Frankly, I am unsure about whose plans to implement changes to health care will benefit or harm my business; Sen. Barack Obama’s call for mandated coverage or Sen. John McCain’s proposal for individual health insurance tax credits. Both have their merits, and many — including myself — are mulling over which would be best for their own business and the industry as a whole.

But I do know one thing for certain: In the final debate between the two presidential candidates, Obama looked directly into the camera and told Americans a big, bald-faced lie. Read the rest of this entry »

The news might be bleak for Wall Street, but news of a proposed $700 billion bailout of the nation’s financial system might give health insurers a break.

A recent Bloomberg News article published in the Salt Lake Tribune posits the notion that taking a gigantic chunk of money from the fed budget to salvage the financial markets from their losses due to the mortgage crisis, will leave little for proposed changes in the nation’s health care system, which, depending on how one views it, could be good news for some large health insurance carriers.

I am not a fan of federal oversight of insurance; I am not a fan of federal oversight of just about anything.

Sure, when public safety is an issue — such as requiring inspections to avoid tainted foods or regulations that dictate how many hours a plane can fly before it is serviced — well, that is a no-brainer.

But having the government get involved in health insurance (it hasn’t worked so well in places such as Canada and England) isn’t necessarily a good idea. No one can say with a straight face that the IRS or the Social Security Administration are efficient, well-run operations. And heaven forbid we mention the rampant fraud associated with Medicare and Medicaid.

However, the tide will likely shift after the near collapse — and subsequent government bailout — of the world’s largest insurance carrier, AIG. Read the rest of this entry »

The stock market had been open for just seven minutes Monday before the first call for federal regulation of insurance was made on CNBC.

Read the rest of this entry »

Without question, a recent opinion piece by Robert J. Samuelson in Newsweek is THE most definitive I have ever read about universal health care.

Enough said. Just read it already.

Homeowners in Texas and the surrounding areas may unwittingly enter the fray over who is responsible for damage to their homes due to flooding: private carriers or the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Of course, this assumes that homeowners actually have either one.

A recent Houston Chronicle article begins with the topic of high deductibles for homeowners who suffered damage, then opens up the can of worms about responsibility for flood damage caused by ordinary flood sources and special occurrences such as a “storm surge.”

Many insurers who might face flood insurance claims from homeowners claim they are not responsible, if the insured’s policy does not cover flood damage. No doubt, however, that there will be state or federal mitigation if disagreements arise.

The Bush administration has opened a huge can of worms with its latest proposal to implement a regulation designed to protect doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who object to abortion from being involved in the procedure, if such procedure violates their personal beliefs. According to The Washington Post, nearly 600,000 hospitals, clinics, health plans and doctors’ offices could lose federal funding if they don’t accommodate these professionals.

The debate then moves to health insurance companies, who might read the regulations as permitting them to remove birth control from their coverage plans, in spite of state laws that require them to cover contraception, according to The Wall Street Journal. Read the rest of this entry »

An op-ed piece in the Baltimore Sun Aug. 3 suggested that universal health insurance is the great panacea for the workplace. The author, William J. Evitts, a historian, builds on the ideas of William Bridges, who in 1995 wrote a book called JobShift, which called jobs a present list of consistent responsibilities for one or more people to accomplish. Evitts argues that given that the definition of a job is shifting and more jobs are consequently being outsourced, the need grows for a non-employer-based health insurance system.

“Freed from the tyranny of employment-linked health insurance, we’ll follow our dreams and take control of our work,” Evitts writes. “The creative energy unleashed by this will electrify the economy, facilitating entrepreneurship and innovation by reducing the risk of doing without the swaddling security of a long-term job.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors (NAIFA) sees no problem with bringing to an end the era of the independent insurance agent.

Or so it must seem, after NAIFA recently presented its opinion on a proposed Optional Federal Charter, which is now closer to reality following the Bush Administration’s pronouncement that it will seek to overhaul the insurance industry. Such an overhaul would in effect make state insurance regulation secondary to a federal insurance “czar,” making it easier for large agencies to grow and expand like a supernova, leaving smaller, independent agents hawking their products on street corners the way the unemployed sold apples for a penny during the Great Depression. Read the rest of this entry »

Nationwide has made a smart business decision in developing a new, “back-to-basics” insurance and financial planning guide in both English and Spanish. The company’s press release rightfully states that the guide helps to open the discussion between family members about important coverage, safety and financial issues.

The company’s website also allows Hispanic visitors to locate Spanish-speaking agents.

Certainly, having an educated immigrant population is a very wise thing. While they don’t state it, the obvious target is new citizens and immigrants from below the Mexican border. Whether legal or illegal residents, the children and grandchildren of these consumers will be American citizens, and with ever-increasing declines in the education of American children, any education is vital to an informed populace.

And going after this market is just plain smart. Read the rest of this entry »

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said today that the Bush Administration wants to create a federal insurance regulator, the latest call for change in how insurance agents and brokers, and insurers conduct their business, according to a story on IFAwebnews.com.

According to IFAwebnews.com, the newly announced Fed plan for overight of financial institutions and insurance companies is big news – and some would say bad news – for the U.S. insurance industry. Read the rest of this entry »