| Independence Holding Company Announces Semi-Annual Cash Dividend
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Independence Holding Company (NYSE: IHC) today reported declaration of a semi-annual cash dividend of $0.025 per share of common stock, payable to stockholders of record on July 6, 2007, with a payment date of July 20, 2007. About Independence Holding Company IHC is a holding company principally engaged in the life and health insurance business and the acquisition of blocks of policies through its insurance company subsidiaries (Standard Security Life Insurance Company of New York and Madison National Life Insurance Company, Inc.), its affiliate (American Independence Corp. (NASDAQ: AMIC)), and its managing general underwriters, third-party administrators, and marketing affiliates. Standard Security Life markets medical stop-loss, small group major medical, short-term medical, major medical for individuals and families, limited medical, group long and short-term disability and life, dental, vision and managed health care products.
Golf and Long Term Care Insurance, Beautiful Together; LTC ...
KIRKLAND, Wash., June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Improving one's golf game has a lot in common with improving one's life, especially in the senior years, according to golf legend Billy Casper. The pro has teamed with the nation's most experienced long term care insurance brokerage, LTC Financial Partners LLC, to spread his views. And he's offering a free online golf lesson to drive the point home. *(PHOTO: Send2Press.com/mediaroom/07-LTC-Casper_72dpi.jpg) *(Photo Caption: Golf legend Billy Casper.) "No matter how well you play, it's not possible to play a perfect round of golf," says Casper, "but you can anticipate and prepare for the inevitable setbacks." In life, most Americans fail to plan adequately for similar setbacks, especially with regard to their health, he asserts. While health insurance is common, the majority of Americans leave a gaping hole in their protection -- failing to secure long term care insurance.
Unum No. 1 in Sales, Enrollment for Group Long Term Care
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nearly nine out of 10 companies offering new long term care benefits in 2006 selected Unum (NYSE:UNM) as their provider of choice, according to an independent survey of group long-term care insurance sales.1 Unum added nearly 1,000 new businesses, and more than 70,000 employees, to its customer base, representing a growth rate of about 15 percent over 2005. The company now holds 75 percent of the employer group long term care insurance contracts in the United States, covering about 600,000 working-age Americans. .
Tobacco Deal Chokes Off Access to Oxygen Therapy for Half Million ...
ARLINGTON, Va., July 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Unwilling to increase tobacco taxes enough to pay for changes to Medicare and children's health insurance, committees in the House of Representatives are proposing a reimbursement cut that jeopardizes the benefits of a half million seniors who depend on medical oxygen therapy to treat severe respiratory conditions such as COPD. The changes were proposed in H.R. 3162, titled "The Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007." This bill will be marked up in the days ahead in two House committees with jurisdiction over Medicare, the Ways and Means Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee. The bill would also eliminate the first-month purchase option for power wheelchairs in Medicare. Eliminating the first-month purchase option for power wheelchairs will reduce access for beneficiaries who suffer from long-term conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, spinal cord injuries or paralysis.
Don't short shrift long-term care insurance
Along with the pros of retirement (all that free time) comes one big con: the possibility that you'll outlive your as sets and be unable to afford nursing home or at-home care if you re quire it. That's why long-term care, or LTC, insurance, which you purchase in addition to your regular health insurance, is beneficial if you're unable to perform basic daily activities by yourself. (Medicare usually doesn't adequately ac commodate your needs.) But the relatively new LTC insurance industry is now experienc ing growing pains, and insurance companies that initially underestimated the cost of providing coverage are either exiting the business or sharply increasing premiums for existing policyholders. You must shop carefully for a policy. You should buy LTC insurance between the ages of 50 and 60.
Williamstown Commons offers financial seminar for long-term care
The public is invited to Williamstown Commons' free seminar on preparing financially for long-term care and estate planning, scheduled for Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 at 6:00 p.m., at the Williamstown Commons Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at 25 Adams Road, Williamstown. Speakers will include Attorney James Sisto, Elder Law Attorney Rick Irish of Genworth Financial, and financial planner Paul Brassard from Primerica Financial Services. The speakers will discuss and answer questions in regard to long-term care financial planning, including long-term care insurance, ways to protect your life savings and other assets, tax advantages of qualified long-term care insurance. This information is increasingly important, as people are living longer and long-term care will be a necessity for a growing number of people as baby boomers approach their later years.
ICICI plans to strengthen position in health insurance space
Coimbatore, July 20 (PTI): With medical care and health services expenditure in India registering 6.5 per cent growth, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance is making efforts to strengthen its position in health insurance space, a senior company official said yesterday. Ending its financial year 2006-07 on an upswing and strengthening its leadership position among the private life insurers in India, the company has launched Hospital Care to cover over 1,000 surgical procedures and hospitalisation, Anup Rau, Vice President of the company told reporters here. Saying that the people were concerned that the policies were not long-term and that once a claim was made, it might not be renewed or will attract a higher premium, Rau said that ICICI Prudential has launched the new product to fill this gap in health insurance and offer customers control over their health spends.
WHAT: Public meeting on long-term-care insurance
This editorial was written with William Newsum in mind. The 89-year-old Iowan recently sent us a letter detailing problems he's had with his former long-term-care insurance company. (He eventually canceled his policy.)
His handwritten letter, in a shaky script, told us: For more than eight years, he and his wife paid nearly $400 a month for long-term-care insurance - a total of nearly $40,000. After she entered a nursing home, the insurance company gave him the runaround.
"She lasted 3 weeks and I paid the bill. It took from April till November to get the small amount of money from [the company]," he wrote. After his wife died, he dropped the insurance. The company is "one big scam!" he wrote.
Newsum included no phone number in the letter. He wrote: "No internet and I'm hard of hearing on the phone."
We called anyway.
Kennedy, Harkin, Dingell, Pallone Introduce Class Act
July 10, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C— Today, Senators Edward Kennedy and Tom Harkin and Representatives John Dingell and Frank Pallone introduced the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act of 2007 that would create an insurance program for adults who become functionally disabled. The measure would provide a cash benefit to help obtain services and supports, while providing those with disabilities more choices on community participation, education, and employment. Currently there are 10 million Americans in need of long term care services, and the number is expected to increase to near 15 million by 2020. Too often, many individuals are forced to live in poverty just so they can qualify for Medicaid to get the care they need, which is counter to the American way.
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