Health Insurers Pivot To Engage Consumers, Use Digital Tech

Though the ACA exchanges show signs of rebounding, marketplaces with little competition remain common, especially in the South, a new report shows. 

Just three months ago, investors were in a panic over the idea that the Federal Reserve might push borrowing costs too high and tip the United States economy into a recession. “It’ s been a night-and-day difference, the outlook for stocks going from December into the first quarter this year,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York.“…

The measure, Senate Bill 106, has already passed the state Senate. Richard Smith, R- Columbus, who is chairman of the House Insurance Committee and led the Special Committee on Access to Quality Health Care, which heard SB 106 Wednesday. The often positive testimony from witnesses reflected the findings of Atlanta Journal-Constitution polls expressing a…

The advisor trio joined the firm after its best recruiting year ever.

President Trump has promised an economic boom that will last for years to come, but he’s unlikely to get one without the help of Congress to pass major new legislation, according to estimates by Trump’s economic team. The report shows for the first time that the White House is predicting a lot weaker growth if all of those new policies do not come through.

The probe by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce focuses on “short-term, limited-duration” insurance sold or brokered by Stamford- based Independence Holding Co., and 11 other companies. “We are troubled that consumers who sign up for these plans are being misled about the nature of the coverage they are purchasing,” said a letter from committee Chairman…

Nationwide Advisory Solutions, formerly known as Jefferson National, has introduced a new variable annuity with an income guarantee designed for registered investment advisors and fee-based advisors. The Nationwide Advisory Retirement Income Annuity charges 20 basis points per year, including a 15 basis points mortality and expense change and a 5 basis…

The report, which surveyed nearly 3,652 high-net-worth married women, widows, and divorcees in nine markets including the U.S., found that women’s deferral of important financial decisions to spouses extended to all generations, from Millennials to Baby Boomers. -And millennial women are even more likely to let men lead: Surprisingly, millennial women in the…

The ex-advisor and self-described “Money Doctor” solicited older clients on his radio shows, the regulator says.

One advisor, Larry Leitch, co-founder of Synergy Financial Group in Townsend, Md., said his firm has already decided not to do business in Nevada, another state considering a fiduciary rule, and may have to do the same in Maryland. His firm has over 6,800 accounts in Maryland, 5,500 of which are small enough that a brokerage relationship makes the most sense, he said.

Soon after, he would recruit them and the U2 singer Bono to the Rise Fund on the promise of doing good. Yet on Tuesday, Mr. McGlashan was one of 50 people caught up in a federal investigation into college admissions fraud, a scandal that has ensnared prominent parents who stand accused of paying bribes to give their children an edge. Mr. McGlashan is widely seen as one of…

March 13– Mar. 13– A nine-year-old murder case came back to life Tuesday when state prosecutors started the retrial of Vanessa Cameron, the daughter of a former San Antonio police officer, who was convicted in 2012 of soliciting her brother-in-law to kill the father of her child. Cameron, 38, was already serving her 70- year sentence in state prison when the Texas…

A new proposal by President Trump to slash Medicare spending puts Republicans in a political bind ahead of the 2020 election as Democrats are pitching an expansion of the popular health-care program for all Americans. The move immediately tees up a potential messaging battle between Democratic proposals for Medicare-for-all- castigated by Republicans…

Bleakley Financial has launched its eighth office under its affiliation LPL and Private Advisor Group.

The SEC found that the 79 firms put clients into higher-cost mutual fund share classes when lower-cost share classes were available. “The 12 b-1 fees were routinely paid to the investment advisers in their capacity as brokers, to their broker-dealer affiliates, or to their personnel who were also registered representatives, creating a conflict of interest…

To learn what everyday clients really think about their advisors and what all advisors can learn from them, we talked to Fennella Bruce, who heads FKB Media Solutions, a Toronto- based media consulting firm.. My brother, an accountant, referred me to my first advisor about 20 years ago. I had just started working, but I’ d saved some money because I lived at home.

—Shares were mostly higher in Europe on Monday, tracking gains in Asia as investors awaited further developments in trade talks between the U.S. and China. WASHINGTON— Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says political attacks by President Donald Trump played no role in the Fed’s decision in January to signal that it planned to take a pause in hiking…

March 11– Mar. 11– SACRAMENTO– Are rich people fleeing California to escape astronomical state income taxes? In fact, more wealthy people are moving to California than leaving, research indicates. If you’re getting rich in California and can afford to live comfortably here in this balmy climate, there’s little incentive to leave– except to stick it to the tax…

Financial services is again the least-trusted industry, according to a 2018 survey by the Edelman Trust Barometer Research Team— only about half of consumers trust the industry. This result is troubling because financial services should strive to be one of the most trusted. The reason for this disparity can be found in one of the most misunderstood and complex…

But if you pore through the most recent public financial disclosures of the committee’s Democrats and Republicans, as I did recently, you’ll see that they have a mixed record when it comes to their personal finances and investments. Members of Congress are generally free to trade stocks and make investments like anybody else, though they are forbidden from…

For years, President Trump has been obsessed with trade deficits, viewing them as a good measure of which countries are “winning” and which are “losing.” The United States has run a trade deficit for decades, thereby designating us a perennial loser in Trump’s worldview. He promised to turn things around by picking a few easy-to-win trade wars.

