Health, Risk and History

Interesting post by Frank Jacobs at Big Think titled "The Underwritten States of America." Mr Jacobs blogs about, of all things, maps. This one (and its companion at the link), identifies medical insurance underwriting "zones" in use in 19th century America. I must admit that, after almost thirty years in "the biz," I'd never heard of such a thing. It does make sense, though, especially given the state of health care "back in the day:"

[Click on map to embiggen]

For a complete explanation, as well as an updated map (in color!), go read the whole thing. It's pretty interesting.

UPDATE/CORRECTION: As Mike points out in the comments section, it's more likely that this is a life insurance rating tool. Still worthwhile, of course.

Read More

Fourth Cir. Denies Coverage Based on Insurance and Related Work Exclusion

Post by Pete Dworjanyn

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a South Carolina District Court judge’s grant of summary judgment to an insurer based on an endorsement excluding coverage for any obligation assumed in connection with an insurance contract or treaty, or any failure to carry out any contractual or other duty in connection with an insurance contract or treaty.  Houston Casualty Company v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company, unpublished, No. 10-1835, Dec 6, 2011.

In 2003, Manuel Salazar was badly injured while working on a dam project in South Carolina.  He sued, among others, South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) the owner of the power lines that caused his injuries and McGriff, the insurance broker for the project. Salazar alleged that in addition to providing insurance brokerage services for the project, McGriff was responsible for performing safety inspections at the site and negligently failed to perform those inspections.  Houston Casualty, McGriff’s professional liability carrier, participated in the settlement of the suit.  St. Paul, McGriff’s CGL and excess insurer, denied coverage. The present insurance coverage litigation was an attempt by Houston Casualty to seek contribution from St. Paul.

McGriff had procured an Owner-Controlled Insurance Program (OCIP) and, as part of the program, had provided a Manual of Insurance Procedures to SCE&G and all contractors.  The OCIP Manual provided that the Owner’s Safety Representative, in conjunction with the general contractor and McGriff, would furnish safety posters, loss and inspection reports and provide overall supervision of the project’s safety effort.  The manual also provided that a safety program had been established by the general contractor to conform with relevant standards and would be supervised and reviewed by the Owner’s Safety Representative and McGriff. 

The St. Paul policies contained an endorsement which provided, in part;

Insurance and related work. We won’t cover injury or damage or medical expenses for which the protected person may be held liable because of:

·         any obligation assumed by any protected person in connection with an insurance contract or treaty; or

·         any failure to carry out, or improper carrying out of, any contractual or other duty or obligation in connection with an insurance contract or treaty.

Houston argued that the exclusion did not apply because McGriff’s duty to inspect arose independently of an insurance contract and, alternatively, there were disputed issues of material fact. 

Affirming the District Court, the Court of Appeals held the plain language of the endorsement excluded coverage.  The exclusion specifically provided that it excluded coverage for claims arising out of “...other duty or obligation in connection with an insurance contract”.  Thus, Salazar’s claims would be excluded if they concerned an obligation that arose “in connection with” an insurance contract even though the contracted issued was not itself an insurance contract. The court held the OCIP Manual provided further support for its decision as claims based on those obligations undoubtedly arose “in connection” with an insurance contract, regardless of whether the manual itself was part of an insurance contract.            

Read More

It's the Spending, Stupid

One of the primary benefits touted by proponents of MassCare was that forcing people to buy health insurance would drive down the cost of health care. On its face, this was clearly illogical, but enough folks bought into the idea that it became "common knowledge." Still, it was certainly the right of Bay Staters to test the hypothesis, which they have been doing now for some years.

The good news is that this gives the rest of us a way to gauge the relative success of that experiment:

"[A]mbulatory healthcare spending per capita was declining relative to the national average when Governor Romney first took office, but has steadily increased every year since then"

Okay, that's one data point "mittigating" against the thesis. Perhaps there are others which support it.

Or maybe not:

"Governor Romney inherited rising relative expenditures on health facilities, which fell slightly in his second year, but then continued to rise"

Darn.

Still, that's just Massachusetts; perhaps the other 57 states also experienced these trends. Add in the massive expenses associated with Medicaid and other Federally mandated programs, and surely the differential evaporates.

Stay with me here:

"As of 2009, Utah had the 13th least regulated health system in the country whereas Massachusetts had the second most regulated health system and Texas was in between, having the 29th most regulated system."

Now, each of those states has very different demographics, but they are still bound by the realities of budgets and requirements. Neither Utah nor Texas force their citizens to buy insurance, so based on the original hypothesis it would be reasonable to assume that these states would see dramatic increases in the cost of health care.

And yet the actual figures don't bear this out. The empirical evidence fails to demonstrate that forcing people to buy insurance reduces the cost of health care. So what now?

[Hat Tip: Ace of Spades]

Read More

MassCare© = RomneyCare© = ObamneyCare©

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you ObamneyCare©'s biggest fan:

Read More

Cavalcade of Risk #147: Riskiest Startups edition

Jacob Irwin hosts this week's outstanding collection of risk-related posts, with interesting factoids about risk and starting one's own business thrown in for (very) good measure.

Happy New Year!

Read More

Feeforall

Ah, ObamneyCare©, the gift that keeps on giving:

"Starting in 2012, the government will charge a new fee to your health insurance plan for research to find out which drugs, medical procedures, tests and treatments work best."

Back in the day, tax increases were voted on, if not by the taxpayers, then at least our duly elected representatives. But the law we had to pass to find what new taxes are in it does away with all that silliness.

The new tax starts out at a modest $1, quickly followed by a 100% increase; future increases are pegged to the rate of inflation. If it makes you feel any better, the tax starts next month, and the IRS may well issue guidelines regarding it sometime next year.

Or not.

Regardless, you'll be paying that tax as part of your increased premiums.

What's that?

You want to know what this tax pays for?

Fair enough:

"The goal ... is to answer such basic questions as whether that new prescription drug advertised on TV really works better than an old generic costing much less."

Silly me, thinking that was the job, already funded by our existing tax-structure, of the FDA. By the way, this is another case of health insurance being conflated with health care: only those with private insurance are being taxed to pay for this new agency, while all health care consumers "benefit" from it.

Feel better now?

Read More

More Medi$cams?

While we've spent a lot of time talking about the so-called "Doc Fix," it appears that perhaps we need to "Fix Doc," as well:

"California-based Prime Healthcare Services buys financially troubled hospitals and turns them around ... She says Reddy told doctors how to diagnose patients he had never seen."

Ooops.

Now, one may argue that this is simply a game between how Medicare reimburses depending on how a procedure is coded, but:

"He encouraged the physicians to stop documenting syncope, which is fainting or dizzy spell, and instead use the term autonomic nerve dysfunction, which reimburses at a higher rate."

But here's where the story takes an odd twist:

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking into the billing practices of ... Prime Healthcare Services, following reports that it allegedly overbilled Medicare for rare and serious conditions at high rates"

I find this odd because one would think that this falls under the purview of HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious, not J Edgar Hoover. It's true that the FBI has been involved with the Maxim Healthcare case, but that's in addition to HHS and related agencies.

In fairness, we haven't heard Prime's side of the story, nor do we know just how wide-spread the (alleged) practice is. One wonders whether this is the tip of an iceberg, or common business practice. As we saw in the LabCorp case, what HHS calls "fraud" may really be nothing more than breaking arbitrarily-set rules.

[Hat Tip: FoIB Holly R]

Read More

The Gift of the Magi

A special story by O Henry that touches the heart in a special way. The Christmas season is not about material gifts but about gifts of the heart.

Read More

The First Christmas

Read More

Healthcare: It's What's for Lunch

Michelle Malkin has an interesting post on LA's school lunch program, and the dangers of mandates. Briefly, the First Lady's campaign for healthier foods in schools has led the Los Angeles school district (the nation's 2nd largest with over over 690,000 students) to do away with such traditional favorites as chicken nuggets and corn dogs in favor of "beef jambalaya, vegetable curry, pad Thai, lentil and brown rice cutlets, and quinoa and black-eyed pea salads."

Yum.

