Obesity rankings, by state...

Just in time for lunch, a new report pegs Washington as the 28th fattest state in America, with more than 1/4 of the state's residents considered obese.

States with the worst rankings tended to be in the Southeast (Mississippi, where more than 1 out of every 3 people is obese, was the worst, followed by Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia and Louisiana.) the report was done by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The data is pretty worrisome, with several indicators suggesting that America's weight problems are getting significantly worse.

Here's a WebMD story that summarizes the findings and includes the ranking of the states.

Statewide Poverty Action Network recognizes Kreidler for work opposing credit scoring

Washington's Statewide Poverty Action Network has awarded Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler a "2010 Leadership Award" for his repeated efforts to ban the use of credit scoring by insurers.

At Kreidler's urging, state lawmakers in 2002 and then-Gov. Gary Locke approved some of the nation's strongest limits on the controversial practice. As a result, insurance companies in Washington cannot cancel or decide not to renew someone's coverage due solely to credit score. They also cannot use certain credit-related factors to deny coverage or set rates, such as the number of credit inquiries.

Nonetheless, most insurers today still use credit as a key factor in setting rates.

Kreidler maintains that the practice is inherently unfair and penalizes drivers, for example, due to factors that have nothing to do with how they drive. Earlier this year, he called for legislation flatly banning credit scoring by insurers. The bill, opposed by the insurance industry, did not pass.

"Nonetheless, profiling the fact that this practice inappropriately disadvantages people by income will continue to be a focus of this office," said Kreidler.

State & insurers launch new program to help Washington businesses below Howard Hanson Dam find flood coverage

Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler and more than two dozen insurance companies have launched a new program to help Green River Valley businesses struggling to find flood coverage.


The “Washington Flood Market Assistance Plan” will act as a matchmaker, pairing businesses needing coverage with insurers selling it. The Surplus Line Association of Washington has agreed to act as administrator of the plan.

Last year, concerns about potential flooding below the Howard Hanson Dam made it difficult for some area businesses to find adequate coverage. Kreidler worked with state lawmakers and Gov. Chris Gregoire to get the law changed to allow this program.

“The Green River Valley is a key part of the state’s economy,” Kreidler said in a news release. “Companies must be able to find adequate coverage, both for flood damage and for business interruptions due to flooding.”

To date, 26 companies have volunteered to take part in the program, at Kreidler’s request. Businesses seeking coverage must apply through an agent or broker. For more information on the program, including a list of frequently-asked-questions (or, at this point, at least what we imagine will be asked), please see our Washington Flood Market Assistance Plan page.

If the voluntary program isn’t effective, the legislation also gives the insurance commissioner the power to compel companies to form a “joint underwriting association.” The joint underwriting association would act as an insurer of last resort.

“It remains my goal to resolve this on a voluntary basis if possible,” said Kreidler.

He’s also urging anyone in the potential flood areas – including homeowners and renters -- to strongly consider purchasing coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program.

For businesses, however, federal flood coverage is limited to $500,000 per building and $500,000 for contents. Also, the program doesn’t provide business-interruption coverage.

Reuters: "U.S. scores dead last again in healthcare study"

Reuters reports this morning that "Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed countries on health care, but get lower quality, less efficiency and have the least equitable system, according to a report released on Wednesday."

The report, put out by the Commonwealth Fund, includes data on health care spending by nation:

In 2007, health spending was $7,290 per person in the United States, more than double that of any other country in the survey.


Australians spent $3,357, Canadians $3,895, Germans $3,588, the Netherlands $3,837 and Britons spent $2,992 per capita on health in 2007. New Zealand spent the least at $2,454.

Kreidler meets with President Obama and insurers

Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler on Tuesday attended a White House meeting between President Barack Obama, cabinet members and about a dozen insurance company CEOs.
“President Obama certainly made one thing clear: Regardless of what you may hear from some people, the federal health care reform law will not be repealed,” said Kreidler. (For a timeline of what takes effect when, please see our Health Care Reform web pages.)

Kreidler was one of six state insurance commissioners at the private meeting, which was followed by a presidential speech about progress in implementing the health reform law.
“The president delivered a clear message to health insurers not to use these reforms as a way to artificially hike their rates,” said Kreidler. “And to make sure that doesn’t happen, he’s offering grants to state insurance departments, which scrutinize rate increases.”

For more details, please click here.

Washington man charged with insurance fraud; claimed his $33k collection of neckties was stolen

A Lynnwood, Wash. man has been charged with insurance fraud after claiming that car thieves had made off with his $33,000 collection of silk neckties.

Carlton H. Wopperer, 49, is scheduled to be arraigned on July 6, 2010 in Snohomish County Superior Court on two counts of insurance fraud.


Three times in 9 years, he claimed, thieves had stolen his collection of 212 silk neckties from his vehicle. But an investigation revealed that Wopperer had returned many of the ties within minutes of buying them.

“You can’t return a product, keep the receipt, and then claim that the product was stolen. That’s classic insurance fraud,” said Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. “And insurance fraud drives up the cost of premiums for everyone else.”

For more details on the case, please click here.
 
To report staged accidents, faked injuries, double-billing of insurers or other insurance fraud in Washington state, call the insurance commissioner’s Special Investigations Unit at (360) 586-2566 or email them at contactSIU@oic.wa.gov.

To report suspicious health insurance offers, Medicare fraud, or problems with agents or brokers, see http://www.insurance.wa.gov/fraud/report-fraud.shtml.

New and improved: An insurance "consumer toolbox"

We've recently improved our consumer page, which now has one-stop shopping for things like:
-Checking on an agent's license
-Seeing how financially healthy your health insurer is
-and comparing the number of complaints we get about each insurer.