Stewart's Insurance Depot Newsroom
Here you can access some current news articles we feel you would be interested in reading. Keep checking back for updated content.
For news specifically related to the Affordable Care Act, check out our Healthcare Reform page.
May 2012:
Disability News
Survey: Most Americans Flag Income Protection Among Top Financial Goals, but Few Own a DI Policy
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 05/11/2012 By: Warren S. Hersch
Just over six in ten Americans say that protecting their income in the event of a disability is a top financial goal, but only 8% have a disability income insurance policy, according to a new study. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, published this finding in a summary of results from a study, "The State of Planning in America." The study's release in May coincides with Disability Awareness Month. Click to read more.
Health Care News
Retiree health care costs rising; many people not preparing
USA Today Original Post Date: 05/10/2012 By: Christine Dugas
The golden years are losing their luster as health care costs continue to outpace income and many Americans are not saving for retirement. Retiree health care costs have increased an average 6% a year since 2002, according to a study by Fidelity Investments. A 65-year-old couple would need $240,000 to cover medical expenses during their retirement years, it estimates. That amount could eat up 35% of the couple's annual Social Security benefit. And it doesn't even include any long-term care costs. Click to read more.
Small Business News
5 'IP' Mistakes Start-ups Should Avoid
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 05/10/2012 By: Antone Johnson
Venture capitalists, angel investors and start-up lawyers these days tend to be obsessed with "intellectual property," or IP. And for good reason: In the information economy, the core assets of a new venture are likely to be talented people, the IP they create, and little else. To maximize future value, founders should try to lay a solid IP foundation even before a new start-up is incorporated. Here are five common mistakes to avoid: Click to read more.
Health Care News
Trimming the Fat From America's Wasteful Health Care System
The Atlantic Original Post Date: 05/09/2012 By: John Rother
Health care in the United States is distinguished from the rest of the world by its very high costs, which are caused in large part by exceptional levels of waste and inefficiency in our health care system. Many credible estimates put this level of waste at an astonishing 30 percent or more. With health care costs driving federal deficit projections, as well as higher costs for families and businesses, it's past time that we took a hard look at this waste and take steps to address it in a serious way. Click to read more.
Video Clip
Wealth: Predicting Interest Rates, EFT Risks
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 05/09/2012
Here's the first step to take before you sell your business. Plus, a risk with managed-fund ETFs investors may be missing. And, a prediction for interest rates. Dow Jones Wealth Adviser's Veronica Dagher reports. Watch the video below.
LTCI News
Long-Term- Care Insurance: Who Needs It?
NPR Original Post Date: 05/08/2012 By: Marilyn Geewax
Americans routinely buy all sorts of insurance-- for cars, homes, health and even pets and boats. But when it comes to long-term-care insurance, relatively few sign up. Out of more than 313 million Americans, only about 8 million have any such protection, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. The low participation rate largely reflects the high cost of long-term-care insurance. Click to read more.
Annuity News
Slideshow: The History of Annuities
Annuities Through the Ages
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 05/08/2012 By: Marvin Feldman, CLU, CHFC, RFC & Maria Wood|
Income annuities are an ancient idea having a major resurgence in our market. According to LIMRA, total annuity sales in 2011 reached $240 billion. In retirement planning, lifetime income annuities provide safety, security and a guarantee that annuitants will not outlive their income. But do you know the history of annuities? Did you know they have been around since the Roman Empire? Here is a pictorial history of annuities compiled from Tom Hegna's book "Pay Checks and Play Checks." Click to read more.
LTCI News
3in4: Got More Media!
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 05/08/2012 By: Allison Bell
The 3in4 Need More long-term care insurance (LTCI) public awareness campaign has attracted media attention in the Northwest. In northern California, the Northridge-Chatsworth Patch covered the campaign May 5 in an article with the headline "Talented Granny Hunt Visits Northridge." In Oregon, the Oregon Herald published an article Monday announcing, "National Senior Talent Competition Comes To Portland May 11th." Click to read more.
Small Business News
How to Turn Average Employees into Rock Stars
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 05/08/2012 By: Michael Michalowicz
When most of us hear the term, "the placebo effect," we think of drug trials and the tendency for some patients to experience positive results even when given a harmless pill with no therapeutic benefits. A similar effect can happen in the workplace to the benefit of your small business, if handled correctly. Click to read more.
Annuity News
On the Fence About Annuities?
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 05/07/2012 By: Kelly Greene
Do Americans like the idea of buying annuities to guarantee their retirement income? It depends on how you frame it, according to research released last week by BlackRock, for which Boston Research Group polled 1,035 retirees. Asked if they would have chosen a steady income stream throughout retirement or a lump sum, 77% of the retirees said they would have taken the regular payments. Another 15% said they would prefer a partial lump sum and partial income stream. Click to read more.
Disability News
Disability insurance more crucial than you may think
Chicago Sun-Times Original Post Date: 05/06/2012 (Updated 05/07/2012) By: Terry Savage
Disability insurance is one of the most overlooked products in the insurance industry. No one wants to think about how different life would be if you were suddenly disabled and couldn't work, as a result of an accident or illness. But how about this fact: Between the ages of 25 and 65, you're four times more likely to be disabled than to die. Click to read more.
Group Disability News
9 in 10 Would Pay for Disability Insurance, if Only They Knew What it Was
PropertyCasualty360.com Updated On 05/02/2012 By: Mark E. Ruquet
Most employees do not know anything about group-disability insurance, but when they learn about it, 9 out of 10 employees say they want the coverage and are willing to pay for it, according to a survey released today. The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and employee-benefits insurer Unum released a survey of nearly 1,200 employees asking them about their knowledge and understanding of disability insurance. Click to read more.
Disability News
Disability Insurance Observer: Growth
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 05/02/2012 By: Allison Bell
Unum Group Inc. has reported an astonishing discovery: Some employers might be expanding. Unum Group Corp., Chattanooga, Tenn. (NYSE:UNM), is reporting $214 million in net income for the first quarter on $2.6 billion in revenue, compared with $224 million in net income on $2.6 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2011. Click to read more.
Small Business News
New Turf for Sharing Services: the Driveway
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 05/02/2012 By: Sarah E. Needleman
While some high-tech companies got their start in garages, a new crop of business founders, including Nick Miller of Baltimore, is giving fresh meaning to the term "garage entrepreneur." Mr. Miller co-founded Parking Panda Corp., a three-person company that helps city dwellers make money by renting their garage, driveway or other property to people looking for parking spots. Many people can fit another car, or even two, into their drive, he says, especially if they can tuck their own car into the garage. Click to read more.
Life Insurance News
When to Buy Term-Life Insurance
Fox Business Original Post Date: 05/01/2012 By: Kayleigh Kulp
Life insurance is a crucial part of financial planning no matter your stage of life. An up to date, sensible policy can keep your family from financial disaster if you die, but deciding which type is best for your life situation can be tricky. Both whole and term life insurance policies allow you to lock in the same monthly payment over the life of a policy (at your choosing), with a lump sum to be paid to the beneficiary upon death. But whole life insurance policies also come with stock, bond and money market investments, and some tax advantages. Click to read more.
Disability News
Multiple options open to employers considering health advocacy benefit
Employee Benefit News Original Post Date: 05/01/2012 By: Kathleen Koster
Delivering quality health care benefits to an employee population has only become more complicated due to legislative policy and escalating claims costs - making consumer education and empowerment all the more important in containing cost increases. Click to read more.
