Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Vosilla who wrote (302593)	1/7/2011 2:47:21 PM
From: Broken_Clock	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 306849

'The Dems were stupid in making their predictions of what would happen with stimulus money.' ++++++ yeah, but O did manage to gouge the middle class with his "historic" health care profit generating "reform". I just love the justification from the O admin at the end. +++++++ Blue Shield of California proposes 59% premium rate hike Parija Kavilanz, senior writer, On Friday January 7, 2011, 1:48 pm One of California's largest health insurers - Blue Shield - announced plans to hike its premiums by as much as 59%. The jacked up premium rates are set to take effect on March 1, pending review from state insurance regulators. The move impacts 193,000 Blue Shield policy holders. The company, a member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association with 3.3 million members, which announced the move late Thursday, stressed that its decision has "almost nothing to do with the federal health reform law" and that ultimately the law will help slow down health care costs. But responding to this most recent increase the company said, "our individual market medical costs are rising rapidly due to higher provider prices, increased utilization, and the fact that healthier people are dropping coverage during a bad economy," the company said. Despite the steep double-digit hike, the insurer maintained it still expects to lose tens of millions of dollars on its individual healthcare business in both 2010 and 2011. Right to be concerned: "The people of California have a right to be concerned when they see this kind of rate increase month after month," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, said in a statement Thursday. Sebelius said the agency has reached out to California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones as well. "We stand ready to assist him and the people of California in any way that we can," she said. Despite health reform, that assistance will be limited. The federal government does not have the authority to review and strike down unreasonable rate increase requests. Historically, that authority lies with individual states. But some states don't have any rate review process at all and insurers can hike rates as much as they want. Under California law, the state insurance commissioner has no authority to reject excessive premium increases. "Many Californians will no doubt be surprised to learn that the Insurance Commissioner does not have the legal authority to reject excessive health insurance premium increases," California Commissioner Dave Jones said in a statement Thursday. Instead, Jones has asked Blue Shield of California to delay the implementation of the rate so that he has the opportunity to ensure that the increase has been thoroughly reviewed. "I find it stunning that Blue Shield would seek to impose such massive premium increases on policyholders during these troubling economic times,"Jones said in a statement Thursday. "These premium increases will impose significant financial burdens on struggling families and, in some cases, will lead to the loss of health care coverage altogether," he said. Health reform has tried to stymie these big rate hikes. For instance, health reform mandates that insurance companies spend 80% to 85% of the premiums they collect on medical care instead of toward their own profits and overhead costs. However, that new rule doesn't seem to have affected Blue Shield's move. The company said that the new rates "meet the federal requirement." Other deterrents include: $250 million in grants to states to set up a rate review process if they don't have one, and to further strengthen it if they already do. About $46 million of that amount has already been awarded to states, according to HHS. Beginning July 1, if an insurer proposes a 10% or higher rate hike, it will get extra scrutiny from state regulators as well as the federal government. In 2014, when health exchanges are set to open, states will have the authority to ban insurers with a questionable history of rate increase from participating in the exchanges. Sebelius, alluding to GOP efforts to repeal health reform, warned that without health reform, "the practice of insurers imposing these kinds of rate increases without public scrutiny would be the wave of the future."

To: John Vosilla who wrote (302593)	1/10/2011 1:54:21 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 306849

Ford to Hire 7,000 Workers in U.S. NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Ford(F_) said it will add 7,000 new hourly and salaried jobs between this year and next year in the U.S. The company said that this year alone it's adding 4,000 hourly jobs at several of its U.S. plants, including 1,800 at its Louisville assembly plant, which is preparing to launch the next-generation Ford Escapes late in the year. Ford said it will also add 750 salaried engineering jobs in product development and manufacturing. Next year, Ford expects to add at least 2,500 more new manufacturing positions. "Ford is committed to American manufacturing, and we are on a path to add more than 7,000 American workers over the next two years as we continue to grow our product lineup," said Mark Fields, Ford president of The Americas, in a prepared statement. "Working with our partners, including the UAW (United Auto Workers), Ford is finding competitive ways to engineer and build even more high-quality, fuel-efficient vehicles with technologies American consumers really want." Ford said it's recruiting engineers specializing in batteries, system controls, software and energy storage to work on electric vehicles in Detroit and eight other cities including Boston; Chicago; Cincinnati; Columbus, Ohio; Milwaukee; Raleigh and Durham, N.C.; and San Jose, Calif. This recruitment launches at the 2011 North American International Auto Show during industry preview days on Jan. 12 and Jan. 13. Shares of Ford have risen 0.7% to $18.41 in Monday trading, while rival GM(GM_) is down 0.4% to $38.81. thestreet.com