by Richard Brown
Insurers must ditch coal, insists California Commissioner
Threats from climate change, combined with losses on assets backing policyholders’ obligations, should force insurers to divest from thermal coal.
That’s the view of Dave Jones, California Insurance Commissioner. The Golden State regulator is the first in the U.S. to call for the divestment of such assets. Jones is also urging insurers to reveal their carbon-based investments, including holdings in oil, gas and coal, on an annual basis.
The move comes after last month’s high-level climate change meeting in Paris under the tutelage of French President Francois Hollande that set a limit on fossil-fuel pollution. Insurers, including France’s Axa SA and the UK’s Aviva Plc are to pull investments from fossil fuels or focus more on renewable energy.
Robert Hartwig, president of industry body the Insurance Information Institute, took a jaundiced view of California’s call. He said excluding one sector from an investment portfolio creates a slippery slope, where insurers might come under pressure to shed even more holdings and risk losing the benefits of diverse holdings.
Wolf dons extra One Call mantle
Apax Partners’ holding One Call Care Management has added the president and CEO roles to Dale Wolf’s Executive Chairman title.
Wolf, who joined the workers’ compensation claims resolution firm in 2014, succeeds Joe Delaney, former President and CEO, who left One Care last year. At the time Joseph Paduda, principal at Health Strategy Associates, said tough competition from smaller, single-focus companies had made the workers’ medical services sector ‘brutally competitive’.
Wolf began his career at
Travelers in the employee benefits and pension businesses. He joined Coventry Healthcare in 1996 as CFO and became CEO in 2005. During his time at Coventry, the company went from $1 billion in revenue to $13 billion, integrating over 20 acquisitions. The new CEO also served on the boards of Molina Healthcare and Catalyst Health Solutions.
Mississippi firefighters to call Teladoc
America’s biggest telephone and online health provider Teladoc has clinched the Mississippi Fire Department as a client. The Lewisville, Texas firm will provide telehealth services to 13,000 Mississippi Volunteer Firefighters and their dependents. Last year, Teladoc physicians performed over 575,000 telehealth visits.
Mississippi State legislature last year authorized funding for the Mississippi Insurance Department to offer a telemedicine medical health plan for volunteer firefighters in the state.
"This is the first statewide program of its kind in the country. We are excited that the Mississippi Insurance Department chose Teladoc to be its telehealth partner," said Cynthia Mark, vice president, Health Plan Strategy for Teladoc. “We’re proud to have the opportunity to extend health care coverage within the state and add to our record of providing more than 1 million medical consults to Americans.”
Alteris to cover California water systems
Argo Group unit Alteris Insurance Services is to become the insurance administrator for a group of water companies in California.
Alteris will serve the CalMutuals Joint Powers Insurance Authority (JPIA), a partnership between the California Association of Mutual Water Companies and the American Association of Water Distribution & Management, to insure non-profit water systems in California.
The CalMutuals JPIA was formed following California’s legislature passing AB 656 in September 2015. It allows mutual water companies to operate a JPIA for insurance and supporting services. Water districts, sewer districts, conservation districts and community services districts will be able to secure insurance coverage through CalMutuals JPIA, which will begin enrolling members next month.
Centene loses sensitive data on million clients
Healthcare services firm Centene has revealed the disappearance of six hard drives containing sensitive personal information on almost a million customers.
The St Louis, Missouri-based
Fortune 500 company revealed an ongoing internal search for the hardware containing the personal health information of people who received laboratory services from 2009-2015.
The data includes their names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, member ID numbers and health information. The hard drives do not include any financial or payment information, the company added.
Centene provides services to government sponsored healthcare programs that focus on under-insured and uninsured people.