April 2012:
Retirement News
If You're Under 40, Don't Bank on Social Security
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 04/28/2012 By: Robert Powell of MarketWatch.com
If Plan A in your retirement scheme is Social Security, it's time to start working on Plan B. Based on reports last week from the folks responsible for the Medicare and Social Security Trust Funds, Americansıespecially those under age 40ıneed to reconsider their retirement plans. Absent major action by lawmakers, the annual reports say the combined assets of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Disability Insurance trust funds will be exhausted in 2033ıthree years sooner than was projected last year. The Disability Insurance fund will be exhausted in 2016, two years earlier than last year's estimate. Click to read more.
Disability News
DI Underwriter Sees Room for Longer-Term High-Limit Policies
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/27/2012 By: Allison Bell
Mark Petersen, a specialty disability insurance market veteran, is seeing interest in supplemental policies that can pay benefits to high-income insureds for a longer period of time. Petersen, a vice president at Petersen International Underwriters, Valencia, Calif., says athletes, performers and others with high incomes use special high-limit supplemental disability products to protect against illnesses or injuries. Click to read more.
Healthcare News
Health Accounts: Witnesses Clash on Value of FSAs, HSAs
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/26/2012 By: Allison Bell
Using flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health savings accounts (HSAs) and other personal health accounts to buy over-the-counter products helps high-income taxpayers much more than it helps low-income or moderate-income taxpayers. Paul Van de Water, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, made that argument Wednesday at a hearing on use of health accounts to buy over-the-counter products that was organized by the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee. Click to read more.
Retirement News
Why Retirement Saving Trumps College Tuition
USNews.com Original Post Date: 04/25/2012 By: David Ning
Many parents give their children financial support to attend college. Helping them to earn a college degree without taking on debt will certainly give your children a great start in their adult life. But too many parents lend support without considering their own financial circumstances, which could turn out to be a huge mistake. While living frugally to pay for college tuition is a worthy goal, itıs not a good idea to fully fund your child's college costs if you need to neglect your retirement savings plan to do so. Here is why you shouldnıt sacrifice your retirement finances to pay for your child's college tuition: Click to read more.
Economy News
Fed Holds Rates Steady, but Outlooks Shift
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 04/26/2012 By: Jon Hilsenrath & Kristina Peterson
Federal Reserve officials reaffirmed their plan to keep short-term interest rates near zero until late 2014 to support economic growth, but hints emerged of policy makers' diverging views about how the central bank might proceed. A number of Fed officials indicated they expect the unemployment rate to fall lower this year than they projected in January, and for economic growth to pick up more. Most officials don't want to shift their stance on interest rates even though the outlook has brightened mildly. Click to read more.
Retirement News
How a Life/LTC Combo Could Save Your Client's Retirement
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/25/2012 By: Philip E. Harriman
When thinking about the future of retirement and leaving a legacy behind for children and grandchildren, boomers characteristically stay optimistic and independently strong, thinking a financial crisis could never happen to them. While there are many events that could shatter retirement savings, one of the most daunting is an unexpected long-term care (LTC) event. Click to read more.
LTCI News
The $1.7 Million LTCI Claimant
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/24/2012 By: Allison Bell
Long-term care insurance (LTCI) carriers really do pay LTCI claims. The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI), Westlake Village, Calif., has published LTCI benefits statistics in a report based on its latest industry survey. The 10 carriers that participated in the survey said they paid $6.6 billion to a total of about U.S. 200,000 policyholders in 2011. Click to read more.
Retirement News
Longevity and a Long-Term Health Event: The X Factors In Retirement
Giving Assets Away to Qualify for Medicaid Can Cause Problems
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/24/2012 By: Stuart Armstrong
There are twin X factors that loom over all of your long-term care insurance (LTCI) prospects. Setting the stage for an LTCI sale means addressing these factors, including: How do they intend to set up resources to provide a lifetimeıs worth of income for themselves and their spouse or partner? and How they will pay for the possibility of a long-term care event? Click to read more.
Life Insurance News
10 key things to know about key employees
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 04/20/2012 By: Steve Parrish
Advisors sometimes ask me what defines a "key employee." Now that Charlie Sheen quotes are passe, it's not enough to respond that a key employee is one who is "winning." We need to offer more meat to the definition. To me, a key employee is defined by... Click to read more.
Health Care News
Facing Health-Plan Cuts
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 04/20/2012 By: Ellen E. Schultz
Retirees are paying more than ever for their employer-sponsored health coverage, often in the form of higher premiums, copays and deductibles. Companies often say spiraling health-care costs force them share the pain with retirees. But that isn't the whole story. Many employers have been shifting more costs to retirees even as they receive billions of dollars in government subsidies to offset their own costs. Click to read more.
Retirement News
Retirement bottom line: Many will have to work until 70
USA Today Original Post Date: 04/20/2012 By: Dinah Wisenberg
Will the old thirtysomething gang still be showing up for work at seventysomething? That could be the case if they hope to enjoy a financially secure retirement. Baby Boomers, with their inheritances, homes, and old-fashioned pensions, may appear to be on track for a solid retirement ı but some experts say the forecast for the generation born from 1946 through 1964 isn't necessarily so rosy. Click to read more.
Health Care News
Consumer-Directed U.S Health Insurance Surges
Insurance Broadcasting Original Post Date: 04/20/2012 By: Mark Miller
(Reuters) - There may not be a consensus in the nation's capital on how to control the cost of health care, but businesses and their employees are not sitting around waiting for clarity. They are voting with their wallets for one approach that's already available: Account-based health insurance plans, which offer lower premiums in exchange for high deductibles. Click to read more.
Health Insurance News
7 steps to introducing a wellness program
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 04/20/2012 By: Amanda McGrory
As global competition continues to rise, employers are increasingly finding the importance in a healthy and productive work force. Employees' health has both a direct and indirect impact on an employerıs bottom line, and to battle these costs, more employers are focusing on wellness programs, according to Change Agent Work Group. Click to read more.
Life Insurance News
Universal Life Riders to the Rescue
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/20/2012 By: Jeff Koll
Some of the biggest news in the employee benefits industry lately is less about new products and more about what insurance companies aren't offering: long-term care insurance. Several major players have exited the individual long-term care market, and some carriers are discontinuing their group products as well. Click to read more.
Military News
Humana Military to Host 75 Wounded, Ill, and Recovering Service Members at 90th Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, Texas
Humana.com Original Post Date: 04/20/2012
Humana Military Healthcare Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) will recognize and host 75 service members recovering from wounds, illnesses and injuries acquired in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars for the 2012 Valero Texas Open, April 19th-22nd, at the AT&T Oaks Golf Course, a 72 par, 7,522 yard course located in the Cibolo Canyons area just north of San Antonio. The 2012 Valero Texas Open also commemorates its 90th anniversary making it one of the oldest golf tournaments in the world. Click to read more.
Veteran News
VA to Increase Mental Health Staff by 1,900
VA.gov Original Post Date: 04/19/2012
WASHINGTON ıSecretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki today announced that the department would add approximately 1,600 mental health clinicians ı to include nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers as well as nearly 300 support staff to its existing workforce of 20,590 mental health staff as part of an ongoing review of mental health operations. Click to read more.
Health Care News
One in four experience gap in health insurance
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 04/19/2012 By: Jenny Ivy
Analysis from The Commonwealth Fund finds that in 2011, 25 percent of adults ages 19 to 64 experienced a gap in their health insurance with a majority remaining uninsured for one year or more. Losing or changing jobs was the primary reason people experienced a gap. Almost half of respondents (41 percent) say they had employer-based coverage before they lost their insurance. Eighteen percent had been enrolled in Medicaid; 6 percent had a plan purchased in the individual market; 7 percent had been insured through another source; and 27 percent never had health insurance. Click to read more.
