Insurance plan launched

MANAMA: Life Insurance Corporation (International) yesterday celebrated 20 years of operating out of Bahrain with the launch of a unit linked insurance plan called Fortune Builder. The product, which offers three separate funds, will offer investors the opportunity to take advantage of opportunities in the capital markets of India or across global equities.

Life Insurance Corporation (International) chief executive officer Roy Chowdhury said the new product was flexible, catered to all life requirements and offered a wealth generation tool that simultaneously provided life insurance protection. The product is being marketed across the GCC and the company has forged a strategic alliance with Doha Bank to market the product.

LIC has more than 80,000 customers in the region and investment income of $450 million. It is part of LIC of India which has issued more than 220m policies and has a financial base of $175 billion and is the biggest life office in India.

news source : http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/

Max India hikes stake in insurance JV

The amended JV agreement gave Max India the right to increase its shareholding in Max New York Life by up to 24% of the issued and paid up capital Max India has restructured its joint venture (JV) arrangements with New York Life International LLC by executing an amended agreement on July 15. The JV, Max New York LifeInsurance Co. accounts for about 80% of Max India's consolidated revenue.

Max India has amended the existing JV agreement dated November 3, 1999, in respect of Max New York life insurance. The original JV agreement has been replaced and substituted by the amended JV pact. The amended JV agreement gave Max India the right to increase its shareholding in Max New York Life by up to 24% of the issued and paid up capital. It has raised its stake in Max New York Life from 50% to 74%. New York Life International had the option of increasing its shareholding in the JV to 50% at par value. However, under the fresh JV agreement, Max India has repaid the Rs1.74bn deposit paid by New York Life International and increased its stake to 74%.

The US partner will now have to buy the additional 24% shareholding at 90% of fair market value. New York Life International will get a 10% discount for being a promoter-shareholder. This option will be valid till 2016. The company has posted a net profit of Rs136.1mn for the quarter ended June as against Rs38.1mn in the same quarter a year earlier. Net sales for the reporting quarter are Rs915.2mn versus Rs482.6mn in the year-ago period. At 12:46 pm, Max India was trading at Rs168.60, up Rs13.5 or 8.7% over the previous close. Earlier, the stock touched an intra-day high of Rs172 and a low of Rs160. It is down nearly 6% in the last one month.

news source : http://www.indiainfoline.com/

State audit cites errors in health insurance plan

Accounting errors related to the billing of medical claims for the now disbanded Columbiana County Schools Health Care Benefits Consortium resulted in already settled findings for recovery in an audit released Thursday.

The audit report issued by Auditor of State Mary Taylor showed that the Salem City school district reimbursed the Columbiana County Educational Service Center for $14,925 on April 8 this year and the Southern Local school district reimbursed the United Local school district for $11,576 on March 6 this year, both related to erroneous charges or credits by the health insurance consortium. The consortium provided health insurance coverage to several area school districts.

According to the audit, a credit of $14,925 was issued to Salem's medical claims account to correct a misclassified prescription drug claim posted to medical claims on March 31, 2004. The credit should have been posted to the medical claims account for the ESC because that's where the original invoice was posted, the report said. Salem city schools Treasurer Jill Rowe said she received an e-mail from the fiscal administrator for the consortium, East Palestine schools treasurer Rick Ellis, regarding the accounting error and the need to reimburse the ESC. It was her understanding that "it was just an accounting error," she said when contacted Thursday.

The other finding for recovery stemmed from apparent posting errors made on Aug. 5, 2005 when invoices for medical claims were charged to the wrong school districts. The audit noted an invoice for $41,294 for medical claims for Southern Local schools was mistakenly charged to United Local schools and an invoice for $29,717 for United Local medical claims was mistakenly charged to Southern Local schools. The report said the Southern Local schools owed the difference of $11,576 to the United school district. Emily Frazee, deputy press secretary for the state Auditor's Office, also said the findings from the audit covering July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2007 will be forwarded to the county prosecutor's office and the Ohio Attorney General. She acknowledged that the issues looked like accounting errors and everybody had made good on the findings.

news source : http://www.salemnews.net/

Health insurance premiums in Southwest predicted to rise 7.3 percent in 2009

Health Insurance premiums throughout the Southwest, including Texas, are expected to increase by 7.3 percent in 2009, according to preliminary information released by Hewitt Associates Inc. Still, this is the lowest rate increase in the region in four years. Health maintenance organization (HMO) premiums for the Southwest region increased 13.7 percent on average last year.

Nationwide, HMO rates are expected to increase 11.8 percent -- lower than last year's initial rate increases of 13.2 percent but still on track to outpace inflation.

Officials with Hewitt expect employers in the Southwest will be able to reduce overall rate increases next year by two or three percentage points through aggressive negotiations, changes in plan offerings and designs and an increased focus on employee health and productivity.

