It’s standard practice in the insurance industry to require evidence of insurability before issuing a life insurance policy to an applicant. Apparently, it’s also standard practice in the industry to insure people without reviewing their insurability, take their money for years, and then deny a claim after the fact when the company shouldn’t have insured the individual in the first place. We say it’s commonplace because the government recently found United of Omaha Life Insurance Co. did it hundreds of times, and they are far from the only company accused of engaging in this unfair and unlawful bad faith insurance practice. Read More

In a representative sampling of 3,605 insured adults in the U.S., KFF interviewed 978 adults with primary coverage through an employer (self or spouse), 885 adults with Medicare, 815 with Medicaid, and 880 people who bought coverage on their own through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace, aka Obamacare. This sampling of people with insurance from different sources helped ensure a representative sampling of people coming from different perspectives with regard to demographic and socioeconomic factors such as education, income and health status. Read More

A sprawling federal investigation recently uncovered over 200 life insurance claims that were denied by Prudential Financial due to a lack of “evidence of insurability” between 2017 and 2020. “Evidence of insurability” is a term of art in the insurance industry and is a standard requirement of the underwriting process in many areas of insurance. Read More

Transparency is a modern buzzword gaining traction in many areas of public life. It’s been a part of the healthcare arena since at least 2010 and seems to have kicked into high gear starting in 2020. Yet even today, consumers struggle to find out what health services will cost upfront, and healthcare providers and insurers continue to strive to keep that information secret and hidden from patients until the bill comes after the fact. Read More