Health Care News
Making the most of that shiny new HSA
Reuters Original Post date: 04/19/2012 By: Matt Stroud
Health savings accounts have been around for almost a decade, but lately people have been snapping them up like they are milk and rock salt, and a big snow storm is brewing. Click to read more.
Disability News
Are we missing the boat on disability?
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 04/18/2012 By: Mike Keller
When was the last time you visited a home that didn't have a television in nearly every room or met someone who didn't have a cell phone? Americans seem to have plenty of disposable income for giant flat-screen TVs and the latest smart phones, but most of them lack one of life's true necessities: protection for their ability to earn an income. Click to read more.
Medicare News
Officials: Competition Cuts Medicare Fraud
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/18/2012 By: Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
WASHINGTON (AP)-- A year-long experiment with competitive bidding for power wheelchairs, diabetic supplies and other personal medical equipment produced $200 million in savings for Medicare, and government officials said Wednesday they are expanding the pilot program. Click to read more.
Health Care Blog
Saving For Health Care: The Policy Pros and Cons of Different Vehicles
Health Affairs Blog Original Post Date: 04/17/2012 By: John Goodman
There are two ways people can insure for medical expenses: third party insurance and individual self-insurance. Under the former, a third party (insurance company, employer or government) pays the expenses. Under the latter, people must save and pay the expenses directly, from their own resources. Click to read more.
Retirement News
The 7 Biggest Retirement Planning Mistakes
TIME Original Post Date: 04/17/2012 By: Dan Kadlec
Retirement readiness is near an all-time low. Just 14% of adults are very confident they will live comfortably after quitting work and 60% have less than $25,000 in savings, according to the Employee Benefits Research Instituteıs most recent Retirement Confidence Survey. Click to read more.
Video Clip
How Your Health Is Affecting Your Life Quality
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 04/16/2012 By: Laura Landro
A focus on quality of life helps medical providers see the big picture-- and makes for healthier, happier patients. Click here to read the rest of the article or watch the video below.
Social Media News
Insurers' Social Media Sites Examined
Insurance Networking News Original Post Date: 04/16/2012 By: Justin Stephani
While the insurance industry's presence in social media is well-established and pervasive, three insurers stood out on the most popular platform, Facebook, in Corporate Insightıs latest report: State Farm Nation, Flo the Progressive Girl and Allstate Mayhem. Click to read more.
Life Insurance News
The Return of Cash Value: A Tipping Point for the Life Industry
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/13/2012 By: Mike Tinsley
In 'The Tipping Point,' author Malcolm Gladwell defines the subject of his book as 'the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point' where anything can change. The theory applies to trends of all types, from fashion to crime to health care. Click to read more.
Healthcare News
Humana Introduces Innovative Pharmacy Offerings That Guarantee Cost Savings and Predictability for Employers
Humana.com Original Post Date: 04/12/2012
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) announced today that its pharmacy benefits management subsidiary Humana Pharmacy Solutions, Inc. (HPS), is offering employers a new Rx4Value formulary and Walmart Rx Network that together guarantee up to 20 percent savings on employersı average prescription price. Click here to read more.
Individual Health News
Aflac: Americans in Denial about Likelihood of Accidents and Serious Illnesses
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/12/2012 By: Warren S. Hersch
Six in ten workers say it's not very or not at all likely that they or a family member will be diagnosed with a serious illness like cancer, according to a new report. Aflac, Columbus, Ga., published this finding in the 2012 Aflac WorkForces Report, an annual employee benefits study examining the forces impacting the trends, attitudes, and utilization of employee benefits. Click to read more.
Life Insurance News
Efinancial Helps Debunk 7 Myths About Life Insurance
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/11/2012 By: Michael K. Stanley
There have been a plethora of reports and statistics over the last few years about the life insurance coverage gap in this country. These findings almost always reiterate what an opportunity the gap creates for people in life insurance sales without offering many precise hypotheses as to why it exists in the first place. Click to read more.
Health Care News
HSA growth may hit some hurdles
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 04/10/2012 By: Marty Trussell
A quick scan of recent press releases from health savings account custodians indicates that HSAs are continuing to grow at a vigorous rate. For example, in March, Kansas City-based UMB Healthcare Services, a division of UMB Financial Corporation, announced that account balances for its HSAs grew 36.1 percent surpassing $400 million dollars following 2011 open enrollment. UMB said that the number of HSAs in their care stood at nearly 220,000 at year-end. Click to read more.
LTCI News
LTCI Watch: Grandma's Boxes
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/10/2012 By: Allison Bell
Like a lot of people, I went home to visit my parents this weekend. I expected to relax, help prepare and serve festive meals, eat festive meals, wash the dishes used in the festive meals, and, in between eating leftovers from the festive meals, visit Kansas City malls that had thrived, died and were remade into awkward power shopping centers. Click to read more.
Retirement News
Employer worried about boomer retirement, skills gap
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 04/10/2012 By: Amanda McGrory
U.S. employers are focusing more on skills training as well as employee benefits that help smooth skills gaps left when baby boomers retire, according to a joint poll by the Society for Human Resource Management and AARP. Click to read more.
LTCI News
Don't Grow Old Without It
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 04/09/2012 By: Kelly Greene
Long-term-care insurance: It can make the difference between living out your life the way you want and becoming a burden to your family or a ward of the state. But it is becoming significantly more expensive, more complicated and harder to get with each passing year. Click to read more.
Retiremen News
American families told to start saving early for retirement
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 04/09/2012 By: Arthur D. Postal
American families give themselves the best chance at a secure retirement by starting to invest as soon after they start working as possible, according to a study released today that was commissioned by three trade groups involved in the retirement sales industry. Click to read more.
Health Care News
"Choosing Wisely" is Key To Health Care Cost Containment
National Association of Health Underwriters Original Post Date: 04/09/2012
Last week, nine major medical specialty societies representing 374,000 physicians nationally began their "choosing wisely" campaign geared at reducing healthcare costs by educating the public and fellow healthcare providers about over-utilization of healthcare services. Click to read more.
Health Care News
Playing for Wellness
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 04/07/2012 By: Anna Wilde Mathews
Your health insurer wants to play games with youıand they might involve actual prizes. As insurers try to get members to take better care of themselves, they are turning to tactics from the world of digital gaming. They're using methods including team competitions forged through online communities, virtual and real-world rewards for those who make moves to improve their health and the potential for raffle-style prizes. In addition, they're working with games for consoles such as Microsoft's Xbox Kinect that involve physical activity. Click to read more.
Life Insurance News
Slideshow: 6 Famous Brands Started or Saved by Life Insurance
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/06/2012 By: Brian Anderson
If not for life insurance, Disneyland might have existed only in Waltıs imagination. Stanford University might have been a short-lived tribute to a son who died young. James Cash Penneyıs personal depression during the Great Depression might have shuttered the J.C. Penney chain. McDonaldıs might have only served a few hundred thousand. Todayıs home chefs might not be getting pampered. Click to read more.
Small Business Healthcare News
5 Things You Must Know About Employee Health Benefits
Insurance Broadcasting Original Post Date: 04/05/2012 By: Jennifer K. Halford, Esq.
There has been a lot of information in the news about health care reform and how it affects small businesses. Yet, I still find many business owners scratching their heads trying to understand what it all means for their businesses. You need to know what your business is required and not required to do. Not knowing can cost you unnecessary expenses and penalties. Click to read more.