However, studies of industrialized countries reveal that the U.S. ranks consistently low on health-care-related measures. According to the National Academy for Sciences, the U.S. ranks at or near the bottom on almost every measure of life expectancy. The worst part is this: The U.S. spends about $10,000 per citizen on healthcare while the Canadians and Germans…

The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index enjoyed its biggest monthly gain since 2012, as the Dow Jones extended its recovery and the government shutdown receded further into memory.

–Fidelity Investments is facing more scrutiny over fees it charges some mutual funds for using its platform to access retirement plan customers. The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth said its securities division sent a letter on Feb. 27 to Boston- based Fidelity requesting information about those fees. The fees are also being probed by the U.S. Labor…

At the recently concluded 53rd Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando, Fla. discussions, unsurprisingly, once again centered around the high exemptions in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In light of the significant increase to the federal estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions under the Act, individuals who wish to…

March 04– Mar. 4– SAN FRANCISCO– The California Supreme Court made it clear Monday that state and local governments may reduce pension costs by repealing certain benefits without running afoul of constitutional protections for public pensions. In a unanimous decision written by Chief Justice Tani-Cantil Sakauye, the court upheld California’s 2012 repeal…

March 02– Mar. 2– In videos, the Henry County insurance agent says he can help those approaching retirement avoid unnecessary taxes and protect their assets. But instead of finding ways to make clients’ money last longer, Fereadoon “Frank” Kalantari conjured up ways to help pad his own bank account, investigators say. He was charged with eight counts of forgery, four…

Feb. 28– Feb. 28– Wells Fargo’s program to compensate customers affected by the bank’s violation of consumer protection laws has begun, the Texas Attorney General’s office said. Texas customers, as well as customers around the country, who were affected by the bank’s practice between 2009 and 2016 of opening millions of unauthorized bank accounts in the names of…

Feb. 27– Feb. 27– SCHENECTADY– Tarchand Lall was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for arranging the 2016 contract killing of Charles “Chuck” Dembrosky in a scheme to reap $150,000 in life insurance proceeds. Schenectady County Judge Matthew Sypniewski delivered the maximum penalty in the case, a punishment that means Lall, 54, will die in prison.

The transparency of a fee charged to other fund firms for use of the platform is allegedly questioned.

The U.S. economy is slowing but remains healthy, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell told senators Tuesday at his semiannual testimony before Congress. The Fed expects the U.S. economy to grow 2.3 percent in 2019. The Fed estimated that it grew just shy of 3 percent last year, the fastest annual pace in more than a decade but below President Trump’s goal.

A proposal to create a state-run retirement system for private-sector workers in New Jersey whose workplaces don’t offer employer-sponsored plans is now in Gov. The proposal targets the estimated 1.7 million New Jerseyans who don’t have access to an employer-sponsored plan, according to the AARP. “New Jersey is facing a retirement savings crisis,” AARP’s New…

During a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Senator Bob Menendez asked Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell whether banks“ need clarity’’ on how to deal with cannabis businesses in legalized states. Powell made similar remarks at a news conference last year, saying that while the reserve’ s“ mandate has nothing to do with marijuana,’’ it would be helpful to get…

Republicans in Congress have hated the Elizabeth Warren-inspired agency even before she became a Democratic senator from Massachusetts. But there’s a new Congress in town, at least the House half. Saying that Congress intended for CFPB to be a “watchdog that could swiftly and effectively crack down on unscrupulous financial practices and products,” she…

Just because Congress is anchored in a toxic combination of partisan gridlock and Trumpian chaos doesn’t mean policy debates are dead. To the contrary, Democrats are working overtime to craft and elevate an alternative to the status quo, including progressive tax reform, jobs programs, pushback on climate change, universal health care, expanded Social…

Northwestern Mutual said its Planning Experience program, introduced to reps in October, resulted in more than 30,000 financial plans being created in 2018, according to the company’s year-end report. The tool was developed, in part, from the company’s acquisition of LearnVest in 2015. “We’ re also competing with the Merrill Lynches of the world and the Bairds of…

Larry Hogan announced the state would allocate $1.5 million for the Maryland Dairy Farmer Emergency Trust Fund to cover premium costs at the $9.50 coverage rate, which is the highest rate under the new program. Schellhardt says the state is working with the USDA’ s Farm Service Agency to decide on how payments will go out to farmers. Chuck Fry, president of…

Feb. 21– Feb. 21– ALBANY– While his company, which manages more than $1 trillion in assets for about 5 million people, won an award recently for using artificial intelligence in its decision-making, Roger Ferguson said humans should always be ready to have the final say over it. He spoke Wednesday at the University at Albany on the current economic outlook.

