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House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced a bill that would seek to provide health insurance to all U.S. residents through Medicare and employer-sponsored coverage, the Oakland Tribune reports. The AmeriCare Health Care Act would establish AmeriCare, a new program that would use Medicare to provide health insurance to residents who do not receive employer-sponsored coverage. AmeriCare would cover prescription drugs, mental health treatments, pediatric care and family planning services. Employers, individuals and states would help finance AmeriCare, which would provide health insurance to residents with annual incomes less than 300% of the federal poverty level at no cost (Oakland Tribune, 3/31). According to a Commonwealth Fund analysis, the bill would cost the federal government $154.5 billion in 2007 and reduce overall health care spending by $60.7 billion.

City scrambles to fill retirement coffers

The pressure of an aging society has come down on South Lake Tahoe's local government as employees in their 50s elect to move on to the next stage of their lives.

The average age of the city's 215 employees is 43.1, less than seven years from the time of early retirement. As of Sept. 30, 2006, 106 retirees participated in the plan at a cost to the city of $1.1 million per year at an annual basis, city records show.

The city pays out 9 percent of salaries to public safety employees and 8 percent to other employees. These benefits have been doled out on a pay-as-you-go basis.

But with changing laws and more people living and working longer, the funds to pay into the California Public Employees Retirement System have grown and still grows. The city was required per state law effective July 1, 2005 to resign its public safety employees into the pool under the condition its unfunded liabilities would be paid into a side fund in addition to the city's routine contribution.

Premera Blue Cross Ranked Highest in Member Satisfaction among ...

Networks, and Information and Communication as the Most Significant Factors in Driving Member Satisfaction Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2007--In its inaugural study of health plan consumers, J.D. Power and Associates has ranked Premera Blue Cross highest in member satisfaction in the U.S. Western census region. The 2007 National Health Insurance Plan Satisfaction Study is designed to measure the member's experience with their health insurance plan by evaluating core factors, key attributes, and other issues that are important to members' overall experience with their plans. The factors examined in 2007 were: coverage and benefits, choice of doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies, information and communication, approval process, insurance statements, customer service, and claims processing.

New knees for American Church Official in Indian hospital

GW, A 55 year old Church official from New York bid goodbye to his long standing knee pain thanks to the top notch service in the citys Bharathiraja specialty hospital. Years of kneeling during services had taken a heavy toll of his knees and he was in constant pain over the last three years. To seek an effective solution to his problems, he resorted to an Internet search for Knee surgery in India. This landed him on the site of Dr.A.K.Venkatachalam www.kneeindia.com. He had earlier seen a Television documentary called Sixty minutes which described the influx of patients to India for medical treatment. After E mail correspondence Gary was given a quote for a knee replacements. Satisfied by the quote, he decided to go through the operation in Chennai. The system in the US would not let him have a knee replacement and he would have to wait for another 15 years.

Tom Eagleton's last words Les AuCoin

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A brighter future for Bulgaria's insurance

Now that Bulgaria is a European Union member, a large number of foreign companies have announced they are planning to establish branches in the country, some to ensure corporate partners coming into the market, others to compete for the growing domestic sector, in which life insurance is growing particularly strongly. At the beginning of the year, there were 31 insurance companies in Bulgaria. Three were life insurance companies, 20 non-life and eight composite insurers. Bulgarias life insurance market came to a total of $129.6 million last year, an increase of more than 25 per cent on the previous year. However, the figure fell below the 200 million leva ($137 million) target some had predicted. The life insurance sector has traditionally come behind motor vehicle and home insurance as a priority in Bulgaria, industry insiders told OBG.

Real estate investment: the key to building wealth

Dennis Grant, president of Florida Topland Inc., says real estate investment is one of the more successful means of building wealth. Grant was addressing the real estate seminar 'Building Financial Wealth by Empowerment and Investment in Land', at the Hilton Kingston hotel, New Kingston, last Wednesday. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Ashford W Meikle, Business Reporter

If the meteoric success of the Jamaican-born Floridian businessman and pastor, Dennis Grant, is anything to go by, then, without a doubt, investing in land is the path to building financial wealth and living the American dream.

"You don't need a have a green card or be an American citizen to purchase land in the United States. Four years ago I was broke but I knew whereI was going and started seeking opportunities," said Grant in a presentation Wednesday at the Hilton Kingston hotel as he encouraged the participants to invest in land through his company, Florida Topland, Incorporated.

Minnesota Sues "Trust Mills"

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is suing two California companies, American Family Legal Plan and Heritage Marketing and Insurance Services, Inc., for operating a "trust mill" that preys upon Minnesota senior citizens.

If the senior citizen responds positively, Swanson said an agent posing as an estate planner meets the senior citizen at home and sells the person a plan for $2,000 or more. Swanson said that during this meeting, the agent will distort and misrepresent the impact of probate fees and estate taxes, causing the senior citizen to buy the trust out of fear that their heirs will lose the estate.

HISD Workers Upset About Health Care Costs, Bonuses

HOUSTON -- Many Houston Independent School District workers are upset that some employees are getting thousands of dollars in bonuses while others cannot afford their health insurance, KPRC Local 2 reported Tuesday.