Author Archives: Emily Holbrook

About Emily Holbrook

Emily Holbrook is a former editor of the Risk Management Monitor and Risk Management magazine. You can read more of her writing at EmilyHolbrook.com.
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Insurers to Continue Practice of Rescissions

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Everyone who files for independent health insurance is required to fill out an application that lists all pre-existing medical conditions. But what if you fail to mention the fact that you have acne? Or a slightly enlarged blood vessel (which is so non-life-threatening that your doctor doesn’t even shutterstock_medical1mention it to you after a cat scan)?

Failure to mention these small, and seemingly unimportant, medical issues allows health insurers to rescind a policy — especially when a person needs it most.

A new report by congressional investigators states that the practice of policy rescission is common among insurers and saves them millions of dollars a year.

An investigation by the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations showed that health insurers WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group and Assurant Inc. canceled the coverage of more than 20,000 people, allowing the companies to avoid paying more than $300 million in medical claims over a five-year period.

Two cases highlighted at the hearing were that of Robin Beaton and Otto Raddatz. Beaton’s policy was reportedly rescinded a few days before her scheduled mastectomy because she failed to mention she had once visited a dermatologist because of acne. Raddatz’s policy was reportedly dropped when a pre-existing medical condition he was not aware of surfaced after he was diagnosed with lymphoma.

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) was among the lawmakers who grilled health insurance company executives at a congressional hearing last week.

Late in the hearing, Stupak, the committee chairman, put the executives on the spot. Stupak asked each of them whether he would at least commit his company to immediately stop rescissions except where they could show “intentional fraud.”

Each answered “No.”

The outcome of the meeting put the option of a public health insurance plan in a very favorable light.

Proponents of a public plan seized upon the hearing, saying it showed why access to health care cannot be left to private insurance companies.

We will soon see whether a government-run, public health-care plan will serve the uninsured…and hopefully create a more fair world amongst the private insurers.

The Small Business Crisis

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Though large, corporate failures are what’s grabbing the headlines these days (such as GM, Extended Stay and Six Flags), there has been another crisis brewing — that of the small business failures.

A recent report issued by Equifax states that commercial bankruptcies almost doubled from March 2008 to March 2009 — a staggering statistic. The Western part of the U.S., including California and Texas, was the hardest hit. Equifax states that Los Angeles, Riverside/San Bernardino and Sacramento metropolitan areas led the nation in small business bankruptcy filings in March 2009.

There were some dramatic increases year-over-year in commercial bankruptcy filings in a number of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). The Chicago MSA increased to 199 bankruptcies from 67 in March 2008; Dallas increased to 162 from 73; Portland to 145 from 65 and Denver 157 from 58.

Other hard-hit metro areas during that same month include:

  • Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL
  • Anaheim-Irvine, CA
  • Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX
  • Denver-Aurora, CO
  • San Diego-Carlsbad, CA
  • Oakland-Fremont, CA
  • Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA
  • Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
  • Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
  • Oregon (excluding the Portland MSA)
  • California (excluding previously mentioned MSA’s)
  • Seattle-Bellevue-Everest, WA

On the other side, the cities with the fewest small business bankruptcy filings are:

  • Gainesville, Fla.
  • Lafayette, La.
  • Lynchburg, Va.
  • South Bend/Mishawaka, Ind./Mich.
  • Springfield, Mass.
  • Trenton/Ewing, N.J.
  • Amarillo, Tex.
  • Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  • Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa
  • Durham, N.C.
  • Fayetteville, N.C.

Do you feel that small businesses are hurting in your area? Or are they faring well compared to the corporate giants?

The Pirate Party

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Yes, that’s right — Sweden’s “Pirate Party” has won entry to the European Parliament. In a sign of the technological times, the party gained 7% of the Swedish votes and secured at least one of the 18 seats that Sweden holds in the parliament. The Pirate Party describes itself here.

The Pirate Party wants to fundamentally reform copyright law, get rid of the patent system, and ensure that citizens’ rights to privacy are respected. With this agenda, and only this, we are making a bid for representation in the European and Swedish parliaments.

Not only do we think these are worthwhile goals. We also believe they are realistically achievable on a European basis. The sentiments that led to the formation of the Pirate Party in Sweden are present throughout Europe. There are already similar political initiatives under way in several other member states. Together, we will be able to set a new course for a Europe that is currently heading in a very dangerous direction.

The Pirate Party only has three issues on its agenda.

The three stated goals on this agenda are : “To fundamentally reform copyright law,” “To get rid of the patent system” and  “To ensure that citizens’ rights to privacy are respected.”

Ironically, the popularity of the Pirate Party rose after the conviction of the leaders of Pirate Bay, a Swedish file sharing site who had for years brazenly flaunted its dismissal of IP laws and the authorities’ ability to do anything to stop them from providing users with a network to pirate everything from music and movies to software and video games. Before the Pirate Bay ballyhoo, the Pirate Party, which was founded in 2006, continuously received less than 1% of the vote.

Christian Engstrom, the party’s top candidate, believes that Sweden’s youth were the ones who swung the ballot.

Mr. Engstrom thanks younger voters for the election success, saying, “We are very strong among those under 30. They are the ones who understand the new world the best. And they have now signaled they don’t like how the big parties deal with these issues. We will use all of our strength to defend personal integrity and our civil rights.”

Where else can one vote for a “Pirate Party” besides Sweden? If you guessed the United States, you’re right. The Pirate Party of the United States, which was also formed in 2006 and modeled after Sweden’s likeminded party, appears here to stay — ready to fight for your right to government access, protests, free press and assembly.

Would you vote for the Pirate Party?

Facebook Needs a Risk Manager

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The world’s largest social networking site needs help — in the form of a risk manager.

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 Facebook has recently listed a job opening on its own site and throughout other job search sites searching for a risk manager to work in the company’s Palo Alto, Calif. headquarters.

The job requirements include:

  • BA/BS degree from a leading academic institution
  • Avid Facebook user
  • Five years of investigations experience in finance, fraud, technical or credit domains
  • Management, training and recruiting experience in building and running teams
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Knowledge of internet technologies such as IPs and cookies
  • Experience with billing, payments or chargebacks
  • Experience in a fast-paced startup environment a plus

For those that do make the cut, they are bound to find life at Facebook headquarters anything but uptight and stressful. The company offers many desirable perks along with a relaxed work environment.

The site proclaims:

We pair innovation and passion with cutting loose and having fun: racing around on RipStiks; playing Bughouse chess, a hand of poker, or a game of Risk; rocking out in our music room; and embarking on all-night coding binges for new features and ideas. Our language team rewrites the site in Pirate English, just for kicks.

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(Why upload photos when you can “hoist a portrait”?

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) There’s also an Ultimate Frisbee team, Nacho Thursday, and all kinds of new fun being invented every week.

With this kind of work environment and, needless to say, great pay, Facebook will undboubtedly be innundated with thousands of resumes. And one lucky winner will become the leading risk manager for this era’s hottest social site.