SICKO - Half True about US Health Insurance

Michael Moore's latest documentary "SICKO" is partly a diatribe against health insurance companies and drug makers. It recalls outrageous examples of treatments denied.

The film also page homage to government-run systems that offer, in Moore's words, "free medical care for everyone."

In lauding Canada, Great Britain, France and Cuba, it largely avoids mention of the long lines and high taxes that accompany most government-run systems.

In Canada, even the anti-privatization Canadian Health Coalition laments long lines. The tax burden in France is 42 percent and is 27 percent in Britain as opposed to 12 percent in the United States, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In Cuba, equipment and drugs are scarce.

The film tells the truth about many of the U.S. health-care system's problems. Are there really 18,000 deaths each year because people lack health insurance? The Institute of Medicine says so.

Moore says that for all its health-care spending, the United States' life expectancy rates are lower than the other four countries.

The World Health Organization says U.S. males at birth are expected to live to age 75, compared with 77 in Britain and France and 78 in Canada. Females have a life expectancy of 80 here, 81 in Britain, 83 in Canada and 84 in France. Cuba is virtually tied with the U.S.

The film says there are nearly 50 million Americans without health insurance; there were 44.8 million uninsured in the U.S. in 2005, including noncitizens, the Census Bureau says.

The film says health-care costs $7,000 a person each year; the World Health Organization says it costs $6,100.

Moore reaches back more than a decade for stories of health care denied by insurers and HMOs. He cites the 1987 case of a man who was denied health coverage for a heart transplant, and the subsequent congressional testimony in 1996 by a woman who says her job at health insurance company Humana was to deny as many claims as possible.

Online Auto Insurance Company Ratings

Press Release

The Customer Respect Group today released findings from its Second Quarter 2007 Online Customer Respect Study of the Automobile Insurance Industry.

The study evaluated the websites of a representative sample of auto insurance companies. A directly comparable Customer Respect Index (CRI™) is provided for each company.

The average rating for the industry was 5.4 on the 10-point CRI scale. This score represents an improvement since the last report, primarily in the area of privacy policy transparency and responsiveness to emails.

Top companies in the latest study were:

Company		CRI
GEICO		7.2
Progressive Casualty		7.2
Liberty Mutual		6.6
Farmers		6.1
American Family		5.9
Cincinnati		5.9

Humana Suspends Sales of Medicare Advantage Plans

Humana Inc. and other health insurance providers are temporarily suspending marketing of non-group Medicare Advantage plans after finding out that sales agents forged signatures and signed up dead people.

The move comes after complaints were made regarding insurance salesmen being overly agressive when trying to sell the health insurance plans to the elderly, even going as far as to sign up dead people and forge signatures.

The health insurance companies who suspended marketing the government funded plans are working with the U.S. Medicare health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.

Medicare has approximately 43 million beneficiaries, of which about 7.5 million are in Medicare Advantage plans. Enrollment of seniors in Private fee-for-service plans is rising sharply and now accounts for about 20% of the $60 billion Medicare Advantage program.

Texas Auto Insurance Database

Two years ago, lawmakers ordered up a system to bust the millions of Texas residents who drive illegally without auto insurance. They're still waiting, and insured motorists are still paying big bucks to insure themselves against the scofflaws.

Although a contractor has been selected to operate the new auto insurance verification program, officials said the database needs more fine-tuning and now won't be launched until 2008.

The delay stems from concerns about the mountain of data required for the program and worries that people could be ticketed or even arrested because of inaccurate information.

The program, funded with a $1 fee paid by all Texans when renewing their registration each year, is aimed at catching uninsured drivers by allowing police officers, state troopers, vehicle inspection stations and others to instantly verify whether a motorist has the minimum insurance coverage required under state law.

About 20 to 25 percent of Texas drivers are uninsured, according to state officials and the insurance industry.

State Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, who authored the legislation when he was a state senator in 2005, expressed disappointment that it has not yet taken effect. But if there are still glitches in the system, he added, it is better to delay the startup.

Numerous lawmakers have said one of the most frequent complaints they hear at town hall meetings is about the large number of uninsured drivers in Texas and the extra cost they represent for the majority of drivers who buy insurance.

The insurance industry estimates that Texas drivers shell out nearly $900 million a year to protect themselves against those without coverage.

Although Texas has had a law requiring drivers to buy insurance for years, enforcement has been difficult even though proof of insurance must be furnished to get a license renewal or safety inspection. The policy must contain liability coverage to pay for injuries and damage caused by the driver.

