| Minnesota Sues "Trust Mills"
Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is suing two California companies, American Family Legal Plan and Heritage Marketing and Insurance Services, Inc., for operating a "trust mill" that preys upon Minnesota senior citizens. Swanson said that American Family Legal Plan initiates a "trust mill" scheme through a direct mailing to senior citizens, telling them that the company has special expertise in estate planning and can advise clients on how to avoid estate taxes and probate fees. If the senior citizen responds positively, Swanson said an agent posing as an estate planner meets the senior citizen at home and sells the person a plan for $2,000 or more. Swanson said that during this meeting, the agent will distort and misrepresent the impact of probate fees and estate taxes, causing the senior citizen to buy the trust out of fear that their heirs will lose the estate.
Motorists billed for fire-rescue help
Car crashes may get more expensive as communities recoup costs by charging drivers for every act that fire-rescue personnel perform, including unhooking a battery. BY PHIL LONG AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH plong@MiamiHerald.com As if crashing your car weren't bad enough, some Florida cities are adding a bit of pain on the side: a bill if you need fire rescue. Hialeah has been doing it since last year. Cocoa has just approved it. And a couple of smaller cities in Central Florida, Maitland and Winter Park, have had the fees on the books for about three years. The service isn't cheap. In Hialeah, it's $435 for fire rescue to free the scene of hazards and do minor work like disconnecting a car battery. If you need ''hydraulics'' to get you out of your wreck -- better known as the Jaws of Life -- be ready to pay $1,800.
Citizens Insurance Company of America Launches Connections(TM ...
HOWELL, Mich., April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Citizens Insurance Company of America today announced the launch of a new homeowners insurance product, Connections(TM) Home, in Michigan. This announcement follows the launch of Connections Home by its affiliate, The Hanover Insurance Group, in Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, New York, Ohio and Tennessee, where the product has increased homeowners' quotes for the company since its launch. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051031/NEM023LOGO ) Connections Home makes it easier for agents to sell and retain more business by providing a total account solution, competitive coverage packages, enhanced premium choices, an expanded appetite and reliable, more convenient service. The introduction of Connections Home completes Citizens' total account solution for personal lines, giving the company's agent partners the products they need to sell and retain more business.
Who pays when illegal aliens drive without insurance?
What the hell are they thinking? That was my first response to hearing that our state representatives had just voted to approve a measure to give illegal immigrants a way to drive legally. Never mind that they entered the country illegally. Never mind that to work in this country they are using someone else's identity. Never mind that if they are getting paid in cash, they are avoiding the very taxes we all pay to maintain the roads. Our state representatives, who are supposed to not only uphold the constitution of the United States as well as our own State of Illinois constitution have decided that it is in the best interest of the state to allow illegal immigrants a driving certificate. As you can tell, I have very strong opinions about illegal immigration. Illegal is illegal.
Insider's Guide: Employee Health Benefits
When Kara Trott set out to arrange health-care coverage for her employees she relied on her own expertise. Ms. Trott is the CEO of Quantum Health LLC , a Columbus, Ohio, firm that helps big companies organize and manage their health and related benefits programs. Before founding the company in 1999, she worked as a consultant in the industry. She started her firm with about five employees. Now at about 65, her current staff is still too small to justify the kind of big-company benefits programs she advises on. Rather, she's had to create a benefits system on a smaller ... .
My finished-basement horror story
DEAR BOB: My daughter and her family purchased a 1970s ranch-style home after the professional inspector she hired gave it and the finished basement a clean bill of health. The seller even signed a "no water problems" statement in the closing papers. Within days, her sister noticed her fingers could go through the drywall in the cellar. The brand-new bathroom shower was not connected to the septic system, and also flooded the floor. Mold and water remediation followed, costing more than $12,000. The lawyer who handled the closing settlement won't help. What recourse does she have against the seller and inspector? --Sara C. DEAR SARA: Obviously, your daughter bought the house from a dishonest seller who signed a fraudulent defect disclosure statement. If the bathroom shower was new, she should have inquired if a building permit was obtained and if the local building inspector approved the work.
Creative destruction long overdue
Conservation programs and universal health care aren't the problem; they are the solution. Environmental rules save resources. Universal health care saves lives. And both create jobs. The North Pole and Antarctica and glaciers from Greenland to the Himalayas are melting. The plagues that we are seeing — just the "A's" including allergies, Alzheimer's, asthma and autism — are all linked to the environment and point to a community responsibility in health care. At last, the American people and the Congress understand that, and President George W. Bush is the only one still saying "What, me worry?" With the last election, the tide shifted not just politically but environmentally as people came to realize that the cost of the Bush administration's policy of protecting the jobs and the profits of the status quo was just too high.
Savings plan 'confusing"™
PORTSMOUTH "" With Democratic presidential candidates emphasizing the need for a universal health care program and almost no discussion of this issue by the Republican candidates, the Bush administration-enacted option of tax-free health savings accounts has been pushed to the background. However, an Exeter physician believes there may be a place for these HSAs in the discussion, even if that discussion is about a system that offers federally paid coverage for everyone. "What we need is a candidate who says, Let's start from scratch and set up a universal health care system, while giving people the option of opting out of that system,'" said Dr. Alain Ades, chief of gastroenterology at Exeter Hospital. "That's where HSAs would be of use "" for people who want not better health care but, perhaps, faster care." HSAs were established as part of the 2004 Medicare Reform Act that established the Part D prescription drug coverage benefit.
Insurance commissioner tours Columbus' damage, urges homeowners to ...
Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine examined tornado damage in Columbus Tuesday morning and brought two messages. The first was for people whose homes and businesses were affected by the March 1 storm. "If you have a problem with insurance, if you have any questions about what should be covered," he said, "don't hesitate to call us." The second was for people who escaped untouched by the heavy winds and rain. "This is just the beginning of tornado season in Georgia," he cautioned. "People need to check their insurance and make sure they are properly covered." For the latter group, Oxendine suggested taking a digital camera and photographing each room "so you can remember what you had." Standing near the rubble of a flattened home on Brookstone Boulevard, he said it's unlikely that the residents will be remembering just what they had, making it difficult to replace the lost items.
Young consumers have lots to learn about finances
I'm 30. If I were a lyric poet, mathematician or theoretical physicist, I would be making my most important contributions to the world right about now. At least that's what a new economic study says. When it comes to finances, though, the behavioral economists who wrote the study hypothesize that I have 23 years before I hit my financial peak. Their findings: Youthful brainpower and the wisdom of experience merge at the solidly middle age of 53. The authors admit that their work isn't conclusive, but it's certainly compelling. The Ivy League researchers examined hundreds of thousands of home-equity loans, car loans, and credit cards used by consumers across the age spectrum and found ``a hump-shaped pattern of financial sophistication.'' That's a wonky way to say that younger and older consumers make more financial mistakes than middle-aged consumers.
The many, and healthy, ways to LIVE WITH CANCER
When David Stellar found out his cancer was back - this time in his lungs - he sat down with his wife to talk about what they should do. It was a short conversation. "Work is a low priority and family time is a high priority," said Stellar, 46. "That was about it." So the San Diego architect quit his job and has spent the past four months having as much fun as he can with his wife and 9-year-old son as he undergoes chemotherapy for the cancer, which began in his tonsils. "We went snowboarding three times this winter, which was great," Stellar said. "We went to watch the whales and their babies last month. That was pretty cool. I'm going to ride my bike down with our dog this afternoon to pick up my son at school. It's been pretty life-changing." The back-to-back announcements by Elizabeth Edwards and Tony Snow of their cancer recurrences has focused attention on how people respond when they learn they have cancer or a malignancy has returned.
Corn on the Hoof: Cattle producers keep close eye on farm bill
Editor's note: This is the second in an occasional series on the 2007 Farm Bill, which Congress is writing this year, and its effects on Montana farmers and ranchers. Montana's agricultural sector is the largest natural resource industry in the state, approaching $3 billion in cash income per year.What's the price of corn? .
