State Farm says it warned NHTSA on Toyota in 2007

nation's largest auto insurer said Tuesday it alerted federal safety regulators in late 2007 about a rise in reports of unexpected acceleration in Toyota vehicles, the latest warning sign to emerge about the massive recall….State Farm said that it routinely tracks claim trend information and shares its data with NHTSA. "In the name of safety, we voluntarily and routinely communicate with the appropriate government agencies when we see a product-related claim trend,"

Click on the following for more details:  State Farm says it warned NHTSA on Toyota in 2007 - Yahoo! Finance

NY Times Editorial - The Case for Reform

The fact that 46 million people in this country have no health insurance should be intolerable. Every other major industrial country guarantees health coverage to its citizens, yet the United States, the richest of them all, does not.

Click on the following for the complete opinion:  Editorial - The Case for Reform - NYTimes.com

Once-spurned Burris may become key vote on health care

Not running for election at the end of his term in 2010, Burris says he is in many ways immune from the political pressures many of his colleagues face. Whatever may happen, his Senate career will end next year after he completes one-third of the term for the seat originally held by Barack Obama.

Burris joined 29 fellow senators to sign a letter urging the inclusion of a public option in the health reform legislation.

“I will continue to be a strong advocate for the public option in any health insurance reform bill that comes before the Senate, and will not vote for a bill that does not include a public option”

Click on the following for more details:  Daily Herald | Once-spurned Burris may become key vote on health care

Medical premiums could be ‘heavy lift’

Some real numbers to the Congressional proposals.

Pollitz said the subsidies disappear rapidly for households with solid middle-class incomes. That could be tricky for a self-employed individual who has a particularly good year financially.

Another problem is that people won’t be able to get the insurance tax credits immediately after the bill passes. To hold down costs, the assistance won’t come until 2013, after the next presidential election.

Read more by clicking on the following:  Northwest Herald | Medical premiums could be ‘heavy lift’

Wal-Mart Backs Drive to Make Companies Pay for Health Coverage - WSJ.com

 

The support of Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, could give momentum to one of the most-contentious aspects of legislation taking shape in Congress to fix the health system.

Wal-Mart now supports requiring employers to provide health insurance to employees.

employers provide insurance for workers or help pay for it.

As a company, we believe the present health-care system is unsustainable and making the country's businesses less competitive in the global economy

 

Click on the following for the rest of the story:  Wal-Mart Backs Drive to Make Companies Pay for Health Coverage - WSJ.com

Private insurance companies push for 'individual mandate' -- chicagotribune.com

industry's real trouble begins in 2011, when 79 million baby boomers begin turning 65. Health insurers stand to lose a huge slice of their commercially insured enrollment (estimated at 162 million to 172 million people) over the next two decades to Medicare, the government-funded health insurance program for seniors.

Private insurers lost an estimated 9 million customers between 2000 and 2007.

Private insurance companies push for 'individual mandate' -- chicagotribune.com

Which Members of Congress Got Insurance Money In Last 2 Elections?

The top recipients of insurer contributions in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives were Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., $2,287,345; Sen. Chris Dodd, D.-Conn., $1,102,056, and Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D.-Pa., $491,545.

Click on the following for the rest of the story:  Which Members of Congress Got Insurance Money In Last 2 Elections?

Robert Reich's Blog: The Truth Behind the Social Security and Medicare Alarm Bells

 

Medicare is the terrible one, but the problem is not really Medicare; it's quickly rising health-care costs. Look more closely and the real problem isn't even health-care costs; it's a system that pushes up costs by rewarding inefficiency, causing unbelievable waste, pushing over-medication, providing inadequate prevention, over-using emergency rooms because many uninsured people can't afford regular doctor checkups, and spending billions on advertising and marketing seeking to enroll healthy people and avoid sick ones.

Click on the following for the rest of the story:  Robert Reich's Blog

Obama on Health Reform: The Dog That Didn't Bark

 

Only with a government plan that competes with private insurers, and offers Americans lower costs if the providers and insurers fail to reform themselves, will the system be genuinely reformed.

Click the following for the full text:  Robert Reich's Blog

Democrats’ Budget Deal Sets Up Fight on Health Plan - NYTimes.com

A way around the filibuster:

an obscure procedure known as a reconciliation on a health care bill, allowing health care legislation that meets budget targets to be approved by a simple Senate majority.

House and the Senate first agree on an overall budget blueprint and then pursue legislation, “reconciling” the blueprint with the needed policy changes. If enough Senate Democrats support the legislation, the White House would not need a single Republican vote.

Read the rest of the story:  Democrats’ Budget Deal Sets Up Fight on Health Plan - NYTimes.com

AIG Bonuses are we paying for them or not?

Treasury to Give AIG $30 Billion, Recoup Bonus Payments

by Paul Kiel, ProPublica - April 21, 2009 5:28 pm EDT

Remember those AIG bonuses that went to the employees in the division that sunk the company? Well, here’s a sort of resolution. The Treasury Department wasn’t able to rescind them, but is taking a different route to get the money back – applying a “commitment fee” when it forks over nearly $30 billion more.
Here’s how it’s working, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. Treasury has already invested $40 billion in AIG. And in early March, it committed to providing $30 billion more – bringing Treasury’s total to $70 billion. AIG released the finalized agreement yesterday for that extra $30 billion, and in it, it disclosed that Treasury would be deducting $165 million (the total of the bonuses) from the $30 billion total. So that means AIG is actually only getting $29.835 billion.

Treasury has also charged AIG a “commitment fee” for the amount of the bonuses. The government is allowing AIG to pay that money back in an installment plan, three $55 million payments over the next five years. The fee is to be paid from the “operating cash flow” of the company – presumably guarding against the possibility that AIG would simply be paying the taxpayers back with their own money.
Not exactly the simplest solution, but there you have it.

Why Republicans Should Back Universal Health Care - The Atlantic Business Channel

 

There's a massive constituency behind the policy. Buffeted by the recession and the threat of losing their employer-provided health insurance, the American people want universal coverage. Much of the US business community wants it too.

Why Republicans Should Back Universal Health Care - The Atlantic Business Channel

More US insurance companies eye federal aid | csmonitor.com

This is an update on earlier postings—it looks like federal bailout is near at hand.

a number of life insurers  met the requirements for the Capital Purchase Program because of their thrift or bank holding status and applied within appropriate deadlines

Read the story by clicking on the following:    More US insurance companies eye federal aid | csmonitor.com