| Highmark merger plan brings scrutiny
Politicians, competing insurance companies and health care providers expressed concern Wednesday that a combination of the state's two largest health insurers, Highmark Inc. and Independence Blue Cross, will damage competition and raise health care costs. Ending two years of discussions, Pittsburgh's Highmark and Philadelphia's Independence announced yesterday that they intend to merge, creating a new company that will dwarf all other competitors in the state combined. The new company will insure 7.1 million of the state's 12.4 million residents. Such dominance has roused the state House and Senate to take a closer look at such deals. Yesterday, the state Senate approved a bill by a 48-0 vote that would increase state Department of Insurance oversight of such deals between non-profit entities.
Is the Conscience Respected?
NEW YORK, MARCH 19, 2007 (Zenit) - Here is a text by Carl Anderson, vice president of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, regarding the respect for conscience in life issues.
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THE CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE IN SUPPORT OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE
Respect for Conscience in Common Law Countries
Carl Anderson
Vice President, John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family
Supreme Knight, Knight of Columbus
Pontifical Academy for Life XIII General Assembly February 24, 2007
St. Thomas More is recognized in our time as one of the great defenders of human dignity and the rights of human conscience. We are all familiar with the famous lines from "A Man for All Seasons" regarding the role of conscience: In his refusal to sign the oath, More says "what matters to me is not whether it's true or not but that I believe it to be true, or rather, not that I believe it to be true, but that I believe it."[1]
St.
Don't nix antitrust insurance law
In his guest column ("Need for 'reform' in America's insurance industry is obvious," March 12), U.S. Sen. Trent Lott targets the insurance industry's limited antitrust exemption, part of the McCarran-Ferguson Act, as a reason why insurance companies earned profits in 2005. While I admire his commitment to Katrina victims, I respectfully disagree with his remedy. The antitrust exemption didn't cause the problems and repealing it will only exacerbate the state's insurance crisis. First, let me say that I do not represent or speak for State Farm. As president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Mississippi, I speak for small businesses in communities across Mississippi. We know how devastating Katrina was to our state. Going forward, we need to make insurance more affordable and available.
FRESH OFF ITS MAIDEN VICTORY, GAINSCO TEAM
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- The GAINSCO Auto Insurance team rolls into Homestead/Miami Speedway today on an emotional high, after Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty combined to score the team's first-ever Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series win less than three weeks ago at Mexico City. But the team knows that a tough race is ahead for the drivers and crew of the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac-powered Riley — Saturday afternoon's 109-lap, 250-mile Linder Industrial Grand Prix of Miami. The race, Round Three of the 2007 Rolex Sports Car Series, poses an entirely different challenge for Gurney and Fogarty — the tight confines of the 2.3-mile speedway road course allow little margin for error, and up on the high banks, horsepower is everything. Last year, the speedy Porsche-powered prototypes quickly drew away from the Pontiac-powered 99 — but after a successful test at the course earlier in December, both drivers are confident they'll have the speed to run up front this weekend.
Pet insurance: it's a dog eat dog world
Third-party cover can also be important in case your animal causes an accident or hurts someone else. Direct Line, for example, provides third-party liability of £1m, while the RSPCA provides £2m of third-party cover. Most brands offer two kinds of policy: standard and super cover. The more expensive policies will generally have higher limits and include a range of additional benefits such as refunding the cost of holidays cancelled because of a pet's illness. Only the holiday of the actual owner will be refunded, however - not the entire family's. Cover abroad is becoming more important, and is offered by a number of the gold-standard policies such as Direct Line's and Esure's. Similarly, many - but not all - will pay for emergency kennel accommodation if an owner is suddenly taken ill.
College student health-care plan to improve
Under Governor Rod Blagojevich's proposed "Illinois Covered" plan, college students will not only have the opportunity to remain dependents on their parents' insurance plans until they are 29 years old but will also enjoy improved insurance later in life.
Under the plan, three elements - Illinois Covered Choice, Illinois Covered Rebate and Illinois Covered Assist - will help enable affordable health care for all Illinois residents. In the Illinois Covered Assist portion, students who have jobs offering benefits and insurance will receive help in paying off high premiums.
"Oftentimes, students in college getting ready to graduate may not be hired right away for that great job that offers medical benefits," Blagojevich said in a March 27 press release. "They may end up taking a lower-paying job without benefits and being unable to afford to buy their own health insurance."
Dr.
