another 8,400 workers, who have exhausted their state unemployment benefits, are receiving additional benefits under the federally financed extended benefits program.

The independent state agency, established in 1986, collects and analyzes health-care quality and cost data, with the goals of stimulating competition among health-care providers and helping consumers and business be better purchasers of health-care services.

PHC4’s future came in doubt when legislation authorizing the agency’s continued operation became ensnared in the ongoing battle between Rendell and the state legislature over efforts to reform the state’s health-care system and provide access to health coverage for the state’s uninsured. ]]> http://www.businesso.net/workers-compensation-insurance/phc4-will-survive-at-least-through-june-30.html/feed http://www.businesso.net/small-business-insurance/insurance-proposals-get-guarded-response.html http://www.businesso.net/small-business-insurance/insurance-proposals-get-guarded-response.html#comments Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:54:32 +0000 admin http://www.businesso.net/?p=5840 THE GOVERNMENT’S move to protect people over 50 from having to pay a steep increase in their health insurance bills received a conditional welcome from Labour Party health spokeswoman, Jan O’Sullivan, but she said more details were needed before a final judgment could be made.

She said the scheme had to be introduced because of the botched attempt by the Government to introduce a risk equalisation scheme to ensure fair play for all categories of people taking out private health insurance.

“The principle of risk equalisation is a well-established feature of the health insurance market throughout Europe. It is designed to compensate companies like the VHI, which have older and more costly members and thus allow them to compete with companies that have younger members with fewer claims.

Ms O’Sullivan added that the entire saga reinforced the case for universal health insurance that would end the two-tier nature of the health service and ensure fair and equal treatment.

Fine Gael health spokesman, James Reilly said the new health insurance plan meant that consumers would now be paying for the Minister’s botched legislation on risk equalisation.

“The interim nature of these measures must cause concern. Whenever a new risk equalisation scheme actually materialises, the price hikes associated with today’s levy will have already hit consumers without any true financial justification being given for them. In fact private health insurance subscribers will be the victims of just another stealth tax.”

“Risk equalisation may be gone, but community rating still applies and therefore no selective premium increases based on age can be enforced. Furthermore, any increase must be approved by the Minister under law. People will be asking if they are being conned yet again,” he said.

A graduate of Belmont University, Mr. Hess holds a Bachelors of Business Administration. Mr. Hess is a Chartered Bank Auditor, a Certified Internal Auditor and holds Property and Casualty and Surplus Lines licenses in 48 states.

As a full-line independent insurer specific to financial institutions, BancInsure’s understanding of financial institutions and their intricate operations is unmatched in the marketplace. This translates to extraordinary value through complete risk mitigation and risk management solutions. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, BancInsure holds an A- (Excellent) A.M. Best rating and has proudly earned an industry leading 25% market share. The Company is endorsed by eighteen banking organizations and is licensed in 48 states.