Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.insur From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: insur Mon, Feb 24 1992 Date: Mon, 24 Feb 92 06:25:44 EST Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: Insurance USA TODAY Update Feb. 24, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CANDIDATES FUMBLE HEALTH CARE: The health-care issue is still up for political grabs. A survey of New Hampshire voters shows that no single candidate or plan has won voters over. "No candidate has really gotten through to the people on the health-care issue," says Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Foundation, which conducted the poll with Harvard University. (For more, see special Poll package below.) NOLHGA WEIGHS ROLE IN RESCUE: Representatives of the National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations have reviewed the books of Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Co., Newark, N.J., to determine what role the group might play in the insurer's rehabilitation. The NOLHGA representatives include a number of executives from Prudential Insurance. A rehabilitation plan will be submitted soon. LOUISIANA POLICYHOLDERS HURT: A Louisiana official says more than $200 million has been lost by policyholders and investors, mostly from Louisiana, in a group of companies controlled by Southshore Holding Corp. The Louisiana Department of Insurance is partly to blame, said the officials. Louisiana officials allowed Southshore to buy Riverside Holding Co., which controlled three insurers, now defunct. NEVADA RECALLS BENEFITS: Nevada welfare officials plan to recall unemployment benefits mistakenly given to an undetermined number of Nevadans. The recall affects recipients who applied for extensions after Congress granted an additional 13 weeks of benefits in November. A special computer search this week should provide the exact number. N.J. APPROVES TRANSFER: American Reliance Group Inc., Lawrenceville, N.J., has received permission to transfer its book of New Jersey personal automobile insurance business to the company's mutual parent, American Reliance Insurance Co. The New Jersey Department of Insurance granted its approval conditioned upon, among other things, licensing of a currently inactive American Reliance subsidiary. FRAUD DOCTOR `STRESSED OUT': A wealthy Los Angeles physician who cheated insurance companies of up to $8 million is paid $266 by the state because he's stressed out. The state agency has sent disability money to Dr. Gershon Hepner since April, six months after he was indicted by a Los Angeles County grand jury and six months before he pleaded guilty. Law mandates benefits for anyone diagnosed as suffering stress. USA SPENDS MORE ON HEALTH: The USA spends more on health than other developed countries. In 1980, the USA spent $1,089 per-capita on health, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Germany spent $704 and Japan spent $522. In 1990, the USA spent $2,566 while Germany spent $1,287 and Japan spent $1,113. NON-VETERANS KEPT OUT: The Department of Veterans Affairs said Friday that it would abandon a pilot program that would have allowed non-veterans in areas where health care is scarce to use VA facilities. The decision to halt the Rural Health Care Initiative was applauded by veterans groups. This is a "victory for veterans and for good public policy," American Legion officials said. NON-HODGKINS'S LYMPHOMA RISING: Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma will afflict 41,000 Americans this year, killing 19,400, according to the American Cancer Society. The illness occurs in part of the body's disease-fighting system. Fatalities have risen 53% for men and 59% for women over the last 30 years. Despite the rise, lymphoma - in all forms - is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths among men and seventh among women. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON POLL: VOTERS IN DOUBT: Asked which candidate they thought would do the most to fix the health-care system, regardless of whom they voted for, 39% of the 1,001 New Hampshire primary voters said they didn't know. Among those who expressed a preference, 17% preferred Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb. Former Sen. Paul Tsongas, D-Mass., was next with 10%, followed by Gov. Bill Clinton, D-Ark., at 8% and President Bush at 7%. MOST WANT PRIVATE INSURANCE: More than half, 52%, said government should guarantee universal health-care coverage, but 76% want the private insurance system preserved and 63% don't want the government setting doctor and hospital fees. "People want something done through private insurance," says Robert Blendon of the Harvard School of Public Health. ECONOMY TOPS HEALTH CARE: Health-care reform, with 39%, was ranked second in importance only to boosting the economy, 61%. Taxes ranked third, education fourth. Seventy percent disapproved of the way Bush is handling health care. (End of package.) Insurance Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 08:0002240000D0224 INTE- R D Abortion-case-to-be-reviewed.......... A D0224 This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM