http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/insurance/ en-us Tue, 7 Oct 2008 00:15:57 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2099119/posts While it may look superficially similar to the recent implosions of such investment giants as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Lehman, the takeover and bailout of AIG is quite different, and means that the market is entering the next and even more dangerous phase. What is driving the fall of AIG – and potential government losses that may far, far exceed the $85 billion bailout announced late on September 16th - is not mortgages or real estate (directly), but fears that AIG’s huge, global credit-default swap positions will unravel. The $62 trillion dollar credit derivatives market is 50 times the... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2099119/posts#comment Tue, 7 Oct 2008 00:15:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2098650/posts New Deal on Medicare by: Bethany Stotts, October 06, 2008 The New Deal policies of Medicare and Social Security started out as small programs in the Thirties, but this yearÂ’s Medicare expenditures will total about $391 billion. The Medicare Trustees have issued a “funding warning” for the program in their last two annual reports. According to the Medicare Trustees 2008 statement, “Underlying health care costs per enrollee are projected to rise faster than the wages per worker on which payroll taxes and Social Security benefits are based. As a result, while MedicareÂ’s annual costs were 3.2 percent of GDP in... Campus Report http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2098650/posts#comment Mon, 6 Oct 2008 14:48:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098493/posts LOOSE LIPS CAN BUFFET BLIMPS. That was clear last week when some remarks by a senator raised fears about the health of big insurers -- including MetLife, owner of the famed dirigible. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.), in pressing for passage of the financial bailout bill, claimed that a well-known insurer was on the verge of bankruptcy. Insurance stocks plunged, with MetLife (ticker: MET) falling some 15%. The company said Reid's remarks didn't apply to it, and the senator's spokesman said he misspoke. Barrons http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098493/posts#comment Mon, 6 Oct 2008 08:18:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2097416/posts How AIG's Collapse Began a Global Run on the Banks By Porter Stansberry Something very strange is happening in the financial markets. And I can show you what it is and what it means... If September didn't give you enough to worry about, consider what will happen to real estate prices as unemployment grows steadily over the next several months. As bad as things are now, they'll get much worse. They'll get worse for the obvious reason: because more people will default on their mortgages. But they'll also remain depressed for far longer than anyone expects, for a reason most... Daily Wealth http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2097416/posts#comment Sat, 4 Oct 2008 15:44:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096458/posts Shares Of The Hartford Plunge 32% Waning Confidence Also Affects MetLife, Prudential By DIANE LEVICK October 3, 2008 It was a blood bath Thursday for shares of The Hartford, while MetLife Inc. and Prudential also plummeted on fears that the tumult in financial markets could push some insurers over the edge. Some of the investor panic Thursday followed a comment Wednesday from Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., that a well-known but unnamed insurer was on the brink of bankruptcy. A spokesman for Reid, the Senate majority leader, issued a statement Thursday backtracking on the comment, and The Hartford, Prudential and MetLife... Hartford http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096458/posts#comment Fri, 3 Oct 2008 08:29:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2096384/posts Two old guys in Florida are talking and one asks the other where his money came from. The answer was: “My factory burned down and I’m here on my insurance money. What about you?” The second man answers: “I’m like you, but my business was destroyed by a flood.” The first man pauses, and then asks: “How do you start a flood.” vanity http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2096384/posts#comment Fri, 3 Oct 2008 04:45:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2092368/posts KEEP POLITICIANS AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE FROM ANYTHING REMOTELY RESEMBLING INSURANCE Only to politicians – to whom a promise of future performance requires no current financial or intentional adjustments – would the distinction between the purchase of risky assets and insurance of the risk inherent in the assets be worth the donnybrook we have recently seen in Washington. If we purchase the assets, we will pay a price equal to the best estimates of the ultimate value of the assets minus a deep discount (premium) for the risk associated with the uncertainty of the estimates. If we insure the... