Newswires

For now, the focus has shifted from Puerto Rico’s financial woes to meeting the basic needs of its 3.5 million people, many of whom still lack adequate food, water and power more than a week since the Category 4 hurricane laid waste to the U.S. territory. But as Puerto Rico emerges from the worst of the disaster, it will still face a $74 billion public debt load and a…

—Two top-ranking senators urged President Donald Trump to robustly enforce a law hitting Russia with new financial sanctions that the president reluctantly approved last month. Ben Cardin, D- Md., and John McCain, R- Ariz., wrote to Trump late Thursday that he’s obligated to demonstrate “from the highest levels that any effort to undermine U.S. sanctions will not be…

—President Donald Trump pledged to help Puerto Ricans recover basic necessities and security in Maria’s ruinous aftermath as his homeland security chief tried to escape a tempest of her own making, set off when she called Washington’s response to the hurricane a “good-news story.” Elaine Duke, the department’s acting secretary, drew a sharp rebuke from San…

Sept. 29– Congress is on track to miss the Sept. 30 deadline to reauthorize funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program for the first time in the program’s 24- year history, sending states that rely on that money scrambling to figure out how to pay for it. Health policy experts, however, are cautiously optimistic that Congress will pass the bill in the next…

A.M. Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- and Long Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” of Tower Hill Prime Insurance Company. The revised outlooks reflects multiple years of unfavorable underwriting performance as a result of weather-related losses, adverse development and the ongoing pressure…

Oct. 01– Last May, Houston police pulled over Maranda Lynn ODonnell. When officers ran the tags on her car, they found she was driving with a suspended license, didn’t carry car insurance and had already racked up $1,487.25 in unpaid tolls. Nonetheless, the next day a hearing officer set her bail at $2,500.

Today, the Nashville Health Care Council hosted former Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services acting administrator and senior advisor of the Bipartisan Policy Center, Andy Slavitt, as part of its Trends and Influencers series. With U.S. Senator Bill Frist, M.D. as moderator, more than 200 Council members had the opportunity to hear about the state of the…

CAMDEN, N.J.- Two Burlington County, New Jersey, men today admitted defrauding New Jersey state health benefits programs and other insurers by submitting fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary prescriptions, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick and New Jersey Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced. From January 2015 through April…

Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Health Care, Benefits, and Administrative Rules, sent a letter requesting documents and information relating to the decision by the Department of Health and Human Services to schedule outages…

President Donald Trump is touting his administration’s disaster response in Puerto Rico, even as officials in the U.S. territory warn that much more help will be needed to fend off mass hunger and disease on the hurricane ravaged island. Adding to his running series of Twitter posts on the subject, Trump noted that Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rossello had…

Sept. 29– Despite their latest failure to scrap the Affordable Care Act, Republicans have vowed to keep trying. “Under our approach, the money and power in Washington is given to state officials who will be accountable at the ballot box and therefore more accessible than any Washington bureaucrat,” Republican U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill…

Imprezzio, provider of the leading sales enablement software for the insurance industry, announced it has been named one of the “Best Places to Work” in the Inland Northwest by the Journal of Business. Imprezzio is celebrating its 13th year in business today. “We are honored to win the medium-sized business category award for the Best Places to Work Inland…

The Public Entity Joint Insurance Fund, a property and casualty fund, formed pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40 A: 10-36, currently serving four New Jersey municipalities covering various counties spanning the state, today announced the launch of its newly revamped website. The PEJIF was formed in 2014 by NIP Group, Inc. in response to the lack of a viable joint insurance…

The Senate Budget Committee on Friday unveiled its 2017 budget resolution, which would allow Republicans to move ahead on tax reform without needing Democratic votes to pass. The resolution employs a parliamentary tactic known as reconciliation, which enables certain budget-related legislation to pass the Senate without being subject to the 60- vote…

Sept. 29– The Missouri Democratic Party is proposing a public option health care plan as part of sweeping changes they say would increase options, restore coverage that Republicans have recently eliminated, and reduce costs both to Missourians and the state’s budget. The initiative was announced on the heels of Republicans in Washington again failing to…

—President Donald Trump has been telling associates that his health chief has become a distraction, overshadowing his agenda and undermining his campaign promise to “drain the swamp” of corruption, according to people familiar with the discussions. Price had offered public regrets and a partial repayment Thursday, but that didn’t seem to calm the furor,…

–In the past month, hurricanes Harvey and Irma halted travel in the U.S., and Maria ripped through the Caribbean as a Category 5 storm. Travel Insurance Coverage Before the Storm The widespread damage and uncertain path of Hurricane Irma affected thousands of people in the Caribbean and Florida. Travel Insurance Coverage if a Hurricane Hits Your Destination…