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Lawmakers unveiled legislation Monday that aims to protect small businesses and their workers from drastic health insurance rate hikes.

The proposal is one of several pending this session to increase health coverage in Colorado while a commission studying comprehensive reform completes its work.

The newest bill, by Reps. Anne McGihon, a Denver Democrat, and Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, would prohibit health insurance companies from using the health history of workers in setting rates for businesses with 50 employees or fewer.

"It's not often in the arena of health reform that we see a clear problem with a clear solution, but this is one of those rarities," said McGihon.

"This proposal will prevent insurance companies from increasing that burden just because of an individual employee's health issues," Massey said.

Governor touts health plan, gross receipts tax during Decatur stop

DECATUR - With the rising cost of health care, Barry Geogehegan struggles to pay more than $700 a month for insurance for himself and his son. Providing his employees with health care coverage at his small business, Barry's American Cycles, is currently out of the question.Geogehegan shared these challenges with Gov. Rod Blagojevich at Barry's American Cycles on Thursday afternoon in an effort to push for the governor's recent budget proposal."We have to start somewhere with health care; if people have health care problems, it turns to bankruptcy," Geogehegan said. "If the governor can make that better around the state, that's a great thing."Blagojevich's stop through Decatur was one of the last visits of his four-day Investing in Families Bus Tour to promote his Investing in Families initiative, which includes Illinois Covered.The proposed Illinois Covered plan is designed to ensure that everyone has access to affordable health care coverage.

UC Increases Pay for Low-Wage Workers

April 09, 2007 — The University of California has recently announced that it will offer $7.8 million to its 36,000 lower-paid employees in order to increase annual salaries.

These wage increases apply specifically to those paid $40,000 or less per year and took place April 1. However, negotiators for unions representing campus laborers are still holding talks with the university concerning the amount of money allocated to employees.

Caroline Buckmaster, president of the San Diego branch of the University Professional and Technical Employees and a staff research associate at UCSD, expressed reluctance about approving of the current agreement.

"The university received $3 million of surplus cash from the state," she said. "In the current agreement, only 0.31 percent of that money is being geared toward raising wages for the employees."

Buckmaster also said that the seemingly progressive wage increase was unimpressive.

Union files charges with labor board against Albertsons

NORTH COUNTY ---- The union representing Southern California grocery workers has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that Albertsons intimidated workers in the lead-up to Sunday's membership vote to authorize a possible strike.
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FM'S REPLY TO DABATE ON GENERAL BUDGET IN LOK SABHA

"Mr. Speaker Sir, I am grateful to the Honourable Members belonging to different political parties who have participated in the debate on the Budget for 2007-08. I have listened to most of the interventions and I have also studied the notes made on the other interventions. It seems to me that most Members have mixed views: while they are genuinely happy about the impressive growth of the economy, they are legitimately concerned about some aspects of the growth which affect sections of the people. In fact, I share these sentiments and I have given expression to them in the Budget speech. There is no doubt that we have recorded an unprecedented rate of growth, but the question is, is the growth inclusive? There is no doubt that there is an investment boom in the country, but the question is, is the investment across all sectors, especially agriculture? There is no doubt that more jobs have been created, but the question is, are there jobs available for all? In the course of my reply, I shall make an attempt to answer these questions.

If physician opts out, you're on your own

I have Medicare and a federal retiree health insurance plan. The specialist I want to go to has opted out of Medicare, and I had to sign a contract with her that I would accept the full cost of her services which would ordinarily be covered by Medicare.

I agreed to this because I thought my federal coverage would pay the bill for me. However, I was billed a lot of money anyway. Is that right?

Because you entered into a private contract with your physician, Medicare will not pay any portion of the charges, and your federal plan, which supplements Medicare, won't increase its payment to the specialist, either.

The payment from your supplemental plan will be limited to the amount that would have been paid after the original Medicare plan paid. You are responsible for paying the difference between the billed amount and the amount your supplemental plan paid.

SELLING POINTS Overcoming the reputation of a salesperson

Every salesperson has experienced the fallout from working in a profession with a bad reputation. Regardless of whether it's cars, insurance or cute, cuddly puppies, people seem to turn their nose with just the thought of talking to a salesperson.

During my grandfather's wake, a conversation with a commercial real estate agent took a sharp turn toward a crude plug for his business. Among mourning friends and family, and no more than 10 feet from my grandfather's casket, the agent reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a business card. Smiling, he said, I would love to talk to you about a few commercial properties I have listed.

