Pennsylvania Department of Insurance
National Association of Insurance Commisioner’s
Health Insurance Rates News Release: 1/17/2005
Category: Health Insurance Rate Enforcement
Washington, DC – A federal judge today ruled in favor of the
National Association of Insurance Commisioners and its efforts to recoup more than $100 million for health insurance consumers nation wide, an amount which the agency contends that a select few insurance companies may have overcharged health insurance consumers by inflating
Pennsylvania health insurance prices and
Pennsylvania health insurance
quotes.
The federal judicial panel and courts actions allows the NAIC to help reduce
Pennsylvania health insurance
rates. The objective of NAIC staff throughout this action has been to provide health insurance rate relief for health insurance consumer policyholders who have been charged excessive health insurance rates.
NAIC staff, using authority granted by the federal judicial panel’s decision, ordered health insurance companies to reduce its health owners rates by 12 percent in September 2004.
Pennsylvania health insurance companies appealed the reduction in district court, claiming that the they had been denied due process in ordering the rate reduction.
“NAIC staff’s latest action, based on a different law was designed to address the court’s concerns regarding due process,” said NAIC’s Deputy Commissioner for Policy. “Despite the insurance companies objections, the courts have allowed the debate based on the facts to move forward. In the end we believe the facts will show that their rates can be reduced.”
NAIC staff contends that health insurance companies have been overcharging its policyholders since June 11, 2003, the effective date of Senate Bill 14. NAIC is seeking a refund of the excessive premium plus 10 percent interest. The total amount will be calculated from June 11, 2003, to present.
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Pennsylvania Facts: In 1681 King Charles II granted Pennsylvania to William Penn, a Quaker. Philadelphia was the seat of the federal government almost continuously from 1776 to 1800; there the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and the U.S. Constitution drawn up in 1787. Valley Forge, of Revolutionary War fame, and Gettysburg, site of the pivotal battle of the Civil War, are both in Pennsylvania. The Liberty Bell is located in a glass pavilion across from Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The nation's first oil well was dug at Titusville in 1859, and the mining of iron ore and coal led to the development of the state's steel industry. More recently Pennsylvania's industry has diversified, although the state still leads the country in the production of specialty steel.
The service, retail trade, and manufacturing sectors provide the most jobs; Pennsylvania is a leader in the production of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, food products, and electronic equipment. Pennsylvania's 59,000 farms (occupying nearly 8 million acres) are the backbone of the state's economy, producing a wide variety of crops. Leading commodities are dairy products, cattle and calves, mushrooms, greenhouse and nursery products, poultry and eggs, a variety of fruits, sweet corn, potatoes, maple syrup, and Christmas trees. Pennsylvania's rich heritage draws billions of tourist dollars annually. Among the chief attractions are the Gettysburg National Military Park, Valley Forge National Historical Park, and Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Dutch region, the Eisenhower farm near Gettysburg, and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Keystone State In honor of Adm. Sir William Penn, father of William Penn. It means “Penn's Woodland.”
The ten largest cities in Pennsylvania are: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Upper Darby, Reading, Scranton, Bethlehem, Lower Merion, and Bensalem.
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