[NEWSWIRES] able to go to those public marketplaces to shop for health insurance plans. But what are private health insurance exchanges? The question comes up because a number of firms are bringing out products for the private health insurance exchange market. The terminology can be confusing. The private exchanges are marketplaces, too, but they are created by entities such as private sector companies rather than state or federal government. Employers can go to the exchanges to select health insurance plans of various insurers that the employers can then offer to their workers as benefits choices. Who pays for the plans, and how, varies by plan design and other factors. Health insurance brokers can do business clients a world of good by explaining the distinction between the two. By the way, Dan Maynard, president of Connecture, a Chicago firm that has developed a technology product for this market, is an advocate of the private single-payer exchanges. They provide an effective way for health plans to lower costs to employers, as well as enable employers to provide workers with more health plan choices, he maintains. That might be a point to raise with interested business clients.
QUOTABLE Women don’t need to choose between saving and paying off debt. They must do both to build a stronger and brighter long-term financial future for themselves and their families. — Professor Mary Quist-Newins, director of The State Farm Center for Women and Financial Services at The American College
HEADS UP ON TEMPER TANTRUMS
The American Psychiatric Association is changing the way psychiatrists define certain mental disorders. For instance, according to the new diagnostic manual the group is putting out this May, a temper tantrum could be a sign of mental illness, says an Associate Press report. At face value, that would
The Search is on for Financial Peace of Mind
61%
Although the stock market and economy have rebounded somewhat, the confidence many Americans once had has diminished, says Jay Wintrob, president of Americans age 55+ and CEO of AIG Life and Retirement. A Harris Interactive survey that his New York firm conducted in view saving enough as conjunction with Age Wave found that 61 percent of top priority American adults age 55+ view saving enough to have “financial peace of mind” as a top financial priority. By comparison, only 14 percent view accumulating as much wealth as possible as their top priority. In addition 32 percent say that they plan to look into ways to protect existing assets in response to the recent economic and financial market uncertainty, while only 4 percent plan to invest more aggressively to make up for lost time. The economic problems of the past few years not only had an economic impact on Americans, surmises Ken Dychtwald, CEO of Age Wave. “This survey reveals that the psychological impact was also substantial – and a new mindset is emerging,” he says. seem to have little importance to insurance professionals. But AP points out that the impact could be important for the insurance industry in deciding what treatments to pay for. Let’s flesh that out a bit. The changes could affect claims, for instance for health and disability insurance. Depending on the details, the changes could also affect or influence life underwriting. Field underwriters and underwriters for brokerage general agencies could feel a few waves too, for instance when reviewing cases where mental disorders are involved. For a taste of what’s ahead, the AP story mentions that “disruptive mood dysregulation disorder” will be a new diagnosis – for “children and adults who can’t control their emotions and have frequent temper outbursts in inappropriate situations.” Also, the term “autism spectrum disorder” will apply to children and adults with autism. But the familiar diagnoses of Asperger’s disorder and dyslexia won’t be in the manual anymore.
A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL FOR AIG
That’s right, the big New York insurance holding company has had some good news lately. In December, the Treasury sold its remaining 234.2 million shares
of AIG common stock, raising about $7.6 billion. This marks full resolution of America’s financial support of AIG, says AIG in a statement, referring to the federal government’s $182 billion bailout of AIG during the 2008 financial crisis. The Treasury continues to hold warrants to purchase approximately 2.7 million shares of AIG common stock, AIG says, noting that this should provide an additional positive return to taxpayers when sold. The total combined profit to taxpayers is $22.7 billion, said AIG President and CEO Robert H. Benmosche in a statement. The previous month brought some relief, too. That’s when a federal judge dismissed a $25 billion lawsuit that Starr International had filed against AIG. Starr is headed by none other than Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, the former CEO of AIG. According to an Associated Press report, the suit had accused the Federal Reserve Bank of New York of taking valuable assets from AIG shareholders without their consent or fair compensation.
January 2013 » InsuranceNewsNet Magazine
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