Bills of local interest
Editor's note: This is a list of local bills and resolutions introduced in the Maryland General Assembly during the 2007 regular session. For more information, go to mlis.state.ms.us and click on "Bill Information and Status." Bills introduced by Washington County lawmakers Washington County Delegation HB 352 - Authorizes and empowers the Washington County Commissioners to borrow up to $80 million to finance the cost of construction, improvement or development of specified public facilities in Washington County. Passed by Appropriations Committee. Passed on third and final reading by House (134-0). Passed with amendments on third and final reading by Senate (47-0).
Actions Taken On HPV Vaccine Proposals In New Mexico, Utah ...
The following highlights recent state and territorial news related to human papillomavirus vaccines. Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil in clinical trials has been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases, and about 99% effective in preventing HPV strains 6 and 11, which together with strains 16 and 18 cause about 90% of genital wart cases, among women not already infected with these strains. FDA in July 2006 approved Gardasil for sale and marketing to girls and women ages nine to 26, and CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices later that month voted unanimously to recommend that girls ages 11 and 12 receive the vaccine (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/27). GlaxoSmithKline last week announced that it has filed for FDA approval of its experimental human papillomavirus vaccine Cervarix, which also has shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18 (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/30).
How can we fix our health care problems?
While I have been lucky enough to escape the medical condition called shingles, I know many people who have had them, including my wife and mother, and from all accounts they are really painful. Having knowledge of this painful ordeal, I really got a chuckle out of something a friend from North Arkansas sent me the other day. It's titled, "Bubba Had the Shingles," and there is an underlying message here that I would like to briefly discuss with you after I share it. .
Mobile marketing offers ROI for pharma firms
Mobile devices are a promising medium for marketers. The majority of Americans own a cell phone, they carry them everywhere and the phones themselves provide increasingly rich media capabilities graphics, video and wireless Web access. As a recent USA Today article noted, With readers fleeing newspapers and TV viewers zapping past commercials, advertisers are turning to the one device consumers cant seem to escape: their cellphones. Physicians are among the earliest and most enthusiastic adopters of mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones. These devices help physicians keep track of patient information and find quick answers to a wide variety of clinical questions ranging from Does drug X interact with drug Y? to Is this lab test value abnormal? As a result, nearly 60 percent of physicians in the United States use a PDA to reference important clinical information, stay current on medical developments and manage schedules and contacts.
Coastal Insurance Commissioners Bearing Brunt of Katrina Fallout
After 32 years in office, Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale's position is under fire as never before, according to the April 9 issue of BestWeek. In addition to attacks relating to disputed claims stemming from Hurricane Katrina, Dale finds himself in a court battle with his own political party over its decision to decline him certification to run in the 2007 Democratic Party primary election. Dale's not alone. While in some cases, commissioners have left in the midst of administrative changes that followed gubernatorial elections or for other pursuits, others are bearing the brunt of the post-Katrina fallout, namely, rising property insurance rates and shrinking availability of coverage.
Also in BestWeek: -- The 2012 London Olympics is just five years away, and for many in the insurance industry, it is increasingly important to assess the risks and rewards of covering the event; -- Some may have thought Europe's capital markets have been growing old gracefully, but there is a kind of momentum to the activity in those markets that suggests the Old World is where the action will be this year; and -- Best's Global Insurance Composite Index finished the week of April 5 up 11.64% from a year ago.
‘We are the world’s number one producers of boron’
The greatest figure we ever reached in export was $338 million in 1995, a figure that represented the total sale of all mines: aluminum, silver, copper, gold; all the mining that you could think of. Now the income we have from boron exports alone is $390 million. How did this happen? We have taken two complementary steps simultaneously: we have both increased our production capacity, and gravitated toward niche products. This company produces boron chemicals. However I'm, sad to say, the first director general who is also a chemical engineer. Everybody seems to think that this company operates in the field of mining. Don't you deal in mining? In fact, a major part of our sales happen through a physically enriched product, 35 percent of which is concentrated.
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