Insurance

The Illinois House has passed a bill requiring insurance companies get approval for rate increases and give a 60-day notice to customers if they increase rates more than 10%. Insurance companies said this could raise rates in the long term and does not address the real cause of the rate increases.

Bloomington state Rep. Sharon Chung has introduced a insurance bill that invites conversation and compromise between insurance companies and the state.

Bloomington-Normal leaders are calling for better dialogue between lawmakers, Gov. JB Pritzker, and insurance companies such as Bloomington-based State Farm.

State Rep. Sharon Chung helped defeat a bill that would have allowed the state to regulate homeowners insurance rates.

The Illinois House rejected a bill that would have given the state Department of Insurance authority to regulate homeowners’ insurance rates.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office said the Illinois Department of Insurance is seeking zip-code level nationwide data about State Farm’s policies, including premiums collected, the types of policy coverage and insurance limits, and the number of claims against the policy.

In an email obtained by WGLT, the insurer says "if and when" changes are needed, the company will start with voluntary staff reductions whenever possible, but did not rule out the possibility of layoffs.

U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen spoke against patient loss of Medicaid coverage during a tour of a OSF HealthCare facility in Peoria.

Insurance companies operating in Illinois have a transparency problem with state regulators and consumers, four top state officials alleged Wednesday.

The head of Illinois’ insurance industry trade group said Tuesday that Gov. JB Pritzker’s attacks on State Farm were “unfortunate” and likely part of a push to give state regulators new power to reject rate increases.