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Will individuals see the savings from insurance pandemic relief? Not quite

Will individuals see the savings from insurance pandemic relief? Not quite

Health insurance companies are offering their corporate customers rebates to offset premium costs and reflect lower medical spending as patients avoid doctors’ offices, routine procedures and elective surgeries during the coronavirus pandemic.



a person sitting at a desk: ACA Health Experts call center expert, Cynthia Hernandez helps Tiffany Wright get health insurance at the Ahmed and Roshan Virani Children's Clinic, Monday,Nov. 14, 2016 in Houston. It’s likely that 2021 health insurance premiums will remain around the same prices as 2020, experts said.

© Karen Warren, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle

ACA Health Experts call center expert, Cynthia Hernandez helps Tiffany Wright get health insurance at the Ahmed and Roshan Virani Children’s Clinic, Monday,Nov. 14, 2016 in Houston. It’s likely that 2021 health insurance premiums will remain around the same prices as 2020, experts said.


It’s unclear how big an impact the rebates, in the form of credits, might have on the premiums companies pay and contributions their employees make. Premiums vary from company to company and, depending on the circumstances, the rebates could lower premiums, keep them from rising or at least limit increases.

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Companies, meanwhile, will decide whether to adjust employee contributions to health insurance premiums based on the rebates they might receive.

Fewer claims were filed during the pandemic, meaning insurance companies paid out less, kept more of the premiums they collect and earned higher profits. As a result, insurers are coming under pressure to return some of the windfall to customers, particularly since the Affordable Care Act prohibits insurers from keeping more that more than 20 percent of premiums for administrative costs and profits.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued guidance in August that allows insurers to refund the excess profits this or next year as premium credits, which are discounts that reduce the amount paid monthly.

On Tuesday, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas said it would help customers during the pandemic by issuing $104 million in premium credits to employers that it insures. It also said it would adjust the price of 2021 premiums for individual and group plans, saving buyers

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Voya Launches New Program to Boost Retirement Savings for Minority-Owned Businesses

Voya Launches New Program to Boost Retirement Savings for Minority-Owned Businesses

Voya’s new ‘Just Right Advantage’ program seeks to increase retirement readiness for businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans, and members of the disability and LGBTQ communities — as well as nonprofits that serve them

New Voya research finds 79% of Americans believe corporations should support minority-owned businesses impacted by COVID-19

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced today a first-of-its-kind program to support greater retirement planning opportunities for minority, women, veteran, disability, and LGBTQ-owned businesses — along with nonprofit organizations that serve them. The Just Right Advantage™ Program is focused on helping employers and organizations within undercapitalized, underserved and “under-saved” communities by offering a fee credit when they establish or retain their retirement plan. In helping to support the employees within these businesses to become better prepared for retirement, the new program further expands on Voya’s recent efforts to help Americans address the financial challenges of COVID-19.

“We believe that this is an important time to support the businesses and communities that have been most heavily impacted by COVID-19, including those owned by minorities and other underserved communities,” said Rodney O. Martin, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer, Voya Financial. “The financial challenges brought on by the pandemic were exacerbated for many of the businesses within these communities due to forced closures and lack of access to relief funds. As part of our aspiration to be America’s Retirement Company, we commit to working together with employers and individuals to advance everyone’s opportunity for a better financial future. This is just one example of how we can do our part – and help demonstrate that Voya stands for diversity, equity and inclusion for all.”

The Just Right Advantage program comes at a time when a majority (79%) of Americans agree it is important that corporations do all they can to help minority-owned

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Car insurance UK: Drivers able to make savings as firms offer ‘financial support’

Car insurance UK: Drivers able to make savings as firms offer ‘financial support’

This means that many car insurance customers can make tweaks to their policies without fee or risk of suffering any heavy losses.Experts at uSwitch have urged customers that it could be worth going to firms to waive these fees and make changes which could reduce costs.

They specifically highlight how road users can update their mileage details to reduce their perceived road risk and therefore lower charges.

They warn that if your car is due for renewal, it is worth recalculating mileage based on how much you have driven in 2020.

This is expected to be wildly different from the mileage predictions submitted at the start of last year before the lockdown was considered.

This is especially the case for road users who may have been forced to work from home for long periods and give up a long daily commute.

READ MORE: Car insurance customers can ‘cut the costs’ of a policy today

“So if you want to recalculate your mileage, it could be worth giving them a call to waiver the amendment fee.
“If you have a record of your mileage from the last time you applied for cover, you could use this to calculate the difference used this year.

“If you don’t, you can always sum up how far you’ve travelled each day on average to get a rough estimation.”

MoneySavingExpert Martin Lewis has previously urged road users to take advantage of the sudden cut in cancellation and amendment fees to their advantage.

He revealed it was a great time for customers to shop around and switch for a new agreement as drivers would not be liable for costs.

Switching mid-agreement would result in heavy cancellation costs but under current measures, drivers can swap completely free of charge.

He has urged drivers to switch policies regularly to

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Hajj savings mobile app expected to entice Indonesian millennials

Hajj savings mobile app expected to entice Indonesian millennials

Mr. Budiono said Des Moines, Iowa-based Principal Global Investors LLC is the first money manager to sign on with BPKH to make the investment needed to reach out to that retail customer base across the sprawling Indonesian archipelago.

Working as the engine provider for BPKH on the strength of the digital initiative Principal designed for the project “is a great opportunity,” capable of positioning the money manager longer term to help retail customers meet a growing range of needs, Mr. Budiono said.

It fits with Principal’s goal of achieving a greater balance between the institutional segment of the firm’s Indonesian business — currently 70% of its 8.5 trillion rupiah ($573 million) in assets under management — and the remaining 30% it has raised through bank and insurance company retail platforms.

“Young Hajj will be our first direct-to-customer retail product,” Mr. Tan said.

While the challenges — and expenses — of building a retail business in a country like Indonesia are daunting, its large population, much of which is “underbanked,” and vast territory offer a backdrop where digital solutions can “leapfrog” those obstacles, said Thomas Cheong, Hong Kong-based president of Principal Financial Group’s business in Asia.

The success of local companies such as ride-hailing business Gojek — as Jakarta-based PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa is known — has effectively catalyzed the local market, paving the way for digital distribution to serve as the cornerstone of Principal Global Investors’ Indonesian retail business, Mr. Cheong said.

PGI is tailoring its Young Hajj savings program to extend for “five to 10 years, depending on the customer’s savings appetite,” Mr. Tan said.

The mobile app allows users to set their desired time period, between five and 10 years, for achieving the 25 million rupiah target, with an investment calculator setting the monthly contribution required to

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