It’s that time of year. The time you start thinking about getting the kids to school on time, packing lunches and helping with homework.

The Covering Kids and Families organization hopes parents think about their children’s health insurance, too.

Volunteers with Covering Kids and Families have been out in the community for several weeks, trying to get more children enrolled in the state-run Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, which covers children up to age 19 in low-income families. The program offers medical, dental and vision coverage. Read more »

It won’t be much, but Florida homeowners — especially those in Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties — soon will see a dip in their skyrocketing homeowners insurance costs.

New policies announced Thursday allow insurance companies to charge higher deductibles for sinkhole coverage. Backers say the changes will make coverage more affordable and eliminate fraudulent claims if people have to pay more money out of pocket to claim their home sits on a sinkhole. Read more »

Attorney General Tom Reilly has appealed a state-approved premium hike that would boost significantly the price of the Bay State’s home insurance policy of the last resort, an increase that would hit Cape customers the hardest.

In an appeal filed Friday with the Supreme Judicial Court, Reilly contends state officials approved new rates for the so-called FAIR Plan without adequate data analysis.

The rate hike, which was requested last year by FAIR Plan administrators, would boost rates on the Cape and Islands by 25 percent. The rate increase would raise the current average premium for Cape customers from about $1,300 to $1,625. Read more »

Ron DeVizia is finding that it’s easier to get paid for filling prescriptions than for dispensing advice.

DeVizia, Kerr Drug’s manager of diabetes services, has designed an education program to teach diabetic patients how to manage their disease. But while Medicare will pay the $299 tuition, private insurers and Medicaid refuse.

The problem is that insurers pay pharmacists only to provide drugs, not health care services, DeVizia said. So far, his efforts to change the classification for his staff of 15 clinical pharmacists have been unsuccessful. Read more »

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao visited Naugatuck Valley Community College Friday to announce a $2.7 million federal grant that will establish the state’s first associate’s degree program in insurance and financial services.

The President’s High-Growth Job Training Initiative awarded the grant to the state Department of Economic and Community Development. The department is working with the state’s community college system and The Workplace Inc., southwestern Connecticut’s regional workforce development board, to develop the program. Read more »