| Bill Brosius Underpaid teachers? You decide
Throwing money at education does not improve results. I showed that two weeks ago. The local situation? Government has a virtual education monopoly (only 12 percent of students attend private schools or are home schooled - an insignificant influence on public schools); there is little opportunity for competition in pay scales. Most jobs are in markets where worker and employer can shop among many choices. Not so with teachers. One measure is comparison among professions, while accounting for all factors, giving each fair value. Each benefit, such as employer-paid Social Security, has value to the employee. Other benefits are 401k and pension contributions, unemployment insurance, workman's compensation, life insurance, continuing education expense, and teacher's health insurance (medical, dental, eye, drugs and preventive), which is about the best anywhere, costing the employer $8,863.
As Health Costs Soar, More Find Care Overseas
WHEN SHE WAS diagnosed with a fibroid tumor last year, Kathleen Dodds found herself in a bind. She didn't have health insurance because she couldn't afford it. With no insurance, the surgery she needed was prohibitively expensive. "They were quoting me $30,000, tentatively, paid out of pocket," says Dodds, 42, a Portland, Ore.-based horse trainer. "There was no way I could afford it here." But 7,200 miles away in India was an affordable solution. Through IndUSHealth, a company in Raleigh, N.C., that arranges medical care in India for U.S. citizens, Dodds flew out to the Apollo hospital in Delhi, where she had a successful hysterectomy that allowed her to return to her horseback riding students just two-and-a-half weeks later. The total cost: just under $10,000, including round-trip airfare, transportation to and from the hospital, a one-week hospital stay where she says she was treated with more care and attention than she had ever experienced in the U.S., capped by 10 days at a "gorgeous hotel." "It was actually a pleasant situation, considering that I was having major surgery," she says.
Britain sees rise in underweight babies
Save money on your health insurance. free independent advice for companies and individuals. Click for a fast quote from UK insurers. www.healthinsurancegroup.co.uk Medical Insurance Join AXA PPP Healthcare and receive up to three months free cover. Affordable medical insurance with plans to suit your needs. www.axappphealthcare.co.uk .
Maine Gov. Baldacci Releases Series of Proposals To Expand Health ...
Maine Gov. John Baldacci (D) on Wednesday unveiled a set of proposals to expand health care coverage in the state, including a plan that would require many residents to obtain health insurance, the Portland Press Herald reports (Carrier, Portland Press Herald, 4/5). Under the plan, Maine residents with annual incomes more than 400% of the federal poverty level would be required to purchase health coverage. Employers would be required to take part in a "pay or play" system, in which they would have to offer health care coverage to workers or contribute to a state fund that would subsidize health coverage costs. In addition, the proposal would create a "reinsurance" plan that would move high-cost health care consumers into a separate risk pool. Employers also would be able to charge higher monthly premiums for some groups.
Survey: Oregon nursing home care pricey
RICHMOND, VA - One year in an Oregon nursing home costs more than the average family in the state earns in the same period, according to an annual Cost of Care Survey released Tuesday by Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW). Portland tops the list of most expensive cities for long term care in the state. A private room in a nursing home in Portland averages a staggering $75,800 annually, or about $207.67 a day, the company's benchmark national survey indicated. Nursing home costs in other areas of the state will average $70,872 this year, or $194.17 per day. Comparatively, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average household income for families in Oregon is $42,944 per year. Genworth's 2007 Cost of Care Survey is the first of its kind to compare long term care costs across multiple years, looking retrospectively at the cost of long term care in Genworth's 2004 Cost of Care Survey.
Kulongoski gives Legislature grade of "incomplete"
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski gave the legislature a grade of "incomplete" Friday during a speech to the Portland City Club, praising lawmakers for their bipartisan work on fashioning a rainy day fund savings account, but adding that plenty of work remains before the session's scheduled end in June. .
Event Brief of Q4 2006 Conseco, Inc. Earnings Conference Call - Final
. Dan Murphy, Conseco, Inc., SVP, IR . Jim Prieur, Conseco, Inc., CEO . Gene Bullis, Conseco, Inc., CFO . Mike Dubes, Conseco, Inc., President, CIG . Greg Barstead, Conseco, Inc., President, Colonial Penn Life . John Wells, Conseco, Inc., SVP, Long Term Care . Jukka Lipponen, KBW, Analyst . Tom Van Buskirk, McMahan Securities, Analyst . Andrew Brill, Goldman Sachs, Analyst . David Merkle, Hold Capital, Analyst . Scott Perry, Conseco, Inc., President, Bankers Life . Mark Finkelstein, Cochran Caronia Waller, Analyst OVERVIEW Co. reported 4Q06 net loss applicable common stock of $3.7m or loss per diluted common share of $0.02. FINANCIAL DATA A. Key Data From Call 1. 4Q06 net loss applicable to common stock = $3.7m 2. 4Q06 loss per diluted common share = $0.02 PRESENTATION SUMMARY S1. 4Q06 Business Review (J.P.) 1.
Crash victim falls through the cracks of no-fault auto insurance ...
