Role of a Benefits Broker

It surpises me today that the role of the benefits broker is still unclear with many businesses today. A Broker acts on the behalf of the client they serve. A Broker's fiducary is always to those firms they serve, not the insurance carrier. I believe a lot of decision makers in businesses think that if they buy a policy from an insurance company through a cetain broker, they are stuck with that individual. In fact a business can change their broker at anytime. The questions should be, which broker is going to service my firm and provide me with strageties to minimize adverse cost increases? Is that what your broker does for your firm?

Art Turner 9th district Illinois house a man of true honor

I have lived in Chicago and/or Cook County my whole life. I have been around a lot of politicans both Democratic and Republican. I have never seen a more genuine gentleman then I have seen State Representative Art Turner. I was lucky enough to attend a event for the Lawndale Chrisitian Health Center last week and heard Representative Turner address the gathering. What I heard was a humble and sincere man that really loved and cared for the people of his community. With all the craziness going on in Illinois politics, the people of the 9th district in fact the people of the State of Illinois are lucky to have a man like Art Turner working for them.

The truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth ! The failure of the system!

The Real DealSo who is to blame? There's plenty of blame to go around, and it doesn't fasten only on one party or even mainly on what Washington did or didn't do. As The Economist magazine noted recently, the problem is one of "layered irresponsibility ... with hard-working homeowners and billionaire villains each playing a role." Here's a partial list of those alleged to be at fault:
The Federal Reserve, which slashed interest rates after the dot-com bubble burst, making credit cheap.
Home buyers, who took advantage of easy credit to bid up the prices of homes excessively.
Congress, which continues to support a mortgage tax deduction that gives consumers a tax incentive to buy more expensive houses.
Real estate agents, most of whom work for the sellers rather than the buyers and who earned higher commissions from selling more expensive homes.
The Clinton administration, which pushed for less stringent credit and downpayment requirements for working- and middle-class families.
Mortgage brokers, who offered less-credit-worthy home buyers subprime, adjustable rate loans with low initial payments, but exploding interest rates.
Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who in 2004, near the peak of the housing bubble, encouraged Americans to take out adjustable rate mortgages.
Wall Street firms, who paid too little attention to the quality of the risky loans that they bundled into Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), and issued bonds using those securities as collateral.
The Bush administration, which failed to provide needed government oversight of the increasingly dicey mortgage-backed securities market.
An obscure accounting rule called mark-to-market, which can have the paradoxical result of making assets be worth less on paper than they are in reality during times of panic.
Collective delusion, or a belief on the part of all parties that home prices would keep rising forever, no matter how high or how fast they had already gone up. The U.S. economy is enormously complicated. Screwing it up takes a great deal of cooperation. Claiming that a single piece of legislation was responsible for (or could have averted) the crisis is just political grandstanding. We have no advice to offer on how best to solve the financial crisis. But these sorts of partisan caricatures can only make the task more difficult.–by Joe Miller and Brooks Jackson

President's Health Plan

Last night watching the debate last night and listening to both candidates approach to the healthcare system, it Occurred to me that the chances of the system changing in the next four years are slim and none. Personally I like Senator Obama and think this plan of covering everyone is a step in the right direction. The thing that troubles me is that we are a long way off from changing the system. In the meantime, sick people get sicker and the cost of providing them care grows and grows. The most important thing today right now is to provide upfront preventative benefits to all Americans. Screenings and health risk management programs not only save lives, they restore a better quality of life and reduce healthcare spending. I really wish one of the candidates would start talking about up front treatment rather solving the high cost of medical care today. I absolutely agree with Senator Obama, the money is currently in the system! It needs to be spent wisely. There are so many medical conditions that can be cured if detected early.

The Uninsured Americans...Exaggerated?

Is there a real problem with the uninsured in America or is it being exaggerated? It seems to be a big question lately. Studies show that there are approximatley 40 million unisured people living in the United States. Of which are 14 million illegal undocumented. Another 10 million are under the age of 30 and for a variety of reasons chose not to partciate in medical programs that are offered to them. Kind of the superman complex...nothing can happen to me. So if these numbers are believeable, there are about 16 million American citizens that are do not have amedical benefit program. Approximately 5% of American citizens? Is this an epidemic? Would it make sense to expand government programs for people? Is this why there is little movement from the government to solve this issue?

Early detection saves lives

Over the last twenty years the health insurance industry has either managed care through it's contracting with providers game or discourging people to seek care thereby reducing costs. Sounds like a good thing but it is not; people avoid care and as a result, conditions get worse because of the lack of upfront treament. Conditions like breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer can be cured if detected in stage one. The problem is that most people can not afford the first dollar deductible and co-pay avoid tests and treatment and their conditions get worse. Actually 90% of all cancers are curable if treated early. The American Medical Association (AMA) publishes an annual list of recommend tests people should have. Have you had yours?

Will we be better off Blue or Red What is the Role of the President

There is a lot of talk today about the two US Senators who are running for the highest office in the country, if not the world. Both candidates will probably spend over 1/2 billion dollars for a four year commitment salary of $400,000.00 and probably age 12 years in 4 years. Who ever wins, will not have a normal life. Every time they go somewhere they will be followed by secret service, staff, reporters, curious citizens, weirdos. They will be fighting everyday with man and woman in the government that have little or no common sense. Whoever is elected will inherit someone's work and have to fix their mistakes and create new ones. Why would someone who has a family want to do something like this?