Now those kinds of foods may appeal to adult taste buds, but one might question whether youngsters would be all that interested in them.

Um, no:

"L.A. school officials acknowledged that the sprawling district is left with a whopping 21,000 uneaten meals a day"

That's due in part, no doubt, to food preferences (the aforementioned nuggets and 'dogs), but there's another, deeper problem:

"[M]oldy noodles, undercooked meat and hard rice"

Now you may be wondering what this has to do with ObamneyCare©. It's simple, really: these initiatives are mandated (and subsidized) by Uncle Sugar, without regard to individual tastes, preferences or needs. Sound familiar? This results in massive waste and dissatisfied "customers." Which is also what we can look forward to under ObamneyCare©..

Interestingly, there's now sprung up a sort of "black market" for those taboo tasties. Will we see a similar phenomenon with health care under the new regime?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Read More

Cavalcade of Risk #147: Call for submissions

Jacob Irwin hosts next week's CavRisk, and wants your risk-related post. Entries are due by Monday (the 26th).

Submit your post via the The BC WorkAround.

Once there, you'll be asked to provide:

■ Your post's url and title
■ Your blog's url and name
■ Your name and email
■ A (brief) summary of the post ("Remarks")

At the bottom of the form, you'll see a drop-down menu; simply select "Cavalcade of Risk" then press "Submit" and you're good to go.

And PLEASE remember: ONLY posts that relate to risk (not personal finance tips and the like).

Thanks!

Read More

Insurance & Reality: 2,000 Words

What we show our clients (click pics to embiggen): What they see:
[Hat Tip: Deb C]

Read More

Health Wonk Review: Unwrapping the Wonkery edition

Gary Schwitzer hosts a Christmas-themed 'Review, complete with both serious and amusing entries, and a few treats scattered around, too.

Enjoy!

Read More

Sally Pipes up about the MVNHS©

Sally Pipes is, of course, well-known in her role as President of the Pacific Research Institute. Her main focus is health care studies, and she brings that expertise to bear on the canard that socialized health care is "a good thing."

In her recent article at Forbes, she points out that socializing medicine hasn't exactly helped the Brits: "The National Health Service (NHS) ... is being forced to shave $31 billion from its budget by 2015."

So much for efficiencies of scale and the purchasing power of government. As we've pointed out many times, none of the government-run systems have had any more long-term success in cutting costs than our own (soon to be gone) public/private hybrid. And they deal with those losses by reducing actual health care.

For example, "the NHS is raising the threshold at which patients qualify for treatment and lengthening wait times for surgeries determined “non-lifesaving.” There's a term for this kind of system, what could it be?

But of course, the MVNHS©-provided health care is "free" [ed: as in "worth what you pay for it?"]. Or is it? Ms Pipes has a thoughtful question: Brits' may be “guaranteed” access to care, but does it follow that they actually receive it?

Maybe, maybe not. But as we've documented - and Ms Pipes offers her own examples - an awful lot of sick folks don't receive either adequate or timely care. The problem is that the Brits make the same mistake as proponents of ObamneyCare© make here, conflating health insurance with health care, and assuming that the former will lead to the latter.

And yet, as Ms Pipes mentions, "[a] report released in October by Britain’s health regulator found that a stunning 20 percent of hospitals were failing to provide the minimum standard of care legally required for elderly patients."

Ooops.

She's not just gunning for the MVNHS©, either:

"Canada’s single-payer, government-run system — where any private health care is outlawed under the Canada Health Act — is similarly failing its patients."

In a recent survey of Canucks with chronic conditions, many expressed dissatisfaction with their level of care. But hey, it's free: beggars can't be choosers.

But of course it's not "free:" in addition to the major taxes that pay for the system, patients still have out-of-pocket expenses, sometimes major ones. And if you're in need of more immediate or extensive care well, there's no wall on our Northern Border, is there?

But if we're ditching our own much better system, the question must be asked: Why does ObmaneyCare© hate Canadians?