Small Business Healthcare News
Wellness Focus Helps Employer Decrease Health Costs
Insurance Broadcasting Original Post Date: 04/04/2012
Rather than passing rising health costs on to employees, Crowne Consulting Group and Med-Vision, LLC helped Pasco County schools discover an innovative approach to cut costs by enhancing healthcare for its more than 8,000 employees. ıThey provided orientations for our employees, and they even offered a prize drawing incentive to encourage utilization.ı Click to read more.
Retirement News
Boomers: What They Worry About
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/03/2012 By: Lloyd Lofton
Today someone in America is retiring. In fact, starting back in January of 2011 some 10,000 individuals a day are retiring. The baby boomer generation, born between 1946 and 1964, are now making decisions that will have a lasting impact on this next phase of their lives. These individuals will have a higher income than their parents and for the most part, they will have a higher education level. Click to read more.
Video Clip
More U.S employers tie health insurance to medical tests
USA Today Original Post Date: 04/02/2012 By: Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News
Once a year, employees of the Swiss Village Retirement Community in Berne, Ind., have a checkup that will help determine how much they pay for health coverage. Those who don't smoke, aren't obese and whose blood pressure and cholesterol fall below specific levels get to shave as much as $2,000 off their annual health insurance deductibles. Click here to read more of the article and click below to watch the video.
HSA News
Five reasons to enroll in an HSA
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 04/02/2012 By: Eric Johnson
As HSAs continue to grow in popularity, more and more employers are considering this option for their employees. But, while employees may see the benefits to the company for moving to an HSA-qualified plan ı a lower price point, the flexibility to adjust HSA contributions in future years, and the potential for better utilization and reduced claims ı many business owners worry workers wonıt see the value in a plan where theyıre responsible for most of their up-front expenses. Click here to read more.
Life Insurance News
Life on the iPad
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/02/2012 By: Brian Anderson
Last weekend I purchased a new iPad, which I plan use for work when traveling (provided I can remove it from the grasp of my 5-year-old) instead of lugging my laptop to conferences and events. While I have used a few iPads in the past couple of years, I now find myself continually amazed by what they can do through all kinds of downloadable apps ı many of which are free (including all the ones mentioned below). Click here to read more.
Individual Health News
Go on a Negativity Fast
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 04/02/2012 By: Anthony Iannarino
Despite all of our challenges, we humans continue on our relentless upward trajectory. Thanks to breakthroughs in technology, medicine, science and the arts, life just continues to get better and better. Click here to read more.
March 2012:
Retirement News
Medicaid Gets Harder to Tap
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 03/30/2012 By: Kelly Greene
Families hoping to use Medicaid to help pay for long-term care are facing tougher restrictionsıthough some states are getting stricter than others. In Texarkana, Texas, for example, you can get Medicaid to pay for a nursing-home stay after simply buying an annuity with any savings that exceed the qualifying limit, says John Ross IV, a lawyer who specializes in elder-law issues there. Click here to read more.
Retirement News
Avoiding "Money Death"-- A New Option for Your Nest Egg
CNBC Original Post Date: 03/29/2012 By: Sharon Epperson
The good news is Americans are living longer. But the worry for many retirees is that they'll outlive their savings. The average life expectancy for men in the U.S. now reaches 83 years old ı and women are living to age 86. Living 20 years or more beyond the traditional retirement age may call for some non-traditional investment moves. Click here to read more.
Life Insurance News
Transamerica Helps Families Calculate Their Coverage Needs
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/29/2012 By: Michael K. Stanley
Transamerica Brokerage has created TransamericaForLife.com, a tool designed to assist potential customers in determining the appropriate amount of life insurance coverage they need by relating it to their monthly income. Click here to read more.
Retirement News
Americans' Retirement Confidence Down Significantly Since 2007
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/27/2012 By: Warren S. Hersch
Americansı confidence in achieving a secure retirement and their optimism about the countryıs financial future have declined significantly during the past five years, according to a new report. Click here to read more.
Life Insurance News
Allianz Life an Energy Star
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/27/2012 By: Michael Stanley
Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life) earned, for the third consecutive year in a row, the Energy Star certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Click here to read more.
LTCI News
7 Tips for Elder Travelers
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/21/2012 By: Bob Wheeler, MD
When you're out in the community building relationships, or when you're talking to clients or prospects, one topic that might come up is elder travel. Long-term care insurance (LTCI) policyholders -- including some who are already collecting benefits -- may want to travel to attend family events, get to second homes, or see the world. They may start the conversation by asking about travel medical insurance and assistance services. Click here to read more.
Medicare News
Humana and CareSource Form Alliance to Serve Medicare and Medicaid Beneficiaries, Particularly 'Dual-Eligible' Population
Humana.com Original Post Date: 03/20/2012
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), one of the nationıs largest and most experienced Medicare companies, and CareSource, one of the most respected Medicaid companies in the U.S., are joining forces in a strategic alliance designed to enable both companies to more effectively serve Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries ı particularly people who qualify for both programs, the ıdual-eligibleı population. Humana and CareSource anticipate working together in multiple states. Click here to read more.
LTCI News
What Would You Do with an Alzheimer's Wand?
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/19/2012 By: Allison Bell
One commenter wants the draft National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease to give more information about long-term care insurance (LTCI), because the product has helped her provide long-term care (LTC) for her parents. Another commenter says nursing home insurance did little to help him care for his wife. Click here to read more.
Healthcare News
CMS: Everyone Will Help Stabilize Individual Health Issuers
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/19/2012 By: Allison Bell
Group health insurers will join with individual health insurers to fund a temporary individual health insurance reinsurance program, according to officials at the Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight (CCIIO). Click here to read more.
Annuity News
LIMRA Reports on Annuity Sales
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/16/2012 By: Michael K. Stanley
Total annuity sales increased 8% in 2011 over 2010 to hit $240.3 billion as reported by LIMRA in its fourth quarter 2011 U.S. Individual Annuities Sales Survey. According to LIMRA, Windsor Conn., the survey represents 94 percent of the market. Click here to read more.
Individual Health News
Budget Analysts: Group Health Likely to Survive PPACA
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/15/2012 By: Allison Bell
Forecasters at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) are refusing to predict that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) will lead to a sharp drop in enrollment in employer-sponsored health plans. Click here to read more.
Healthcare Reform News
Most expect court to rule against individual mandate
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 03/15/2012 By: Kathryn Mayer
Yet another poll confirms most Americans find the individual mandate provision of President Obama's health reform to be unconstitutional. Click here to read more.
Healthcare News
HSAs Trending Up
Human Resource Executive Online Original Post Date: 03/13/2012 By: Katie Kuehner-Hebert
While enrollment in health-savings accounts is still modest, HR leaders can increase enrollment by lowering premiums and out-of-pocket maximums on the corresponding high-deductible heath plans, and touting the ability to use HSAs to save money for emergencies. Click here to read more.
Healthcare News
Reform Driving Up Health Plan Costs
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/13/2012 By: Kathryn Mayer
Compliance with health care reform is already driving up costs for some employersı group health plans, and a majority of employers expect price increases to be passed on to employees, according to a Willis Group Holdings survey. Click here to read more.
Healthcare News
Feds release health exchange blueprint
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 03/12/2012 By: Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
Tackling a huge logistical challenge, the Obama administration Monday released an ambitious blueprint for states to match up uninsured Americans with coverage that's right for them under the health care overhaul law. The long-awaited regulation, released as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a challenge to the law, stresses state and federal flexibility. Click here to read more.