Business leads

Three South Florida public relations firms are among the top 100 in the 2007 O'Dwyer's Ranking of Independent PR Firms. The Jeffrey Group, Miami, tops the region at No. 72, with 2006 net fees of $3.7 million (up 16 percent from 2005). Wragg & Casas, Miami, is No. 73 ($3.6 million, up 38 percent), and Boardroom Communications, Plantation, is No. 96 ($2.1 million, up 12 percent). Others on the list: Thorp & Co., Miami (No. 102), Pierson Grant, Fort Lauderdale (No. 103), O'Connell & Goldberg, Hollywood (No. 106) and Transmedia, Boca Raton (No. 125).

Insurance

The Insurance Information Institute recently launched a new Web site to help small business owners understand their insurance coverage and save on their premiums.

The site, www.iii.org/smallbusiness includes information for specific types of business ranging from nonprofit organizations to retail businesses to farms.

Understanding Residential Real Estate with Michael Olear

Lester Robinson of the Northwoods Agency and his guest will be Michael Olear of MJ Peterson Real Estate. Mike will explain the process of buying and selling your house in Western New York. Mike will give out tips on how to make the real estate process easier and more enjoyable for the first time home buyers. Mike will also talk about his relocation kit that he has set up for people moving into and out of Western New York. Mike will discuss how he is able to increase the sale of a home listed with him over other real estate agents in Western New York. Mike will also talk about his special program for older homeowners that are buying and selling there homes Michael Olear will review residential Real Estate on how to have a better understanding of the whole Real Estate process. This is a one of a 9–episode series exploring real estate for the first time buyer topics ranging from the buying tips to how to lower your property taxes, and the future of real estate in Western New York.

In Japan, private health care filling public gaps

TOKYO: Johns Hopkins Hospital, taking advantage of Japan's dissatisfaction with public health care, has started a clinic in Tokyo that charges as much as ¥2 million for a three-day medical checkup.

Medical care for an aging population is absorbing more than 40 percent of the government's health budget, leaving less money for hospital emergency rooms and clinics. Almost half of Tokyo residents say they are frustrated by long waiting times at hospitals, a city government survey shows.

CIGNA: Sullivan employees filling prescriptions at 'alarming' rate

BLOUNTVILLE - Employees of Sullivan County, and their family members covered under the county's health insurance plan, are filling prescriptions at an "alarming" rate for a group their size, a CIGNA insurance company representative said Thursday.

The most-prescribed type of drug was pain medication at 957 prescriptions filled, followed by acid-reflux medications at 722 prescriptions filled, and cholesterol-lowering medications at 606 prescriptions filled.

Gazette Opinion: Lawmakers must CHIP away kids' care barrier

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus and a ballroom full of parents, health-care professionals and policy makers this week turned the spotlight on national efforts to insure American children. Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, held a hearing in Billings to get ideas on improving the federal Children's Health Insurance Program, which will expire in September. Baucus said reauthorizing and expanding CHIP is his No. 1 health-care priority and he pledged to have it accomplished well before the Sept. 30 deadline.In Montana, the state's Children's Health Insurance Plan faces a tighter deadline. Any improvement of the program for the next two years must be authorized by the Legislature before it adjourns in the next three weeks.Senate Bill 22 sponsored by Sen. Dan Weinberg proposes to expand eligibility by raising the maximum family income from 150 percent of poverty to 175 percent of poverty ($36,177 annual income for a family of four).

The Allstate Corporation at AIFA 32nd Annual Conference - Final

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: In the interest of time, let's get started. Here, we are having some technical difficulty. We don't have a laptop. We are going to get one. But, what we are going to do is, our speaker is, Allstate, the second one. It's Fred Cripe, Senior Vice President - Product Operations. He is responsible for Allstate's pricing, product management, underwriting, and research and development. So, there is really no question that Fred shouldn't be able to answer. And so, what we are going to do is, we are going start with Q&A and then, Fred will go through the presentation. So, why don't we do it this way and in the flip side, until the laptop comes in and we put the slides on. UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: And, I'll start with the first question, since one of the comments this morning by Bruce Marlow was that Direct was going to own the personal auto industry going forward.

Tomorrow On Today: What We're Looking At For Monday

Bonnet's won't do this Easter Sunday. It's more like an Easter tuke. The tulips and lilies are shivering from the Midwest, to the South and the Northeast. Tomorrow we'll tell you how much longer we'll have to live with this cold snap.