Insurance firm Aviva has reported a 25% increase in the number of new health insurance policies taken out in the first three months of this year – as the NHS lists were lengthened and staff went on strike.
The Aviva boss was explicit in linking the rise in new policies to failings in the public health service.
The increase is “a consequence of what we’re seeing in the NHS and customers basically say that if they can take control over their health situation then they will,” chief executive Amanda Blanc said.
More individuals and companies are “attracted to the benefits…
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Major Mass. health insurance provider says customer data was ‘copied and taken’ in cyberattack
A pair of major Massachusetts and New Hampshire health insurance companies are warning subscribers that a cybersecurity ransomware incident in March and April has compromised some members’ personal information.
Point32Health, the corporate parent of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, said in April that the threat impacted systems that are used to service customers, accounts, brokers, and providers, officials said. It proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat out of an “abundance of caution” after “detecting an unauthorized party.”
“Unfortunately, the investigation identified signs that data was copied and taken from our Harvard Pilgrim systems from…
What is a Medical Power of Attorney?
One document that we recommend for almost all of our estate planning clients is a Medical Durable Power of Attorney. This document allows you to select the person who will make medical decisions on your behalf, if you are incapacitated or unable to make them yourself.
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A Medical Durable Power of Attorney is an essential document, as no one can predict their incapacity.
This legal document allows you to list medical…
“High performance network” health care insurance plans to leave patients with unexpected medical debt
A Tennessee family faced a potentially catastrophic situation when Joe Smith — a husband and father of four — was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. Smith, of Chattanooga, had health insurance through his job with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, but the insurance company refused to pay for the surgery necessary to prevent a life-threatening rupture.
“We knew that he kind of had this ticking time bomb in his head,” Stacie Smith, Joe’s wife, said.
The insurer claimed that the neurosurgeon that Smith’s family had chosen was out of the network, and the plan had no coverage for out-of-network…
Ballooning cost of insuring undocumented immigrants complicating Illinois budget negotiations
CHICAGO — The $49.6 billion budget Gov. J.B. Pritzker introduced in February estimated the cost of a program that provides state-funded health insurance to adult immigrants who are in the country without legal permission at $220 million.
[–Just three months later, that estimate has grown fivefold, swelling to $1.1 billion and threatening to blow a hole in the Democratic governor’s proposal for the budget year that begins July 1, the first of his second term.
[–At the same time, revenue flowing to the state appears to be slowing, putting further pressure on Pritzker and the Democratic-controlled legislature as…
Travel health and safety – Travel.gc.ca
Travel insurance
Get travel insurance if you travel outside Canada, no matter where you’re going or how long you’ll be there.
Travel health kit
How to prepare a basic travel health kit no matter where you are going.
Vaccinations
Check which vaccinations may be recommended or required for your destination.
Eat and drink safely
Avoid common causes of illness while traveling, including food poisoning, stomach flu and travelers’ diarrhea.
Travel-related diseases
Information about the risks of contracting a disease that may not be common in Canada. Read these fact sheets and be prepared.
Insect bite prevention
Prevent bites from mosquitoes,…
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care owner targeted by ransomware cyberattack
The company that owns Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and other major health insurance plans is responding to a ransomware attack. Point32Health released a statement stating that their staff identified a cybersecurity breach on April 17, impacting the systems used to connect to members, accounts, brokers and providers.According to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, cybercriminals will hold systems or data hostage until a ransom is paid for a decryption key, denying access and sometimes threatening to publish or sell the data. While the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care system is offline, Point32Health says medical care services will be covered as…
UnitedHealthcare says some NC customers affected by data breach
The health insurance provider sent notices to customers earlier this month.
CHARLOTTE, NC — UnitedHealthcare insurance customers in North Carolina will want to double check their mailboxes to see if their data was affected by a breach that happened earlier this year.
The provider said it identified suspicious activity on the UHC mobile application on Feb. 22, 2023 that may have led to the disclosure of member information. About two weeks later, UnitedHealthcare determined certain parts of customer information were likely to impact. However, the provider stressed Social Security Numbers and driver’s license numbers were not involved.
The information affected…