Democrats ‘Applaud’ Decision To Scrutinze Medicaid Managed Care

U.S. Sen. and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders recently released his health care plan, which he calls Medicare for All. Sanders’ plan wouldn’t replace private health care with a government-run system such as the U.K.’ s National Health Service. This temporary unpopularity may have helped Republicans chip away at the Affordable Care Act.

Washington is poised to become the first state to establish an employee-paid program creating an insurance benefit to help offset the costs of long-term care, a step advocates have said will help an aging population that is likely not prepared for the increasing costs needed for daily assistance.

The best thing an insurance agent can do is generate their own leads, but knowing where to start and what you need to make it possible can be scary and confusing. But you can generate your own leads, and the specific set of tools that you need, once you have them, will cost you more time than it will money.

How many hours must tax-paying Americans work to kick in for the cost of a free public college education? Quite a few, if Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., gets his way. Sanders is running for president with the promise of college education free to all, which carries an estimated $70 billion price tag.

due to mounting debt, higher costs of living and other hurdles, 80 percent of early adults (ages 18-34) say it is harder to become financially independent than it was for previous generations.

The federal government’ s recently announced that the debt had reached $22 trillion, or 104 percent of GDP, news that garnered scant attention. It wasn’t always that way. In the 1980s and 1990s, by contrast, the issue was a central feature of the national conversation. Congressional leaders from both parties crafted a series of procedural innovations designed to keep the debt in check.

Rebuilding Notre Dame, the 800-year-old Paris cathedral devastated by fire this week, will cost billions of dollars as architects, historians and artisans work to preserve the medieval landmark. But contrary to what one might think, little of the money will come from insurance companies. Here’s why.

A group of senators introduced legislation to prevent thousands of people from losing their health care coverage after a federal judge struck down the Department of Labor’s Association Health Plans (AHPs) rule. AHPs allow small businesses to band together to create an economy of scale that increases their bargaining power, lowers administrative costs and mitigates risk.

Washington is poised to become the first state to establish a program creating an insurance benefit to help offset the costs of long-term care. The measure, which awaits a final vote in the House, creates a benefit, starting in 2025, with a lifetime maximum of $36,500 per person, indexed to inflation.

Within the last decade, the industry has striven to make e-delivery the standard. Protective Life began offering it in 2008, with most other insurers quickly following suit. But customers and demanding more efficiency and services all the time. Here are a few tips to improve e-delivery.

The Federal Reserve says the economy was expanding at a “slight-to-moderate pace” in March and early April with some regions seeing signs of strengthening after a winter slowdown. In its latest report on economic conditions around the country, the Fed said that the reports on manufacturing were favorable although some business contracts noted uncertainty over trade.

When we begin new projects and work with new experts, we can easily make the mistake of assuming how things will work. We assume that a new partner will tell us everything we need to know up front, but that’s usually not how the dynamic will play out. What can we learn as advisors?

Hundreds of thousands of South Floridians stand to be dramatically affected should Congress move to repeal the Affordable Care Act as President Donald Trump recently said he’d like to do. But they all stand to be equally affected should Congress overhaul the nation’s healthcare system by replacing private and employer-based health insurance.

The appraisal of remaining term insurance as potential life settlement opportunities is an emerging trend. Concurrently, many of the agents who could have life settlement opportunities are unaware of life settlement due to a lack of education from their upline.

Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Tuesday that it would be up to Herman Cain to withdraw from consideration to be nominated to the Federal Reserve, if the embattled former pizza chain executive and presidential candidate chooses to bail out. President Trump has yet to formally nominate either Cain or former campaign advisor Stephen Moore.

Nearly 10 percent of those polled carry more than $50,000 in student loan debt, and 37% more than $15,000. That is not surprising when you consider the total amount of student loan debt in America is in excess of $1.5 trillion and impacts 45 million people. The downside is 36% say they cannot save for retirement.

UnitedHealth Group is reporting strong first-quarter numbers driven by its main insurance business, as well as its pharmacy benefits division. The Minnesota company reported net income of $3.47 billion, or $3.56 per share. Earnings, adjusted for amortization costs, were $3.73 per share, topping Wall Street estimates by 13 cents.

The New Jersey Bureau of Securities’ proposal would hold all brokers to a fiduciary duty, a much tougher standard than the existing suitability requirement. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission is still tinkering with its rule, expected to be released in September.

