Frank Smith Says NB: WEST HARTFORD: Progress Made in Busway Project: WFSB

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

WEST HARTFORD: Progress Made in Busway Project: WFSB

7 comments:

Anonymous said...: WHAT IS IT WITH THIS GUY ? IS HE RUNNING FOR CONGRESS OR SOMETHING

Action groups protest large insurance company profits
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 10:46 PM EST

By SCOTT WHIPPLE
Staff Writer

HARTFORD — While outraged labor, community action and faith-based groups marched on Connecticut Business & Industry Association headquarters Tuesday afternoon, braving the wind and snow, organizer Phil Sherwood wanted to call attention to “the fat cats in the health insurance industry reaping record profits.”

Sherwood, deputy director of the Connecticut Citizens Action Group, a member group of the liberal Health Care for America Now, noted national and state-based insurance companies “have just recorded record profits. They’re simultaneously investing millions to maintain the status quo and kill health care reform.”

According to Sherwood, a New Britain alderman, health care legislation has been stalled since the beginning of the year, leaving millions of Americans, including 300,000 Connecticut residents, without coverage.

So, why the march on CBIA?

Sherwood says the 10,000-member organization lobbies on behalf of the state’s insurance companies and are against reform.

Citing a report just released by Health Care for America Now, Sherwood says the five largest U.S. health insurance companies have sailed through the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. In doing so, they set new industry profit records in 2009, and at the expense of 2.7 million fewer subscribers.

The report notes executives and shareholders of the five largest for-profit health insurers — UnitedHealth Group, Inc., Wellpoint, Inc., Aetna Inc., Humana Inc. and Cigna Corp. — enjoyed a combined profit of $12.2 billion in 2009, up 56 percent from the previous year.

Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for American’s Health Insurance Plans, a Washington, DC-based trade group that represents insurers, defended the profits. He attributes the gain in 2009 profits to poor performance in 2008 when insurers were forced to write down their stock holdings because of U.S. market declines. Insurance companies are major investors, earning interest from the time premiums are paid to the time health providers are paid.

“It’s disingenuous to look at the profits at one company today compared to where it was in the depth of a recession,” said Zirkelbach.

Sherwood cites the following figures from the Health Care for America Now report:

n Four out of five companies saw earnings increase, with CIGNA’s profits jumping 346 percent.

n Four out of the five companies insure fewer people through private coverage. United Health alone insured 1.7 million fewer people through employer-based or individual coverage.

n All but one of the five companies increased the number of people they covered through public insurance programs (Medicaid, CHIP and Medicare). United Health added 680,000 people in public plans.

n The proportion of premium dollars spent on health care expenses went down for three of the five firms, with higher proportions going to administrative expenses and profits.

However, Patrick Murphy’s Web site, www.realhonestthinking.com, points out in 2008 United Health, Aetna, Humana and Wellpoint had an average profit margin of only 3.6 percent. In other words, for every $100 they earned companies got to keep $3.60. In contrast, Coca-Cola that year averaged more than 20 percent profit margin, Apple, 13.3 percent.

“The truth is that the health insurance companies are not making outsized profits,” says Murphy. “Compared with many other companies their profit margins are very small. As for administrative costs, if a company like Aetna wants to expand into another state they need to lease office space, hire employees and spend money complying with that state’s insurance mandates. If they pay out everything they take in where do they get the money to fund expansion, compete and so on? Without profits, competition among insurers would decrease leaving insureds with only one insurance company in their state.”; February 17, 2010 at 7:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Sherwood is forming marches on the Business and Industry Association that represents most small businesses in Connecticut, but he denies being "anti-business?"

outraged labor, community action and faith-based groups marched on Connecticut Business & Industry Association headquarters Tuesday afternoon; February 17, 2010 at 7:34 PM
Anonymous said...: Makes me want to run right out and sign up for membership in CBIA!; February 17, 2010 at 7:34 PM
Anonymous said...: With radicals like Sherwood, Blumenthal, and Canatazaro forming groups of radical protesters outside their store, is there any wonder why WalMart pulled up stakes?; February 17, 2010 at 8:09 PM
Anonymous said...: Stay tuned! You will see soon that this is simply another smoke screen by Sherwood and his socialist CCAG buddies bent on nothing more than to hide some insidious plot by ACORN/SEIU/LABOR UNIONS.

Does anybody remember Sherwood's flap about ethics, FOI, "where's the beef?", etc.? This guy is just another trouble maker in the mold of Donald Segretti. He will be exposed soon.

Obama and his entourage have failed on everything so far, health care reform, jobs production, cap and trade, ethics, etc. With people like Harry Reid, Pelosi, Emanuel,Elder, and locally, Sherwood we're headed down the toilet vortex. This man is shameless and dangerous! Yet, he is promoted by James Smith of the New Britain Herald. Go figure.; February 17, 2010 at 8:40 PM
independent voter said...: So, why the march on CBIA?

Sherwood says the 10,000-member organization lobbies on behalf of the state’s insurance companies and are against reform.

Isn't CCAG a lobbying entity? Essentially lobbying against small business (jobs) and investors (more jobs)for more regulations (more jobs) against any entity that they want to label """BIG""" for example BIG oil, BIG pharm, BIG Insurance, BIG this and BIG that (jobs, jobs, jobs. all these BIG companies will keep their BIG jobs out of Connecticut, Lets chase all the big companies away Phil. Cripes big companies are not all they are chasing! look at the investor for Powder Ridge>>> GONE ELSEWHERE.

Phil when will you learn that no ""BIG"" companies mean ""BIG"" taxes on residential property and small business????

GGRRRRR I get so angry!!; February 18, 2010 at 4:13 PM
Anonymous said...: Sounds like Phil never met a business he liked. Apparently the only thing BIG that Phil likes is BIG Government!; February 19, 2010 at 2:15 AM

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