The first potential rates for health insurance customers in the 2021 have been released by insurers in Vermont, Washington, and Oregon — giving an idea of what coverage might cost in 2021. According to Yahoo! Finance, almost every insurance company that referenced the pandemic stressed the unprecedented level of uncertainty for 2021, due to Covid-19. Vermont’s insurers proposed increases of 6.3% for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont and 7.3% for MVP, compared to last year’s rates. Yahoo! said that MVP estimated Covid-19 was responsible for 1.6% of the 7.3%, but Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont didn’t mention coronavirus as a factor. Oregon insurers’ expectations ranged from a 3.5% decrease to an 11.1% increase, with Washington presenting an even more varied picture.
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has hit back at claims made in a report from insurance governance consultancy Mactavish, which said brokers had a “huge conflict of interest” because they receive 80% of their income from insurers. The representative body for brokers said its members “closely follow” the FCA guidelines on managing conflicts of interest, and called Mactavish “opportunistic” for its assertion that Covid-19 had “brutally exposed” problems in the market regarding brokers’ commission, and said the firm’s report was “designed to allow them to gain from these published opinions.” Mactavish’s business model is based on advising consumer businesses in disputes with insurers.