Insurance

Laurel City Council unanimously passes $25.7 million budget

2012-05-15 11:17:00

The Laurel City Council, in a 4-0 vote, passed a $25.7 million budget for fiscal 2013 on Monday, a budget that holds the line on spending and does not raise taxes. Ward 1 council member Edward Ricks was not present for the vote. No residents spoke...

Government is flawed, but markets are too

2012-05-15 09:01:00

This column may stress you out. It stressed me out just writing it. Start counting on your fingers how many of the following aggravations you have encountered personally. Ready? •You call a customer line to report a problem with some product or...

Maryland Health Insurance Plan makes cost, benefit changes

2012-05-08 14:04:37

The federal program that offers health insurance to Marylanders with pre-existing conditions has made changes recently that will make some costs go up and others go down. The program was created under the federal health reform law and was intended as a...

The medical establishment is ill-suited to deal with America's obesity epidemic

2012-05-10 11:15:00

You did a write up on HBO's documentary "The Weight of the Nation" in which you called our obesity epidemic a wake up call for America ("Salad bars take root," May 1). Nothing new here. The alarm bells have been sounding for a while now. I am an...

$1.34 billion in rebates because of health care reform

2012-04-27 08:20:00

Insurance companies are expected to pay out nearly $1.3 billion in rebates this summer because they haven't complied with a provision under health care reform that they devote more money to health care and less on administrative costs and profit,...

Website to help doctors file health insurance complaints

2012-04-28 15:57:00

The Maryland medical society and attorney general's office launched a website Saturday aimed at helping doctors file complaints with the state when insurance companies refuse to cover patient care. "Essentially, our goal was to educate our patients and...

Laurel City budget holds line on taxes and spending

2012-04-25 05:08:00

At its April 23 meeting, the Laurel City Council introduced Mayor Craig Moe's $25.7 million budget proposal for fiscal year 2013. Moe's proposal holds the line on spending, with less than 1 percent growth from the $25.5 million budget passed for fiscal...

Regulators pressure life insurers to help beneficiaries collect their due

2012-04-30 17:13:00

Regulators nationwide are pushing life insurers to do a better job of tracking when policyholders die and locating the beneficiaries — an effort that could reap billions of dollars for consumers. Insurers regularly monitor Social Security's Death...

Fallout from pit bull ruling; concerns rise among dog owners, property owners

2012-05-02 11:30:26

Erica Carter's move from Pasadena to Baltimore was difficult, she said, not because of the lack of housing options, but because many places would not allow her pit bull Bailey. Though Carter has settled into a rental near Patterson Park, she said the...

Maryland hospital rates to tick upward

2012-05-02 17:44:00

Patients and their insurers won't see much of a difference in hospital bills in the next year, as the state rate-setting panel decided to adopt a plan favored by the hospitals that holds payments "to a near-freeze level." In a close vote, the Maryland...

State audits Maryland Health Insurance Plan

2012-05-03 15:58:00

The agency that oversees the state's health plan for those uninsured because of preexisting conditions, paid a vendor nearly $367,000 for information technology services without proving that the contract was chosen through a competitive bidding process, a...

Health care reform: good for business

2012-04-01 05:00:00

Last week, theU.S. Supreme Courtheard six hours of oral arguments for and against the constitutionality of the new health care law. As a small business owner, I am not a constitutional scholar, but I can definitively say this: the Affordable Care Act is...

Insurers that offer health coverage for children can no longer deny them coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

2012-05-04 11:23:00

Ronald Armstrong, left, and Jeremy Sorensen, right, have been charged with arson and insurance fraud for setting fire to the Armstrong's pickup truck and filing a false insurance claim for it.

2012-04-18 00:00:00

Global insurance broker Willis North America, a unit of Willis Group Holdings, on April 3 appointed Tanja Maffei as senior vice president of Willis North America International Practice.

2012-04-03 00:00:00