Insurance and the government cuts

Cuts, cuts, cuts. There are more cuts going on in public spending right now than there are in barber shops.

As we navigate our way through our futures we're going to find some surprises along the way. Will the age of retirement edge up further and further until 'retirement' becomes a euphemism for, well... being dead?

As the cuts begin to be felt - there will necessarily be a corresponding change in the private sector. A lot of the public sector jobs that are being exterminated, Dalek style, are expected to be replaced by posts in the private sector.

And this is where insurance is bound to play a part - when you think about the unstoppable changes that are taking place, it makes certain kinds of contingencies all the more important. Where once such things as life assurance, payment protection plans, health cover, redundancy cover, children health insurance - etc - could have been seen as add-ons for the comfortably off, it now looks like they'll be increasingly important for all of us.

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Chilean Miners Saved

Well, the world breathed a sigh of relief this morning with the news that all of the trapped Chilean miners are now free and back on the surface of the panet, after being trapped below for many weeks.

It must be a very difficult situation for the miners to deal with. It would be challenge enough to adjust to life back on the surface. But add intense worldwide media attention and you have a situation that even an x-Factor winner would find fifficult to cope with.

I don't know what the miners' insurance situation was, but I think it's fair to say that even if they aren't due some kind of payout, they have the potential to earn millions by telling the story that the world is desperate to hear.

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Medical Insurance quotes and pensions up, early retirement down?

And so the cuts continue. This week the hullabaloo has been about child benefit payments. next week the hullabaloo will be about something else. Always with the hullabaloo. (There, I've used that word three times in one sentence - do I get into the Guiness book of Records or what?)

Despite the opposition's noises, it looks like the direction of travel for the foreseeable future will be one way - and that's the way of the deficit-cutting.

My guess would be that we're about to see people reacting to the current situation by being a bit more strategic with their cash. As we emerge from the recession, I predict

People using savings accounts more

Higher payments into pension schemes (who knows what a state pension will be by the time we retire?)

More people seeking medical insurance quotes to ensure that they can get swift treatment should they need it.



Fewer people retiring at 50 - in some organisations this was the norm a decade ago.

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Health on television

Jamie Oliver's new programme was on last night, in which he tries to provide some healthy eating education to schools in the US. In one memorable scene he holds up some tomatoes before the class and asks them what they are. Nobody can answer. He tries again, this time with an aubergine. Someone makes a guess: "is it a pear?".

While in the UK there's probably still some way to go before we're eating the way we should be, I'd guess that more people in a school class of that age would recognise the tomatoes, if perhaps not the aubergine.

But perhaps one of the reasons there was virtually zero obesity in my day (maybe one kid in the entire school) was because school meals were pretty much inedible. Every shop sold vegetables though, so anyone even going into a shop to buy sweets would still see tomatoes etc on sale.

These US school students will of course go on and learn a lot about the world as they grow up, and hopefully eat healthy as they do. As adults we have more than just a responsibility for our own health but that of our families as well. And there's lots that can be done - we can ensure that our intake of trans fats is as small as possible, we can try and get our five a day, etc.

I think the reality/ documentary style of show is a good way of doing health television as it shows how diet and exercise affect people's lives. It would be interesting to see how other celebrity chefs would have fared in this quest. Say, Gordon Ramsay or Marco Pierre White.

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Children's Health Insurance in Georgia

And now there are two . . .

As the Obamacrap imposed 9/23 deadline for change in the way children obtain health insurance approaches we now have two health insurance companies that are willing to play the game.

At least for now . . .

Blue Cross of Georgia will introduce new plans and rates in a few days. They will have only one plan for children who want stand alone coverage or who are otherwise uninsurable.

As of now, Kaiser will offer a full array of plans for children and final rate after the underwriting review is yet to be determined.

Starting rates may be favorable but I would not expect final rates (after underwriting) to be pleasant. What we have seen from other carriers for dependent child rates is enough to make your hair stand on end. Final (underwritten) rates will easily go north of $500 per month for a $2500 deductible copay plan.

Parents who want to include their children on their plan will have to sell an organ to pay the premium.

HHS Secretary Shebullshits can try to shift the blame but everyone in Washington who created this mess now have to own it. This is what happens when you put folks in charge who have no real world experience and no clue. November elections can't come soon enough.

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HHS Shecantbeserious Steps in it...

The reason that she's so dangerous is because she's so ignorant:

"There will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a letter to the insurance lobby."

Now that may seem brave - after all, she's taking on the fierce and vicious health insurance industry - but it is, in fact, quite stupid. For one thing, she has no (zero, nada, zilch) power to enforce her little threat. For another, even if she was able to carry through, she would do far more harm than good in doing so.

Why's that, you ask?

It's pretty straightforward: insurance companies need to make a profit. It's how they (or any other business) stays in, well, business. Beyond that, though, there are statutory and regulatory regulations that require carriers to have a certain amount of reserves and liquidity. Under ObamaCare©, carriers are forced to cover an ever-expanding list of expenses; if they can't price for the increased risk, they'll lose money. That has the medium-term effect of draining reserves, but, as Moody's rating service reminds us, HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious' "warning to health insurers about “unwarranted” rate increases could raise questions about the insurers’ ratings." If a carrier's financial rating plummets, so does its ability to conduct business.

One begins to suspect that the folks in DC consider that a feature, not a bug.

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