Florida Company - First Care Colombia- Provides More Medical Care ...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla./EWORLDWIRE/March 23, 2007 --- Health care innovator, First Care Colombia, LLC offers savings of up to 80 percent on medical and dental care in Colombia. First Care Colombia lends much needed credibility to a burgeoning industry with its staff of medical professionals and managers who are affiliated only with internationally certified clinics that meet rigid standards of certification. First Care Colombia's clinics located throughout Colombia offer a variety of services, with more popular procedures such as orthopedic surgery, heart surgery, transplant surgery, cosmetic surgery and dental care. A price comparison chart reflects dramatic price differences for health care in Colombia. Catalina Gomez, a spokesperson for First Care Colombia, notes that persons considering medical tourism should have realistic and complete price estimates that include all the associated fees with a given medical procedure.
Nationwide named most trusted insurance company
Nationwide has been named one of the Most Trusted Companies for Privacy for the second time by the Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe.
Nationwide was named to the Top 10 list, as well as being named the top company in the insurance industry.
The Web-based research study asked respondents to name one to five companies in 23 industries listed in the study they believed to be the most trustworthy when handling their personal information.
Company names were not provided in the survey instrument to allow participants to freely select the organizations believed to be most trusted for privacy. Nationwide was also named to the list in 2004.
More information about award criteria is available at www.truste.org.
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It ain’t Slovakia
Ministers hope a watered down version of Slovakias much hailed tax reform squeezes through the Czech Parliament; some say a much stronger economic medicine is required. Disappointed economic analysts were quick to speak of timidity after the governments proposed tax and public finance reform package was finally presented last week. They were, however, in ready agreement with Minister of Finance Miroslav Kalouseks warning that the Czech Republic needs to be saved from a debt trap. And the package, the consensus of opinion ran, does contain some steps required to prevent such a destructive scenario. According to the governments April 3 presentation, mandatory social benefit expenditure will be higher than overall tax revenues by as early as 2009. [These reforms] wont fix the problem, but they will make the problem less acute, said Pavel Sobek, a macroeconomic analyst at HVB Bank Czech Republic.
DSM turns positive ahead of first quarter results
Doha: The Doha Securities Market gained for the second day yesterday, led by financial stocks and Industries Qatar. The index rose above the 6,000 level and wealth to near QR200bn.
The 20-stock benchmark Qatar Share Index rose 1.16% or 69 points to close at 6,053.19, supported by marginal buying interests in the services and insurance stocks. The market has lost 15.14% year-to-date.
The first quarter results are expected to trickle in at any time and “we don't find any reason for it to be gloomy and hence market should look up," said an analyst.
Qatar Islamic Bank has also announced its QR1bn fund targeting mainly Shariah-compliant stocks in the local market.
Banking and financial institution gained the maximum of 1.95%, followed by industry (0.93%), insurance (0.25%) and services (0.07%).
Executive items
Amy Papp has joined Stephen Russell & Associates Ltd. as an intern architect. She holds a degree in urban planning from the University of Cincinnati and a master's degree in architecture from Clemson University. Previously, she worked for MG Architects. Automotive Marshall Morris, Mary Smith, Terri Rogers Cameron, Doug Abernathy, Joe Daly and Lew McEwen have joined Morris Nissan. Morris is business development manager. He holds bachelor's degrees in automotive marketing and business management from Northwood University. Smith is Internet manager. She has more than 14 years of experience in management. Cameron is controller. She has more than 20 years of experience with Nissan and holds a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of South Carolina.
Local man made historic trip to pole
The St. Cloud resident and Duluth native had to abort his first attempt four decades ago to travel to the North Pole by snowmobile, but the mechanic made it a year later. "We were too overloaded — I had over 700 pounds of parts and tools — and our snowmobiles were too underpowered, and we didn't know enough about the terrain at all," he recalled on the 40th anniversary of his first attempt. "The biggest mistake was that there were too many people — two tents and all 12 people. It just bogged us down, so we reduced that to four men on the ice the next year." Pederson made it into the record books — and the hearts and minds of dreamers everywhere — on April 19, 1968, as part of the first mechanized expedition to reach the North Pole.
