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For more information send an e-mail to tedd@insurancebroadcasting.com, call 888-282-1765 or click here to read the media kit online. www.InsuranceBroadcasting.com Two Ex-Marsh Executives Convicted of Bid-Rigg Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:02am EST By Edith Honan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two former executives at Marsh Inc, a unit of Marsh
& McLennan Cos Inc (MMC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), were found guilty
on a monopoly charge on Friday for participating in an insurance
bid-rigging scheme, court officials said. 1. Health Net, Inc. Statement Regarding Arbitration Decision Involving Recission of Individual Insurance Policy LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT) today announced that the company received an arbitration decision yesterday in a case involving the rescission of an individual insurance policy. While we do not agree with all of his conclusions, the arbitrator raised some serious concerns. Some of these concerns have already been remedied over the past few years, and we intend to address the remaining issues he raised. Effective immediately, we are doing the following things: First, we will rescind no policies in the future without a binding external, third-party review process. Second, we will ensure our application and underwriting process is clear and understandable, and that we get all necessary information before issuing a policy. And third, we will do a comprehensive review of all parts of the process including enhanced broker review, training and education. We will be making specific announcements in the coming weeks. We also will urge the passage of legislation in California to address these matters on a statewide basis. We take this very seriously and are committed to resolving these issues. www.healthnet.com Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 2. Is There A $500 Billion Hurricane On The Horizon? MIAMI, Feb 22 (Reuters) - A hurricane that hit Miami in 1926 would cause up to $157 billion in damage if it were to strike today, according to a study published this week. U.S. storm costs are rising because of higher populations and wealth on the coasts, not a spike in the number or power of hurricanes, the study said. Its conclusions run counter to the notion that the $150 billion in damages caused by the destructive Atlantic hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 might be linked to global warming, which some scientists believe is behind a spate of extraordinarily powerful hurricanes in recent years. An extrapolation of current trends "suggests a storm like the 1926 Great Miami Hurricane could result in perhaps $500 billion in damage as soon as the 2020s," the study said. Hurricanes and their destructive potential have become a key concern in global energy, insurance and commodities markets in the last decade. Scientists believe the Atlantic basin entered a new era of more frequent hurricanes around 1995, which could last 25 to 40 years. The study found that the 1926 Miami hurricane would have caused the largest losses in history -- $140 billion to $157 billion -- if it struck today, accounting for inflation and massive building along the Miami coastline in the last 80 years. That toll would have far exceeded the current costliest hurricane, Katrina, which killed 1,500 people when it swamped New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico coast in 2005, causing $81 billion in damage. "There is nothing in the U.S. hurricane damage record that indicates global warming has caused a significant increase in destruction along our coasts," Chris Landsea, one of the study's authors and a leading skeptic on the influence global warming may have on hurricanes, said in a statement. The study looked at mainland U.S. hurricane damage from 1900 to 2005 and found that there was no trend of increasing damage. On average, hurricanes have caused about $10 billion damage yearly in the United States for the last 106 years. About 85 percent of the damage is caused by what scientists call "major" hurricanes, Category 3, 4 or 5 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity, which feature sustained winds above 110 mph (177 kph). Only 24 percent of cyclones that hit the United States are major ones. The study estimated that because of inflation and coastal construction, the damage caused by the 1926 Miami hurricane would have measured $72 billion in 1995 and then jumped to as much as $157 billion just 10 years later. Some risk analysts estimated damage tolls could be expected to double roughly every 10 years because of the increasing numbers of buildings, construction costs, and other factors. "Unless action is taken to address the growing concentration of people and property in coastal hurricane areas, the damage will increase by a great deal as more people and infrastructure inhabit these coastal areas," said Landsea, a researcher with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The study was published in Natural Hazards Review, a publication aimed at civil engineers. (Editing by Eric Walsh) © Reuters 2008 All rights reservedReturn to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 3. Goldman Sees $1-$12 Bln Writedown For Large-Cap Brokers In Q1 Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:44am EST (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs said it expects additional writedowns of about $1 billion to $12 billion each for several U.S. large-cap brokers in the first quarter, with Citigroup (C.N: ) estimated to record the highest amount of about $12 billion. Goldman expects these writedowns to be spread across residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities and leveraged loans. The