Showing posts with label insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insurance. Show all posts

Data breach may affect Apple Health / Medicaid subscribers

Saturday, February 7, 2015

From the Office of the Insurance Commissioner

Insurance giant Anthem today announced that up to 80 million consumers nationwide may be affected by a data breach of current and former customers’ names, social security numbers, contact information and birthdates. It does not appear that any health information was obtained.

Anthem has told the Insurance Commissioner that affected Washington consumers are largely enrolled in Apple Health, the state’s Medicaid program. Anthem does not have any indications at this time that Washington consumers who are enrolled in private, individual health insurance are affected by the breach.

Insurers are required to notify the Insurance Commissioner of security breaches that involve Washington consumers’ information. The Insurance Commissioner will remain in close contact with Anthem as more information is available. The Insurance Commissioner is also working with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners on this increasingly common occurrence.

Anthem has created a webpage for consumers to find information about the breach and set up a toll-free number for people with questions at 1-877-263-7995. Anthem will contact affected consumers and is offering free credit monitoring and identity protection to people who are affected. 


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Health insurance help at Northgate Mall Sunday

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Seattle and King County Public Health

For anyone with questions about getting health insurance, or worried about making the right choice an enrollment event this weekend could help.

And the timing is right. There’s less than one month left in the “open enrollment” period for Washington Healthplanfinder.

The deadline is February 15 to be able to purchase insurance with discounts available only through the Healthplanfinder website. Anyone without insurance could face a penalty when they file their income tax return. 

At Northgate Mall, Public Health–Seattle and King County joins with local agencies across the state as part of Healthplanfinder’s It’s About Time: Enrollment Drive

Details: 
North Seattle, Sunday Jan. 25 — 11:00 am to 3:00 pm — Northgate Mall (Ben Bridge Court), 401 Northeast Northgate Way, Seattle, WA 98125. Languages include English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Amharic. map

At this large event — or at any of the enrollment help sites available throughout King County, every day – the help is free and comes from trained experts, called Navigators. Just show up. 

To speed up your application, have this information available for all household members: birth date, social security number, and annual income before taxes and deductions, along with a passport, alien or other immigration number for immigrants.

Although “open enrollment” ends on February 15, it’s open year-round for people whose income qualifies for Apple Health (Medicaid), and to people who experience a major life event, such as losing a job, getting married or having a baby.


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LFP Mother confronts Washington Health Plan Finder staff

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

According to a story on King 5.com, a Lake Forest Park mother of three grew so frustrated with her medical bills being denied under her new insurance policy that she and her children refused to leave the Olympia offices of Washington Health Plan Finder until they solved her problem. They did.



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OIC - Medicare explained

Thursday, January 1, 2015

The Office of the Insurance Commissioner has posted information for consumers about Medicare insurance options.

Often a confusing issue, Medicare and the various options can be bewildering for potential subscribers. Information from health plans is generally slanted toward options from that company alone. Just because the company has a good reputation does not mean that it has the right plan for every eligible person.

The OIC breaks it down step by step (but take your time - it's still complex)

Medicare
Medicare is federal health insurance for people age 65 and older, and those who are under age 65 on Social Security Disability Income, or diagnosed with certain diseases.



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Insurance Commissioner: Does insurance have to replace my entire roof?

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Photo courtesy OIC
From the Office of the Insurance Commissioner

Here's a consumer question related to winter weather: My insurer will repair a portion of my roof that was damaged, but won’t replace the entire roof to match. Can they do this?

This is a common question and it's a frustrating issue for consumers. The short answer is yes, insurers can do that.

Home insurance policies cover direct physical damage to the roof, like a tree branch falling in a wind storm and poking a hole in the roof, or blowing a section of your shingles off and allowing water to enter. The insurer will repair the damaged portion of the roof and any resulting water damage. The insurer would not pay to repair any sections of your roof that are not damaged. 

If you decide you want the entire roof replaced, you would have to pay for replacing all non-damaged areas of the roof.

Read more about homeowner insurance on our website. Questions? You can contact our consumer advocates online or at 1-800-562-6900.


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Bring $25,000 to your community – State Farm Neighborhood Assist

Thursday, February 28, 2013


Have you ever wanted to help your community with a problem but didn’t know where to start? Maybe it’s a run-down park or to help the impoverished in your community. Now, YOU have the power to fix it. State Farm Neighborhood Assist wants to help identify and address key issues faced by consumers throughout the United States and parts of Canada.

State Farm Neighborhood Assist, a crowd-sourced philanthropic initiative, lets communities determine where grant funding is awarded, exclusively through Facebook. The application is short and simple, and I encourage you to check out the Facebook application @ . You, or someone you know, could be the catalyst for positive change to your community cause!

The submission phase is open from February 13– March 6 and each Facebook user who downloads the free application can submit up to three causes. Anyone living in Canada or the United States with a Facebook account is eligible to submit a cause. It’s better to submit early - a maximum of 3,000 submissions will be accepted. All you have to do is submit the cause; you don’t have to “run the program.” The cause must fit into the categories of safety, community development or education.

After the submission stage ends, the State Farm Youth Advisory Board (YAB), a group of college and high school students from across the country, will read and narrow down all the submissions to the top 200 finalists. What the YAB is looking for:

  1. How much does your cause focus on an unmet need in your community?
  2. How would you use the $25,000 to address the unmet need?
  3. How much of a lasting impact on your community would the proposal have?
  4. How will your project define and measure your success?
Once the top 200 causes are identified, they will appear on the Facebook application to be voted on by you and your community. The voting stage will last from April 4 – 22 and each Facebook user gets 10 votes every day. Winners will be announced on April 29.


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Northshore Fire Department receives State Farm grant to teach fire safety to children

Friday, August 12, 2011

The Northshore Fire Department received a grant from State Farm Insurance for $4,328 to assist with funding for the Department’s Elementary School Fire Safety Program. 

Northshore Fire will begin its fifth year presenting the program this fall in the five elementary schools in the fire district. 

State Farm has invested in this important program since its inception in 2007, and the Northshore Fire Department values its partnership with them.

 “The Northshore and Shoreline School Districts have supported this program from the beginning and have generously allowed us into the classrooms to deliver these important safety messages to the students,” said Fire Marshal Jeff LaFlam.
Northshore firefighters and fire prevention staff visit the Kindergarten, 1st, 3rd and 6th grade classrooms to teach students about fire safety and fire survival skills. More than 6,150 students have benefited from this program over the last four years. Students receive a take-home folder with information that reinforces what they learned in class. It also includes resources for the whole family.


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