Headline News Archive

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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,…

• 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…

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…

• 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…

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…

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…

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…

• 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…

• 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…

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…

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…

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…

January

31

• Chiropractic visits lead to higher premium. As the prospects for meaningful healthcare reform grow murkier by the day, it's helpful to remember why we started this discussion in the first place.…

30

• The unloved annuity gets a hug from Obama. Annuities: The official retirement vehicle of the Obama administration. As slogans go, it’s hardly “Keep Hope Alive,” or even “Change We Can Believe In.” But…

25

• States go after texting drivers. The fight against distracted driving may be at a tipping point as 23 states debate legislation to ban texting while driving, a practice 19 states…

24

• Spend less, save more, money guru advises. The first time I read Jane Bryant Quinn's book "Making the Most of Your Money," it struck me as the personal finance equivalent of "The…

13

• Deals to restrain generic drugs face a ban. A group of House lawmakers and the head of the Federal Trade Commission want Congress to include a provision in the health care legislation that…