Pennsylvania
A bipartisan, companion Senate bill to the House bill excluding insurance agent compensation from medical loss ratio (MLR) calculations will be introduced in a few days, although the political environment makes its passage uncertain.
Brief: If individual mandate is illegal, health reform law must die
A Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization says that the federal health reform should be declared unconstitutional because it is cannot function without the individual mandate, which the group also argues is unconstitutional.
A series of earthquakes in Youngstown, Ohio, potentially related to brine-injection wells, caused the city’s mayor to buy earthquake insurance for his home and initiate a moratorium on injection wells near the city.
Life insurance activity showed ‘marked resilience’ in 2011
The life insurance application activity for last year finished slightly above the 2010 level, spurred in part by 5.8% year-over-year growth in December.
Selective Insurance Co. of America, a subsidiary of Branchville, N.J.-based Selective Insurance Group, announced two appointments: Dana D. Shutters as vice president, operational excellence; and Katherine L. Slonina as assistant vice president, regulatory compliance officer.
Walgreen, Par sued for alleged RICO violations, drug overcharges
A health and pension fund sued Walgreen Co. and Par Pharmaceutical Co. for allegedly overcharging for generic prescriptions, which in turn allegedly cost third-party payers two to four times more for the medications.
A report expected from the Federal Insurance Office later this month, addressing how to modernize and improve insurance regulation, could significantly affect the insurance industry, according to an industry regulatory expert.
A dentist in Philadelphia and his daughter were indicted for allegedly defrauding insurance companies of more than $5 million with a fraudulent medical bill scheme.
N.Y. gets 8 health insurers to more promptly update online directories
Eight health insurance companies agreed to improve the accuracy of the provider directories they post on their websites, according to deals struck with New York’s attorney general.
Similar bills filed in the Pennsylvania House and Senate would give the state more power to negotiate contracts between insurers and health care providers, including Highmark and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

Obama to force insurers to give out birth control when employers won’t
Group representing 119 in Congress calls individual mandate illegal
Insurer fined for charging unapproved rates on students’ policies

Brokerage firm pays $3.3M for bad-mouthing insurance broker
Employee benefit offerings only as good as the discussion about them
Sponsors of 401(k)s adding features to boost participants’ investment

Mercury Insurance seeks agents, unveils new commercial auto product
Most, least expensive 2012 car models to insure announced
Two insurance agents allegedly stole $422,000 from family brokerage


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