Flood Insurance Costs May Soar For Hardest-Hit Sandy Victims

TOMS RIVER, N.J. -- George Kasimos has almost finished repairing flood damage to his waterfront home, but his Superstorm Sandy nightmare is far from over.

Like thousands of others in the hardest-hit coastal stretches of New Jersey and New York, his life is in limbo as he waits to see if tough new coastal rebuilding rules make it just too expensive for him to stay.

Romney-Ryan Medicare: Privatized System Would Raise Premiums For Recipients: Study

WASHINGTON — Nearly six in 10 Medicare recipients would pay higher premiums under a hypothetical privatized system along the lines of what Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has proposed, according to a study released Monday.

The report by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation also found striking regional differences that could lead to big premium hikes in some states and counties. That finding instantly made it ammunition in the presidential campaign.

Health Insurance Premium Hikes Called 'Excessive' by Federal Regulators

Health insurance premium hikes in nine states as high as 24 percent are "excessive" and should be blocked, the federal Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday. The agency will have to depend on states to take action, however, because the federal government lacks the authority.

The health care reform law enacted in 2010 requires health insurance companies to present premium hikes of 10 percent or more for federal review. Since the law took effect, the Department of Health and Human Services has reviewed and made public more than 180 rate-review proposals for health plans that cover 1.3 million individuals and small-business employees.

Big annual health insurance premiums became a heated issue during the congressional debate over health care reform in February 2010, just one month before the legislation passed, when a California subsidiary of the insurance giant WellPoint sought to raise rates on its 800,000 customers by as much as 39 percent. At the time, President Barack Obama said he was "very disturbed" by what WellPoint's Anthem Blue Cross proposed.

Toronto drivers face hefty insurance hikes

Ashkan Alavi wants to know why he’s paying more money for less insurance.

The 44-year-old physicist expects to pay just over $1,500 this year in auto insurance premiums, up from nearly $1,150 last year.

Alavi has written to his Richmond Hill MPP to find out why his premium has risen 30 per cent from last year — despite auto insurance reforms that were meant to stabilize rates.

“I am a good driver, a clean driver. I have never made a claim in 18 years of driving,” Alavi said.

“So what did the government do? What was the reform for, if my premiums are not coming down?” Alavi said.