| Threat of Fines
A new UnitedHealth Group Inc. policy that threatens to fine doctors for referring patients to out-of-network laboratories for tests is mushrooming into a bitter dispute between the health-insurance giant and many of the 520,000 physicians in its networks nationwide. Most health plans are designed so their members pay more when they go to an out-of-network doctor or take a nonpreferred medication. But the financial sanctions -- which UnitedHealth has yet to impose -- mark the first time a physician could be fined by a health insurer if he or she directs a patient to seek out-of-network care or testing, the ... .
Q4 2006 Conseco, Inc. Earnings Conference Call - Final
OPERATOR: Thank you for holding, and welcome to the Conseco teleconference. We will begin an address by Dan Murphy, Conseco's Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. During the presentation, all teleconference participants will be in listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation. [OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS] Thank you for your attention and here is Dan Murphy. DAN MURPHY, SVP, IR, CONSECO, INC.: Good morning, and thanks for joining us on Conseco's fourth quarter earnings conference call. I'm pleased to have several key Conseco executives on the call with me today, including Jim Prieur, Conseco's CEO; Gene Bullis, Chief Financial Officer; Mike Dubes, President of Conseco Insurance Group; Scott Perry, President of Bankers Life; Greg Barstead, President of Colonial Penn Life; and John Wells, Senior Vice President of Long Term Care.
Event Brief of Q4 2006 Conseco, Inc. Earnings Conference Call - Final
. Dan Murphy, Conseco, Inc., SVP, IR . Jim Prieur, Conseco, Inc., CEO . Gene Bullis, Conseco, Inc., CFO . Mike Dubes, Conseco, Inc., President, CIG . Greg Barstead, Conseco, Inc., President, Colonial Penn Life . John Wells, Conseco, Inc., SVP, Long Term Care . Jukka Lipponen, KBW, Analyst . Tom Van Buskirk, McMahan Securities, Analyst . Andrew Brill, Goldman Sachs, Analyst . David Merkle, Hold Capital, Analyst . Scott Perry, Conseco, Inc., President, Bankers Life . Mark Finkelstein, Cochran Caronia Waller, Analyst OVERVIEW Co. reported 4Q06 net loss applicable common stock of $3.7m or loss per diluted common share of $0.02. FINANCIAL DATA A. Key Data From Call 1. 4Q06 net loss applicable to common stock = $3.7m 2. 4Q06 loss per diluted common share = $0.02 PRESENTATION SUMMARY S1. 4Q06 Business Review (J.P.) 1.
Canada: The Duties Of Departing Employees: Are They On The Move?
Recently, the British Columbia Court of Appeal released its decision in RBC Dominion Securities Inc. v. Merrill Lynch Canada Inc. et al. This decision, if not successfully appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, will have a significant impact on the duties and obligations (or the lack thereof) that departing employees will owe to their employers in the financial services sector, particularly investment brokerages. .
Plan Would End Lifetime Health Care
LANSING, Mich. -- To share the pain during Michigan's budget crisis, state lawmakers have proposed ending a perk that regular workers can only dream of: lifetime health care for just six years of work. Bills introduced Thursday would end the lucrative coverage for new lawmakers elected in 2008 and beyond. Current legislators, including those who took office in January, could continue qualifying for health care at age 55 after serving six years. House Democrats behind the plan say they can't strip the promised benefit from current lawmakers because of a provision in the state constitution, though others disagree. .
Obama hears from Seacoast on health care
PORTSMOUTH - Illinois Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama made it very clear to the 200-plus people who attended what he called, "A Community Meeting on Health Care," held at Seacoast Media Groups new headquarters at Pease on Tuesday, that the universal health care plan he wants to develop for the country has to have the backing of its citizens. "I want to be held accountable for establishing a universal health care plan by the end of my first term, but I have to insist on the voters rallying for this change," Obama said following the two-and-a-half-hour meeting with local residents. "When I take office, I have to feel I have a mandate for change." He placed the blame for not finding a solution to the health care crisis that has left 47 million Americans uninsured and tens of millions under-insured on a lack of political will.
Small Business Research Board (SBRB) Study: Health Care Costs ...
Regionally, small businesses in Northeast and Midwest most pessimistic according to SBRB report prepared in conjunction with International Profit Associates. Within the industry categories, confidence in Construction and Contracting sector continues to grow while Food business holds steady. Manufacturing and Transportation confidence indexes show significant declines. .
Dentist gives office to county
GREENSBORO -- After 40 years of peering at molars, John Chandler was ready to hang up his rubber gloves and retire from dentistry.But there was the matter of his Friendly Avenue office, a prime piece of property a short walk from downtown.The building was too big for another dentist to use alone. UNCG was interested in the property, but Chandler wondered what he'd do with all the dental equipment inside.The answer: Give it to those who need it most. He decided to donate all of it -- the land, the building and every paper clip, office chair and sink inside -- to Guilford County for its low-income dental clinics." 'Yeah, we like it,' " Chandler, 64, remembered county higher-ups saying. "And I said, 'Yeah, you can have it.' And that's pretty much how it happened."The gift, which Chandler thinks is valued at $1.4 million, was announced at Thursday night's county commissioners meeting.Health officials are thrilled and will move their Greensboro dental clinics there later this year.
District 204 officially approves two new hires
The Unit District 204 board of education formally approved hiring Allan Davenport as the next Hill Middle School principal and appointed Karla Zozulia as director of support services. Davenport, assistant principal at Hill for the past three years, takes over as the schools top administrator at 1836 Brookdale Road. Davenport replaces Mike Raczak, who was recently named principal of Watts Elementary School in Naperville. The Hill leadership team spoke with depth and detail and examples sometimes referring to actions that Allan has led, said Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Nancy Pedersen. He has taken the initiative and the energy and drive. Zozulia joined the district in 2006 as building operations secretary and later became an elementary and secondary education administrative assistant.
Invisible animals are taking hold of the Bibb commission
Bibb commissioners fled the county last week for the quieter climate of the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth to huddle and discuss several issues. No matter the subject, whether it was Lake Tobesofkee or privatization of some county departments or building a new courthouse, the underlying theme was money. There are decisions to be made, such as whether or not to privatize the work of the Macon-Bibb County Board of Tax Assessors. Other Georgia counties, such as Cobb, have streamlined the entire process, and taking into account the recent problems, privatizing the work of the board might be a slam dunk. Other services provided by county employees from Public Works and Building Services could also be farmed out. However, those issues pale in comparison to the real challenges that are staring commissioners in the face.
Walter Reed not the issue
There's another side to the ongoing scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well as Veterans Administration facilities. The Bush administration's attitude toward our wounded veterans parallels its behavior toward the rest of our healthcare system: neglect, inadequate funding, and privatization.
It also illustrates a disturbing pattern of misplaced priorities, record spending on a disastrous war while our health care security for veterans and millions of other Americans is left behind.
For those too horrified to read the details, here's a snapshot of the administration's greatest domestic disaster since Katrina.
It starts with brutally substandard care and abandonment of tens of thousands of veterans, not just at Walter Reed, but at VA hospitals and clinics around the country, as The Washington Post has revealed in ghastly detail.
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