The News Review:
- AIG Seeking Government Bailout Warned f ‘Run’ n Insurance Cos
- Petition: Keith lbermann make Insurance Industry Lobbyist Karen …
- Guilty Plea in Fiery Avon Pileup
- The Dangers of AIG utrage
- Health plan holds sign-up for public insurance
- Some Relief for the High Cost of Health Insurance
AIG Seeking Government Bailout Warned f ‘Run’ n Insurance Cos
CNNMoney.com
The argument was made in a March 6 paper entitled “AIG: Is the Risk Systemic?”and prepared for government regulators to make the company’s case for continuedgovernment funding. The New York Times reported on aspects of the paper earlierin March and an AIG spokesman said the company decided to release the paper dueto that and other coverage of the contents. The concept of a run on an insurance company is akin to a run on a bank. Either an insurance company or a bank would be hard pressed to meet massiverequests by customers for funds. For AIG to sketch such a desperate scenarioindicates its eagerness to secure a further bailout. In the draft presentation AIG said a “run on the bank” in its life-insurancecompanies could create a systemic risk that would spread to its life insurer “brethren. ” Although AIG’s troubled financial-products division has been responsible formuch of the company’s losses over the past few quarters the life-insuranceindustry also creates a world-wide systemic risk AIG argued.
Petition: Keith lbermann make Insurance Industry Lobbyist Karen …
Huffington Post
Your award brings more truth and justice to politics by calling out those who do wrong. With that in mind we have a perfect nominee for you!Here’s some reasons why Karen Ignagni deserves your “Worst Person in the World” award:Ignagni has been lying to the American people for months. She’s been traveling around the country saying the health insurance industry is working for real reform in good faith. However AHIP has already come out against the heart of bama’s health care plan the public health insurance optionAHIP has a history of bargaining in bad faith. AHIP’s predecessor organization ran the “Harry and Louise” ads that killed Bill Clinton’s health care reform efforts. They have spent $7 million on lobbying for their business interests in 2006 and will spend many times more than that this year. While someone goes bankrupt in this country every 30 seconds due to medical costs Ignagni has presided over a huge increase in insurance industry profits and has been rewarded for her protection of those profits with $1.
Guilty Plea in Fiery Avon Pileup
MSNBC
David Wilcox pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter and five counts of assault inside Hartford Superior Court Monday morning. He also pleaded no contest to insurance fraud. Four people died in the July 29 2005 crash. Five others were seriously hurt including one who has since died. Prosecutors say Wilcox owned the dump truck that careened out of control due to catastrophic brake failure. They also say Wilcox failed to properly maintain his fleet and that he tried to get insurance restored for the vehicles in the hours after the crash.
Related from Bizvideomail: YouTube gun video leads to Virginia man’s guilty plea
The Dangers of AIG utrage
Washington Post
And then those unrealized profits are insured so when the stock price falls – boom you get the money anyway. Ultimately that’s not sustainable. Especially if the taxpayer is on the hook when the insurance company gets bailed out. Where is the incentive for the people buying and selling insurance to restrain themselves if the government is always going to step in and make the full payout on the insurance? Plus then you get this problem where (say) a hedge fund can take out insurance on a company then sabotage the company by shorting it’s stock then collect the insurance on it – and have the insurance company get bailout by the taxpayers. It’s like Double Indemnity. In the current financial world the hedge funds are totally capable of taking out insurance on some bank then “murdering” the bank to collecting the insurance payments. Posted by: tjk1 | March 16 2009 7:16 PM While these bonuses are outrageous there is a much more fundamental outrage that is getting no mention at all much less an appropriate level of attention.
Health plan holds sign-up for public insurance
MPNnow.com
— Fidelis Care the largest health plan in the state offering government-sponsored health programs will help people find health insurance during events taking place the week of March 22. As part of national Cover the Uninsured Week Fidelis Care the state Catholic Health Plan will be on site at several Rochester-area organizations to enroll those eligible for free or low-cost health insurance. According to Fidelis as many as 14000 Americans may be losing their health coverage daily amid layoffs and business closings. Many New Yorkers don’t know that quality affordable health coverage exists for individuals and families the organization noted. Fidelis Care representatives will answer questions and help eligible residents apply for enrollment through the state’s Child Health Plus Family Health Plus and Medicaid programs.
Some Relief for the High Cost of Health Insurance
BusinessWeek
"It’s the early baby boomers in the 58- to 64-age bracket who are the ones getting downsized" says financial planner Charles Auerbach co-founder of Wealth Strategies Group in Cordova Tenn. Not only do they lose their last years of income when they get laid off the "insult to injury is they’re going to see their health-insurance payments double or triple" he says. Most people are elible to keep the health insurance they had with their former employer through CBRA (Consolidated mnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) for 18 months after losing their jobs. But the premiums can be very expensive. Even so terminated employees who have pre-existing health conditions will find that other individual plans may reject them or command an even higher premium with less coverage making CBRA their best option. Relief for millions of unemployed workers came on Feb.