Millions of motorists skirt the law by using counterfeit proof-of-insurance cards or by obtaining a month's insurance coverage to get an ID card, only to cancel the policy once they get their licenses renewed or their vehicles inspected.

Those plans are expected to get a boost once the state verification program is operating.

The state program is being coordinated by the Insurance Department along with the departments of Public Safety, Transportation and Information Resources, which are exploring how to best use the data to enforce the law. In some states, for example, uninsured drivers receive written notice from the state giving them a certain amount of time to buy coverage to avoid penalties.

HDI Solutions Inc., an Alabama-based firm that specializes in data management, was awarded a contract from the state in November to set up the verification program. The company, which will partner with three other high-tech firms, is being paid $7 million over two years to get the program running. HDI operates a similar program in Alabama.

Florida Auto Insurance - No More No Fault

State Farm, Florida's largest auto insurance carrier with more than 1/5th of the market, plans to cut rates by 16 percent on Oct 1. Other companies are expected to follow suit

The price decrease comes with the elimination of Florida's no-fault auto-insurance system, which is set to expire Oct. 1. That likely will prompt price increases elsewhere. Without mandatory no-fault medical coverage, known as personal injury protection, or PIP, motorists and their passengers will no longer automatically have $10,000 worth of insurance per person to pay their medical bills and lost wages from auto accidents.

Florida Health insurance will step in for those who have it. But rate increases for Florida health coverage are already in the works to account for the change.

Meanwhile, some 2.8 million Floridians don't have health insurance coverage. That's a significant number, given that some 94 percent to 96 percent of all drivers are currently insured with the mandatory PIP coverage.

Ending no-fault may end mandatory insurance requirements in Florida to register a car and increase the number of uninsured driving in the road, according to a department official. The lapse of no-fault also is expected to bring additional auto accident-related pain-and-suffering lawsuits to the courts because such actions are barred under the current no-fault law.

Health Insurance reform for '08

More Americans without health insurance coverage and higher costs have thrust the health care issue into the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign but candidates this time are far less ambitious with their plans than in the past.

The problems confronting the U.S. health care system have only worsened since the early 1990s, when President Bill Clinton and the Democratic-controlled Congress failed to pass a sweeping overhaul.

People who have health insurance have seen double-digit increases each year for much of the past decade. The average annual premium for an employer sponsored health plan for a family of four has risen to nearly $11,500, according to the National Coalition on Health Care. The number of people without health insurance has grown to nearly 45 million

People without health insurance spend roughly $125 billion on health care annually, with about a third of that amount -- $40 billion -- going unpaid, a debt largely covered by the government, according to a 2004 Kaiser Family Foundation study.

Alabama Auto Insurance

In addition to making auto liability insurance mandatory for Alabama drivers (8 years ago), the Alabama Legislature might increase the amount of insurance that motorists must buy.

The proposal — $25,000 in insurance coverage for a single injury or death, $50,000 for multiple injuries or deaths, and $25,000 for property damage — is a compromise between plaintiff lawyers, who wanted motorists to carry twice that much, and insurance companies, which said raising the limits too high would increase the number of drivers who risk driving without coverage.

Only 10 states have limits lower than Alabama.

If the bill passes and is signed by the governor, it would take effect immediately.

Universal Health Care Plan

Presidential candidate and Sen. Barack Obama plans to announce a proposal that would expand health insurance to all U.S. residents by the end of his first term.

In prepared comments obtained by the AP, Obama said that the proposal would require all residents to obtain health insurance. Under the proposal, a National Health Insurance Exchange official would monitor health insurers and the plans that they offer. Residents who cannot afford health insurance would pay for coverage on a sliding scale based on their annual incomes, and health insurers could not deny coverage to residents with pre-existing medical conditions.

The proposal also would include funds to improve technology in the health care industry through measures such as the implementation of an electronic health record system. In addition, the proposal would establish a reinsurance pool for catastrophic conditions and call for a focus on preventive care.

Unitrin enters Kentucky

Unitrin Direct, an auto insurance company that combines affordable auto insurance coverage with a high-level of customer service, has been approved to do business in the state of Kentucky, which could mean significant savings for the state's nearly three million licensed drivers.

Kentucky is the 23rd state where Unitrin will provide auto insurance coverage. Unitrin has a proven history of saving its customers money and an A (excellent) rating by A.M. Best.

According to Unitrin, Drivers who switch to Unitrin Direct from another carrier pay an average of $303 less for their coverage.