#insurance companies

[odinsblog]

1993: Chicago Bulls fan Don Calhoun makes a 75 foot shot that wins him $1 million dollars. (source)

The insurance company that was required to make the payoff, American Hole 'N One Inc, voided the payment when they discovered that three years earlier, Calhoun played basketball for a junior college (a fact he disclosed and the Bulls did not have an issue with), and said it was a violation of the rules. Fortunately, the sponsors of the event and the Chicago Bulls pledged to cover the prize if the insurance company would not. As a result, Calhoun got $50,000 a year over the next 20 years.

One lasting impact was that Mr. Calhoun was able to use the winnings to help his son, Dr. Clarence Calhoun II, go to medical school.

#the calhoun shot #basketball #🏀 #don calhoun #chicago bulls #you love to see it #insurance companies

[dispatchesfromtheclasswar]

Socialism is the fire department saving your house. Capitalism is the insurance company denying your claim.

#class war #class warfare #classism #capitalism #socialism #the fire department #insurance companies #claim denied

[hope-for-the-planet]

“It’s the same idea as an insurance company raising your property insurance rates because you engage in risky behavior, like drunk driving. But in this case, it’s the fossil fuel sector that’s engaging in risky behavior by contributing to climate change.”

#climate change #global warming #environment #fossil fuels #insurance #divesting #insurance companies #greenhouse gases #good news #hope #environmental anxiety #climate grief #drunk driving tw #drinking tw #alcohol reference tw

[stone-cold-groove]

Too much. Not enough.

#vintage illustration #vintage advertising #insurance #insurance companies #insurance company advertising #insurance ads #home hazards #home accidents

[pandemic-info]

Text from Ticketmaster via Twitter:

#covid #long covid #insurance #insurance companies #healthcare #historical

[speech-love-and-caffeine]

Can we talk about how BCBS is screwing SLPs?

The title says it all. I am a private practice SLP-Intern and I have recently become aware of some private practice owners stating that Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) is planning to cut reimbursement rates in at least one state by like at least $10. I looked into it and found this was after having a banner year in 2022 during which they made record profits. In addition, apparently in most states (except for North Carolina) they have not raised the reimbursement rates to SLPs in 13 years.

Record. Freaking. Profits.

I'm not sure what the justification is. But it's asinine that they act as if they can't pay SLP services properly while stuffing their faces (metaphorically).

The cuts are supposed to take place next year in February. There is a campaign going on over social media, as BCBS also has the audacity to turn around and publicly pat themselves on the back for "doing so much to help improve the lives of mothers and babies and promote early intervention".

Spread the word. This is horrendously unfair to SLPs and families.

#speech-language pathology #slp #bcbs #insurance companies #unethical business practices #the sad state of affairs in american health care #greed

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

As yet another insurance company is pulling back from issuing policies in Florida following a string of natural disasters, the state’s chief financial officer has accused the industry of pulling out not because of losses, but due to wokeness.

Jimmy Patronis, CFO of the state, lit into Farmers Insurance for its plans to leave the state on CNBC recently, saying “if they would just leave ESG [environmental, social, and corporate governance ] and put it away, and focus on the bottom line, they may not have made this decision to leave the state of Florida with the tail between their legs.”

“I do say they’re too woke,” he added. “I do call them the Bud Light of the insurance industry. I do feel like they have chaos in their C-suite.”

The accusations aren’t helping the state hang onto insurers, though. This week, AAA announced it would not renew the auto or homeowners policies of some customers in Florida, making it the fourth insurer in the past year to back away from the state. (Bankers Insurance and Lexington Insurance, a subsidiary of AIG, left Florida last year.)

All of the companies that have reduced or eliminated their presence in the state have said the string of local hurricanes, including last year’s catastrophic Hurricane Ian, have made it too expensive to cover residents of the state.

The shrinking number of insurance options and the growing number of disasters is hitting Floridians in the wallet. The average homeowner’s premium in the state costs over $4,000, compared to the U.S. average of $1,544, according to E&E News, a division of Politico that focuses on environmental and energy news.

The companies are leaving the state despite legislation meant to encourage them to stay. Last year, Florida created a $1 billion reinsurance fund and set up laws meant to prevent frivolous lawsuits.