Healthcare News
The Exchange Regulations Are Here
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/12/2012 By: Allison Bell
Here's the text of the Establishment of Exchanges and Qualified final rule, and also the text of a related interim final rule. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) posted the final rule today to implement the provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) that are supposed to create a new set of state-based exchanges, or Web-based health insurance supermarkets, that individuals and small groups can use to buy health coverage. Click here to read more.
Small Business News
Senate to Introduce Bill to Help Small Businesses
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/12/2012 By: Jim Abrams
The Senate is set to come out with its version of legislation to help small businessesraise capital, paralleling a measure that cleared the House in a somewhat different form last week by a large bipartisan margin. Click here to read more.
Business Healthcare News
HHS issues final rule on health insurance exchanges
ModernHealthcare.com Original Post Date: 03/12/2012 By: Rich Daly
HHS issued a final rule to implement state health insurance exchange provisions of the federal healthcare law. The rule is effective 60 days after publication in Federal Register, although HHS will continue to accept comments for some sections of the regulation. Click here to read more.
Healthcare News
U.S House GOP Look to Reshape Birth Control Debate
Insurance Broadcasting Original Post Date: 03/12/2012
U.S. House Republican leaders are looking for a way to reshape the debate over the administration's new rule on birth-control insurance coverage before moving ahead with a bid to nullify the requirement. Click here to read more.
Healh Care Reform News
Health reform law remains a marathon
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 03/12/2012 By: Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
It took only a year to set up Medicare. But if President Barack Obama's health care law survives Supreme Court scrutiny, it will be nearly a decade before all its major pieces are in place. Click here to read more.
Marketing News
The New Facebook Business Page
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/11/2012 By: Amy McIlwain
Recently, the redesign of Facebook business pages was presented at the Facebook Marketing Conference in New York. The redesign, which officially launches at the end of the month, will feature a new timeline format and cover photo, which allows businesses to showcase their stories and connect with customers in new ways. Click here to read more.
Healthcare News
Backup plans if individual mandate is struck down
Politico Original Post Date: 03/11/2012 By: Brett Norman
If the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down health reformıs individual mandate and leaves the rest of the law in place ı what happens next? The backup plan could be automatic enrollment in your employerıs health insurance, a lot like the way you get signed up for the 401(k) plan. Click here to read more.
Group Health Insurance News
Engagement increases employees' grasp of benefits
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 03/09/2012 By: Amanda McGrory
For many employees, trying to understand their benefits plans can be a confusing and frustrating process. Between traditional health plans, wellness programs, consumer-driven health care and retirement ı just to name a few ı there are so many options to consider, and employees need the proper education to make the right decisions. Despite this, many employees are lacking in benefits education. Click to read more.
Estate Planning News
Creating an Estate Planning Dream Team
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/07/2012 By: Raymond W. Johns, RFC and Lee S. McCullough III
A complete financial plan requires a proper mix of investments, insurance, tax planning and legal work. Because it is difficult ı even impossible ı to be competent and properly licensed in all these areas, professionals often take a team approach to financial planning. Financial advisors, accountants and attorneys each bring a unique perspective that can be beneficial to a client. Click here to read more.
Health Insurance News
Health Insurance: Employees Shoot Themselves in the Foot
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/05/2012 By: Brian Anderson
Most employees with decent existing health care coverage essentially shoot themselves ı and their companies ı in the foot by not properly utilizing their health benefits. Click here to read more.
LTCI News
LTCI Watch: Crystal Clear
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 03/05/2012 By: Allison Bell
One way private long-term care insurers (LTCI) could set their products apart could be to emphasize how compatible LTCI coverage is with alternative medicine. The assumption today seems to be that an 85-year-old is an 85-year-old. An 85-year-old is supposed to be a humble, accepting person who likes Lawrence Welk polka music and does what the doctor says. Click here to read more.
Health Insurance News
Helping employees understand HSAs
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 03/02/2012 By: Amanda McGrory
As limits are being imposed on flexible spending accounts starting in 2013, more employers are turning to health savings accounts. Many employers see HSAs as an option to enhance awareness and consumerism of health care costs, but it takes some effort to help employees fully realize how HSAs work. Click here to read more.
Video Clip
Re-Thinking Sick Day Policies at Small Businesses
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 03/01/20120
WSJ's Sarah Needleman has details of new sick-day policies passed by state governments. Watch the video below:
February 2012:
Health Care Reform News
Witness: Delegating Health Cost Crisis Won't Help
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 02/29/2012 By: Allison Bell
Many current proposals for trying to control U.S. health care costs call for giving private health plans an impossible task, according to Len Nichols. Len Nichols, a health policy professor at George Mason University, testified today at a health spending hearing organized by the Senate Budget Committee. Click here to read more.
Consumer Driver Health Care News
Consumers-- and employees-- are ready to drive
BenefitsPro.com Original Post Date: 02/27/2012 By: Denis Storey
It might ring like some kind of campaign rhetoric you might hear on the stump in a battleground state like Ohio, but it's true: Even though they're barely 11 years old, consumer driven health plans are our future. Click here to read more.
Medicare News
Study Finds Alarming Number of Boomers Lack Basic Understanding of Medicare Program
insurancenews.net Original Post Date: 02/27/2012
More than half (56 percent) of America's middle-income Boomers admit to knowing little or almost nothing about the
Health Care News
What Every Business Should Know About Health Care Tax Laws
Las Vegas Sun Original Post Date: 02/27/2012 By: Richard N. Velotta
The best piece of advice financial experts can offer about strategizing for the tax consequences of President
LTCI News
The Caregiving Tsunami
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 02/21/2012 By: Allison Bell
My friend John -- a young boomer -- is learning Czech. He's not learning Czech because he loves the language. He's learning it because his mom's main home aide has gone back to the Czech Republic to clear up some family problems, and the main aide recommended a woman who speaks only Czech as her temporary replacement. Click here to read more.
Health Care News
Court action could prolong health care fight
USA Today Original Post Date: 02/21/2012 By: Joan Biskupic
Next month's challenge to the Obama-sponsored health care law could affect the care available to most Americans, alter the balance of power between Washington and the states and remain a flash point through this presidential campaign. Click here to read more.
Health Care News
Different states' contraceptive rules leave employers room to maneuver
Washington Post Original Post Date: 02/19/2012 By: N.C Aizenman & Lena H. Sun
When California adopted a law in 1999 requiring health insurance plans to include birth control if they cover prescription drugs, Catholic Charities of Sacramento was determined to fight. But after a five-year legal battle ended in defeat at the state Supreme Court, the charity found a more effective solution: It chose to self-insure, an arrangement that only the federal government has authority to regulate, and it left birth control out of its plan. Click here to read more.
Video Clip
How Obama's Budget May Impact Small Business
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 02/16/2012
Small businesses are giving President Obama's fiscal 2013 budget mixed reviews, claiming the proposal falls short of the change needed to help small businesses prosper. ItsYourBiz.com CEo Susan Solovic discusses in the video below:
Life Industry News
Life Industry Trade Group Fires Back at Obama
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 02/14/2012 By: Arthur D. Postal
Life insurance industry trade groups said in a strong statement today that they will urge the Obama administration to withdraw proposals contained in the presidentıs budget that would impose new taxes on life insurers. Click here to read more.
Small Business News
Debate: Does Social Media Deliver Results for Small Businesses
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 02/13/2012
The Wall Street Journal invited two business ownersıKaren Russo, CEO of K. Russo Consulting Inc., Stamford, Conn., and Kurt Walchle, CEO of Survival Straps, Jacksonville, Fla.-- to share opposing views. Click here to read more.