Here’s a Band-Aid to help millions of Americans cope with rising health-care costs: Tweak the tax code to allow low- and middle-income taxpayers (like myself) to deduct all essential medical and dental expenses.

The bullish sentiment by investors appears, in part, supported by the majority of respondents’ belief that interest rates will remain unchanged this year (67%) and the government will sign economic trade agreements that will help drive the markets higher (61%).

From the day Coral Gables nurse Debra Clark was discovered strangled, beaten and shot inside her townhome, police had focused on one chief suspect: Allen Bregman, her older, married lover. Bregman, who was convicted Friday, immediately filed a life insurance claim on Clark.

Greenspan argued that the United States cannot afford Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid on today’s terms. That’s because there are not enough workers, and taxpayers are getting squeezed to finance retirees and patients. The former Fed chair also knocked tariffs pushed by President Donald Trump.

U.S. life insurance application activity slowed down in March, largely because young people did not buy. Overall activity fell 4.9% year over year, according to the MIB Life Index. Part of the decline is attributable to March 2018 being such a good month, MIB explained.

Entrepreneur Greg Lindberg was indicted last week in what federal prosecutors said was a plot to bribe state insurance commissioner Mike Causey. Days later, Lindberg-owned Global Bankers Insurance Group said it is pursuing buyers for its U.S. life insurance companies.

Less than a week after President Trump announced that he was going to nominate Herman Cain to the Federal Reserve board, the former fast food executive reportedly intends to remove his name from consideration. Trump’s announcement was met with almost immediate questions from within his own party as to Cain’s qualifications for the gig,

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners voted last week to form a task force focused on LTCi market stability. Its most significant, and most controversial, charge is to harmonize rate review processes across state lines. Many insurers continue to seek large LTCi rate hikes.

U.S. wholesale prices increased in March by the most since last fall, driven largely by more expensive gas and electricity. The Labor Department says the producer price index, which measures price changes before they reach consumers, rose 0.6% in March, after falling in three of the previous four months.

More than half of Americans say they’ d earn a“ C” or lower when it comes to financial literacy, according to a new survey conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Prudential Financial, Inc.. “Our industry needs to drive home the importance of financial education, and lead the way in providing it, to help clear a path toward financial wellness,” said Caroline Feeney, head of…

A majority of Federal Reserve officials last month believed that economic conditions would likely warrant keeping the Fed’s benchmark policy unchanged for the rest of this year. Several officials said their view could shift in either direction based on incoming data, according to minutes of the meeting.

A federal appeals court in New Orleans says it will hear arguments this summer on a lawsuit backed by President Donald Trump to overturn former President Barack Obama’s health insurance law. A judge’s order Wednesday says the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit agreed to a request from parties in the case for a fast-tracked hearing in July.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is set to unveil a new version of his “Medicare for All” plan, shaking up the 2020 presidential campaign by reopening the debate over his call to eliminate private health insurance. Four of Sanders’ rivals for the Democratic nomination are set to sign onto the updated single-payer health care proposal.

A disability insurance provider released the results of a study that showed employee absence and disability are costing companies an average of $800,000 a year.

Just one-third (31 percent) of middle-income baby boomers feel well prepared for retirement. That makes this year’s National Retirement Planning Week, which began April 8, the perfect time for agents everywhere to reassess their approach to retirement planning with their clients.

Judge Denise J. Casper ruled that an addendum to the Ohio National selling agreement commits them to arbitration with Commonwealth Equity Services. The broker-dealer is challenging Ohio National’s decision to end trail commissions on a specific variable annuity.

Nearly all U.S. financial advisors are using social media for business and/or personal use at this point, with 83% using it for business purposes. Additionally, the advisor community self-reports a high level of proficiency when it comes to their social media capabilities, with 61% now describing their skill level as “expert.”

A recent Gallup poll shows that losing the protections of the Affordable Care Act like coverage of pre-existing conditions is an abiding worry of most Americans, including Republicans, although many if not most Republicans still hate “Obamacare,” if perhaps only the name.

Overall annuity sales rose 9.7 percent in 2018, with the combined sales of fixed and variable annuities reaching $218 billion, according to the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI), citing final 2018 market data for the U.S. annuity industry from Beacon Research and Morningstar.

Nearly half of single parents with children under age 18 don’t have life insurance, and the majority of them say the reason they don’t have coverage is because they believe it’s too expensive, a survey said.

We spend a lot of time daydreaming about and planning how to achieve our goals. Charting a new career, creating a bucket list, helping a loved one reach success and other goals all have financial implications that deserve consideration. This is where a financial plan comes in.

