Free Republic

... According to filings from the state’s Department of Insurance, Tokio Marine America Insurance Co. and Trans Pacific Insurance Co. said they would both stop offering homeowners and personal umbrella insurance in the Golden State.... ... Those impacted will receive nonrenewal notices beginning on July 1. The proposed effective date for these filings will take place on Aug. 1, 2025....

Luc Van Gorp, president of Christian Mutuality, pushed suicide for older people who are ‘tired of life’ and shockingly described the elderly as a ‘mountain of meat’ that ‘starts to smell.’ The president of Belgium’s largest health care fund has promoted euthanasia as a solution for the country’s aging population problem. Luc Van Gorp, head of Christian Mutuality (CM), pointed out that the number of people over 80 in Belgium will double up to 1.2 million by 2050, putting large financial pressure on the health care system and insurance companies. According to De Specialist, Van Gorp said the problem cannot...

The president of Belgium’s largest health care fund has promoted euthanasia as a solution for the country’s aging population problem. Luc Van Gorp, head of Christian Mutuality (CM), pointed out that the number of people over 80 in Belgium will double up to 1.2 million by 2050, putting enormous financial pressure on the health care system and insurance companies. According to De Specialist, Van Gorp said the problem cannot be solved with more money and called for “a radically different approach.” “Doctors and other health professionals are now doing their utmost to make everyone live longer, but for what purpose?...

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law on Friday mandating annual skin cancer screenings for more than 300,000 state employees and their families at no out-of-pocket cost. The law, sponsored by Rep. Ralph Massullo, a dermatologist by trade, stipulates that the state group health insurance plan managed by the Division of State Group Insurance must cover skin cancer screenings conducted by dermatologists, physician assistants, or advanced registered practice nurses, without requiring deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, or any other form of cost-sharing.

Inflation ticked higher once again in March, with consumer prices up 0.4 percent over the previous month and 3.5 percent compared to one year earlier. The latest data marks the third month in a row that the consumer price index (CPI), a closely watched gauge of inflation, has come in hotter than expected, likely throwing cold water on hopes that the Federal Reserve would begin cutting interest rates soon.

Shares of U.S. health insurers fell after the Biden administration didn't boost payments for private Medicare plans as much as the insurance industry and investors had hoped...The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services late Monday said that government payments to Medicare Advantage plans are expected to rise 3.7% year over year...That is effectively a 0.16% decline after stripping out certain assumptions baked into that rate, according to insurers and analysts.

Joe Biden is demanding, and pronto, more of our tax money to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. He wants more from us—naturally—but America needs, as its first priority, to investigate and determine if the bridge’s destruction was in fact unintended… or malicious. Much documented evidence is emerging as to the bridge “accident” being in fact, a political, and likely international, cyber-attack. Whether or not this is so, something is off-kilter about the serial infrastructure fails happening all around us. It is time for a much closer look. As to Biden’s call for more cash, where are the...

So why am I telling this story? Because there is a tax benefit if you have an accident that is a total loss, and you receive an insurance payout for said loss. It’s called a “sales tax affidavit” and is available by law in all 50 states. There are some variations depending on the state, the model year of the vehicle, damage assessment, etc., but it is still the law of the land.

It was dark. It was early — 6:20 A.M., in fact. Seventy miles per hour — a bit over the speed limit, yes, but nothing unusual for a rural highway at that time of day. Or an interstate at any time of day, for that matter. And there she was, suddenly in the headlights, just...standing there. It all happened so very, very fast. I swerved, desperately attempting to miss her. I failed. I hit her at an angle, but still in the head and chest. At least I can rest easy knowing that she didn’t suffer. That doe died instantly,...

... Reading insurance trade magazines isn't everyone's idea of a great time, but every Californian should pay attention to the latest news in that arcane world. "State Farm to pull out of 72,000 California insurance policies," blared a Reinsurance News headline. State Farm provides nearly 21 percent of state homeowner policies, so this is big news. Last year, it stopped writing new homeowner policies. Now it's "non-renewing" existing ones and getting out of apartment policies entirely....