Annuity News
A Perfect Storm for Indexed Annuities
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 02/13/2012 By: Mike Miller
The focus for retirement investors has shifted in recent years from the return on principal to a return of principal. During the economic boom of the early 2000s, investors were all about maximizing returns to build a bigger retirement nest egg. But then the financial crisis hit, depleting the value of many Americansı retirement and savings plans. Now, itıs more about protecting what you have. Click here to read more.
Long-Term Care News
Budget 2013: Skilled Nursing Care and Long-Term Care
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 02/13/2012 By: Allison Bell
Federal spending on services that help older people and people with serious disabilities stay in their homes could hold steady in fiscal year 2013. The Obama administration has unveiled a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) budget proposal that calls for overall spending on Medicaid benefits, including nursing home benefits, to increase 12% in fiscal year 2013, to about $268 billion. Click here to read more.
Health Care News
Obama budget cuts health spending by $360 billion
The Hill Original Post Date: 02/10/2012 By: Julian Pecquet
President Obama's budget proposal will cut federal healthcare spending by $360 billion - including $300 billion from Medicare - over the next 10 years, according to a summary of the spending blueprint that will be fully unveiled Monday. Click here to read more.
Health Care News
Healthcare reform has netted Florida $119 million
The Miami Herald Original Post Date: 02/10/2012 By: John Dorschner
While Gov. Rick Scott has made news by rejecting several grants funded by the federal healthcare reform act, a study by an independent nonprofit group finds that Florida organizations have quietly received $119.6 million in reform act funds over the last two years. Click here to read more.
Health Care News
UnitedHealthcare Unseats WellPoint as the Leading Health Insurer According to Mark Farrah Associates
insurancenewsnet.com Original Post Date: 02/09/2012
Health Care News
Expert: Healthcare mandate constitutional
United Press International Original Post Date: 02/06/2012
When people cannot afford healthcare, billions of uncompensated healthcare costs are shifted to private insurers who pass on the costs, a U.S. researcher said. Click here to read more.
Video Clip
What Your Business Can Learn From Facebook Success
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 02/02/2012
Its YourBiz.com CEO Susan Solovic discusses what small business can learn from Facebook's success story? Click video below to watch the clip.
Annuity News
Annuities Now Permitted To Be Unleashed in Retirement Plans
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 02/02/2012 By: Elizabeth Festa
So, you can have your annuities and eat them (or have them feed you for life), too, now. The life insurance industry got a boon today when the Obama Administration endorsed the use of annuities in retirement plans, but also was affected in a final rule of the U.S. Department of Labor regarding expanded compensation disclosures for retirement plans, but got a needed delay in mplementation. Click here to read more.
January 2012:
Life Insurance New
Let's Not Be Sears
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 01/31/2012 By: Corey Dahl
I just finished a boo (2009's "Half Broke Horses") where the main character lived on a ranch in the Southwest, around the time of the Great Depression and World War II. A lot of things were different back then-- the outhouses and water pumps; the lack of interstates or, for that matter, cars. But what really reminded me that this book was set in a different era? The fact that the characters were constantly buying things from the Sears Roebuck catalog. Click here to read more.
Humana News
LifeSynch Earns Full Accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance
Humana.com Original Post Date: 01/26/2012
LifeSynch, the wholly owned behavioral health and behavior change subsidiary of Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), announced today that it received Full Accreditation for both its Commercial and Medicare products from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The NCQA accreditation is for three years, through January 2015. Click here to read more.
Practice Management News
The Buddy System
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 01/26/2012 By: Ed McCarthy, CFP
Referrals from other advisors are the marketing equivalent of Willy Wonkaıs golden ticket. They convert strangers who might not otherwise give you the time of day to qualified prospects that meet you with positive expectations. The challenge is developing mutually beneficial alliances with other professionals. But remember, itıs not just about getting referrals. The goal is to serve your senior clients more effectively, and to do that you need a network of advisors whose expertise complements your own. Consider these strategies for building your alliances. Click here to read more.
Life Insurance News
LIMRA: Only 39% of U.S Families Exposed to Life Insurance Opportunities
insurancenewsnet.com Original Post Date: 01/25/2012
Despite a broad array of ways to buy life insurance -- in person, by phone, by mail, through seminars, at the workplace and online -- LIMRA's 2011 Life Insurance Buyer/Non-buyer study found that only 39 percent of U.S. households recall having an opportunity to buy life insurance in the past two years. Click here to read more.
Health Care News
Healthcare Issues Dominate NAHU Meeting
From the Washington Bureau
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 01/25/2012 By: Arthur D. Postal
At their annual Capitol Conference today, officials of the National Association of Health Underwriters disclosed plans for a new Senate bill that would narrow the proposed exemption of agent commissions from PPACA's medical loss ratio requirements. Click here to read more.
Health Care News
How to Haggle Over Medical Bills
You have more options than you might realize with health care bills. If you know how to cut down the original billed amount, you can save a great deal.
MSN Money Original Post Date: 01/25/2012 By: Liz Weston
Big medical bills can be frightening if you don't have insurance or don't have enough coverage. And frightened people can do stupid things, like hang up on someone who could help them. Nicholas Newsad discovered this when he was an administrator for a surgery center in Ohio. Click here to read more.
Health Care News
It's Not Brain Surgery: Tackling Obesity Reduces Health Care Costs, Policy Docs Agree
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 01/24/2012 By: Elizabeth Festa
Put down that donut. At the National Association of Health Underwriters Capitol Hill conference discussion on keeping health care cost affordable Tuesday morning, one of the recurrent themes was preventive care, not squeezing coverage or limiting access. Click here to read more.
Annuity News
Fixed Indexed Annuity Holders Keep Holding On
Between 2006 and 2010, full surrender rates dropped by 40 percent
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 01/23/2012 By: Maria Wood
A recent study revealed that holders of fixed indexed annuity (FIA) contracts want to keep those policies in force rather than surrender them. In a first-ever report on the subject, Ruark Consulting, LLC of Simsbury, Conn., reviewed data on FIA full surrenders supplied by nine insurance companies between January 2006 and December 2010. Those participating companies represented more than 80 percent of 2010 FIA sales and contributed 7.7 million policy years of experience data. Click here to read more.
Wealth Management News
Never Mind the Baby Boomers, Here Comes Gen X (Unprepared, Too)
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 01/23/2012 By: Elizabeth Festa
Nearly two-thirds, or 65%, of the members in Generation X lack confidence that they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, to cover medical expenses during retirement and to pay for the cost of their childrenıs higher education. Click here to read more.
Healthcare News
White House Touts State Advances in Implementing PPACA as CLASS-Killer Vote Proceeds
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 01/18/2012 By: Elizabeth Festa
The Affordable Care Act has a full outing today in Washington. Forty-four states are participating in the premium rate review system and 28 states and the District of Columbia are on their way to establishing their own health insurance exchange, both major tenets of the health care reform act signed two years ago. The Obama Administration trumpeted the news today in a report a week before President Obama's final State of the Union this term, as House Republicans tried to kill the long term care element of the Act once and for all. Click here to read more.
Medicare News
Medicare Plans Recruit Healthy Seniors By Offering Gym Benefits
Medical News Today Original Post Date: 01/13/2012
Because healthy enrollees cost them less, Medicare Advantage plans would profit from selecting seniors based on their health, but Medicare strictly forbids practices such as denying coverage based on existing conditions. Another way to build a more profitable membership is to design insurance benefits that attract the healthiest patients. Click here to read more.