Millennials with life insurance have a self-reported life insurance gap of $352,000 in 2018, with enough life insurance protection in place to cover only 22 percent of their self-reported coverage needs. The Millennial generation’ s gap is sharply higher–60 percent greater— than the gap for the general population, which is $210,000, enough to cover 49…

Company is working with Lapetus Solutions on an app to sell some products via facial analytics.

In the wake of bills to increase the federal minimum wage, propose a 70 percent income tax on certain income brackets, and eliminate work requirements for welfare recipients, one of the first bills proposed by Democrats in the 116th Congress was to expand the nearly bankrupt New Deal-era Social Security program. The Social Security 2100 Act, introduced by House…

But what role does the SEC really play, anyway? The SEC will then issue a document called an S-1, which details what the company is doing and why. The SEC will then take a few months to conduct further diligence, and will eventually approve or deny the motion.

The founder of a private company that makes plastic gift cards, Mr. Prince is among the wealthy elite who stand to benefit enormously from the Trump tax cuts passed in 2017. Yet Mr. Prince, a Democrat from Nashville, is none too pleased about his windfall. Yet when Mr. Prince scrutinizes the laws that govern his payments to the Treasury Department, he sees an…

The value of a Picasso or a Ferrari typically rises in a strong economy, as do shares in a consumer staple like Procter& Gamble. But when the economy sours, those shares may be easier than the other possessions to shed. Roy Sebag, a hedge fund analyst turned entrepreneur, has a collection that includes a drawing by Pablo Picasso and works by 17th- century Dutch masters.

Treasury Market Outlook: Treasury yields are flat to slightly higher as equity futures bounce after overnight weakness on news trade talks with China are moving to Washington. The DAX is now 0.76% firmer with the FTSE 0.3% higher. In the U.S. today’s there’s the February Empire State index, January industrial production, import and export prices, preliminary…

A former North Shore pastor was sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation and ordered to pay $202,632 in restitution for fraudulently obtaining Social Security benefits, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. During this period, Schilling was receiving $1,728 a month in Retirement, Survivors and Disability Insurance payments from the Social Security…

It’s the first regulatory ding for the influential advisor and entrepreneur in almost 15 years.

The No. 1 IBD plans to offer training and education and team up with reps on outreach to officials.

After the choppy acquisition of National Planning Holdings in 2017 and complaints from advisors about its technology last year, LPL Financial is rebounding and seemingly has cash to burn. The company currently has more than $1 billion in capital it can deploy for mergers and acquisitions, LPL CFO Matt Audette said during a presentation Tuesday at the Credit…

Consumers hate it. The Fed fears it. But what exactly is inflation? Here’s a brief explainer on inflation, and why it matters to the Federal Reserve and you.

Rates are unlikely to fall much, because the U.S. economy is in good shape. Moreover, foreign buying of U.S. bonds will be restrained by the fact that on a currency-hedged basis, U.S. yields are close to those in Germany and Japan. “There is nothing to drive U.S. rates down,” Timmer says.“ For an investor, U.S. bonds aren’ t the best, but along with diversification, you get a yield in…

Fears of a looming United States recession have subsided, with investors taking comfort that the Federal Reserve will continue to support economic growth. The latest alarm bell is that Wall Street analysts are slicing their forecasts for how much big companies will earn in the months ahead. Corporate profits are by no means a perfect proxy for the health of the…

Many blame President Trump and the Republicans for shrinking refunds. Some refunds have decreased because of changes in the law, such as a new limit on property and local income-tax deductions, and some have decreased because of how the IRS has altered withholding in paychecks. John Prugh of Ewing Township, N.J., was irate when he completed his 2018 tax return this…

While bankruptcy will help Pacific Gas and Electric Co. address its immediate financial challenges, it may do little to alleviate longer-term headwinds posed by California’s relentlessly devastating wildfires and the strict liability the state imposes on utilities whose power lines cause them.

The standard is similar to the one proposed in Nevada. Like Nevada, there’ s no exemption for retirement plan advisors. Then, the Securities and Exchange Commission put forth a rule package that would require brokers and advisors to act in their clients’ best interests, falling short of what consumer advocates would call a“ fiduciary rule.”.

But in his Op-Ed“ A Better Way to Tax the Rich,” Steven Rattner, a contributing opinion writer and Wall Street executive, says there are“ more sensible” ways for the wealthy to contribute,“ in particular, by increasing the tax rate on capital gains and dividends and closing loopholes.”. Steven Rattner: There’ s some truth to that! Steven Rattner: I have no problem increasing…

Five steps carriers can take to modernize their processes while retaining the human and emotional touch of the business line.