Insurance companies have also stepped back from California, with AIG, Allstate and State Farm no longer taking new customers, as wildfires in that state have driven up costs.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

#us politics #news #fortune #yahoo! finance #yahoo news #2023 #florida #Jimmy Patronis #insurance companies #wokeness #natural disasters #Farmers Insurance #aaa insurance #Bankers Insurance #Lexington Insurance #global warming #climate change #climate emergency

[plethoraworldatlas]

Having grown up on a farm in Uganda, I have seen the damage of the climate crisis firsthand. My family lived in a small village near the banks of Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world, and my childhood was spent climbing trees, planting seeds, and eating fruit straight from the trees. We grew bananas, guavas, beans, cassava, sugarcane, and coffee. It sounds idyllic but I remember the first time I realised climate change would affect us—it was a rainy season unlike any we had seen before. For days and nights heavy rain battered the fields and strong winds bent and broke the crops until they were unsavable. Not only did the rains affect us financially, but I missed months of my schooling because flooding blocked the roads and I couldn’t get to school.

Burning fossil fuels, which releases carbon pollution into the air and causes our world to overheat, is the number one cause of the climate chaos we’re facing. 2024 may be even hotter than 2023, resulting in even more catastrophic weather.

But there is still hope. Those with power must act now, and the insurance industry holds more power than most to slow the crisis and protect our future. Without insurance, fossil fuel projects can’t operate. If insurance companies updated their policies and refused to insure new fossil fuel projects, there would be no new oil pipelines, liquefied natural gas terminals, or dirty coal mines. If they focused instead on insuring clean, safe energy and a just transition, our communities and our world would be safer for current and future generations.

The insurance industry’s role is to protect and manage risk, but right now it is failing spectacularly at both. Instead of protecting communities, it’s adding fuel to the fire by continuing to insure new fossil fuel projects. The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is a prime example. This proposed pipeline would run 1,443 kilometers between Hoima in Uganda and Tanga in Tanzania, but the project has stalled as it has not yet secured full insurance and financing due to the many human and environmental rights abuses associated with it. These include the harassment and imprisonment of peaceful protesters, the disturbing of sacred burial grounds, and the forcible removal of communities to make way for the pipeline. If EACOP gets insured and goes ahead, it will cross 200 rivers and pass through Lake Victoria’s water basin. Over 40 million people depend on the lake for survival, as well as countless animal species; if the pipe leaks and spills oil into the water, what will happen to them?

The corporations behind EACOP say it will “unlock East Africa’s potential,” but let’s be clear: It is neocolonialism at its best, and the only ones who will gain are the foreign companies set to profit. EACOP will irrevocably damage East Africa’s biodiversity, displace thousands of people, destroy their livelihoods and communities, and unleash 32.3 million metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere per year, setting off a climate bomb that will make our world overheat to devastating levels. The International Energy Agency has stated that there can be no new oil pipelines if we are to save the future, and yet insurance companies including AIG, Tokio Marine, Chubb, Hiscox, and Lloyd’s of London still refuse to rule out insuring EACOP.

#enviromentalism #ecology #pipeline #crude oil #climate change #climate crisis #east africa #uganda #tanzania #neocolonialism #East African Crude Oil Pipeline #EACOP #insurance companies

[bispectacular]

Honestly fuck insurance companies. Copays? Coinsurance? Deductables? I already pay you $150 a fucking month PAY FOR MY DOCTORS APPOINTMENTS.

#insurance #insurance companies #chronic illness #bipolar disorder #mental illness

[mayalaen]

a pharmacist is not a doctor

I’ve complained about this before and I’m back to do it again. Strap in.

If insurance companies and pharmacists want to decide what medications you should and shouldn’t get, then they should have the same schooling, licensing, malpractice coverage and responsibility a doctor has.

Several times now I’ve gone to pick up a prescription that a DOCTOR has prescribed only for the PHARMACIST to tell me they didn’t think I needed it, so they didn’t fill it.

more growling below the cut

The meds were for various things including psych, dermatology, cardiology, and oncology (skin). The meds were prescribed by specialists, general practitioners, and nurse practitioners for my parents.

The insurance company denied access to enough medicine to treat a full-body skin condition that lasted 5 months, and we had to resort to home remedies for 2/3 of the treatment.