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2092368/posts#comment Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:52:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2090943/posts Eliot Spitzer, who is temperamentally unable to stay out of the headlines for more than 72 hours, is back in them again. Last week, the New York state attorney general accused commercial insurance companies of bid-rigging. In response, the stocks of the biggest players implicated, Marsh & McLennan and AIG, have tanked, losing a combined $38 billion in market capitalization. More alarming for the insurers, Spitzer signaled this was just the beginning of an industry-wide investigation. For when he finds a few bad eggs, Eliot Spitzer cleans out the entire coop and changes the way it is run, as Wall... Slate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2090943/posts#comment Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:53:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2089879/posts Definitions of "moral hazard" on the Web: Arises when people behave recklessly because they know they will be saved if things go wrong.enbv.narod.ru/text/Econom/ib/str/261.html (links to a Russian site of all things) Google Definitions from Web http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2089879/posts#comment Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:34:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2087932/posts Officials at the U.S. Census Bureau recently released new health insurance figures purporting to show that the number of Americans officially classified as uninsured in 2007 was 45.7 million, down from 47 million in 2006. Despite the decline, the new figure is being spun as proof positive that America's healthcare system is still in awful shape. Advocates of socialized medicine are repeating it ad nauseam, arguing that the main problem with the country's health system is the massive uninsured population. After all, if a whopping 15 percent of the population is uninsured, then the current system must be failing. But... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2087932/posts#comment Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:34:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2087130/posts North Carolina ranks up there with the most socialistic states in which I have lived, including New York State and Vermont. This state runs a liquor sales agency monopoly, an exclusive gambling organization and it controls private insurance companies. For example, health insurance for most of us would probably be less expensive but for the state loading up required coverage that companies must provide to all clients regardless their needs. Further, as I understand it, the state restricts residents from being covered by out-of-state companies. Therefore, we have fewer choices. The “free market” does not operate in North Carolina. State... John Locke Foundation - WIlmington Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2087130/posts#comment Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:10:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2085733/posts Treasury will insure public offered money funds By Steve Goldstein Last update: 7:36 a.m. EDT Sept. 19, 2008 LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Treasury said it's established a temporary guaranty program for U.S. money market funds. For the next year, the U.S. Treasury will insure holdings of any publicly offered money market mutual fund, retail and institutional, that pays a fee to participate. Market Watch http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2085733/posts#comment Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:11:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084885/posts Anne Royalty, associate professor of economics at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), is one of four scholars who have published a critique of Senator John McCain’s proposed health insurance reform plan. McCain’s reform package “would eliminate the current tax exclusion of employer payments for health coverage, replace the exclusion with a refundable tax credit for those who purchase coverage, and encourage Americans to move to a national market for nongroup insurance,” according to the critique abstract. Results of the change will “tend to raise costs, reduce the generosity of benefits, and leave people with fewer consumer protections,” the researchers said.... Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084885/posts#comment Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:01:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084397/posts "Two years ago, I warned that the oversight of Fannie and Freddie was terrible, that we were facing a crisis because of it, or certainly serious problems," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told CBS this morning. "The influence that Fannie and Freddie had in the inside the Beltway, old boy network, which led to this kind of corruption is unacceptable and I warned about it a couple of years ago.” How does this claim of foresight square with this interview that McCain gave to the Keene (NH) Sentinel, discussing the subprime mortgage crisis, in December 2007? Q: “Well the dimension of... ABC News Political Punch http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084397/posts#comment Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:41:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084055/posts Federal bank insurance fund dwindling, regulators consider options for replenishing it Banks are not the only ones struggling in the growing financial crisis. The fund established to insure their deposits is also feeling the pinch, and the taxpayer may be the lender of last resort. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., whose insurance fund has slipped below the minimum target level set by Congress, could be forced to tap tax dollars through a Treasury Department loan if Washington Mutual Inc., the nation's largest thrift, or another struggling rival fails, economists and industry analysts said Tuesday. Treasury has already come to the... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084055/posts#comment Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:30:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083966/posts Fed to give AIG $85 billion loan and take 80% stake By Michael J. De La Merced and Eric Dash Wednesday, September 17, 2008 In an extraordinary turn, the Federal Reserve agreed Tuesday night to take a nearly 80 percent stake in the troubled giant insurance company, the American International Group, in exchange for an $85 billion loan. The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase had been trying to arrange a $75 billion loan for the company to stave off the financial crisis caused by complex debt securities and credit default swaps. The Federal Reserve stepped in after... International Herald Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083966/posts#comment Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:50:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083868/posts The Federal Reserve is considering an $85 billion rescue for embattled American International Group that could leave the government in control of the firm, according to people familiar with the matter, though the structure of a deal remains unclear. The Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083868/posts#comment Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:22:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2080954/posts CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Shares of American International Group Inc. declined further Friday over continuing concerns about whether the world's largest insurer has adequate capital reserves. Also dogging the stock were worries over the soundness of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. as financial stocks also saw declines. AP via Yahoo! News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2080954/posts#comment Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:37:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2076654/posts Are life insurance benefits subject to income tax? In trying to determine how much to carry, do I need to "build in" the tax consequences? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2076654/posts#comment Sun, 7 Sep 2008 13:40:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2072511/posts LONDON : As a dead man, Ahmad Akhtary shouldn't have needed a doctor's appointment. Akhtary's checkup, six months after he allegedly died in Afghanistan, scuttled his ex-wife's attempt to collect 300,000 pounds (US$550,000) on a life insurance policy. Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2072511/posts#comment Mon, 1 Sep 2008 18:34:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2071119/posts As health-care costs continue to soar, millions of confused consumers are paying medical bills they don't actually owe. Typically this occurs when an insurance plan covers less than what a doctor, hospital, or lab service wants to be paid. The health-care provider demands the balance from the patient. Uncertain and fearing the calls of a debt collector, the patient pays up. Most consumers don't realize it, but this common practice, known as balance billing, often is illegal. When doctors or hospitals think an insurer has reimbursed too little, state and federal laws generally bar the medical providers from pressuring patients... Business Week http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2071119/posts#comment Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:02:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070079/posts California drivers could be offered a new -- and often cheaper -- kind of car insurance next year under a voluntary pay-as-you-drive plan proposed Wednesday by Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. His plan would base annual rates partly on the exact number of miles driven and would allow people to pay less if they drive less. Poizner issued proposed regulations spelling out the plan, and the state's insurers Wednesday were enthusiastic about the idea but wanted to see more details. Two out of three households in the state could save an average of $276 per vehicle, and lower-income people, who generally... Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070079/posts#comment Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:57:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069138/posts Every August, the Census Bureau's release of the latest income and health insurance figures results in a political uproar, but this year the political class seems almost embarrassed by the good news. Median household income rose slightly in 2007, the poverty rate held steady and the number of uninsured even dropped slightly. Even so, a closer inspection of the numbers shows some dark clouds around the silver lining -- though not of the sort that those warning of another Great Depression usually find. Begin with health insurance coverage. Census found that 45.7 million people, or 15.3% of the population, were... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069138/posts#comment Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:11:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068750/posts The Census Bureau reported that the number of people lacking health insurance dropped by more than one million in 2007, the first annual decline since the Bush administration took office. The nation's poverty rate held steady at 12.5%, not statistically different from the 12.3% in 2006. That meant there were 37.3 million people living in poverty in 2007. The median, or midpoint, household income rose slightly to $50,200, marking the third consecutive annual increase. The statistics released Tuesday don't take into account the consequences of the economic downturn that began late last year. (See Census report.) Census said 45.7 million... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068750/posts#comment Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:22:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065873/posts Next year, the state will add a $25 insurance fee for being overweight Alabama, pushed to third in national obesity rankings by deep-fried Southern favorites, is cracking down on state workers who are too fat. The state has given its 37,527 employees a year to start getting fit — or they’ll pay $25 a month for insurance that otherwise is free. Alabama will be the first state to charge overweight state workers who don’t work on slimming down, while a handful of other states reward employees who adopt healthy behaviors. Alabama already charges workers who smoke — and has seen... MSNBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065873/posts#comment Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:26:15 GMT