As the economy continues to weaken, Hewitt expects to see more companies move away from traditional employer strategies, such as cost shifting toward more aggressive and innovative steps to mitigate health care costs. Among these trends is an increasing focus on improving employee health and moving to self-insured plans.

news source : http://www.bizjournals.com/

Our view: Coverage for all

Good for Florida labor and civic groups that began a campaign Tuesday in Tallahassee to put universal health care on the radar screen in the presidential and congressional races. With 3.8 million Floridians having no health coverage, the nation's third-highest rate of uninsured, it's a crisis that's rightly a top issue with Sunshine State voters -- and should be for candidates too.

That includes state lawmakers who have the responsibility to scrutinize Florida's newly created low-cost no-frills health insurance program, touted by Gov. Charlie Crist as a way to open the door to affordable medical care. The program is supposed to cost about $150 a month and be available for anyone has been without insurance for at least six months.

Last week the governor started soliciting bids from insurers interested in offering the bargain-rate plans, but details remain uncertain. Depending on what deals the state cuts -- such as caps set on care, what's not covered, and how high deductibles and co-pays can go -- the cheap policies could be little more than window dressing. Insurers shouldn't be allowed to rip the guts out of coverage with extremely limited benefits that deny seriously ill patients the treatment they need. And, at best, the no-frills plans should serve merely as a step toward universal, comprehensive coverage for all hardworking families -- similar to that Florida lawmakers get at taxpayers' expense.

news source : http://www.floridatoday.com/

Corzine Signs Health Insurance Bill

Gov. Jon Corzine today signed a bill (S-1557) that makes more parents eligible for the state program that provides free and subsidized health insurance to low-income families. It expands the eligibility for NJ FamilyCare to parents in households that earn up to double the poverty level, which is approximately $42,000. "This is a very important, pragmatic doable step on a way to universal access," Gov. Jon S. Corzine recently told NJBIZ.

While the program's eligibly for children remains at 350 percent of poverty level, the bill for the first time mandates that parents enroll their children. The bill also establishes new private healthinsurance market reforms designed to lower the premiums for small businesses and individual policy holders.

About 90,000 parents would be eligible for NJ FamilyCare under the new legislation. The bill's chief sponsor, Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), said he expects about a quarter of them to sign up the first year. The bill increases state spending by $8.3 million—which generates matching federal dollars, to expand the FamilyCare program. It also calls for spending another $1 million for advertising the new eligibility requirements.

There are 1.3 million uninsured people in New Jersey, primarily because the skyrocketing cost of health insurance is difficult to afford, Vitale said. Of the $1.3 million uninsured, he estimates that 400,000 parents and children would be eligible for the new family care program, 300,000 are undocumented; and 600,000 simply can’t afford it and don’t qualify for subsidies.

news source : http://www.njbiz.com/

Negotiations between National Health Insurance Fund and Bulgarian Medical Association fail

Sofia. Representatives of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) left the negotiations with the Bulgarian Medical Association (BMA). The meeting was set in order the new National Framework Agreement (NFA) to be negotiated and adopted. NHIF representatives withdrew from the table of negotiations with the motive that the BMA did not send legitimate representatives. Head of the NHIF board Emil Raynov demanded documentation proving that BMA reps were legally appointed and sent to the meeting. BMA agreed to send a copy of the decision of appointment later in the day. NHIF remained strong on its position and insisted negotiations to be interrupted until legal matters of the legitimacy of the representatives are cleared.

news source : http://www.focus-fen.net/

Two state plans see change in eligibility

Starting today, eligibility rules for enrolling in two state-sponsored health plans will change. Utah's Primary Care Network (PCN),
which has traditionally limited enrollment to parents with dependent children living at home, will open enrollment to all adults ages 19 to 64 through July 31.

To qualify for PCN, adults must also:

* Be a U.S. citizen or legal resident.

* Not have coverage through another health insurance plan.

* Not be qualified for Medicaid, Medicare, veterans' benefits or have access to student health insurance.

* Meet income guidelines.

As part of House Bill 133, legislation geared at health system reform, enrollment in Utah's Premium Partnership for Health Insurance (UPP) will also change. The program helps families pay monthly premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance. Those who are eligible will no longer have to wait for open enrollment periods or a "qualifying event," such as marriage or the birth of a child. Applicants can now sign up any time.

To qualify for UPP, adults ages 19 to 64 must:

* Not be covered by another health insurance plan.

* Be employed by a company that offers health insurance (or have a spouse whose employer offers insurance).

* Be a U.S. citizen legal resident.

* Fit within the income guidelines.

The cost of the least expensive health insurance option available must be more than 5 percent of their total household income (before taxes). For more information about these two programs and how to enroll, visit health.utah.gov/pcn (for Primary Care Network) or health.utah.gov/upp (for Utah's Premium Partnership for Health Insurance), or call the PCN/UPP hot line at 1-888-222-2542.

news source : http://www.sltrib.com/news?