November 22, 2009 by Craig
This failed in the Senate, primarily because it is totally unfunded. The cost of the bill is estimated at $200 Billion or so to reverse the “Sustainable Growth” of Medicare which was established in the 1997 Deficit Redution Act. Here is an article with more detail from the New York Times.
There’s been some debate as to whether or not this amount should be included in the total cost of Health Care Reform. I’m undecided on this point. However, I think the larger point is that this reinforces the point that the Federal Government is totally inept (Democrats and Republicans) in managing the cost of entitlements. The fact that the government is “Banking” on their ability to rein in $500 Billion in Medicare Spending over 10 years makes me wonder if they’ll have the backbone to make the tough calls or simply add cost overruns to the deficit in future years. . .
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
November 22, 2009 by Craig
The Senate needed all 58 Democrats and 2 Independents to pass Cloture and get the Health Care Bill to the floor of the Senate. A couple of days ago, there were two Democratic Senators who hadn’t made up their minds. Senator Landrieu of Louisana was brought on board with a $100 million gift to her home state. ABC’s blog reports on the “$100 Million Vote” from Senator Landrieu! Now that I consider it, $100 million is small potatoes when you’re looking at a $1 Trillion Bill (that’s only 0.01% or one ten-thousandth of the total spend!) She probably could have gotten more in my mind!?!
Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas was also waivering until the last minute. She eventually voted “Yea”, but indicated that she would not vote for Cloture the next time around if there is a Public Option in the Bill. Independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has said the same thing.
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
November 21, 2009 by Craig
KSKJ will be increasing their Medicare Supplement rates in the state of Pennsylvania effective 12/1/2009. To access important information on the rate increase and the new rate sheet, please visit our Resource Center and enter the following:
- Company = KSKJ Medicare
- Product = Medicare Supplement
- State = PA
Posted in KSKJ, Medicare Supplement, Medigap Rate Changes/Introductions, Pennsylvania | Tagged KSKJ, medicare supplement, medigap, pa, Pennsylvania, rates | Leave a Comment »
November 21, 2009 by Craig
Genworth is taking an increase on it’s Minnesota Medicare Supplement product for all new business after 12/1/2009 with an effective date of 1/1/2010 or later. To access details on the rate action and the new rate sheets, visit our Resource Center and enter the following:
- Company = Continental Life
- Product = Medicare Supplement
- State = MN
Posted in Continental Life, Medicare Supplement, Medigap Rate Changes/Introductions, Minnesota | Leave a Comment »
November 21, 2009 by Craig
These rate actions will impact NEW BUSINESS with effective dates of 1/1/2010 or later.
To access details on the rate actions, please visit our Resources Page and select the following:
- Company = Aetna
- Product = Medicare Supplement
- State = (Choose your state)
Posted in Aetna, Arizona, California, Maryland, Medicare Supplement, Medigap Rate Changes/Introductions, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas | 2 Comments »
November 21, 2009 by Craig
Here is a pretty good analysis from Bob Laszewski. When you look at the cost over 10 years, if you only pay for benefits for 6 years (expense) and begin raising taxes and cutting Medicare immediately (income and/or expense reductions), you can claim this won’t add to the deficit. Again, this doesn’t contemplate fixing the Physician’s Fee Schedule in Medicare which would cost $250 Billion to do. The Physician’s fix is the #1 priority of the AMA. Also, you are assuming you can cut the real growth rate (growth less inflation) of healthcare spending by 50% over the next 10 years versus the last 10 years (from 4% down to 2%). That’s probably easier said than done considering the goal is to expand access to healthcare for people who can’t afford or can’t qualify for health insurance.
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
November 20, 2009 by Craig
Posted in Aetna | 1 Comment »
November 20, 2009 by Craig
Posted in Part D | Leave a Comment »
November 13, 2009 by Craig
My apologies for the sustained outage with some of the key functionality of the www.Ritterim.com website.
Our hosting service lost a switch which took our database server offline at 11:30 AM today. In the past, we had some short outages (15 minutes or less), but nothing like this.
Much of the functionality of our website is derived from our SQL Server Database. This powerful database manages our licensing paperwork, forms (applications, rates), our calendar of events, our Medicare Quote Engine and more.
Initially, because our Homepage pulls Upcoming Events from the Database, our entire Homepage crashed. We were able to re-write our Homepage so that if the Server is timed out, the page will still load, but with limited functionality.
What are we doing to fix this?
First of all, our host is working to correct the problem with our existing Database Server. Additionally, we purchased additional space with another host to run a mirror copy of our Quote Engine on another SQL Database Server. We are working late into the evening to upload, literally, millions of records to the new Server.
Generally, these types of redundance issues should be handled by our hosting service. We are evaluating our best course of action to ensure that this issue does not occur again.
My apologies for any inconvenience this has caused!
Craig Ritter, President, Ritter Insurance Marketing
Posted in About Ritter Insurance Marketing, Website | Leave a Comment »