'Fewer Australian women drive excessively fast'
Fewer female drivers in the state of South Australia drive at excessive speeds compared with their male counterparts, a study has shown.The females, who may be keeping to the speed limits in a bid to avoid having to claim on their women's car insurance, were surveyed by Australian insurer SGIC.Some 12 per cent of female drivers admitted to driving above 150km per hour, compared with 45 per cent of men, reports The Advertiser.In Queensland however, the average for men rose to 48 per cent, compared with the national average of 40 per cent. Female drivers in the state were found to be even more likely to watch their women's car insurance premiums, with only four per cent admitting to driving at speed.Recently, psychologist Geoff Beattie told FemaleFirst.co.uk that men are involved in more accidents than females - potentially the reason behind many cover providers offering cheap women's car insurance deals.Kwik-Fit Insurance was found to be the UK's cheapest women's car insurance provider by research from 2006.© Adfero Ltd
Other Recent Women Drivers ArticlesWomen drivers 'less likely to be colour-blind'
Women drivers 'should check new car's status'
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Royal Courts `Crucial' Blue-Collar Vote to Stay in French Race
April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Segolene Royal got star treatment when she visited striking auto workers at a PSA Peugeot Citroen factory near Paris recently. Greeted by chants of ``Segolene Presidente,'' the French presidential candidate signed autographs and warded off embraces. By tapping into anxieties about job losses and advocating universal union membership, Royal, 53, is seeking to win back the support of blue-collar workers, whose defection to nationalist candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen sank her Socialist Party in 2002. Industrial employees represent an estimated 25 percent of the electorate, making them France's biggest voting bloc. Their backing would increase Royal's chance of getting through the April 22 first-round balloting to reach the May 6 runoff against front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy by fending off self-styled centrist Francois Bayrou, 55, and five-time candidate Le Pen, 78, of the anti-immigration National Front party.
Improving cash flow, securing the future
(FSB Magazine) -- David Zugheri is one goal-oriented guy. In 1997, when he was 27, he cashed in his retirement savings ($4,000) and co-founded his business, First Houston Mortgage (firsthouston.com). The firm was profitable within a month. Next, Zugheri designed a plan to save $100,000 in cash and stock by age 30 and to comfortably retire by 35. By working long days (often spending all night in the office) and scrimping to extreme (he lived on ramen noodles), Zugheri reached the $100,000 goal by the time he was 28. Then, thanks to savvy investing, he increased that sum to $280,000 one year later. .
GC-Global Capital Corp. Provides Secured Bridge Financing to ...
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/09/07 -- GC-Global Capital Corp. ("Global Capital") (TSX VENTURE: GDE.A) is pleased to announce that it has completed arrangements to provide a six month bridge loan to OneMove Technologies ("OneMove"). The bridge loan is secured by a first ranking general security agreement over all present and future movable property of OneMove and OneMove Online Systems Inc. (the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary), a share pledge of 100% of the shares of OneMove Online Systems Inc., and a personal guarantee from Mr. Martin Johnson, the Company's President and CEO. Along with the 1% interest per month the company has engaged GC-Global Capital to provide financial advisory services for a period of one month for 125,000 common shares. In conjunction with Global Capital's bridge loan OneMove has secured an additional $1,140,000 in debt financing that ranks behind Global's interests.
There's a market for swapping homes for vacations even in out-of ...
WHEN Nancy Atwater first heard about home exchange programs, she thought it would be a great way to travel. Her only concern: Who would want to vacation in her home in Sperry, Okla.? The appeal of home exchange vacations where people swap homes, and often vehicles and even pets is basic: free lodging with many of the comforts of home. It's easy to imagine swapping for a vacation destination a loft in New York, a pied-a-terre in Paris, a beach house in Florida or a ski condo in Aspen. But what if your hometown doesn't immediately come to mind when vacations are being planned? "At first there was skepticism about who would want to come to Oklahoma, but the answer is all sorts of people," Atwater said. "It's people who realize the U.S. is more than just the East Coast and the West Coast." Over the years, she and her husband, both retired, have arranged three exchanges through home-swapping Web site HomeLink International.
That's odd: Home-builder survey doesn't match other one
Question: Our neighbor complained that some of our trees and a fence post are on his property. We had a survey done to confirm the boundaries. It differs from the improvement location certificate (ILC) our home builder provided to us at the closing.
Is it unusual for the survey and the builder's certificate to differ?
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Broker tips: Home Retail, Biffa, Resolution, easyJet, BAE
LONDON (SHARECAST) - Home Retail Group hit a new high today after Citigroup upgraded the Argos owner to 'buy' from 'hold' and raised its price target to 500p from 450p. The broker attributed its move to a more favourable risk/reward valuation, adding that possible bid speculation could at the very least reduce downside. It noted that the company was on the receiving end of a provisional offer prior to the demerger of GUS into Home Retail and Experian effective last October. Biffa tumbled though as the waste management company warned of bottom end full year revenue and profits, prompting Merrill Lynch to repeat its sell recommendation. The group, which blamed the news on reduced second half profits at the collection division, is on a pricey valuation of 11.2 times EV/EBITDA for 2007/8, said the broker.
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