Maryland lawmakers are expecting the federal government to cover the lion’s share of the cost of the collapse and subsequent rebuilding of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge — with Congress potentially on the hook for only a fraction of the total as talk about an emergency supplemental bill increases. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told reporters that roughly 90 percent of the bridge’s reconstruction will be paid for via the Federal Highway Administration’s emergency fund, which has about $950 million and is replenished yearly with $100 million. The state sent a letter to the federal government Wednesday saying it will...

"My expectation would be that ultimately there'll be insurance payments." 30 second video at link. Bonus clip: RNC Research @RNCResearch Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen claims Biden's priority is "getting the cost of living down" and "lowering energy prices." FACT: Overall prices are up 18.6%, electricity costs are up 28.4%, and gas prices are up 48% since Biden took office. https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1773031172810961263

G.M. had provided information about braking, acceleration and speed to LexisNexis Risk Solution and Verisk, firms that generated driver risk profiles for insurers... General Motors said Friday that it had stopped sharing details about how people drove its cars with two data brokers that created risk profiles for the insurance industry. The decision followed a New York Times report this month that G.M. had, for years, been sharing data about drivers’ mileage, braking, acceleration and speed with the insurance industry. The drivers were enrolled — some unknowingly, they said — in OnStar Smart Driver, a feature in G.M.’s internet-connected cars...

If you pay for car insurance, you’ve probably noticed that rates are really high lately. You’re not alone. Last week’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report — the government’s method for tracking what people are paying for goods and services and how that’s changing over time — noted that the price of car insurance was up more than 20 percent over the same time last year. What’s particularly painful is that rates were already rising: CPI reports have shown that, overall, car insurance rates are up more than 38 percent since January 2020. What’s going on? The big insurance companies have...

State Farm plans to not renew roughly 72,000 property and commercial apartment policies in California starting this summer, the company announced Wednesday. About 30,000 of the affected policies will be for homeowner, rental, residential community association and business owner insurance. The other approximately 42,000 will be for commercial apartment policies. ... It was California’s largest property insurer in 2022 ... The decision follows the company’s announcement in May that it would stop accepting new applications for property and business policies. At the time, State Farm cited higher construction costs, a growing risk from catastrophic events, such as wildfires, and challenges...

The Biden administration unveiled a new program on Thursday aimed at alleviating the financial burden on homeowners by slashing closing costs on select mortgages, reviving a proposal that faced opposition from the industry in the past. The initiative targets a significant expense associated with closing on a mortgage: title insurance. In a pilot program, Fannie Mae will waive the title insurance requirement on mortgage refinancings it acquires from certain lenders, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. This move reignites a clash with the industry regarding the cost and necessity of title insurance and aligns with the White...

I drive an older car--a Lexus LS430 from 2005, so I can rest assured of two things: an amazingly comfortable ride and that the tech in my vehicle is way too old to collect data to be sold online. You, however, may not be so lucky. Some late-model cars are secretly collecting data on your driving habits, and selling the results for profit. Full Story: https://t.co/2vmg92Q3Yw— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) March 13, 2024Not only is this practice super creepy, but it could be costing you money and, if what I suspect is the case, giving the government a window into your...

For a guy who likes to talk so much, I notice even early in his career, Donald Trump never actually gave any insights into the financial details of his real estate empire. In the early 1990s, many Trump properties were overextended, like the Plaza Hotel and Atlantic City casinos, and declared bankruptcy. Ever since then, it’s been a game of speculation just how much money Trump really has. One has to try to read what few clues there may be. In order to appeal the civil trials he just lost, Trump must come up with something around $500 million for...

Mr. Dahl, 65, was surprised in 2022 when the cost of his car insurance jumped by 21 percent. Quotes from other insurance companies were also high. One insurance agent told him his LexisNexis report was a factor. “It felt like a betrayal,” Mr. Dahl said. “They’re taking information that I didn’t realize was going to be shared and screwing with our insurance.” Automakers and data brokers that have partnered to collect detailed driving data from millions of Americans say they have drivers’ permission to do so. But the existence of these partnerships is nearly invisible to drivers, whose consent is...

The American Psychological Association (APA) has adopted a policy statement that promotes K-12 transgenderism and denounces child-protection laws.