Free Republic

A proposed ballot initiative would drastically change the way property insurance is regulated in California by repealing a law voters passed almost four decades ago. Proposition 103 has regulated home, auto and other types of property and casualty insurance in the state since 1988. It requires insurance companies to seek approval from an elected insurance commissioner to raise their premiums, and allows members of the public to object to rate increases. The initiative — which experts are calling a long shot — would throw most of that out. It would impose stricter limits on the rate-approval process starting in 2027;...

Stage IV patients paid over $700 more per month in the initial 6 months post-diagnosisA diagnosis of cancer brings substantially higher out-of-pocket costs (OOPCs) for privately insured patients, particularly those with more advanced cancer, researchers found. In a cohort of more than 46,000 patients, an incident cancer diagnosis was associated with a mean increase in OOPCs of $592.53 per month in the 6 months after diagnosis, reported Liam Rose, PhD, of the Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California, and colleagues. This finding "underscores the financial burden of cancer care on patients with insurance who are not yet...

People living in Minnesota without legal immigration status can now begin the process of getting their driver's license by making an appointment for their written driver's test, state officials announced at a news conference Thursday. Around 81,000 people are expected to be eligible under the state’s new law — dubbed "Driver’s License for All." They can now make appointments to apply but won’t be able to actually get a license until the law goes into effect Oct. 1. "We’re incredibly proud to be a part of a handful of states that offer driver’s license for all," said Pong Xiong, Driver...

I'm thinking of buying a firearm...the first one in 50+ years. Does anyone know if you're required to tell the insurance company that writes your Homeowner/Umbrella policy that you own one? I don't want to be sued by someone who's shot by someone who's stolen it only to find that the company requires a gun owner to tell them that they own one...and then find that the claim is denied due to my failure. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.

Thanks to dropping of A-bombs and F-bombs over the Iran/Israel War and the tenuous ceasefire, this news slipped under the radar. While not as edge-of-your-seat as talk of World War III, this is a huge policy shift that will greatly impact American lives.On Monday, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) had a press conference where they pledged to streamline the authorization processes for Medicare, Medicaid, the Health Insurance Marketplace, and commercial plans that in which a majority of Americans participate.The HHS website press release announced,U.S....

Federal health officials on Monday touted pledges they have received from the health insurance industry to streamline and reform the prior authorization process for Medicare Advantage, Medicaid Managed Care and Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Marketplace plans which account for most insured Americans. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz took part in a roundtable discussion with insurers in which the payers pledged commitments to six key reforms to the prior authorization process. Health care providers must obtain approval from an insurer before a specific service is...

This is a clip of Senator Hawley holding a hearing on insurance company fraud. It includes All-State and State Farm. At 36 minutes he is questioning the State Farm executive.

(The Center Square) - State Farm, California’s largest property insurer, is seeking the remainder of its originally requested 30% rate hike after getting emergency, temporary approval for a 17% rate hike earlier this month due to cost pressures from the state's wildfires. “While we are pleased that Commissioner Lara approved the interim rate of 17 percent for State Farm General Insurance Company, this change only addressed part of the original request of 30 percent filed in June 2024,” State Farm told Newsweek. “The overall request of 30 percent would not be on top of the 17-percent interim rate change. State...

Elon Musk joined Lara Trump on her show “My View” Saturday night on FOX News. During their conversation, Elon revealed that the DOGE Team found 100,000 federal employees collected uninsurance benefits while they were still at work. Collecting insurance benefits while still working is considered unemployment insurance fraud. Many states classify unemployment fraud as a misdemeanor or felony. Jail time is a significant risk and can range from several months to several years. Elon Musk says 100,000 government employees have committed this dishonest act. Elon Musk: We’ve actually found there’s a lot of people who are federal government employees. They’re...

Gov. Kathy Hochul is delivering a big win to businesses that have been pressuring her to pay off their billions of dollars in unemployment-insurance debt — but she’s stealing the cash from state reserves to do it. Hochul said Monday that the state will cover the roughly $7 billion debt still lingering for employers from the pandemic. The businesses had hoped federal money that the state received during COVID-19 would at least partly be used to help cover the deluge of unemployment claims spurred by the pandemic, as most other states did.+ But the state used the money for other...