Healthcare News
Group Health Shrinks as Individual Health Grows
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 01/12/2012 By: Allison Bell
The government is documenting what commercial health carriers and brokers have been saying for months: 2010 was a terrible year for group health plan enrollment. Brokers, consultants and others said group plan case sizes fell that year as employers slashed head counts. Click here to read more.
Healthcare News
Weak Economy Curbs Health Spending
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 01/10/2012 By: Louise Rodnofsky
The growth of health-care spending was near a historic low at 3.9% in 2010 as the weak economy prompted people to cut back on medical care, according to data released by federal analysts. Health expenditures in the U.S. totaled $2.6 trillion in 2010, or $8,402 per person, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said. Click here to read more.
Video Clip
Risk of Heart Attack Rises with Death of Loved One
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 01/10/2012
Following the death of a loved one, people are at much greater risk of heart attack, Katherine Hobson reports on Lunch Break. Click the video below to watch.
LTCI News
Lose Weight, Organize Drawers, Buy LTCI
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 01/03/2012 By: Allison Bell
LTC Financial Partners L. L. C. has tried to use the new year to propel long-term care insurance (LTCI) sales. LTC Financial, Kirkland, Wash., has put out a national press release through PRNewswire to introduce the idea that sticking with a resolution to buy LTCI is much easier than sticking with a resolution to lose 15 pound or quit smoking. Click here to read more.
Investment News
Fed to Regularly Forecast Interest-Rate Changes
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 01/03/2012 By: Martin Crustinger
In a major shift, the Federal Reserve will start updating the public four times a year on how long it plans to keep short-term interest rates at record lows, according to minutes from its December policy meeting. The first forecast will be included in the central bank's economic projections after its Jan. 24-25 meeting, the minutes said. Click here to read more.
December 2011:
Retirement News
Professional Women and a Secure Retirement
Bloomberg Businessweek Original Post Date: 12/30/2011 By: Chris Farrell
The first generation of highly paid professional women is about to enter retirementıand their path could serve as a model for others. Click here to read more.
Wealth Management News
Public Retirement Ages Come Under Greater Scrutiny
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 12/12/2011 By: Don Thompson & Julie Carr Smyth
After nearly 40 years in public education, Patrick Godwin spends his retirement days running a horse farm east of Sacramento, Calif., with his daughter. His departure from the workaday world is likely to be long and relatively free of financial concerns, after he retired last July at age 59 with a pension paying $174, 308 a year for the rest of his life. Click here to read more.
Healthcare News
Humana Military Receives Top eBusiness Web Honor for Publication Excellence
Humana.com Original Post Date: 12/08/2011
Humana Military Healthcare Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), received the Platinum Award for ıBest eBusinessı website during the 2011 Annual eHealthcare Leadership Awards by Strategic Healthcare Communications. The eHealthcare Leadership Awards recognize excellence in health care organizations and highlight the internetıs role in achieving an organizationıs objectives and showcasing work that goes into creating outstanding health web sites. Click here to read more.
Healthcare News
What the Health Care Law Will Mean for Your Small Business
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 12/07/2011 By: Emily Maltby
As a small-business owner, you may find your head spinning when trying to figure out what the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act may bring. How the new provisions impact you, if at all, depends on the outcome of a high-profile Supreme Court case and potentially on the results of the 2012 election. Click here to read more.
Disability Insurance News
Workers Risk Severe Financial Hardship Without Basic Life, DI
insurancenewsnet.com Original Post Date: 12/05/2011 By: PR Newswire Association LLC
Many workers feel more strongly about insuring their homes and cars than insuring their ability to provide for their families after a death or disabling injury.(1) The result is a workforce underinsured for both life and disability protection-- and vulnerable to severe financial hardship. The good news is employers can play a key role in providing access to this important protection and helping their employees understand their need for coverage. Click here to read more.
Video Clip
Health Care Law Faces Showdown in Supreme Court
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 12/02/2011
President Obama's health-reform law goes before the Supreme Court in the new year. Chief among the issues it will consider: Is the individual mandate constitutional? WSF's Neil Hickey reports. Watch the video below:
Health Insurance News
ComPsych: Holidays Put Elders in (Scary) New Light
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 12/02/2011 By: Allison Bell
Some people go home to a festive meal and discover, while singing Rock of Ages, that their parents are no longer rocks. Analysts at ComPsych Corp., Chicago, an employee assistance plan (EAP) company, discuss elder care inquiry trends in a commentary based on a review of calls the company gets from EAP enrollees. Click here to read more.
Life Insurance News
Retirement Revamp
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 12/01/2011 By: Darin Gibson, M.B.A, CFP, CHFC, CLU
Todayıs retirees have different lifestyles than those of retirees just a generation ago, and their expectations for retirement are greater as well. Most are fitter and more active than prior generations of seniors. Theyıre also much more likely to include work on the itinerary for their golden years. Click here to read more.
November 2011:
Personal Health News
Tracking the Eye to Keep From Heaping Plates
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 11/29/2011 By: Ann Lukits
How much a person eats can be affected by the colors of the dinnerware and tablecloth, suggests a new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research. Previous research has shown the size of a dinner plate influences the quantity of food people consumeıthe larger the dish, the bigger the portion, and vice versa. A series of experiments by two U.S. researchers found participants served themselves significantly more food if the color contrast between the dinnerware and the food was lowıfor example, cream-colored pasta on a white plate. Click here to read more.
LTCI News
Humana to Acquire SeniorBridge
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 11/29/2011 By: Allison Bell
The long-term care insurance (LTCI) industry may be going through a rocky phase, but future growth in demand for long-term care (LTC) seems to be about as obvious as a freight train heading straight at consumers. Click here to read more.
LTCI News
Researchers: Caregivers Face Big Risks
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 11/29/2011 By: Allison Bell
Annual medical costs for a caregiver who looks after a relative with Alzheimer's disease may be about $4,800 higher than the annual costs for a non-caregiver of the same age. Richard Shulz and Thomas Cook, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, have included that finding in a study presented recently at a gerontology conference in Boston. Click here to read more.
Personal Health News
Does Shopping Stress You Out Too Much?
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 11/23/2011 By: Emily Steel
With crowds of shoppers waking predawn and jockeying for limited bargrains, how stressful is "Black Friday" on consumers? A martket-research agency hopes to find out, scientifically. Click here to read more.
Small Business News
Opposing Views: Voices on the Health-Care Reform
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 11/15/2011 Guest Column
How will the coming health-care reform changes impact small businesses and the self-employed? The Journal invited two entrepreneurs-- Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, and Rose Corona, owner of a Temecula, Calif., ranch and store-- to share their opposing views on the health-care law signed last year by President Obama. Several changes under the law will go into effect in 2014. Click here to read more.
Individual Health News
The Sugar
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 11/15/2011 By: Bill Coffin
Not long ago, a friend of mine told me that he had been diagnosed with "the sugar." He had to explain to me that "the sugar" is slang for type 2 diabetes, which, as it turns out, is what a lot of people call it. In fact, there are so many people with diabetes today that there is an entire lexicon of diabetes-related slang used by people living with the disease. Click here to read more.
Small Business News
Smaller Franchisers Expand Their Horizons
A Smashburger in Kuwait? Here's why it makes sense.
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 11/14/2011 By: Angus Loten
Over the past month, a Smashburger outlet in Denver has had some unusual help in the kitchen: a group of Kuwaiti entrepreneurs. The burger flippers were prospective franchisees looking to open Smashburger outlets back homeıand the fast-food chain hoped the hands-on experience would help them better serve customers. Click here to read more.
