Beneficiary? Don't Fuggedaboutit!

Although we blogged on the subject some time ago, our favorite Tax Blogger, Joe Kristan, has a timely reminder on why it's so important to periodically check - and, if necessary, update - the beneficiaries of your life insurance policies.You do own some life insurance, rig...

Philly Cheese Exchange

Pat and Geno probably won't be fighting over this one:"After months of study ... [Pennsylvania is] moving forward with a key - and widely supported - option offered by the federal health-care overhaul: a state-run insurance exchange."Of course, the authors of this piece offer no evidence demonstrating anything like "wide support"...

Cavalcade of Risk #145: Insurance Fest edition

David Williams hosts this week's excellent round-up of risk-related posts, with an emphasis on insurance as risk management tool. Do check it out.Also, we really need a host for the February 22nd Cav...Drop us a line for detai...

RomneyCare for Seniors

Willard Mitt Romney wants to save Medicare. Nothing wrong with that, at least in principle. But what would he do to bring down the cost of health CARE?As it turns out, nothing.But no big deal. Obamneycare won't do anything to lower the cost of health care either.The Boston Globe has this take on the Dick Clark of the Republican...

Barney, Fannie, Freddie and Death Panels

In his role as Congressional "Rabbi" for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, Barney Frank has been credited/blamed for many of our current fiscal problems. His recent announcement that he wouldn't be seeking a 17th term may be surprising, but it's his take on ObamneyCare© Death Panels that really hits home:"Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank announced on Tuesday his support for the repeal of the Independent...

Food Pyramid Update: Fat's Back!

According to a new study by universities in the Netherlands, the "dietary intake of saturated fatty acids (SAFA) is associated with a modest increase in serum total cholesterol, but not with cardiovascular disease."Translated, that seems to be a green light for more saturated fats in our diet. The bad news is that we'll most likely need to hold off on carbs, especially those with "a high glycaemic...

Turning up the Heat on Allianz

Last week, we updated our readers on the efforts of Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to resolve a decades-old dispute over life insurance proceeds due the families of those killed in the Holocaust.Turns out, she's turning up the heat. To broil:"[Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen] is pressuring National Public Radio stations ... CNBC and others to stop airing sponsorships and advertising by a giant...

On Phones, Cars and Health Care

The Law of Unintended Consequences is cruel, and unforgiving: “every undertaking, however well-intentioned, is generally accompanied by unforeseen repercussions that can overshadowthe principal endeavor.”We saw this with Cash4Clunkers. and are still reaping those consequences (don't believe me? Try finding a good deal on a used car). But there is, perhaps, an even better model: cell phones.Ok Henry,...

Cash Baby

One of my clients is about to have their second baby without the benefit of health insurance. Parents and older siblings have health insurance but they opted out of maternity coverage some time ago due to the exorbitant cost and restrictions on coverage.With some guidance from their agent, that would be me, they had baby number...

Dumping on MassCare

In the world of investing, the term pump-and-dump refers to a "scheme that attempts to boost the price of a stock through recommendations based on false ... statements. The perpetrators of this scheme ... sell their positions after the hype has led to a higher share price."Put more simply, they get in, "use" the system, and get out, generally at a profit. This costs the company, and it costs the other...

I been workin' on the railroad (I mean for SEIU)

"If you're a parent who accepts Medicaid payments from the State of Michigan to help support your mentally-disabled adult children, you qualify as a state employee for the purposes of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). They can now claim and receive a portion of your Medicaid in the form of union dues."These deadbeat scab parents gotta be stopped. And our government is just the one...

Cavalcade of Risk #145: Call for submissions

David Williams hosts next week's CavRisk, and wants your risk-related post. Entries are due by Monday (the 28th).NB: We're now using this submission tool: The BC WorkAroundOnce 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...

What ICD-10?

12.00 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ...

Government Health Care

The VA (Veterans Administration) provides free and almost free health care to those who have served in the armed forces. These brave men and women have done something most of us have not in order to gain access to health care.Most of us have health insurance paid for by employers or we do the responsible thing and buy it with our own money.But our veterans voluntarily put themselves in harms way to...

Captain Kirk vs Tom Turkey

If you've never had the pleasure of tasting deep-fried turkey, you're missing a real treat. But unlike conventionally-cooked birds, preparing one of these can be both daunting, and dangerous:Be careful, and have a GREAT Thanksgiving![Courtesy of our friends at State Fa...

CMS Head Berwick Resigns

CMS Director Donald Berwick, lover of rationed health care for all, has resigned rather than go through a Senate confirmation hearing.Readers may recall Berwick was appointed to the position while Congress was in recess, thus allowing him to assume the position on a temporary basis.Obama circumvented the Senate confirmation process, appointing Berwick while Congress was in recess in July 2010.The...

Wal-Marting of Health Care in America Continued

In 2009 I wrote a paper titled “The Wal-Mart”ing of Health Care in America”. The premise of the paper was that consumer driven healthcare was paving the way for clinics in places like Wal-Mart. Over the past several years mini-clinics have been popping up in grocery stores and strip malls across the country. In March of that year, an article announced that “Wal-Mart will partner with its Sams Club...

The MVNHS© Gets Down

Down Syndrome, that is.So what is Down Syndrome?It's a "set of mental and physical symptoms that result from having an extra copy of Chromosome 21 ... Usually, mental development and physical development are slower in people with Down syndrome than in those without the condition."Although DS isn't curable (yet), those afflicted with it can, with training and time, "live productive lives well into...

No, they're not

Of all the stupid things I've read recently about SCOTUS and ObamneyCare©, this takes the cake:"The insurance industry is terrified that the Supreme Court will strike down the individual mandate to buy insurance next year while leaving the rest of the healthcare reform law intact."The truth is, carriers know that ObamneyCare© is simply the next step towards a nationalized system, and every one of...

Great News, LexisNexis edition: Tax Update blog named to Top 20!

FoIB and All-Around Good Guy Joe Kristan has been named one of the Top 20 Tax Bloggers of 2011.Which is great in and of itself, but there's more: the Update's also in the running for Top Tax Law blog. And no one deserves it more than Joe - the Update is consistently interesting and entertaining, informative and snarky. That's no mean feat for a blog about taxes.So, click here to vote for the Tax Update...

Selfless vs Selfish

Last night I happened to catch the premiere of a new game show with a pretty cool premise: all the winnings would go to the contestant's best friend "Because She Deserved It." To introduce the deserving single mother of three, we were treated to a quick bio, which included the fact that her late husband was selfish and irresponsible.Of course, they didn't couch it this way, but consider the facts:...

Frustrating Carrier Tricks: Medicare vs Group

Basic rule: your group is under 20 lives, Medicare is "primary."But what does that mean?In simple terms, it means that if you're on Medicare, but still actively at work and on the group insurance there, your group plan becomes a sort of supplement to Medicare. Not so difficult in theory, but in practice, well, sometimes carriers make it too hard.Take, for example, Anthem (please!).One of my small...

Grand Rounds: In Gratitude edition

FoIB Amy T hosts a Thanksgiving-themed collection of medblog posts, and we're grateful to have been includ...

And awaaaaay we go !

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is urging Pennsylvania-based Everence Insurance to abandon its plan to raise rates by an average of 11.6 percent in the small-group market.And will this be more entertaining than Jackie Gleason?Well, probably not.But still go...

Government Price Controls

A doctor, now retired from the health care rat race, decided to offer his opinion on top down, government rationed health care. His observations were published in the Dominion Post.A brief excerpt follows.In short, Dr. Iammarino (retired pathologist) had a rapid heart beat, went to the ER for diagnosis and treatment. The doc is covered by Medicare and opted to have ablation surgery to correct the...

Holocaust insurance settlement: Update

It's been over 4 years since we've had any news about efforts by survivors in their efforts to collect on Holocaust-era life insurance benefits. At the time, Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen had introduced legislation to help move those efforts along.Skip ahead 4 years, and Ms Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is holding hearings in Congress aimed at enabling survivors and their families to "sue European...

Lamenting the Demise of Medicine in America

Two physicians from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Pamela Hartzband, MD and Jerome Groopman MD, write in the Oct. 13 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine that medicine has become industrialized. In their view, the medical exam given by a doctor to his patient has become an encounter between a provider and a consumer. Their lament is correct but a little late in coming. When I was...

Stretching Your Medicare Dollars

Much has been said about Medicare fraud and abuse, and cutting wasteful spending, but this story has me at a loss for words.An Illinois man accused of shipping unwanted "penis enlargers" to diabetes patients as part of a Medicare fraud scheme has pleaded not guilty in an arraignment in federal court in Providence.Under an agreement...

Puzzling Carrier/Government Tricks

Last week, I had the pleasure of once again hosting the Health Wonk Review, which included a post from our very good blog-friend Louise Norris that really piqued my interest:"For the last several months, individual health insurance applications in Colorado have included a new set of questions to determine whether an applicant’s premiums are going to be paid or reimbursed by an employer."For as long...

ObamneyCare© Glitch - IB Ahead of the Curve

Over two months ago, Bob noted that citizens in states that opted out of creating their own Exchanges would be ineligible for premium subsidies. Since so few states have thus far even begun exploring how to set up an Exchange, this has now hit the radar.As Cato's Michael Cannon writes in today's Wall Street Journal:"[Obamneycare©] offers "premium assistance"—tax credits and subsidies—to households...

Less Health Care - You Can Live Without It

Is it just me, or is Washington sending a message that they want to RATION our health care? The Obama administration seems to favor placing those people who want bigger government and less access to health care in charge of our senior population.Consider this.During a Congressional recess Obama appointed Donald Berwick, a socialist...