[Hat Tip: Stephen Northington]

Read More

Taco Bell and Health Care

Although we've been skeptical of Swedish health care (and correctly so), this doesn't seem to be attributable to negligence:

"A routine bowel procedure in Sweden was interrupted by a "powerful blast" likely caused by a buildup of methane gas in the patient's intestines ... doctors began an electrocautery, a procedure where the edges of the intestine where the polyp was located were burned to seal them ... Suddenly, there was a powerful blast in the room and the patient felt pain in his stomach"

I bet.

So, a cautionary tale about what and where to eat before such a procedure.

[Hat Tip: FoIB Bob D]

Read More

Do you believe in Miracles? Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukah 5772 begins this evening.

May you be blessed with joy and health this holiday season.

Read More

MediScams Alert

While we've been following the Richard West Medicaid whistle-blower case, it's easy to forget that a lot more folks (and providers) may be at risk of fraud.

Christine Seivers sent me the link to her post on an even dozen Medicare scams, and how you can avoid them.

Here's a sample:

"One of the more common ways criminals scam those with Medicare is by posing as Medicare employees, health care practitioners, or insurance representatives, something many may not be expecting. These fraudsters call, email, or send a letter ... remember that federal employees, working for Medicare or otherwise, will never phone or email you to get bank or Medicare information."

Do check it out, and pass it along.

Read More

Another Despicable Insurance Sales Idea

Over 6 years ago, we noted Prudential plc's horrific sales promotion encouraging its agents to celebrate terrorism. Apparently, the folks at Munich Re aren't longtime IB readers, else they would have known that this was a very bad idea:

"One of the biggest insurance companies in the world held a party for salesmen where they were rewarded with the services of prostitutes."

Oy.

Reinsurers are essentially wholesalers of insurance, and are generally "background noise" in the press. Individuals don't buy coverage from them (well, not directly), and many (most?) folks have never heard of these vendors.

So perhaps the rocket surgeons in charge of Munich Re believed that this would fly under the radar, with no one the wiser.

And to an extent, they were quite right:

"[T]he party had taken place to reward salesmen in 2007 ... There were about 100 guests and 20 prostitutes were hired."

What is it about insurers and ratios?

The good news is that the folks responsible for this little adventure are now gone and the company has since "introduced a new code of conduct."

Because the old one encouraged this behavior?

It bears repeating: Oy.

[Hat Tip: Bob Vineyard]

Read More

Told ya so (v13+)

As we've long documented, ObamneyCare© creates many more problems than it (ostensibly) solves: fewer choices, higher costs, increased compliance issues, the list goes on. But that's just us, right? We're (obviously) industry shills with an axe to grind.

(Which, of course, doesn't change the fact that we've been right)

Well, then, how about some corroboration from an actual employer who can attest to all these things?

Keith Ashmus, a co-founding partner of Frantz Ward LLP, helps run a medium-sized law firm in Cleveland. Of their 120 employees, about 70 are attorneys, and the rest are there to keep things running smoothly. They've been participating in Medical Mutual of Ohio's COSE (Council of Smaller Enterprises) small group health insurance plan for some time, and been quite satisfied.

Unfortunately, they've now run into the buzz saw that is ObamneyCare©:

"With the advent of the Affordable Care Act, we have been concerned about compliance. Our high deductible plan has deductibles higher than what apparently will be permitted."

Like many firms, they've recognized the value of Consumer Driven Health Care plans, including Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs). Unfortunately, these types of plans are taboo under ObamneyCare©, even though (or, perhaps, because) they work.

"By purchasing our plans through COSE, we have not had to pay a two percent premium tax on group health insurance as mandated under Ohio law."

While 2% may not seem like much, if one posits a $500,000 annual health insurance bill (a not unreasonable supposition), then that represents $10,000 in savings. It's unclear (but unlikely) whether that exemption will still be available through the Exchanges.

And so the firm has been choosing "grandfathered" renewal options in order to avoid the problem. The challenge, of course, is that this has become increasingly difficult, and expensive. Not to mention the fact that these will be phased out rather soon, anyway.

"Given our pay scale, it is unlikely that our employees will qualify for subsidies on any state exchange."

There are two issues implicit here: first, there's the tacit acknowledgement that they'll likely be doing away with their group plan altogether. Second, should Ohio choose to go with a Fed-run Exchange, there'll be no such subsidy available regardless of their employees' economic status.