Video Clip
How Auto Pollution Impacts Your Health
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 11/07/2011
New research from Los Angeles, a city defined by the automobile, adds to a pattern of public health studies in recent months on the surprising impact of air pollution from tail pipe exhaust. Lee Hotz has details on Lunch Break. Watch the video below:
LTCI News
Learning More about LTCI
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 11/03/2011 By: Margie Barrie
This month marks the 10th anniversary of November being designated as a time to create awareness of the need for long-term care insurance. Initially started by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance as LTC Awareness Week, several years ago it was expanded to a month. Click here to read more.
October 2011:
Retirement News
Numbers That May Make You Sick
Health-care costs for retirees can be crippling. That's why planning is so crucial.
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 10/31/2011 By: Robert Powell
One of the biggest and most challenging issues in retirement is how to plan and pay for health-care expenses. Medical bills can mushroom in later life and crush nest eggsıa risk that raises a slew of questions: How much money will I need for health costs? What are the best ways to budget? How can I shield myself and my family against the steep price of long-term care? Click here to read more.
Small Business News
Small businesses push back against over-regulation
The Tennessean Original Post Date: 10/30/2011 By: Duane Marsteller
Jim Brown says he hears "regulatory horror stories" from small-business owners every week. There was the Martin, Tenn., developer who spent $6,000 and nine months dealing with four agencies before his company coud install a septic system for a three-lot subdivision. Or how about the dry cleaner in Somerville, Tenn., whose annual state registration fee jumped from $500 to $2,000 to help stabilize a cleanup fund? Then there is the Springfield excavation company that now much pay $1,000 each time it retrieves gravel from creek beds, up from $150 previously. Click here to read more.
Health Care News
Humana Jumps to No. 72 on Newsweek Green Rankings
Humana Original Post Date: 10/26/2011
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), one of the nationıs leading health care companies, has been named one of the greenest companies by Newsweek magazine, jumping to No. 72 from No. 317 in 2010 and No. 392 the previous year. Click here to read more.
Video Clip
Flexible Spending Accounts: Worth the Hassle?
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 10/21/2011
As workers pick their health-care benefits over the next few weeks, experts say one option is looking less popular this year: flexible-savings accounts. Check out this video to hear about thechanges and some of the concerns people have and also listen to some options provided to adjust to these changes.
Health Resource
Online Health Assessment Provided by Humana
Humana
A simple wellness program can make all the difference-- lowering your chances for heart disease, cancer, and other chronic conditions. But the first step is knowing where you stand now and how you can improve. Click here to take Humana's online health assessment.
Medicare News
Medicare Part D presciption drug plan premiums up 5 percent in Oregon & Washington, 4 percent nationwide
The Oregonian Original Post Date: 10/13/2011 By: Brent Hunsberger
The monthly premiums for Medicare Advantage plans might be holding steady or declining in 2010, experts say. But the premiums for Medicare stand-alone Part D drug plans are going up, particularly in the Northwest, a study shows. Click here to read more.
Medicare News
Humana Continues Commitment to Accessibility, Affordability and Choice with 2012 Medicare Plan Offerings
Humana Original Post Date: 10/06/2011
Just more than one week from today ı on October 15, 2011 ı Medicare beneficiaries may start enrolling in Medicare plans for the 2012 plan year, which begins January 1, 2012. Humana Inc. Click here to read more.
Medicare News
Medicare to go high-tech?
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 10/04/2011 By: Staff Writer
In a defensive move against rampant waste and fraud in the Medicare system, a bi-partisan group of lawmakers has proposed employing ısmart cardı technology to protect the identity of Medicare beneficiaries and their health-care providers. Click here to read more.
Medicare News
Hospitals: Raise Medicare eligibility age
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 10/04/2011 By: Staff Writer
Fearing that the deficit reduction super committee may decide to cut their payments in its effort to reduce the Medicare budget, hospitals are lobbying for an increase in the eligibility age for Medicare. The American Hospital Association plans a coordinated lobbying effort to shift the cost burden on to seniors and soon-to-be seniors. Click here to read more.
LTCi News
Take Control of Your Life with LTCi
These policies stick around
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 10/04/2011 By: Honey Leveen
I write this column to inspire others to sell more LTCi. In prior columns, Iıve given my tips on how to do this, how to promote yourself, and how wonderful the environment currently is for LTCi sales. Iıve written about how, as an LTCi specialist, you will have a tremendous impact on your clients and their families. There is not a more meaningful career. And itıs financially rewarding. Click here to read more.
Disability News
MetLife Survey: Gaps Remain in Special Needs Planning
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 10/03/2011 By: Warren S. Hersch
The number of special needs trusts set up by caregivers has grown by 21%, nearly double number recorded in 2005, a new report concludes. Click here to read more.
Disability News
Group Disability Climbs from the Abyss
LTD sales rise a little; STD sales fall a little
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 10/03/2011 By: Allison Bell
The insurers that sell group disability to U.S. employers have clawed their way up to hard-won stability. Analysts in the South Portland, Maine, office of Gen Re have reported that finding in a summary of results from a survey of 31 insurers in the U.S. benefits market. Click here to read more.
Medicare News
Medicare: Time for the Show!
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 10/03/2011 By: Allison Bell
Health insurers are pouring out announcements about the new products and new product features theyıll be offering when the 2012 Medicare open enrollment season starts Oct. 15. Click here to read more.
Disability News
Aon Hewitt: Health Price Pressure Mounts
The rate of increase falls to 7%, from 7.5%
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 10/03/2011 By: Allison Bell
Premiums for U.S. group health coverage should rise a little more slowly in 2012 than they have this year ı but still faster than employers can tolerate. Click here to read more.
Disability News
DI: When to get it and when to lose it
Originally Posted in the Life Insurance Selling October 01, 2011 Issue By: Larry Schneider
The best time to get a disability insurance income protection policy (or any other form of coverage) is just prior to a disability! Click here to read more.
September 2011:
Health Industry News
Employers' Health-Care Premiums Jump 9%
Wall Street Journal Original Post Date: 09/28/2011 By: Anna Wilde Mathews
The health-insurance premiums employers pay rose sharply this year, with the average annual cost of family coverage passing the $15,000 mark for the first time, according to a major survey. Click here to read more.
Small Business News
Chamber Joins Facebook to Boost Small Business
U.S Chamber of Commerce Original Post Date: 09/26/2011 By: Tom Collamore
We're excited to announce that today the Chamber is teaming up with Facebook and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) to help small businesses connect with customers and create jobs. Click here to read more.
Medicare News
Doughnut hole swallowing fewer seniors
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 09/20/2011 By: Staff Writer
A new report shows that fewer Medicare beneficiaries are being caught in the Medicare "doughnut hole," a coverage gap in which patients are responsible for the full cost of their prescription drugs after changes that were brought about by the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act of 2010. Click here to read more.
Regulatory News
Analysts: That Briar Patch Looks Good to Us
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 09/20/2011 By: Staff Writer
Federal budget negotiations that increase tax rates for higher income consumers could be good for U.S. life insurers, securities analysts say. Click here to read more.
Medicare News
Avalere: Medicare Part D Pricing is Complicated
LifeHealthPro Original Post Date: 09/20/2011 By: Staff Writer
The average Medicare Part D prescription drug plan rate may be going down in 2012, but 6 of the top 10 players in the market are raising prices Click here to read more.