WellPoint, Anthem Blue Cross rate hikes: Bloodless Economics?

February 16th, 2010. By Hunter West

The mind-boggling increase in healthcare premiums promoted to policyholders of WellPoint Inc. and its subsidiary, Anthem Blue Cross comes down to a central question, according to a story today in the New York Times… 

Is this the bloodless economics of risk, or a corporate culture of greed? 

In Los Angeles Bernhard Punzet opened up his envelope from Anthem Blue Cross and saw that Anthem intended to increase his insurance premiums by 34 percent. His partner’s would rise by 36 percent. 

Joshua Needle, a trial lawyer in Santa Monica, got a similar shock when he saw that Anthem intended to increase his premium by 33 percent.  “I have no problem with profits,” he said in comments published this morning in the New York Times, “but they’re maximizing profits without any concern that they have a captive audience.” 

He is not alone. About 700,000 Anthem Blue Cross clients are reeling with the news that they may be facing increases averaging 25 percent. That’s the average. A full 25 percent of policyholders are facing premium increases of anywhere from 35 to 39 percent. 

That’s four times the rate of medical inflation. 

Needless to say, consumers are screaming bloody murder, while advocates of public healthcare are using the issue as fodder for a renewed push behind President Obama’s universal health care reform. 

The increase has been delayed by two months, at the request of the insurance commissioner in California, in order Read the rest of this entry »

Utah Poisioning Death Rate Blows National Average Away

February 15th, 2010. By AbiK

Go figure. The Salt Lake Tribune reported today on Utah’s death rate from poisoning—and the figures were a bit startling. According to the Utah Department of Health, there are 21.3 deaths per 100,000 residents in Utah each year. That may not seem like too many until you compare it to the national average: 11 death per 100,000.

Why so high? Well, that’s the question I imagine a lot of folks in Utah are asking themselves right about now.

You’d think there might be a bit of insight from the Utah Poison Control Center—where exposures to hazardous substances are reported. According to the Poison Center, the most common culprits are analgesics, household cleaning products and cosmetics and personal care products. But doesn’t pretty much every household across America have a bottle or two of analgesics, some household cleaners and some personal care products?

The Poison Center also indicates that pesticides have become a more prevalent issue as well—and this particular Read the rest of this entry »

Hey Jillian, if Diet Pills are all it Takes to Lose Weight…

February 15th, 2010. By LucyC

Yet another diet supplement lawsuit was filed last week—this time against Jillian Michaels, “America’s Toughest Trainer,” as the Jillianweightloss.com site proclaims. 

In fact, two nearly identical lawsuits have been filed by women who allege that Ms. Michaels is guilty of false advertising around her product, Jillian Michaels Maximum Strength Calorie Control^TM. According to the product advertising on the website—”its proprietary formula restricts your calorie intake automatically.” 

Jillian Michaels, FYI, is one of the trainers who appears on the hit reality TV program “The Biggest Loser.” The show takes clinically obese people and gets them back on the road to health and happiness through diet and exercise—the two most time-trusted ways to lose weight. And the two most painful. 

So, it looks like Ms. Michaels was tapped by ThinCare International LLC to endorse several diet products made and marketed by the Utah-based company. No surprise there, that’s just business as usual. 

According to the product website, you just take two pills “Two Capsules Before Main Meals And You Lose Weight…That’s It!” Really? So why don’t they use it on the Biggest Loser? It would certainly save a whole lot of pain and suffering, which is Read the rest of this entry »

Your Toyota Recall Stories…Got one? Share it!

February 13th, 2010. By AbiK

Here’s what some of our readers have been experiencing with their Toyota’s and the Toyota Recall. Got a Toyota story? Share it!

From Mervin…

I have a 2010 toyoto corolla I bought it in august 2009 it is the worst money I ever spent . I have had it to the dealer about 12 times with problems . The car will just stop running and will take 45 minutes to an hour before I can gey it to start again . This happens two or three times a week if any body out there has such problems please contact me . Thank you.

From Jim…

I have 1999 Toyota Sienna that my wife and i both encountered the same problem. Once we press the gas pedal, it was stuck and wouldn’t come back, you need to repeatly press couple of times so it then can be released. We thought it is the structure defect, has more metal contact so it is not easy to return.

Now we are a little bit scared if the Sienna has the same behavior like other recalled cars, what are we going to do?

Besides, the sliding door handles are too easy to broke. We changed the handle, and it still gives us the feeling “will be broke” again.

From C.R….

With all information Toyota kept secret, who knows which cars are really affected? My niece died last month in a Toyota Yaris in a mainly residential neighborhood. No skid marks at the scene. It does make you wonder and worry for anyone driving a Toyota right now and the fix they are proposing  seems rediculous. I wouln’t trust it.

Car Recalls: Technocrats and Bureaucrats Need to put Safety First

February 12th, 2010. By Hunter West

 

If the recall troubles of Toyota and now Honda are knocking you out of your comfort zone, better get used to it. As cars become more complicated and sophisticated, recalls are going to be a fact of life. 

In other words, the more automakers do, the more they have to ‘undo.’ 

Tacked onto an MSNBC story about the recent Honda expanded recall for airbags was a comment from Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Kazaka Securities. 

“While the way automakers handle recalls is important, I think people should be careful not to overreact to every single recall,” he said. “Rather, my concern for the auto industry is their earnings for the next financial year, given the absence of the boost they enjoyed from government incentives this year.” 

Other automotive analysts agree that automakers regularly trigger recalls, although some have suggested the media reaction to the Toyota case has been overblown. That latter statement may, or may not be true depending upon one’s perspective. In the Toyota case, the story for decades has been that the Japanese automakers had it Read the rest of this entry »