The program — labeled “Healthy Adult Opportunity” — will allow states to ask permission to end their traditional, open-ended Medicaid program and put hard caps on how much money states and the federal government will spend on the poor and disabled.
One of most significant changes incorporated in the SECURE Act surrounds the transfer of legacy wealth through IRA trusts that benefit non-spouses who inherit IRA accounts. But it is far from the only change in this significant law.
Florida legislators moved closer Wednesday to banning life-insurance, long-term care insurance and disability-insurance companies from using customers’ genetic information in changing, denying or canceling policies. The House passed a bill, which now moves to the more difficult state Senate.
WASHINGTON- The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged at a low level Wednesday amid an economy that looks solid but faces potential global threats, including from China's viral outbreak. The Fed sketched a mostly bright picture of the U.S. economy in a statement it released after its latest policy meeting.
Regulators and industry representatives are inching closer to a middle ground to save the controversial multipliers and bonuses that many blame for rosy indexed universal life illustrations. Regulators held another call Tuesday to discuss amending Actuarial Guideline 49 to tighten up illustrations.
Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jennifer Altman filed an application with the state’s Commonwealth Court to have Senior Health Insurance of Pennsylvania placed in rehabilitation.
Elder financial abuse has been categorized as “a crime of the 21st century,” according to the presenter of a webinar on understanding elder financial exploitation and fraud.
SECURE is being called the most significant pension reform in more than a decade and will mean more annuity sales. But experts say it might take a while for annuity acceptance to grow.
A study from Allianz Life finds worries about market volatility are on the wane. But consumers are still worried about the rising cost of living and its impact on retirement income.
Every year, millions of dollars in life insurance benefits go unclaimed because beneficiaries are unaware of the coverage or don’t have basic information about the policies. The level of knowledge about life insurance policies varies according to generational cohort.
New York Life revealed the 60- second advertising spot to air during the Super Bowl on Sunday. The film, titled Agápē, launches New York Life’ s new“ Love Takes Action” campaign, a celebration of the company’s first 175 years, and will air during the first and second quarters.
Americans should understand that there will be a significant, long-term economic cost to our polarized politics and dysfunctional government, which has now reached the point of near-total breakdown of comity and cooperation between the parties, between the houses of Congress and among the various branches of government.
The lawsuit targets two of Security Benefit’s FIAs, the Total Value and Secure Income annuities, both of which were offered with proprietary indices that the company advertised as “capable of producing double-digit returns,” the lawsuit alleged.
For risk professionals, the impact of the digital revolution is twofold. First, they are tasked with using new and emerging technologies to assess and mitigate their organization’s risks and identify any related opportunities.
A healthy stock market signifies a healthy U.S. economy and vice versa- correct? With the Dow Jones Industrial Average setting a series of record highs in recent weeks and seemingly on course to surpass the 30,000 mark, the historic surge is being pointed out as a sign- if not the sign- of U.S. economic might.
The Trump administration is finalizing a block grant plan that targets the Medicaid expansion brought about under the Affordable Care Act, Politico reported Friday.
President Donald Trump reassured his Twitter followers that he would keep Social Security benefits safe from any possible cuts after an interview in which he implied he would be open to cuts in entitlement programs including Medicare.
Accelerated underwriting holds the promise of being able to cut the agent’s time spent selling a $500,000 policy from 20 hours to roughly five, one industry expert says. That could mean a lot more policies sold to a middle market that is woefully lacking in life insurance coverage.
There are two vacancies on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. President Donald Trump has nominated monetary policy experts Judy Shelton and Christopher Waller to fill them, subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate. There has been no FOMC meeting in which more than one governor dissented since 1993.
America’s Health Insurance Plans wants the U.S. Supreme Court to decide quickly on whether the Affordable Care Act is valid. Arguments center on the Republican-led Congress’ passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, which eliminated – or zeroed out – the ACA’s penalty for people who did not have health insurance.
A group of 18 Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurers is helping to create a nonprofit drug company to make certain generic drugs itself. The insurers are targeting medicines where there is a lack of competition and a need to bring down prices.
The president suggested he would be willing to consider cuts to programs such as Medicare to reduce the federal deficit if he wins a second term. Spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is expected to cost the federal government more than $30 trillion through 2029, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Employers play a role in increasing their employees’ financial confidence, particularly when it comes to offering insurance products that can contribute to an employees’ bottom line, and ultimately help them feel prepared for whatever life brings them.
Some finance pros are suggesting that clients consider protecting some of the gains they earned during the market surge of the past year by moving them into a safer product – an insurance product.
The real gross domestic product looks good three years out with a 2- to 2.2-% growth rate for 2020. Unemployment is expected to stay below 4% for the next three years. The Federal Reserve has been unable to get the 2% inflation rate they have sought, one expert says, but maybe 1.5% is the new target.
The NAIC Executive Committee and Plenary will hold a joint meeting on Thursday, Feb. 13 and could vote to adopt new annuity sales rules. The model articulates a best-interest standard through the following four obligations: care, disclosure, conflict of interest and documentation.
A federal appeals court recently ordered the United States to make good on a structured annuity the former Executive Life Insurance Company of New York (ELNY) was paying to a burn victim. The decision calls attention to the security of long-term annuity promises when an insurance company goes out of business.
The American Medical Association and the American College of Physicians want to see everyone get coverage but have differing ideas on how to get there.
The California Consumer Protection Act took effect Jan. 1 and sets a high bar for data privacy — and has potentially significant impacts for insurers and policyholders. For instance, it could make it harder to legally defend lawsuits, a San Francisco lawyer said.
