A bill was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate that would give employer until 2016 to comply with a health care reform law provision requiring them to offer coverage to full-time employees or pay a fine. The measure, S. 1330, which was proposed by Senator Mark Begich, D-Alaska, follows a one-year delay announced earlier this … Continue reading Should The PPACA Employer Mandate Be Delayed?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a Funding Opportunity Announcement for round two of the Health Care Innovation Awards. Under this announcement, CMS will spend up to $1 billion for awards and evaluation of projects from across the country that test new payment and service delivery models that will deliver better … Continue reading CMS Health Care Innovation Awards
Within the last 15 years there have been significant innovations in the pricing of personal and commercial insurance. Three quick examples come to mind: The use of more powerful pricing models, often based on Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) The use of personal and business credit histories The advent of Usage Based Insurance (UBI) These innovations … Continue reading The Future of Insurance Pricing
According to Louisiana Senate Bill 19, Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation would be required to get approval from the state House and Senate committees before rate increases of more than 25% could go into effect. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bret Allain, was introduced in the Senate due to large rate increases many Citizens policyholders … Continue reading What About Louisiana Senate Bill 19?
The US Department of Health & Human Services has recently clarified the employer requirements with respect to offering group medical coverage in 2014. While a $2,000 per employee penalty (all employees less 30) still applies for employers with at least 50 FTE’s who do not offer any type of group medical coverage, employers have some … Continue reading Understanding the PPACA Employer Mandate and Associated Penalties
The Florida House and Senate will soon consider bills to enact portions of the NAIC Model Holding Company Act: Senate Bill 836 (SB836) and House Bill 821 (HB821). Both bills contain almost identical language and provide the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) with new tools in monitoring the solvency of insurers and performing financial examinations … Continue reading Florida SB836 and HB821 – What Do They Do?
Compliance to regulatory bureau statistical reporting demands is often done as an afterthought or not addressed until the insurer is forced to do so in response to fines or assessments for timeliness or data quality issues from the Bureau or, worse yet, from the regulator. There are a lot of good reasons why insurers have … Continue reading Should Insurers Care About Statistical Reporting?
On March 25th, Florida State Senator Joe Negron filed SB 7132 dealing with motor vehicle registration fees and the elimination of a long-standing tax credit provided to insurance companies. The Appropriations Committee is currently scheduled to discuss the bill on March 28th. Under the bill, revenue lost from a reduction in vehicle registration fees would … Continue reading Florida Senate Bill 7132: Peter and Paul
Credit insurance is not as well-known or well-understood as Auto or Homeowners insurance, even though the typical consumer will be bombarded with credit insurance offers every time they purchase a car, open a new credit card, purchase a home, or participate in many other financial transactions. Unlike Auto property or Homeowners property, these coverages do … Continue reading Who Gets the Credit?
Autonomous (driverless) cars are coming. In the next 10-20 years, many technologists and automobile experts estimate that the quality and price of autonomous cars will allow the slow takeover of American roads. Google has been driving driverless cars around the Bay area without causing any accidents. More companies are applying for permits to test technologies … Continue reading The Robots are Coming