Last week we posted a quiz question: How many agents and brokers are licensed in Washington state?
Out of three choices, about half picked the right answer: 118,415.
If you want to check your agent's credentials, find a broker in your area, look for past disciplinary cases, etc., take a look at our new online lookup for agents and brokers.
If you want to also look at company cases, check our insurance disciplinary orders search engine.
Quiz: How many agents and brokers are licensed in Washington?
We've posted a one-question quiz: How many agents and brokers are licensed in Washington state?
You can pick an answer in the poll box, which on the lower right-hand side of this web page.
Check back --we'll post the correct answer in a few days.
You can pick an answer in the poll box, which on the lower right-hand side of this web page.
Check back --we'll post the correct answer in a few days.
More than 1/4 of hospital emergency rooms in non-rural areas have closed in the past two decades
More than a quarter of urban/suburban hospital emergency rooms have closed in the past two decades, researchers have found.
The Journal of the American Medical Association published the study, titled "Factors Associated With Closures of Emergency Departments in the United States." The researchers found that the number of non-rural emergency rooms declined from 2,446 to 1,779 between 1990 and 2009. That's a decline of more than 27 percent.
The Journal of the American Medical Association published the study, titled "Factors Associated With Closures of Emergency Departments in the United States." The researchers found that the number of non-rural emergency rooms declined from 2,446 to 1,779 between 1990 and 2009. That's a decline of more than 27 percent.
Health insurance rates, by state
What's an average health insurance premium?
The Commonwealth Fund recently came out with a lengthy report summarizing state trends in health insurance premiums and deductibles from 2003 through 2009. (The upshot: premiums rose 41 percent nationally during those years, while per-person deductibles jumped 77 percent.)
In Washington state, the study found, the cost of premiums rose 38 percent between 2003 and 2009, with family coverage costing an average of $12,758 here in 2009.
How's that compare to everyone else? About in the middle. In a list of the 50 states plus Washington, D.C., from highest family premiums to lowest, we come in 28th.
Also, the Kaiser Family Foundation does an annual survey on employer health benefits. The most recent one -- based on data from January through May 2010 -- found that premiums had risen 114 percent from 2000 through 2010, to a national average of $13,770. Worker contributions during the same time rose -- brace yourself -- 147 percent. (Here's a link to the gigantic full health benefits report.)
The Commonwealth Fund recently came out with a lengthy report summarizing state trends in health insurance premiums and deductibles from 2003 through 2009. (The upshot: premiums rose 41 percent nationally during those years, while per-person deductibles jumped 77 percent.)
In Washington state, the study found, the cost of premiums rose 38 percent between 2003 and 2009, with family coverage costing an average of $12,758 here in 2009.
How's that compare to everyone else? About in the middle. In a list of the 50 states plus Washington, D.C., from highest family premiums to lowest, we come in 28th.
Also, the Kaiser Family Foundation does an annual survey on employer health benefits. The most recent one -- based on data from January through May 2010 -- found that premiums had risen 114 percent from 2000 through 2010, to a national average of $13,770. Worker contributions during the same time rose -- brace yourself -- 147 percent. (Here's a link to the gigantic full health benefits report.)
Recent cases from our consumer files
Got an insurance question or problem and live in Washington? We may be able to help. (We're the state insurance regulator for Washington.) Give us a call at 1-800-562-6900 or e-mail AskMike@oic.wa.gov.
What kinds of things do we deal with? Here's a sampling of cases from last month:
What kinds of things do we deal with? Here's a sampling of cases from last month:
- We convinced a health insurer to pay an additional $3,000 in surgery claims for a patient.
- We got another insurer to pay more than $10,000 in claims that had been denied due to what the company maintained was a pre-existing condition.
- We helped a Seattle consumer resolve claim delays on his mother's life insurance policy, leading to a $25,000 payment, plus interest.
- When a health insurer repeatedly refused to pay claims because the patient's birthdate on the claim forms didn't match what they (erroneously) had in their records, we got the situation resolved and the claims paid.
- And we helped mediate a dispute over a totaled vehicle's value, meaning that the consumer got nearly $1,000 more than originally offered.
New study: Dog bites account for 1/3 of homeowners insurance liability claims
The Insurance Information Institute, an industry-funded research group, has released a study saying that dog bites account for more than one third of all homeowners insurance liability claims last year.
The total: nearly $413 million, which averages out to more than $26,000 per claim.
The number of claims dropped slightly in recent years, although the cost of the claims rose.
According to the III, there were 15,770 dog bite claims filed last year. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year, with one in five of those bites needing medical care.
Update: Also, here's a summary of Washington's dog bite liability laws from, yes, the website dogbitelaw.com. (Thanks to Fritz for passing that along, and all these links come with our usual disclaimer: linking ≠ endorsement.)
Seattle woman pleads guilty to insurance fraud
A Seattle woman has pleaded guilty to insurance fraud after claiming $6,503 for auto damage that occurred prior to getting coverage.
Margaret Balderama told Seattle police and her insurance company, GEICO, that she was driving home shortly after midnight on July 5, 2010 when an unknown vehicle hit her 2005 Honda CRV and fled the scene.
She had renewed her auto insurance policy that very afternoon. (It had been cancelled for nonpayment more than 7 months earlier.)
The problem: Area residents told an investigator that they'd seen the car with extensive damage nearly 24 hours earlier than Balderama claimed -- and hours before she called GEICO to renew the lapsed policy.
Balderama pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of insurance fraud on April 25th. Sentencing is slated for May 13th.
Margaret Balderama told Seattle police and her insurance company, GEICO, that she was driving home shortly after midnight on July 5, 2010 when an unknown vehicle hit her 2005 Honda CRV and fled the scene.
She had renewed her auto insurance policy that very afternoon. (It had been cancelled for nonpayment more than 7 months earlier.)
The problem: Area residents told an investigator that they'd seen the car with extensive damage nearly 24 hours earlier than Balderama claimed -- and hours before she called GEICO to renew the lapsed policy.
Balderama pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of insurance fraud on April 25th. Sentencing is slated for May 13th.
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