The pharmacists decided we didn’t need psych meds, skin creams, heart/blood pressure medicine, and anti-anxiety meds.

I have to go to three different pharmacies just to get meds filled when one or two pharmacists decide I don’t need something, which ends up looking like drug-seeking behavior, but looking at our history you’ll see absolutely no pain meds or addictive substances whatsoever. We’re well under max prescribing dosages/numbers as well. We’re just taking what doctors are prescribing.

And yet insurance companies and pharmacists make these decisions all the time while also taking none of the responsibility.

You can sue a pharmacist for medical malpractice, but there’s a limited number of reasons for doing so, and none of those reasons include refusing medication or practicing medicine.

I’ve spoken to my own doctor about this, and she said it’s becoming a huge issue. Pharmacists and pharmacy managers are overruling the decisions of medical personnel, and no one’s doing anything about it.

#this is me complaining #real life #medications #pharmacies #insurance companies #medical malpractice

[odinsblog]

Cindy Picos was dropped by her home insurer last month. The reason: aerial photos of her roof, which her insurer refused to let her see.

“I thought they had the wrong house,” said Picos, who lives in northern California. “Our roof is in fine shape.” 

Her insurer said its images showed her roof had “lived its life expectancy.” Picos paid for an independent inspection that found the roof had another 10 years of life. Her insurer declined to reconsider its decision.

Across the U.S., insurance companies are using aerial images of homes as a tool to ditch properties seen as higher risk. 

Nearly every building in the country is being photographed, often without the owner’s knowledge. Companies are deploying drones, manned airplanes and high-altitude balloons to take images of properties. No place is shielded: The industry-funded Geospatial Insurance Consortium has an airplane imagery program it says covers 99% of the U.S. population. 

The array of photos is being sorted by computer models to spy out underwriting no-nos, such as damaged roof shingles, yard debris, overhanging tree branches and undeclared swimming pools or trampolines. The red-flagged images are providing insurers with ammunition for nonrenewal notices nationwide.

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase across the country in reports from consumers who’ve been dropped by their insurers on the basis of an aerial image,” said Amy Bach, executive director of consumer group United Policyholders. 

The increasingly sophisticated use of flyby photos comes as home insurers nationwide scramble to “derisk” their property portfolios, dropping less-than-perfect homes in an effort to recover from big underwriting losses.

(continue reading)

#politics #insurance #home insurance #insurance companies #privacy rights #derisking #privacy

[dayaxwriter]

 can insurance campanies drop you?

Insurance companies exist to provide individuals and businesses with protection against financial losses resulting from unexpected events. Whether it's auto insurance, health insurance, or homeowners insurance, people purchase these policies with the expectation that they will be covered when they need it most.

However, it's not always a guarantee that a policy will remain in effect indefinitely. Insurance companies have the right to cancel or non-renew policies under certain circumstances. This can be a frustrating and confusing experience for policyholders, but it's important to understand the reasons why an insurance company may drop you.

Reasons why an insurance company may drop you

Non-payment of premiums: The most common reason why an insurance company may drop you is if you fail to pay your premiums. Insurance policies require regular payments to remain in effect, and if you miss a payment, your policy may be canceled.

Fraudulent activity: If an insurance company discovers that a policyholder has engaged in fraudulent activity, they may cancel the policy. This could include submitting false claims, providing inaccurate information on an application, or misrepresenting information about a loss.

High-risk behavior: Insurance companies may drop policyholders who engage in high-risk behavior, such as reckless driving or participating in dangerous activities. This is because these individuals are more likely to file claims and cost the insurance company money.

Changes in risk: Insurance companies may also cancel policies if there is a significant change in the level of risk that the policyholder presents. For example, if a homeowner installs a swimming pool in their backyard, the insurance company may drop them because the risk of someone being injured on the property has increased.

End of coverage period: Some insurance policies have a set coverage period and will automatically expire at the end of that period. In these cases, the policyholder will need to renew the policy if they want to continue coverage.

What to do if your insurance company drops you

If your insurance company drops you, it's important to take action quickly to avoid being left without coverage. Here are some steps to take:

Find out why your policy was dropped: Contact your insurance company to find out why your policy was canceled. Understanding the reason behind the cancellation can help you determine your next steps.

