Insurance

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.

State Farm said Friday that Gov. JB Pritzker’s attacks on its 27% homeowners’ insurance rate increase are “factually incorrect” political rhetoric.

Gov. JB Pritzker took the rare step Thursday of attacking one of Illinois’ largest employers — State Farm — over its plans to increase homeowners’ insurance rates by 27%.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office Central Illinois district, Carrie Musselman, 48, stole more than $2.5 million from Medicare and a dozen insurance companies.

The investigation comes after California regulators approved State Farm’s request to raise premiums on an emergency interim basis. State Farm said the wildfires put the insurer in financial distress as it expected to pay $7 billion in claims related to the fires.

Hundreds of workers will lose their jobs as Champaign-based Health Alliance plans to cease operations by the end of the year.

The Illinois Senate has passed a pair of bills that are intended to lower prescription drug costs for patients and maintain their access to the medications.

At State Farm’s Technological Research and Innovation Lab, researchers are not only working on how to best protect policy holders, but also on how they can help to create the best products in housing materials.

A typical homeowner in Illinois is paying almost $1,000 more per year for home insurance, an increase that also impacts potential homebuyers.

State Farm has asked the state of California to approve an emergency 22% homeowner policy rate increase following wildfires in that state.