Tag Archives: insurance

When two men get married and one takes the other’s last name (rather than creating one of those hyphenated thingies), how do you refer to his former last name? JMG reader Vincent in Connecticut recently married and was amused that his partner’s insurance form asked him for his “maiden name.” Vincent says his partner’s employer is open to suggestions. “Birth …

AND she disses the town hall mobs. Wait, what?

Americans For Prosperity is an astroturf organization, one that poses as being comprised of “grassroots” individuals, but is actually largely funded by corporations opposed to reforms that would hurt their profitability.

Here’s last night’s complete health care reform press conference. I have no idea if Obama’s plan will work, not the slightest clue.

Allstate has released their annual list of the safest cities for drivers. The ranking is based on the average number of years between collisions for a driver in that town. Unsurprisingly, smaller cities tend to dominate the top of the chart. The lower chart ranks the top ten safest cities with a population over one million. Phoenix is the safest …

It would be funny if it weren’t so offensive.

Watch this one, please.

The American Medical Association (AMA) says they plan to oppose Barack Obama’s health care reform plan to create a public health insurance system. In comments submitted to the Senate Finance Committee, the American Medical Association said: “The A.M.A. does not believe that creating a public health insurance option for non-disabled individuals under age 65 is the best way to expand …

The city of Miami will vote today on extending domestic partner health benefits to its employees. If you are reading this post early enough, LGBT rights group SAVE Dade requests your show of support at Miami City Hall – Commission Chambers, 3500 Pan American Dr., Coconut Grove, at 9:30 a.m. The time of the actual vote is unknown, so do …

If being jobless has you down, Pfizer wants to perk you up. Pfizer Inc. says it will provide 70 of its most widely prescribed prescription drugs — including Lipitor and Viagra — for free to people who have lost their jobs and health insurance. The world’s biggest drugmaker said Thursday it will give away the medicines for up to a …

This is an interesting development. The nation’s health insurers offered Tuesday to stop basing people’s premiums on their health and extend coverage to all Americans regardless of pre-existing conditions — provided that everyone gets insurance. The suggestion from Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, came at a Senate hearing and in a Newsmaker session with USA TODAY. It …

New York’s top insurance regulator says that insurance companies must treat gay couples legally married in other states the same way they treat straight married couples. “We expect insurance companies to provide the same rights and benefits to all legally married couples, regardless of the sex of the spouses,” Superintendent Eric Dinallo said today in an e-mailed statement. The insurance …

Another domino falls in New York. BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York will begin allowing spousal health care benefits to validly married gay and lesbian couples, the New York Civil Liberties Union announced today. The news comes less than three weeks after the NYCLU filed a lawsuit against the company on behalf of a Buffalo lesbian couple that said it …

Last spring my company reorganized and I was reclassified a “consultant”, hired by contract and no longer an employee. (Even though I’m doing the same thing I have been for the last seven years.) Therefore I am now self-insured and while my insurance is 100% tax deductible, I was still floored today to see this month’s increase in my premium, …

Health insurance companies are adopting a new pricing model which forces people taking expensive medications to pay up to 33% of the cost, rather than the typically low co-pay. With the new pricing system, insurers abandoned the traditional arrangement that has patients pay a fixed amount, like $10, $20 or $30 for a prescription, no matter what the drug’s actual …