Shop around for new coverage: Once you know why your policy was canceled, start shopping around for new coverage. Be honest about why your previous policy was canceled, as this can impact the rates and coverage options you are offered.

Consider working with an independent insurance agent: An independent insurance agent can help you find coverage options that meet your needs and budget. They can also help you navigate the sometimes complicated world of insurance and ensure that you are getting the best coverage for your situation.

Appeal the cancellation: If you believe that your policy was canceled unfairly, you may be able to appeal the decision. Contact your insurance company to find out what the appeals process entails.

Conclusion

Insurance companies have the right to cancel policies under certain circumstances, but it's important to understand why this may happen and what steps you can take to protect yourself. By staying on top of your premiums, being honest on your applications, and avoiding high-risk behavior, you can help ensure that your insurance policy remains in effect when you need it most. And if your policy is canceled, don't panic – there are steps you can take to find new coverage and protect yourself financially.

#politics #healthcare #profitized healthcare #for profit healthcare #insurance companies #corporate greed #capitalism #insurance #price gouging #medicare for all #scripps memorial hospital #flowers #nature #artists on tumblr #succession #alternative #technology

[aunti-christ-ine]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/08/upshot/medicare-advantage-fraud-allegations.html

The New York Times published a rundown of the *eye-popping* fraud allegations and lawsuits brought against insurers throughout the Medicare Advantage program (sometimes called "Part C").

It's called a public health program -- so why is Medicare Advantage profit-driven by private corporations, and not actually PUBLIC?

#singlepayer #medicare advantage #insurance companies #healthcare

[thanakite]

Medical care in the US is so incredibly broken, like doctors apparently do not have a system that tells them which doctors are covered by which insurances or whatever, Medicaid (government sponsored healthcare) when asked for a list of providers that takes them, will largely provide a list that goes 1.) Doctor that requires a special sub-form of Medicaid for you to see that Medicaid would be able to tell or not if you had while speaking to you 2.) Doctor that only sees children and you are an adult 3.) Doctor that doesn’t take Medicaid anymore but only half the office is aware of that 4.) Doctor that never took Medicaid but Medicaid thinks they did for some reason and 5.) Doctor that will only see you if you jump through a series of long term hoops and won’t be able to see you for at least 1-2 years at the earliest, in the doctors offices roughly half the staff to a limited small number of staff members are actually aware of which insurances they do or do not take but it is unclear which of those staff members you are speaking with at a given time (Hint, the first one you speak with probably doesn’t actually know which they take, but the person you speak with after having gone through 3-5 different people MIGHT actually know (They could still not actually know though so watch out!)), if you pay for a doctor out of pocket (You know, since Medicaid can’t help you find one they actually cover) you can lose your medical insurance, private insurance costs a boat load of money, and they still are iffy on giving you places they cover and their coverage still means that you will likely pay anywhere from $15-$6,000+ for anything medical related and is likely to make you have to pay out of pocket without insurance for a number of things in order to get a better price on it all in in addition to the continued issue of you might not be able to see the doctor you need for 1-2 years

This is a problem, and it is one that is destroying my life

#us healthcare #us health system #medical care in the US #us medical system #the us medical industry #us medical industry #chronic pain #chronic illness #doctors #insurance companies #medicaid #eds #ehlers danlos syndrome #shouldn't be so hard to find a rheumatologist but it is for some reason #not like I am suffering through severe pain in the meantime or anything #-_- #:/ #disability #disabled #disabilities

[weepingwillows-sweethibiscustea]

Why do insurance companies have such rememberable mascots?

Like. Think about it. Geico Gecko, Jake From State Farm, Progressive Flo.

#perhaps because in an industry where they all basically do the same thing its the only way to set yourself apart #and make a name for yourself #insurance #insurance companies #geico gecko #geico insurance #jake from state farm #flo from progressive #sap thoughts

[populationpensive]

Insurance Companies in the US

In case you were unaware of this fact, often times INSURANCE COMPANIES make MEDICAL decisions for patients they have never met and it is often a person untrained in your field or medicine at all.

The fact that an insurance company would rather cover multiple surgeries than LIMB SPARING TREATMENT is just fucking beyond me and I literally can't even.

#healthcare #usa #medicine #insurance companies #honestly fuck them #i've ranted about this before #but still #always and forever pissed