"A drunk driver, defendant, turned his truck into oncoming traffic and hit plaintiff's vehicle head-on. The impact threw plaintiff into the windshield. Her torso bent the steering wheel, and her knee slammed into the dashboard." So said the Michigan Court of Appeals in a case that went against plaintiff Krysta Gagne of Oakland County, who also suffered a concussion in that 2003 wreck. She required major knee surgery for an injury that has permanently affected her ability to work, walk and perform other functions of daily life. Gagne, 21 at the time, sued the drunken driver and his insurance company for noneconomic damages, given the indisputably negligent behavior that had harmed her young adult life. Courts, operating within the framework of state statute, are supposed to settle claims and disputes when people or things are damaged.
Judge Rejects Federal Antitrust, Racketeering Charges in Account ...
Plaintiffs in a class action suit against commercial insurers and brokers for alleged bid rigging and account steering have failed to show that the defendants' actions amounted to fraud under federal racketeering statutes or violated federal antitrust laws, a federal judge in New Jersey has ruled in dismissing the charges. Judge Garrett E. Brown Jr. in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., found that the plaintiffs failed to support their assertions that insurers and brokers conspired to suppress competition and fraudulently sell insurance and benefits by agreeing on certain bid-rigging, account steering and contingent commission arrangements. The judge did, however, give plaintiffs one more shot, granting them a 30 day window to come back with an amended case addressing his concerns.
A GIFT OF LIFE: Local families touched by tragedy, miracles tell ...
Danielle Keller used to think of organ donation recipients as people whose healthy organs had just worn out."I didn't realize how many children who were waiting, who never had a chance, who were never born with healthy organs, who really haven't had a chance to live life," Keller said.That changed when her daughter, Lexi, was born. Danielle and Nicholas Keller's firstborn had a severe heart defect that required surgery while she was an infant. Four years later, the little girl had open heart surgery, which was followed by a heart transplant that summer at Children's Hospital Boston."She was in a medically-induced coma," Danielle Keller said. "She didn't know she had a transplant until she woke up."Lexi Keller, now 7, doesn't remember much about being in the hospital except that she was scared.
UHS hikes birth control prices
The cost of birth control pills offered at University Health Services has skyrocketed in recent months, raising fears that women may switch to less effective methods or stop using contraception altogether. Students and health professionals are concerned this development could increase the risk of unplanned pregnancies.
Due to changes in federal legislation, Princeton no longer qualifies for reduced pricing for contraceptive pills and injections, the University announced this week. Prices have climbed from a $6 monthly flat rate to as much as $45 for some brand-name drugs, which students will have to buy from pharmacies.
"As the price goes up, women will make decisions about using expensive birth control or relying on other methods such as condoms, which may not be as reliable," said Dr.
Time for an insurance check-up
Beyond the rather obvious possibility that you may suffer financially from a fire, a theft, a liability claim, etc., the current political climate and realities regarding the availability and cost of insurance make it imperative that you take a look at your insurance program as a part of your business financial plan. An annual check-up of your insurance program is just as important for your financial health and peace of mind as the annual check-up with your medical practitioner is for your physical health and well-being. You may not be aware of all the exposures to accidental loss and the types of insurance coverage needed to protect you and your business. This is understandable. Your business is not medicine or insurance. Your business does include making sure the insurance program you have in place is proper and meets the protection needs of your operation.
Analysis: Medical technology gets personal
WASHINGTON, April 9 (UPI) -- While the future for personalized medicine has far exceeded expectations, funding is critical in order to continue taking the necessary steps, health experts said Monday. "We are on a real roll here in terms of the ability to discover things that we previously thought would take us a decade or more, which are in fact turning out at remarkable speed," said Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. Collins emphasized the April 2003 completion of the Human Genome Project, which incorporated more than 2,000 scientists from six different countries to achieve the common goal of mapping out all the letters of the "human DNA instruction book." That research created a platform to launch new applications of the technology that predict medical problems in people via personalized medicine.
Value-Based Insurance Design Strategies for Health Plans
High copayments can reduce utilization of valuable preventive services and treatments, and may result in worse health outcomes. But under a value-based benefit design, the more clinically beneficial a therapy is for a patient, the lower the patient's cost share would be. For example, a health plan may eliminate copays on post-heart attack beta-blockers or even consider paying patients to take the medicines while maintaining higher copays on expensive antihistamines used for common allergies. Early implementers of VBID are demonstrating that lowering or eliminating copays for certain medications can improve health outcomes and save dollars. For example, self-insured mail-services company Pitney Bowes, Inc. reported a one-year savings of $1 million after lowering copays for asthma and diabetes drugs.
Ailing woman finds balm in dogs
During Friday's practice at the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge, Karen Morin had to cheer on her Sheltie, Duncan, from the sidelines. Duncan received the last qualifying slot in the 60 weave pole challenge, but because of Morin's relentless health problems, she couldn't run with him. Nevertheless, the Glendale woman was able to take her mind off her constant pain last weekend and focus on her passion, training her Shelties in agility and obedience. .
|
