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POPSHealth insurers reinvent themselves as money managers "Federal tax rules for HSAs were liberalized in 2003, making them very attractive to well-heeled taxpayers. Commercial banks such as Bank of America and Mellon Bank, seeing the opportunity to collect management fees on the accounts, jumped into the business. "Every bank wants to increase its share of HSAs," said John Casillas, director of the Medical Banking Project, a Franklin, Tenn., organization that helps medical administrators develop financial service systems. "There's fees for managing the account, transaction fees, fees for investing the funds," Casillas said. "You're going to see many billions of dollars moving from premium payments to professionally managed investment funds under HSA rules. Some people think that banks are going to threaten health plans by replacing them in the marketplace.""
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POPSHealth Care Money Managers A three-part series in the LA Times chronicles a tipping point in health insurance industry: more firms acting as managers of their customers' healthcare dollars rather than as traditional insurers.
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POPS Sen. Reid Cries 'Bankruptcy' In Front Of Reporters The SEC has been issuing subpoenas for an investigation into rumor-driven market manipulation. Of course, Harry Reid stood up in broad daylight to talk about a troubled insurer "with a name that everyone knows," so his contribution was merely obtuse. And predictably destructive. The steep drop in the share prices of insurance companies Thursday destroyed wealth for uncounted middle-class investors holding onto stock in companies still considered healthy. It calls to mind *Senator Chuck Schumer's public suggestion in July that troubled IndyMac Bank "could face collapse." It did, after a deposit run. Senator Schumer said criticizing his action was akin to blaming "the fire on the guy who called 911." The nation's shareholders would sleep better at night if some Members of Congress enrolled in Arsonists Anonymous. The $4 Billion Senator* http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121607771017452513.html?mod=article-outset-box
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POPSFBI Investigating Companies At Heart Of Meltdown Last week, the Federal Reserve provided an emergency $85 billion loan to AIG, which teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. Lehman Brothers was forced to file for bankruptcy after attempts to engineer a private rescue fell apart. All the companies were laid low from bad bets on complex mortgage-related securities. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made the joint decision last week that the only way to stop the carnage was to deal with the root cause of all the troubles, billions of dollars of bad mortgage debt sitting on the books of major financial companies. This debt has triggered the worst credit crisis in decades, causing credit markets to essentially freeze up despite the fact that the Fed joined with major central banks around the world to pump billions of dollars of reserves into the financial system. IndyMac Bancorp Inc. and the former Countrywide Financial Corp., are also under. scrutiny.
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POPSHuge Bonus to Corporate Big Boss They dished themselves huge pay and bonus just beofre declaring bankruptcy and government steps in with huge amounts to help them. A nice scratching of each oher's backs !
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POPSAmerican Ingenuity of the Fiancial Sector Hits All Perhaps this is their strategy? Turmoil and chaos are on the side of those who are the cause. Take-Overs, further "Consolidation", governments to "Bail Out". It all points in one direction- National Socialism or better known as Fascism. Through in all those Weapons and you have the" right " mix for World Domination. Do we get this? Or will it get us?
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POPSDow plunges nearly 450 points:'People are scared to death,' Personally I am not so much scared about the economy failing as I am about the wave of things that could follow, like home heating, electric, water, etc. Since the people down stream who won't be able to afford to work. Without worker bees things will gradually demise further.
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POPSStock Market Continues Fall, Fed Bails Out AIG Crisis continues. AIG gets what Lehman Bros did not--a bail out by the Fed. Maybe the fact that Lehman Bros hired Jeb Bush as advisor a year ago and another Bush as asset manager (see previous clipmark on Lehman) did have a role in deciding not to bail out Lehman, which sent the market into a tail spin as investors and pension companies change their portfolios away from these firms at risk. The Fed's "loan" will be in the form of printing more money (devaluing the dollar, increasing inflation) by the Fed (which is not a government institution, but private bank cartel). The Treasury Dept endorsed it, which is a reflection of the Bush administration. The Fed bailout really is the nationalization of AIG (a mark of socialism, communism), since they did it for a "return of 80% public stake in the firm". The Fed "owns" AIG now.
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POPSPerry Suspends Hotel Tax For Evacuees Category 3 storm could drain windstorm insurer Hurricane Ike will pose a major test for the state's windstorm insurer of last resort. Already slammed this year by Hurricane Dolly and Edouard, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has $2.1 billion in funding left. "That's still a tremendous amount of money," said Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas, an industry trade group. "But the severity really depends on where this makes landfall. The worst-case scenario is it going into Galveston, up the Ship Channel and into Harris County." The storm could significantly reduce the association's funds, experts said. "We know it's a huge storm, and it definitely has the possibility of doing billions of dollars in damage, but we just don't know where," said Sandra Helin, a spokeswoman for the association and for Southwestern Insurance Information Services. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/5996830.html
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POPSScience Proves Exotic Cars Turn Women On "The study was commissioned by the ultra-exclusive British insurer Hiscox (we swear we're not making this up), which was curious to know how people respond to high-end luxury cars. "We knew owners of luxury cars felt a connection with the sound of their vehicles," says Steve Langan, managing director of the insurance company. "We have now scientifically proven the physical attraction people feel when it comes to cars.""
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POPSDon't Tell Obama, McCain: Conventions Taking In Corporate Cash are all donors to the Aug. 25-28 Democratic convention in Denver. Lobbyists for those groups can get credentials to both conventions or related events, allowing them to mingle with lawmakers acting on legislation important to them. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., the world's largest grain processor, benefited from and lobbied on a just-passed legislation renewing farm programs for five years, a bill McCain criticized. ADM is supporting the Sept. 1-4 Republican convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. AT&T and Visa are also among the 23 companies that are helping to fund both conventions, according to the host committee's Web sites. Lobbying expert Rogan Kersh, said the corporate money could muffle the candidates' campaigns against so-called special interests. In a campaign devoted to change, both parties' much-proclaimed reform candidates will have their halos tarnished by the corporate largesse.''
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