LIMRA is realigning in response to a rapidly changing insurance environment. The association found that its members needed more tools to be efficient in their services and better informed in their product development. LIMRA has already introduced new platforms to help companies in this challenging market.
After marrying into a family of doctors and founding a physician-focused financial practice, I had the opportunity to work day in and day out with dedicated, selfless caregivers. Witnessing their generosity, I was posed with a nagging question: Am I taking more than I am giving?
A collection of conservative groups is mobilizing to oppose a measure that would ban “surprise” medical bills patients sometimes receive from hospitals and providers when their services aren’t covered by insurance.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined today to put the legal challenge to Obamacare on a fast track, meaning the court will not hear the case prior to the November election. The decision reduces pressure on Republicans to produce a replacement plan prior to the election.
A June court order directed the department to take control of four life insurance companies, which Greg Lindberg acquired in recent years and then operated as Global Bankers Insurance Group. Lindberg and several associates are accused of trying to bribe state insurance commissioner Mike Causey.
President Donald Trump is tweeting about how he saved the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people who have pre-existing conditions, even as he is backing a court challenge to the law that would overturn the ACA and eliminate those protections.
Who can and should provide financial literacy education is unclear, but a pair of academic experts say it should not be state insurance regulators. They spoke during a conference call last week for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Retirement Security Working Group.
Most people put lots of effort into organizing holidays. It’s been said people spend more time planning a two-week vacation than they do planning for their own retirement. It’s your job to help people like that. That’s why you need to stay healthy during the winter.
The good news is that the experts were unanimous in their assessment that the U.S. economy would not slip into a recession this year. The bad news is that the experts were unanimous in their assessment that the U.S. economy would not slip into a recession this year.
Between 2013 and 2018, compound annual growth rate in life insurance premium growth has been 1.7%, the EY report said. Gross written premium grew from $661 billion in 2013 to $718 billion in 2018.
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was included in the massive $1.4 trillion spending bill signed by President Donald Trump at the end of the year. Getting the rules loosened for annuities in plans is “a big win for the insurance industry,” says one industry expert.
Closed blocks of business can be a thorn in the side of life insurers. Whether a result of discontinued products or included in a merger or acquisition, these policies remain active and must be serviced, but over the long haul, they may have become very unprofitable.
A House health-care panel approved legislation that would prohibit life-insurance, long-term care insurance and disability-insurance companies from using customers’ genetic information in changing, denying or canceling policies.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he intends to nominate two people to serve on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, an institution he has repeatedly attacked for not cutting rates deeply enough.
Health insurance premiums for plans purchased through Affordable Care Act marketplaces for 2020 decreased in 31 states, a new analysis shows.
While the majority of Americans age 40 and over claim to have a well-defined retirement strategy, almost the same number would give themselves a‘ C’ grade or lower on their retirement savings, according to a new survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of TD Ameritrade.
A survey by the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) finds that millennials’ expectations are not well aligned with the retirement planning steps they have taken thus far. Although nearly eight in ten millennials say that they have saved some money for retirement, nearly half – 46 percent – have saved less than $10,000.
Using social media to promote retirement income planning seminars and workshops has become the next big thing for insurance and financial professionals.
Advisors want to have the freedom and flexibility to provide the best possible client experience as true fiduciaries and differentiate themselves in order to compete for more wallet share. With overall wealth increasing in the U.S., there will be continued demand for the services that independent advisors deliver.
Health insurance CEO pay is outpacing the growth of revenue and growth of other top executives’ pay according to a report. The most recent survey showed that total direct compensation (the sum of base salary plus annual incentives and long-term incentives) for health insurance CEOs increased 12% from 2018 to 2019.
The National Financial Educators Council conducted a survey with a single question: “When you have a financial question, who do you turn to for trusted financial guidance?” The most popular answer to the question depended on the age of the respondent.
The nine most-brazen insurance fraudsters of 2019 were chosen by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. The convicted extreme schemers were inducted into the Insurance Fraud Hall of Shame.
LIMRA is now offering My Products, a dashboard that filters data from its Life Compass tool, to allow companies to “compare individual life insurance products with similar competitors’ products, boosting their ability to track their own performance and adapt to evolving market conditions.”
A National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ task force will collect data from several insurers over the coming weeks as part of its effort to establish a uniform long-term care rate review process.
New research offers the strongest cue yet for battling political parties to call a truce and cooperate with one another. Kiplinger Personal Finance now reveals that typical Americans now consider “political deadlock” to be the greatest threat to the U.S economy.
Annuities provide guaranteed lifetime income, something that should be attractive to those who fear running out of money in retirement. So why aren’t more Americans buying annuities?
The latest of the very closely watched purchasing managers index readings just confirmed what we’ve been hearing for a while, that American manufacturing went south pretty much all of last year.
Until 2017, most financial criminal activity targeted banking institutions and credit cards. But the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute reported in its analysis of a federal consumer survey that with more than $42 trillion in investible assets in the U.S., criminals have turned their attention to life insurance and retirement accounts.
According to financial services firm Edward Jones’ survey, Relationship with Money, while 81% of Americans say they feel in control over their current financial situation, they admit a mix of emotions when it comes to their money. When asked what they would do if someone gave them $1,000, 72% of respondents said they would allocate it to short-term goals.
Insurance companies would be barred in Florida from using genetic information now widely available through such popular services as23andMe and Ancestry, under legislation filed Thursday by a leading House Republican. Insurers oppose the legislation, though, as another regulation that could disrupt the insurance market in Florida.