The U.S. Justice Department Thursday said it had filed a complaint against three of the country's biggest health insurance companies, Aetna Inc. and affiliates, Elevance Health and Humana, under the False Claims Act.The action also affects three large insurance broker organizations: eHealth, GoHealth and SelectQuote, it said."The United States alleges that from 2016 through at least 2021, the defendant insurers paid hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks to the defendant brokers in exchange for enrollments into the insurers’ Medicare Advantage plans," the Justice Department said in its release.The DOJ also said that Aetna and Humana conspired with the...

A recent survey reveals that over 40 percent of Tesla owners say they have experienced vandalism targeting their vehicles, but less than 20 percent regret buying a car from Elon Musk. Kelley Blue Book reports that a new study conducted by Guardian Service, a company specializing in helping consumers find insurance plans, has found that a significant portion of Tesla owners are facing vandalism and targeted hostility. The survey, which polled 508 Tesla owners, aimed to shed light on how these incidents, coupled with rising insurance costs, are reshaping the EV ownership experience in America. According to the findings, 40...

Let’s face it—insurance is already one of those necessary evils, like flossing or assembling IKEA furniture. You pay for it, you hope you never have to use it, and when you do, you cross your fingers and hope the process isn’t as painful as stepping on a LEGO. But just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, scammers show up with their trickery, ready to part you from your hard-earned cash faster than you can say “deductible.”Hang up when anything seems fishy. BestForBest/ShutterstockHere’s the good news: Knowing what to watch for can help you avoid falling victim to...

ABC’S Aaron Katersky on Business owners who say some construction workers are faking work site injuries in hopes of getting big insurance payouts.

Tesla owners across America are living in fear of having their EVs trashed by activists lashing out at CEO Elon Musk’s controversial DOGE efficiency drive that has cost thousands of federal jobs. But even drivers whose Teslas aren’t targeted by vandals could find themselves with a nasty shock further down the line. Insurers are warning that the attacks could raise premiums for all Tesla drivers and potentially even lead to cars like the Model 3, Model Y and Cybertruck being blacklisted by insurance companies

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara provisionally approved State Farm’s request for a 22% property insurance rate hike, citing a need to stabilize the insurance market. Lara said State Farm must justify its provisionally approved rates with data it provides in a public hearing. He also called upon the company to both halt non-renewables and secure a $500 million cash infusion from its parent company. “To ensure long-term choices for Californians, I had to make an unprecedented decision in the short term,” said Lara in a statement. “It is evident that other California insurers are unable to absorb State Farm’s existing...

Detransitioners’ lawsuits against the medical systems that hurt them could finally undo the industry’s embrace of transgenderism.Gender ideology is unraveling. It’s fraud all the way down. There is no good evidence that “transitioning” helps anyone, especially children. And people are realizing that the entire premise — that a boy can somehow be born into a female body, or vice versa — is superstitious nonsense. Indeed, transgender ideology is so insane that the coalition against it ranges from conservative Christians to lesbian feminists. Transgender ideology has many enemies, but the most effective are those who have been victimized by wrongly named...

Rest easy, everyone — Obamacare has completely taken care of the American health care system. It's done. It's completely fixed. In fact, it's so fixed that Americans had to borrow $74 billion last year to get the medical care they needed. From CBS News: Health care is so expensive that 31 million U.S. adults, or 12%, had to borrow a total of $74 billion last year to obtain medical care, new data shows. That includes people with health insurance, making such numbers even more troubling. Yes, even health insurance isn't enough to keep people from going into debt.

“Where generic drugs are manufactured can make a significant difference.” “The FDA assures the public that all generics patterned after the same original drug should be equivalently safe and effective, however, this is not necessarily the case when it comes to generic drugs made in India,” added another co-author, George Ball, associate professor of operations and decision technologies at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. Generic drugs manufactured in India are linked to significantly more “severe adverse events” for patients who use them than equivalent drugs produced in the United States, a new study finds. These adverse events included hospitalization,...

Supporters of Luigi Mangione are expressing strong criticism regarding the portrayal of suspected CEO assassins in a narrative they believe is influenced by corporate interests. They argue that this narrative is not only unfair but also biased against Mangione. According to these supporters, the narrative presents a one-sided view of the events surrounding an incident in which Mangione was allegedly involved in the assassination of a CEO. They contend that it overlooks essential context and facts that are crucial to understanding the situation.