| Federal oversight of insurance field could be beneficial
Have you ever wondered why banks, brokerages, mutual funds and most other financial firms are regulated at least partly at the national level - but not insurance companies?
Critics of the current system of state-by-state regulation say consumers could benefit from streamlined federal oversight, possibly to the tune of $50 or so in per-capita annual savings.
"The current system adds extra cost," said William McCartney, a senior vice president at insurer USAA. .
Crist: Premiums Will Drop More
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist sought Wednesday to reassure Floridians that they would get larger reductions in their insurance premiums than the single-digit price cuts the industry proposed last week. "You need relief, and we know it and we feel it," Crist said. "Don't believe your rates aren't going to go down as much as we would like. They are. I guarantee it. They're going to keep going down." The insurance-industry rate filings, prompted by a law crafted in January by Crist and the Florida Legislature, were far less than the reductions predicted by the state's political leaders. Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty had estimated average rate reductions of 24 percent on their overall premiums.
State Farm Florida Insurance Co., the state's largest private home insurer, last week requested a statewide average decrease of 7 percent.
I am writing this letter in support of Governor Blagojevich’s ...
I am writing this letter in support of Governor Blagojevich's health care plan, Illinois Covered. As a professional in the field of accounting and finance at a somewhat small company, I am very much aware of the rising costs of providing good health care coverage to employees. My concern is that these costs will rise to the point at which my company will no longer be able to provide this benefit to its employees. At that point I would need to seek out good affordable health care. Being a single household, I do not have the opportunity of being added to a spouse's coverage nor the additional disposable income to spend on other expensive healthcare options. I would join a group of over one million adults in Illinois without health insurance. I could not imagine my life without healthcare insurance.
Yee touts universal health care
The likelihood of Californians receiving universal health care was just one of many hot topics discussed during the first of several town hall meetings featuring state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo. The South San Francisco meeting Saturday led off a series of meetings to be held in both counties designed to allow residents the opportunity to voice their concerns to their representative. Lee focused on health care and discussed a series of recently introduced bills that could improve the health of kids, help stop dead-beat parents, provide emotional education to young students and stop citizens from using major roads as their own personal used car sales lot. Many Californians have no health care at all and those that make up the "working core" are steadily receiving less and less health insurance, Yee said.
Guardian Launches Coverage for Zila Pharmaceutical's ViziLite(R ...
NEW YORK, March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- In the wake of mounting evidence about the connection between oral health and overall health, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) today announced that it will offer coverage for ViziLite(R) Plus with TBlue630(TM), an oral cancer screening technology that can detect early signs of oral cancer. ViziLite Plus with TBlue630 can dramatically increase chances of survival. Guardian is one of the first benefits providers to offer ViziLite Plus coverage nationally through a dental PPO network. Oral cancer claims the life of one American every hour, according to The American Cancer Society. However, when oral cancer is detected early, treatment is 90% successful and less costly. The ViziLite Plus exam is fast and painless, and can help save lives.
USAA customer service is the best in the nation
Paul Grossman chats easily with a lieutenant calling USAA to buy insurance on a $7,500 engagement ring. The 24-year-old Grossman tells the military man that with a rock like that, she is sure to say yes. By the end of the call the ring is insured, Grossman has assured the lieutenant about the breadth of the coverage "from France to Atlanta or Timbuktu," and the deal is done with little fuss. "You guys are too easy," the lieutenant says as he compliments the San Antonio-based company on all aspects of its customer service. Grossman, a four-year USAA employee and part of the New Member Solutions Team, said those kinds of compliments from members are common in his day-to-day work. This is why USAA was named the best company in the country for customer service in any industry in a recent cover story in Business Week magazine.
Insurance relief a Category 5 letdown
If legislators believe their efforts to rein in soaring hurricane insurance costs have satisfied South Floridians, they should think again.
Here's a weather check: Many homeowners remain hot and bothered, and while some manage to hold out hope their premiums will dip significantly sometime soon -- as the politicians promised -- faith among the masses appears to be dissipating fast.
It's been two months since the much-hyped emergency legislative session that was supposed to deliver relief from skyrocketing insurance rates. Yet, many Floridians still face premiums that have doubled or tripled from a year ago, while others don't know what their final bills will be.
Legislators approved rollbacks in rates that were to average 24 percent. But members of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's insurance panel, readers who responded when asked to tell us how they are coping with high insurance bills, say legislators have not done enough.
Bill takes care of in-laws
California soon could become the first state where workers are paid for leaving their job to care for a seriously ill mother-in-law.Or father-in-law.Or brother, sister, grandparent or grandchild.Pending legislation would expand a 3-year-old, state-run program that provides temporary pay for bonding with a new child or caring for an ill parent, child, spouse or domestic partner.State Sen. Sheila Kuehl, a Santa Monica Democrat who proposed the new measure, Senate Bill 727, said it would create flexibility to help most families respond to health emergencies.California's current paid family leave program excludes too many people in a state of 37 million people, where it is not uncommon for extended family members to live together, Kuehl said."It was sort of artificial to say that if you happen to have a parent to take care of you, that's fine, but if you happen to only have your brother or sister, they can't take time off," Kuehl said.Carina Barlow, 42, of Vallejo said she could benefit from SB 727 some day.Barlow, a medical records clerk, said her employer balked two years ago when she sought a temporary leave to care for a diabetic brother who had suffered a heart attack.The incident forced Barlow to ask herself: What if she personally needed care? She is unmarried, with a young daughter, and her 80-year-old mother is in declining health, she said."Who's going to take care of me?" Barlow asked.