"Then in 2018 and later, the administration of the so-called “Cadillac” tax appears likely to be incredibly burdensome to employers."

Quite right, and as Mr Ashmus notes, this will be a double-whammy: first, there's the added expense of calculating the various expenses and such, and then reporting these to the carrier, which must then determine whether or not a tax is due (and don't forget that the added expense for this "service" will be borne by the employer, not the carrier). Finally, if there is, in fact, a tax due, well, someone's got to pay it, and (again) it won't be the carrier.

One more item I found interesting: with all the emphasis and press on so-called "wellness" programs, the nagging question has always been "and so?" Well, here 'tis:

"In an entity as small as ours, the positive impacts of wellness programs are unlikely to be felt in our health care costs, since community rating puts everyone’s experience together.":

This is the ugly little secret: unless you have a self-funded plan, your rates are determined primarily by the experience of the pool in which you've been placed. So even though your group may have had a "good" year, your rates are going to go up to offset the sicker groups.

But here's the real problem, also neatly put by Mr Ashmus:

"The uncertainty about what will happen with the Affordable Care Act ... is a definite barrier to planning for our insurance benefit program and expansion of our firm."

This goes beyond just the insurance issues, of course; how does one plan if there's so much doubt about whether or not what you choose today will be doable, or even legal, tomorrow?

Perhaps someone should have read it before they passed it.

[Hat Tip: FoIB Holly R]

Read More

Health News - private hospital satisfaction

Private hospitals achieve good patient ratings reports Health Insurance magazine this week, with the encouraging figures coming from the latest Dr Foster hospital guide. While the data only relates to patients who were in receipt of knee and hip replacements, this goes some way to illustrating the wider patient sentiment regarding private hospitals. Dr Foster's website decribes its service in the following way: "Dr Foster produces authoritative and independent guides to health services in the public and private sectors. Dr Foster's aim is not only to inform, but also to act as a catalyst for change." 

Health sites like Dr Foster - plus all the new diagnostic and treatment apps available, and on top of that, the many health blogs available - mean that it is very much a changed landscape these days. And with the more information available to the public, it means that the public's reactions, responses and manner of consumption are likely to become more sophisticated as time progresses and more information becomes available.

Read More

MVNHS©: So sue me!

As we've so often documented (most recently here), The Much Vaunted National Health System© is primarily concerned with depriving its "clients" of actual care. This is the natural and inevitable result of a government-run health "care" system, so it's hardly surprising to read that (at least) one hospital is now the target of litigation based on its (alleged) egregious misconduct:

"Lawyers are planning a "class action" on behalf of 23 families who contacted them with "shocking" claims of indignities and the most basic failings in care ... A 35-year-old father-of-four who ... wasted away because staff did not know how to fit a feeding tube ... A man who fell into a coma after contracting E.coli, apparently from a filthy catheter"

In other words, typical government-provided health "care." And these apparently represent only "the tip of the iceberg." In some cases, patient dehydration had grown so rampant that doctors were forced to prescribe dihydrogen monoxide.

Of course, that's when health "care" providers could actually be found: "Buzzers went unanswered, several patients were left sitting in soaking bedclothes for hours, or in their own faeces."

Good thing that won't happen here.

[Hat Tip: PowerLine]

Read More

Kentucky CE Update (Annuities)

Speaking of annuities, Kentucky has recently added a new suitability requirement to its Continuing Education regulations. Ohio's had that a little while, as well.

Annuities aren't for everyone, but they do have a place in many folks' financial plans. Growth in an annuity, unlike a CD, is tax-deferred, which can allow for higher growth. And one can "annuitize" an annuity, which can provide for a lifetime income stream.

There are some downsides as well, of course: significant penalties if one cashes out too early, and the taxes are deferred, not eliminated.

The CE requirement is there to make sure that agents are explaining these advantages and disadvantages, and that the client understands all the risks, benefits and rules of what could be a major purchase. Above all, it's designed to ensure that such purchases are appropriate.

Read More

How Much do I Need PI Insurance?

