Insurance Companies

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Which health insurance plan may be right for you?

Everyone likes a good deal, and health insurance bargains abound this time of year. But buyers should look beyond price when searching for a plan.

https://apnews.com/article/how-to-shop-for-health-insurance-16fa0b3d10e052e0e99699b4761a2d1a?

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The Secret Corporate Bounty Hunters Keeping People In Jail

The shadowy insurance companies underwriting bail bonds stand accused of a decades-long price-fixing conspiracy.

https://www.levernews.com/the-secret-corporate-bounty-hunters-keeping-people-in-jail/?

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For This Insurer, Breathing Now Comes With A Catch

Blue Cross Blue Shield just made it harder for many patients to get vital asthma and allergy medications — all while channeling more profits toward a PBM-affiliated pharmacy.

https://www.levernews.com/for-this-insurer-breathing-now-comes-with-a-catch/?

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? Mapped: Where insurance is soaring

Data: Bankrate. Map: Alex Fitzpatrick/Axios Extreme weather is driving sky-high home insurance prices in some especially storm-prone parts of the country, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick writes from a new analysis by Bankrate. Why it matters: Climate change is supercharging extreme weather events like hurricanes, increasing the odds of losses and claims and driving up insurance premiums. ? Zoom in: The national average for annual home insurance premiums is up 9% since 2023, hitting $2,470 as of July. Nebraska ($6,425), Louisiana ($6,274) and Florida ($5,735) — all three vulnerable to extreme weather — are just some of the states with shockingly higher-than-average premiums.

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🚗 Mapped: Car insurance relief

Data: Insurify. Map: Alex Fitzpatrick/Axios Car insurance prices dipped last year after a post-pandemic stretch of skyrocketing costs, Alex Fitzpatrick writes from a new Insurify report. 📉 The average annual full-coverage premium fell 6% nationally from 2024 to 2025, to $2,144. 📈 That relief comes after costs rose nearly 50% from 2022 to 2024, "partially due to risky driving behavior following the pandemic," the insurance-comparison platform says. Go deeper.

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💥 Trustbusting health insurance

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Stock: Getty Images

The idea of breaking up big health insurance companies has suddenly entered the political lexicon, even if it faces long odds of ever actually happening, Axios' Caitlin Owens reports. Why it matters: Politicians across the ideological spectrum are increasingly convinced that those owning multiple parts of the health care system have a big role in making medical costs unaffordable. This new crowd of insurance trustbusters has strong name recognition and political power. Think: Mark Cuban, AOC and a bipartisan bunch of high-profile senators. 👀 Breaking up big insurance companies would cause costs to go down by 30-40%, Cuban — who's been beating the "break them up" drum on social media lately — told Caitlin. Cuban, who started Cost Plus Drugs as an alternative to pharmacy benefit managers, said he's also tried to break into other parts of the health care system. But the dominant companies have stopped him from being able to compete. Breaking the companies up would eliminate "all the money that's going to health insurance companies that isn't going to care itself," he added. The flip side: The insurer trade group AHIP says health plans operate in fiercely competitive markets. Forced breakups could have unintended consequences, like driving more physicians into businesses owned by hospitals or private equity that research has shown raises costs, according to Brown University professor Christopher Whaley.