Business Highlights
The Bush administration announced new trade cases against China on Monday over copyright piracy and restrictions on the sale of American movies, music and books. Standing near a table of pirated movie DVDs, music CDs and books, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said American companies were losing billions of dollars annually from piracy levels in China that "remain unacceptably high." She said the United States would file the two cases Tuesday with the World Trade Organization, the Geneva-based organization that oversees trade disputes. One case will contend that Beijing's lax enforcement of copyright and trademark protections violates WTO rules, and the other will argue that Beijing has erected WTO-illegal barriers to the sale of U.S.-produced movies, music and books in China.
Firefighters on the edge
Community fire stations are accustomed to responding to E-911 calls, but at least three Grayson County fire stations are dialing for dollars but say they're getting no answer. “We're all on the edge of shutting down," said East Grayson County Fire Chief Bob Williams at a meeting Wednesday hosted by Clarkson's Fire Chief Andy Cain (who had a meeting room with the thermostat set higher than 55 degrees). All the chiefs (Leitchfield Fire Chief Carl Smith and Caneyville Fire Chief Anthony Clark did not attend.) agreed that their budgets were the problem -- expenses too high and income too low. Support from the public in the form of fire dues is looking like a peach blossom in a late frost. It's withering, they say. Dues at community fire stations range from $25 to $50 a year, but Williams says the number who actually pay their $25 dues in his Big Clifty area are 287 out of the 1,400 property owners in his district.
Belize International Business Corporations (IBC) Yield Asset ...
An international business corporation (IBC) is designed to facilitate four areas of money management: Asset Protection, Estate and Wealth Preservation, Secrecy and Privacy, and potential Tax relief. The Belize IBC can be used as part of a solution. .
Steering toward differing tax benefits
HEINZ and Heidi Peters are both required to use an automobile for work, although the tax treatment of their use is very different. As a sales representative who travels extensively, Heinz Peters is provided with a company-owned car for his use. An employee who has personal use of a company-owned vehicle is deemed to have received a taxable benefit that must be included in income. The taxable benefit consists of a minimum standby charge, which relates to the cost of the vehicle and that portion of the operating costs paid by the company which is for the employees personal use. Since all operating expenses of the vehicle are paid by his employer, Heinz reimburses the company for the personal use of the vehicle on a pro rata basis. Otherwise, he would be assessed a taxable benefit calculated at $.22 per personal kilometre travelled.
SAGU sweeps Paul Quinn
The SAGU baseball Lions came into Saturday's doubleheader with Paul Quinn College at the Waxahachie Sports Complex with the chance to even up their conference record to the 3-3 mark.The day opened with temperatures in the upper 30's, wind steady out of the north, and periods of rain, sleet, and primarily snow. No it was not February, but Easter Eve. SAGU would have to plow through the elements if their goal was going to be achieved.SAGU 10, PQC 9 .
Looking Back On Cheong Wa Dae Briefings for the Past Four Years
An analysis of the past four years worth of Cheong Wa Dae briefings first published upon the launch of the government of President Roh Moo-hyun revealed that 42.8 percent of the articles had criticizing or opposing views against the media (286 briefings), while 11.8 percent (79 briefings) posted criticisms of opposition parties. Lawmaker Kim Hee-jeong of the Grand National Party analyzed the first one, released March 3, 2003, to the 669th one, released March 19, 2007, at a question-and-answer session of the National Assembly. Out of a total of 669 editions of the Cheong Wa Dae briefings, five percent or 34 editions never mentioned national affairs management, including politics, policies, foreign affairs or security. They were merely full of criticisms against the media and opposition parties.
AARP Tax-Aide program still taking appointments
Pat Ballard didn't need much persuading to become an AARP Tax-Aide volunteer. She was well-acquainted with a senior citizen who needed help filing tax returns. That senior was her mother. "There's just a huge need in our community for [a] tax-aid service that's free to people," said Ballard, 58, who is devoting several hours of service each week at the Christiansburg Recreation Center where AARP tax assistance is offered four days a week through April 15. "I helped my mom do her [taxes] in her later years and realized there was a great need." Many others also give their time. Billed as the nation's largest free volunteer-run tax counseling and preparation service, The national AARP organization reports that an estimated 32,000 volunteers annually provide assistance to thousands of adults ages 60 and older.
NFL Draft: AFC East Team Needs
West Palm Beach, FL (AHN) - As the NFL Draft is just a few weeks away, there are many teams that need to look very closely at their depth charts and determine which positions they need to upgrade. With many quality athletes going pro this year, there should be plenty of available talent for teams to improve their rosters. This is a look inside the teams of the AFC East and breaking down what needs they will have come draft day. New England Patriots: The New England Patriots have had one of the best offseasons out of any of the 32 NFL teams, as they've spent money on top free agents to have many already predicting them to make a run at their fourth Super Bowl title of the decade. This offseason they added pro bowl linebacker Adalius Thomas, wide receiver Dante Stallworth, wide receiver Wes Welker, tight end Kyle Brady and running back Sammy Morris.
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