News

2010

March

08

• How would health care overhaul help young people?. Like most Americans, Dominic Ouellette, an uninsured 23-year-old waiter in Washington, likely would be required to have health coverage under the legislation being debated in Congress. Because he's younger than 30, though, he could buy…

05

• The high cost of quake insurance will rock your bank account. Yves Didier has been a strong believer in earthquake insurance since the 1994 Northridge quake, when his apartment building was severely damaged and some of his neighbors lost their lives. He didn't hesitate to pay…

February

24

• Anthem Blue Cross plans to go ahead with rate hikes in California. Executives from California health insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross, under fire for scheduled rate hikes of up to 39%, insisted Tuesday that their premiums were fair and legal, and they told lawmakers they expected that…

23

• Obama offers new health-care reform proposal. President Obama signaled his determination to forge ahead with a Democratic vision of comprehensive health-care reform as he unveiled on Monday an ambitious proposal that would extend coverage to 31 million people, raise taxes on…

22

• Obama proposal targets insurance-rate increases. President Obama will call for new government power to regulate insurance-rate increases as part of comprehensive changes to the health-care system that the White House will unveil on its Web site Monday, senior officials said.…

19

• Bleak economy pushing health insurers to raise rates. The nation’s insurers have come under sharp attack by the Obama administration for seeking seemingly staggering rate increases on policies they sell to individuals. The health and human services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, recently pounced on…

16

• Toyota hit by new surge of reported fatalities. Federal officials have received a flurry of new complaints in recent weeks about deaths linked to sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles, bringing the total number of alleged fatalities to 34 since 2000, according to government…

15

• Individual insurance rates soar in at least 3 states. Consumers in at least three states who buy their own health insurance are getting hit with premium increases of 15% or more. Anthem Blue Cross, a subsidiary of WellPoint, has been under fire for a…

14

• Guard your health insurance card. You may want to make sure you know where your health insurance card is. According to a new study, the 2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report, from the research company Javelin Strategy & Research, 7 percent…

• Money matters in a marriage. The recession has unearthed another economic truism: Having a sound financial marriage is as romantic as roses and chocolate. Money definitely matters for contemporary American marriages, according to "The State of Our Unions," an annual…

12

• Health insurers take heat for rise in profits. As the nation struggled last year with rising healthcare costs and a recession, the five largest health insurance companies racked up combined profits of $12.2 billion -- up 56% over 2008, according to a new…

• Insurers raising health care rates. Anthem Blue Cross customers may be hopping mad about their rate hikes, but members of other health insurers say they're also getting hit with sky-high increases. John McClave of San Francisco opened his mail this…

09

• Healthcare coverage in name only. The L'Esperances are your typical American family. They work hard. They try to get ahead. They don't ask anyone for help. And they pray they don't get sick. Mom and Dad -- a.k.a. Laguna Beach…

08

• Obama plans bipartisan summit on health care. President Obama said Sunday that he would convene a half-day bipartisan health care session at the White House to be televised live this month, a high-profile gambit that will allow Americans to watch as Democrats…

06

• Fighting insurance claims requires perseverance. Maria Carr, a 43-year-old school administrator from Tulare, Calif., could not believe it when her insurer, UnitedHealth, denied coverage for arthroscopic surgery she underwent last year to treat a bone spur on her hip. Her…

• Reliability ratings not always reliable. Toyota's recall of millions of cars in order to fix sticky gas pedals and loose floor mats has inconvenienced customers around the world and damaged the automaker's reputation. Now it could also be undermining public…

• Questions to ask before buying disability insurance. Given how confusing disability insurance is, my column on the odds of needing it didn’t have room to list all of the questions you should ask an insurance company before signing up for a policy.…

05

• Anthem Blue Cross dramatically raising rates for Californians. California's largest for-profit health insurer is moving to dramatically raise rates for customers with individual policies, setting off a furor among policyholders and prompting state insurance regulators to investigate. Anthem Blue Cross is telling many…

04

• State Farm cancels thousands in Florida. The largest homeowners insurer in Florida is canceling the policies of 125,000 of its most vulnerable customers beginning Aug. 1, halfway through the 2010 hurricane season. The company, State Farm Florida, began sending out cancellation…

02

• Aging: Higher co-payments tied to costlier care. When Medicare plans raise co-payments for outpatient care, older people cut back on doctors’ visits, then wind up needing more expensive hospital care, a new study reports. The study examined changes in the use of…