The goal of the Federal Reserve Board is to bring short-term rates to a level where they don’t cause the economy to accelerate so much that inflation rises. For two years, the Fed has been raising the federal funds rate target – the overnight rate that banks use to lend money to each other. The yield on the three-month bill rises almost in lockstep.

While the Department of Labor fiduciary rule is gone, tossed out by a federal appeals court one year ago, the compliance spotlight it shone on commission annuity sales remains. If the industry doesn’t figure out how to effectively provide distribution of annuities via advisory channels, “sales are just going to fall off a cliff,” one executive says.

The rising cost of living and cost of education has changed the financial landscape for millennials. But there’s more for advisors to understand when it comes to millennials and financial fragility.

Americans are dramatically underestimating their financial needs in retirement, but they don’t seem to realize it, according to a new report by Natixis Investment Managers.

The annuity sales landscape changed in a major way in 2018. Sales rebounded strongly in virtually every product line, in some cases 40 to 50 percent year-over-year. Fixed annuities led the way.

In an era when pensions are as old-fashioned as plaid bell bottoms, four in 10 boomers have less than $100,000 saved for retirement; one quarter has less than $25,000, according to LIMRA. With 10,000 boomers hitting 65 every day, it is a mystery who will feed them once they are past 64.

Al Bundy would not be a good life insurance prospect, but Jay Pritchett would be a warm one. The two iconic television characters played by actor Ed O’Neill represent the hot and cold of prospecting, said Vikram Kamath, director of the LIMRA Center of Excellence for Analytics.

Tapping into Medicare’s network of doctors and hospitals could make coverage affordable for Americans now priced out of the market, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., believes

One trend the industry is falling short on is customer engagement.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has been very deliberate with its Regulation Best Interest, which was tentatively adopted last April.Since then, not a lot has happened as the SEC collects comments and tinkers with the rule behind closed doors. But there may be a method to their madness, said Carl Wilkerson, vice president and chief counsel, securities, for the American Council of Life Insurers.

Although the insurance industry is known for moving slowly when it comes to change, the insurtech revolution is forcing executives out of their comfort zones.

Almost half of Americans (47 percent) say they are more likely to buy life insurance using simplified underwriting, which generally means getting coverage more quickly and without a medical exam, versus traditional underwriting approaches, according to new findings from the 2019 Insurance Barometer Study.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway maintained that Republicans are “working on a plan” for replacing the Affordable Care Act, days after President Donald Trump surprised members on both sides of the aisle when he declared that the Republican Party “will soon be known as the party of health care.”

After losing in Congress, President Donald Trump is counting on the courts to kill off “Obamacare.” But in the biggest case, a federal judge in Texas ruled last December that the ACA is unconstitutional and should be struck down in its entirety. At the urging of the White House, the Justice Department said this past week it will support the Texas judge’s opinion.

Trump’s latest pick to help lead the Federal Reserve has received a rocky reception from top economists. They’re raising several red flags about whether Stephen Moore is qualified to be a governor for the world’s most influential central bank. Moore is a former Trump campaign adviser who helped design the 2017 tax cuts and co-authored “Trumponomics.”

A judge is striking down the Trump administration’s small-business health insurance plan, calling it an “end run” around consumer protections. The Thursday ruling by U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington, D.C., is the second setback in a week for the administration’s health care initiatives after another judge blocked Medicaid work requirements for low-income people. President Donald Trump has hailed the small-business plans as a big success, but their impact is hard to measure.

The U.S. has never managed to sustain a low rate of unemployment without generating imbalances that lead to a recession. This suggests that a recession is near as the U.S. is currently at or near what economists consider “full employment.” JP Morgan’s chief economist comments on this and other economic factors.

Purchasing a home just became a lot cheaper, thanks mostly to the Federal Reserve’s decision to put its interest rate hikes on hold for now. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage plunged to 4.06 percent this week, down from 4.28 percent last week. That’s the steepest weekly drop in a decade.

March is Women’s History Month. As such, it’s the perfect time to celebrate the historic women who paved the way for all of the women currently working in the financial services industry by acknowledging the triumphs and obstacles they faced and sharing their stories.

Last December, the curve between three-year and five-year Treasury notes and that between two-year and five-year notes inverted. And last Friday the curve between the U.S. three-month note and the 10-year note inverted. The last time it happened was more than a decade ago, and seen as a signal that a recession may be coming.