In Canada, we have recently seen two well-established companies filing for protection: Hart Stores Inc. and Norgate Metal. In neither case did the creditors nor the credit insurers suspect that the companies were about to file. In the Hart Stores case, two credit insurers reviewed the portfolio just prior to the company filing and found, that while the company had experienced a small loss at year end and another small loss at the end of the first quarter, there wasn’t any reason to reduce coverage. What wasn’t anticipated: these small losses resulted in the company’s bank refusing to renew the Line of Credit and then the company’s inability to find new financing in today’s market.

In the case of Norgate Metal, the company lost money on a contract due to the last minute withdrawal of a subcontractor. The loss

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The Colorado health benefits exchange program received $17.9 million yesterday in grant money from HHS.   The money will be used to hire staff and make progress on the technology that will be needed to run the exchange starting in 2014.  We still dont know how the Supreme Court will rule in terms of the legality of the individual mandate, and that makes the future of the exchanges a bit uncertain.  But Colorado is making good progress with implementation of a state-based exchange.  S

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Joe Paduda hosted the most recent edition of the Health Wonk Review be sure to check it out, as hes done an excellent job as he always does.  One of my favorite articles this week was highlighted by Joe Colucci of The New Health Dialog.  Joe writes about this article by Shannon Brownlee, discussing transparency in medicine and patients ability to be consumers when it comes to healthcare.  Shannon talks about her experience with shopping for replacement eye lenses to correct her cataracts.  My mother had this same surgery done last year (with great results, by the way after nearly 60 years of wearing glasses, she doesnt have to wear them anymore.  An

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When a client is deciding on who to name as beneficiaries of their life insurance policy, the topic of insurable interest often comes up,  Insurable Interest can be defined as:

The interest arising when one person has a reasonable expectation of benefiting from the continuance of another persons life or of suffering a loss at his or her death.  In life insurance, a person generally is considered to have an unlimited insurable interest in himself or herself.  However, a person must have an insurable interest in another person at the time of application in order to insure the others life.

From the definition above, its clear that a spouse and children would have an insurable interest in the life insurance policyholders life.  They would most probably suffer a financial loss if their spouse or parent passed away.  Sometimes a client will want to list a sibling or friend as a beneficiary and, in these situations, the insurance company will typically ask what insurable interest the proposed beneficiary has in the policyholder.  Usually, if there is no clear interest, the insurance company will question it and sometimes disallow the beneficiary designation.

I just read an interesting news story concerning beneficiaries of the life insurance policies of Susan Powell, the missing Washington woman whose husband, Josh Powell, recently killed himself and his children by setting his house on fire.  Susan Powells policy is under question for the obvious reason that she is still missing and hasnt been officially pronounced dead.  However, Josh Powells policy is under investigation because of the number and timing of changes that occurred shortly before he committed the murder-suicide.  Apparently, he made changes to his beneficiaries in late 2011, naming his siblings and father as beneficiaries rather than the trust overseen partly by his father.  Aside from the timing of the changes and all the other questions that come to mind, the question of insurable interest will certainly come up. 

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, given the number and timing of changes that occurred shortly before Powell carried out the murder/suicide, New York Life also has concerns regarding Joshua Powell’s competency at the time the beneficiary changes were made, the court filing states. It also says

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There are various kinds of insurance policies such as health insurance policy, car insurance policy etc, but currently several organizations are dealing in contents insurance. Such contents insurance policies can be found very easily and they are even affordable. According to these policies, if any equipment of your house gets stolen, broken or lost, the insurance company will buy you the latest version of it. People buying these policies should make sure that they make a list of the entire stuff present in their houses and should value them separately. In this way they can enjoy a lot more advantage. Full Post…

I liked this article at The Colorado Trust, written by Dr. Ned Calonge.  Dr. Calonge is writing about the 2011 Colorado Health Access Survey results that were published last fall.  That survey found unsurprisingly that the number of uninsured residents in Colorado had increased since 2009, and that the primary reason people did not have health insurance was because they could not afford it.

Dr. Calonge makes a good point though when he notes that the affordability of healthcare is a complex and subjective issue basically, what is deemed affordable by one family might be viewed as unaffordable by another family, even if both families have the same income level.  He points out that there isnt much of a pattern with regards to income when it comes to whether or not a family will say that they are able to afford health insurance, or how much they think they could pay for health insurance.

These are excellent points.  Whether or not we can afford something is usually somewhat subjective.  Ok, so most of us cant afford to buy our own tropical island, no matter how we crunch the numbers.  But two families earning the same income level will almost always have different items that they can and cant afford.  One family might spend far more than the other on food, while the other family might drive a much more expensive car.  In reality, affordability is often about choices and priorities.

Health insurance is definitely not cheap.  For those who qualify for programs like Medicaid and CHP+, the subsidized or free coverage is likely a lifesaver.  But what about middle class families who dont qualify for public health insurance, but for whom health insurance premiums are a budget buster?  Why is health insurance more of a priority for one family than for another (to the point that one family will cut their budget in other areas, like clothing and vacations and vehicles, in order to keep paying for their health insurance)?  Is it all about personal experience?  If youve had a medical scare or have a loved one who has had significant medical bills (especially at a young age, or for an out-of-the-blue medical condition), are you more likely to rearrange your priorities to make health insurance affordable, regardless of your income?  If youve always been healthy, are you more likely to see health insurance as a money-pit and opt to spend your money elsewhere?

We know that the percentage of our income that is being spent on healthcare has climbed significantly over the past decade.  For a lot of people, its becoming a much more significant monthly expense than it used to be.  But whether or not its affordable really depends on the person being asked.