Taking an Professional Indemnity Insurance coverage technique security guidelines are a true need in the present clear life. The possibility is too high and a customer can ask for a arrangement for even a small problem. Security technique security protection comes to your save when you find yourself caught in a economic. Hence, a ideal insurance coverage technique security protection helps you to serve in a risk-free environment.


Every business has is divided requirements. It means a insurance coverage technique security insurance coverage technique ideal for a cpa will not be ideal for keeping a doctor as their nature of expert is different. Therefore, it is better to take a insurance coverage technique security insurance coverage technique according to individual needs.


Often professionals set a minimum limit of the indemnity that they require. However, manufacturers also review the amount of security to be required by an experienced.

Read More

Why Do I Need Professional Indemnity Insurance?

Professional Indemnity programs are essential for all training professionals. Legally, professionals like attorney, company and cost-effective professionals must have reasonable PI suggestions before starting their methods. However, other professionals like professionals, developers, developers, physicians and self applied often opt for this insurance insurance plan to get a cover to secure themselves against leads. In fact, people exercise business take PI insurance coverage protection for the best protection of their responsibilities.

Situations that lead to claims:

In their professional leads, professionals may come across conditions that can establish a real incident. Despite committing so much time in the suggested strategy, professionals may be vitalized of results that cause problems to clients. PI insurance coverage protection helps to resistant to such promises by offering required cost-effective assistance.

Issues a business may come in contact with include:

Negligence
Dishonesty
Data Theft
Breach of contract

Read More

Need of insurance in small businesses

It is important to deal with the more cost-effective companies with Indemnity insurance coverage as it can invest less the more cost-effective companies against the unexpected financial obligations that can have by the marketers mistakes. The potential claims for which indemnity insurance coverage is must usually comes from consumers side or group who are not part of your business but are somehow attached to your business such as in have a look at out firms, client's are attached to professionals for taking business advise.

The more cost-effective companies should take group insurance coverage that can be utilized to pay off claims that can be developed in case the business lead damage to group property. The group responsibility scenario will manage even the most substantial scenario quantity and so is a must have for all kind of more cost-effective companies. If you are ever in a have a look at out business such as it have a look at out business than professional indemnity insurance coverage is a must for you as it can invest less you from paying off huge scenario quantity that is developed for the client for failures suffered by your advice.

Read More

Why is PI insurance essential for clients?

Professional indemnity insurance coverage is an essential need of every business as PI insurance coverage saves the business in the time of economic incurred by reasonable claims of the clients made for the issues made by your reasonable advice. Professional indemnity insurance coverage is required when you are in consulting kind of business in the United Kingdom. If in case, the client suffers reasonable issues due to experts advise than the PI insurance coverage is utilized by the expert to pay off for the company's issues. It is vital to have PI insurance coverage as in most of the cases client make huge monetary claim on the expert.

The businesses in which expert indemnity insurance coverage is considered must are design experts, management experts and information technology expert. Professional indemnity insurance coverage saves the expert to spend huge amount on company's reasonable issues as most of the company's take consultant’s advice during or before being in a business. PI insurance coverage will make your company's feel safe and secured and so you can increase your clientele and can build a repo in the market.

Read More

Professional Indemnity Insurance – covering every professionals

Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance coverage is the developed to give financial protection to a significant wide range of professionals, when disappointed customers make third party promises. However effective an experienced is, there is always prospective for recklessness, problems or omissions, creating reputation-destroying promises. These promises can be for overlook, infringing on offering advantages, copyrights or images, slander, libel, violation of agreement, work or privacy, loss of information, damage to papers and calming.

If you take out Professional Indemnity Insurance coverage, it is possible to deal with litigations at the beginning itself, before accident of the situation and you can be comfortable. When a state takes place, you must have an effective take care of. Although PI market is now in a sensible level, it can become more lengthy.

Read More

Miracle cancer drug...

Interesting news report over at Gizmodo concerning a "miracle drug" that has kept cancer at bay for 70 year old American, Don Wright.

Don has run 60 marathons in 41 US states since being diagnosed with myeloma (a form of cancer affecting white blood cells) eight years ago.

