| Get insurance or get impounded
Get insurance or get your vehicle impounded. That's the message from an east texas city cracking down on uninsured drivers. Nacogdoches police say they will tow a vehicle if a driver does not have insurance. They say the city approved this ordinance to crack down on the large number of uninsured drivers. Chief Jim Sevey in close to 30 percent of all accidents, his officers find at least one driver without insurance. The ordinance goes into effect April first. .
Doctors: State health plan does harm
Cumberland County doctors are balking at a state House bill they say could force them to accept an ill-conceived insurance plan.The bill, approved by the House on Monday, would try to provide health insurance to 273,000 low-income Pennsylvanians not currently covered.Individuals who make $20,800 or less and families of four that make $42,400 or less each amount is 200 percent of the federal poverty line would be eligible.Surplus money from MCare, a statewide fund that helps doctors pay for high-priced malpractice suits, would partially pay for the program.But doctors are fearful the insurance won't provide them enough reimbursement, according to Dr. Andrew Behnke, president of the Cumberland County Medical Society. .
Insurance switch questioned
SALTSBURG - A vote to switch insurance brokers sparked questions at Wednesday's Blairsville-Saltsburg school board meeting by members who say they were unaware of a reason for a change and unaware that anyone had sought proposals from another company. The board voted 5-3 to appoint Gleason Insurance as the district's insurance broker beginning April 1. The district currently uses Graff Insurance Agency. Beverly Caranese, Linda Johnson, Linda Brown, Michael Smith and Brett Treece voted in favor of the switch, with Paul Bell, George Rowley and B. Edward Smith opposing the motion. Michael LaMantia was absent. The directors who opposed the motion said they did so for a number of reasons, they said. .
Tempe High Board Votes to Strip Retirees of Health Insurance
Workers who retire from the Tempe Union High School District will no longer receive paid health insurance under a plan that received school board approval this week. The district expects to save $1.3 million by cutting benefits for teachers and other employees who retire after June 30 and could plow some of that money into teacher raises. The district board voted unanimously Wednesday to change the decades-old policy of providing insurance until retirees qualify for Medicare. Governing Board member Michelle Helm said it was hard to look out at the teachers in the boardroom who she knew would lose their benefits. ``But I know I could be looking out at a young couple who need a raise, with several children to take care of,'' she said. ``I also could be looking at one of our classified employees, who is barely making it and who, without a raise, won't make it at all.'' Tempe High School teacher Dave Rasley said he was disappointed in the board action and estimated that having to pay for his health insurance in retirement could cost him $70,000.
Health insurance in perspective
Perhaps the most common question I'm asked by pre-retirees who are thinking about retiring soon is about health insurance. Should I continue to work until age 65? Are there any reasonable insurance products that I can buy if I retire before age 65? Are there risks that I need to understand before I retire before age 65? For those who have guaranteed health insurance as part of a retirement package, these concerns are generally not an issue, except for the risk that this guarantee might be reneged before one reaches age 65. For many others, the COBRA option guarantees that insurance can be purchased for 18 months following job termination, the problem here being that the full cost of the insurance is now due each month, not just the subsidized amount the employee has been paying.
Future Tempe Union retirees won't get health insurance
Tempe Union High School District employees who retire after June 30 will not get district-funded health insurance, a decision the governing board blames on financial problems, including the failure of a maintenance and operations override last year. The unanimous decision is expected to save the district $1.3 million and will not affect current retirees. This was the first cut of more to come, board President Mary Lou Taylor said. .
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