Amazingly, Mr Wright only takes one pill a day (pomalidomide) and has more trouble with his knee than with his illness.

In other cancer news, this week it emerged that patients in Wales could be asked to rate their care
as the government plans a major overhaul of services there. This is part of an overall strategy for cancer care in Wales entitled Together Against Cancer, with improvements intended to be rolled out by 2016. More info from walesonline.

Read More

Everything Old is New Again

So, have you heard about the new, exciting, cutting-edge "Longevity Insurance" plan?

Here's how it works:

You take a lump sum of money (say, from an under-performing CD) and put it in one of these newfangled "longevity annuities." After a while (say, 30 years), it begins to pay out a lifetime stream of income. Now, if you die before you get to that magic time 3 decades hence, well, you're outta luck (unless you elected one of those innovative "non-forfeiture options").

I know what you're thinking: "Henry, this bleeding edge, tech-driven concept sounds vaguely familiar. Why is that?"

That's because it's also known as a deferred annuity - a vehicle that's been around since the dawn of time.

Are they a good idea? Maybe so, maybe not. Are they a new idea?

Not on your life.

Read More

ERRP - We have to pass this bill so that you can find out what is in it.

This is a follow up to Bob’s Tapped Out post of December 13.

HHS has now reported that, thru December 2, the Early Retiree Reimbursement Program (ERRP) has paid out just over $4.5 billion or almost 91% of the authorized funds. This total amount was distributed among approximately 2,700 group sponsors of pre-Medicare retiree plans.

The HHS report shows that the UAW retiree trust has received over $387 million - which is, all by itself, 8.5% of the total distributed.

Other facts revealed in the report:

• There are 17 plans that each received more than $50 million, and together these 17 plans account for a bit over $1.9 billion, or about 42% of the total ERRP payments.
• Only 3 of these top 17 are corporate plans (Boeing, Verizon, and AT & T) - - the remaining 14 are either union funds or public employer retiree plans.
• There are 66 plans (including the top 17) that each received $10 million or more, and together these 66 plans account for almost $2.9 billion, or about 63% of the total ERRP payments.

If you scroll thru the entire HHS report, you'll see a large number of plan sponsors that are clearly union funds. Some of the corporate retiree plans in the report likely contain a lot of union retirees - for example, Verizon and AT & T probably contains a significant number of retired members of the Communication Workers of America; Boeing probably contains a large number of IAM and other union retirees too. You'll also see a large number of state and municipal plans that I'm sure also contain a lot of public employee union retirees. In other words, while it's not possible using this HHS report to pin down the exact share of the $4.5 billion that was paid to plans covering union retirees - it seems very unlikely that share is less than 50%.

About 12% of the US workforce is represented by unions.

Recall that ERRP's $5 billion funding was part of the health care reform act. The administration says that these funds were intended to provide financial assistance for pre-Medicare retiree group plan sponsors thru 2013 - keeping in mind that the exchanges and other main provisions of the reform act become effective in 2014. The attached document states that HHS stopped accepting new applications for these funds after May 6, 2011 - not even a year after the first applications were accepted. HHS has now announced that even the plans already approved will not be reimbursed for any claims incurred after December 31, 2011.

So how did it happen that the funding was exhausted so quickly? Was it just sloppy actuarial work?

I don't think so. Here's my guess – ERRP was never intended to do what the administration told us. Instead, it was intended all along as a big "thank you" to the unions (including public unions) that had helped with the 2008 election. I recall that the UAW submitted its complete application almost immediately - almost as though they knew in advance what to do. Other types of plans found out about ERRP in due course but in my opinion, payments to other plans were not part of the main intent. However those payments did serve a useful purpose as a smoke screen; I mean, an extra couple billion might cover the tracks nicely and what's another couple billion anyway?

Here’s an additional observation regarding the HHS notice. Its cover text includes 4 whole examples - count 'em, 4 - to illustrate how the ERRP payments "significantly benefitted employers across the country."

And here, verbatim, is what HHS says about these 4:

1. The City of Minot in North Dakota has over 2000 plan participants and has received $112,933 in ERRP reimbursements. As a direct result of these reimbursements the City was able to reduce 2012 premiums by 17 percent.

2. Silgan Containers Manufacturing, located in California, has received $246,152 in ERRP reimbursements. Silgan will use funding to offset claims costs by about 5 percent.

3. To date, Elkhart County in Indiana, has received $84,175 in ERRP reimbursements. They have been able to use this funding to help maintain coverage, and keep costs down, for over 1400 plan participants. Specifically, with the help of ERRP funds, Elkhart County was able to reduce employee and retiree premiums for 2011 and maintain that lower rate for 2012.

4. In Minnesota, East Central Energy has over 250 plan participants and has received $13,272.37 in ERRP reimbursements. East Central Energy has used ERRP funds to offset increases to claims costs by 7 percent.

These 4 plan sponsors appear to include fewer than 5,000 people and the total ERRP payout for these plan sponsors was less than $500,000. Yet the HHS report claims "ERRP has benefited over 5 million people to date" and has issued payments in excess of $4.5 billion..

Why does HHS offer examples including only one-tenth of one percent of the people it claims to have "benefitted ??? Why does HHS offer examples that comprise only one one-hundredth of one percent of the total payments? Is it because HHS tried but could not find better examples among the dozens of large plans that cover many thousands of people? Is it because HHS wants the public to believe that most of the money is going to small plans--rather than to the giant plans such as UAW and The Ohio Public Employee Retirement System? Is it because (as I suspect) there was some hidden agenda behind ERRP that has now been carried out? I doubt we’ll ever know why HHS chose such lame examples or learn whether there was, in fact, some hidden agenda.

Regardless, and whatever the explanation may be, the examples HHS offers are at BEST laughable.

"We have to pass this bill so that you can find out what is in it"

Yes ma’am, we remember. True then, true now.

Read More

Professional Indemnity Insurance

Are you into a occupation that needs you to provide your comprehension and methods to people? If your reply is yes then, you should start getting ready on buying cost-effective expert indemnity insurance plan coverage protection security protection that allows to secure you in case of any considerable financial reduce.

Professional Indemnity Insurance applications are security technique security protection that indemnifies professionals against any type of reduce, problem and omission encouraged to clients during the course of services made to them.

In the existing litigious team, expert applications are become a need. In many locations around the world such as UK and Prices, professionals cannot training without having reasonable insurance plan coverage protection security protection.

Internet is the best typical to get well known expert indemnity applications. You can check out websites of various insurance plan coverage protection security manufacturers, consider their top quality costs and then, make a greatest choice to get the best take care of.

Read More

Business Insurance

A enterprise needs a lot of issues especially if it has been founded lately. Any poor the enterprise has an impact on many individuals associated with enterprise. Before associating themselves with the enterprise, clients often ask if the enterprise is verified against any decrease as they usually never want to take any chance. If a enterprise which is not verified causes any harm to other individuals, they are well known and hence well known for the same.

In UK almost every enterprise goes for Team Obligation Insurance coverage security protection security. Like this a enterprise is not well known to buy in situation any harm is encouraged to individuals by any indicates by the enterprise.

Professional Indemnity Insurance places you definitely definitely able to offer any information without having a prospective to create buy due to decrease due to information given by you.

Insurance for companies is must as they are at prospects. Firms culpability insurance allows to safe an company in situation an personnel comes ill or is broken during managing a while.

Read More

What is a Professional indemnity insurance cover?

Expert indemnity insurance plan coverage security protection also known as PII is a popular type of insurance plan coverage security protection security. Expert indemnity insurance plan coverage security protection is a type of no-fee expert service that makes people aware of their benefits to redress if they experience from a cost-effective harm due to a individuals problem.

Professional indemnity insurance plan coverage security protection also allows a individual to safe himself or herself against promises of cost-effective harm by someone else. The strategy security will pay any legal costs which happen when a individual allows to control such a state an action.

The cost-effective harm circumstances can be really long, expensive and intense communications. In some circumstances the fees can actually be plenty of pounds or more. This can be really difficult for a company in cost-effective terms.

So it is better for a company to go for a <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Professional Indemnity Insurance plan coverage security protection security.

Read More