combination of a slowing global economy and a continued correction in financial asset values will dampen 2008 earnings and returns for the investment banks, it said. Goldman lowered its first-quarter and 2008 estimates for its large-cap universe which includes Bear Stearns (BSC.N: ), Lehman (LEH.N: ), Morgan Stanley (MS.N: ), JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N: ) and Merrill Lynch (MER.N: ) to reflect continued challenges in the credit markets. (Reporting by Nivedita Gupta in Bangalore; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 4. Investment Bank Fees Hit Record $84bln In 07-Study LONDON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Global investment banking fees hit a record $84.3 billion in 2007, helping offset the losses many banks suffered on business related to high-risk U.S. home loans, a London financial services body said on Monday. Half of the fees, which were up 21 percent on 2006, came from merger and acquisition advisory, with the rest earned through equity and fixed income underwriting, said International Financial Services London (IFSL). More than half of total investment banking fees were generated in the U.S. market and just over a third in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Investment banks reported losses of $130 billion on their exposure to U.S. subprime mortgages up to the end of January, IFSL said. "Many investment banks are likely to experience further losses in 2008 on their investments in assets backed by subprime mortgages," the industry body said in its banking report. (Reporting by Olesya Dmitracova; Editing by David Holmes)Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 5. Humana Aligns Recent Acquisitions with Existing Dental, Life and Vision Products under ‘Humana Specialty Benefits’ Name 4Q 2007 Acquisitions CompBenefits and KMG America Bring Expanded Dental, Vision and Voluntary Product Offerings to Humana Portfolio LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) today announced that it is aligning the offerings of the company’s dental subsidiary, HumanaDental Insurance Company, with the products offered by two recent acquisitions – CompBenefits and KMG America – enabling employers to provide a wider range of Humana benefit options for their employees. “Humana Specialty Benefits” encompasses the products Humana now offers to employer groups and individuals, other than medical coverage. “With Humana Specialty Benefits, Humana now provides a ‘total benefit solution’ for our employer-customers,” said Bill Tait, vice president, sales and market operations for Humana. “We’ve categorized our specialty products under ‘Humana Specialty Benefits’ to make it easy for our broker partners and employer customers to realize the array of integrated non-medical products available to them from Humana.” The addition of CompBenefits (acquired October 2007) expanded Humana’s dental portfolio, which now includes dental HMO and dental EPO products. It also gave Humana a full-service vision product. The addition of KMG America (acquired November 2007) brought voluntary health, life and disability benefits to Humana. Humana Specialty Benefits includes all of the products listed below, with employer-sponsored and/or voluntary (employee) funding:
This broadened portfolio of offerings from Humana has enhanced the company’s ability to anticipate the needs of consumers, as well as responding to employers’ desire for a comprehensive spectrum of benefits and related services that help foster their employees’ engagement, retention and development. The specialty products market is growing, with industry reports projecting mid- to upper-single-digit growth for this sector over the next few years. Humana is now better positioned to offer the products and services its customers need. “For large and small employers, ancillary and voluntary benefits provide a simple, affordable way to build a more competitive and attractive benefits package,” said Jerry Ganoni, president, Humana Small Business, HumanaDental and HumanaOne. “Employers can easily integrate voluntary plans with traditional medical, dental and vision plans as effective tools in managing overall benefit costs.” With the acquisitions of KMG America and CompBenefits, Humana Specialty Benefits has approximately 6.8 million specialty-benefit members, up from 1.9 million members prior to the acquisitions. http://www.humana.com Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 6. MEDecision Partners with NextGen Healthcare Integration Combines the Power of MEDecision’s Clinical Summaries with the NextGen Electronic Medical Record WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc. (Nasdaq:MEDE), a leading provider of collaborative health care management solutions, and NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a provider of computer-based practice management and electronic medical records systems, have entered into an agreement to produce an electronic health record combining health care payer, care management and physician data on an individual patient basis. The partnership enables health care providers to access an unprecedented level of patient clinical data, paving the way for better decision making and improved quality of care. Under this agreement, MEDecision will deliver its Clinical Summaries — clinically validated, payer-based electronic records — to the NextGen Electronic Medical Record (EMR), a documented summary of patient clinical care. The integration creates a powerful and comprehensive patient data record, providing more complete patient information to health care providers at the point of care. www.nextgen.com www.qsii.com Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 7. DriveCam Inc. Debuts Risk InfoCenter World’s largest knowledgebase reveals root causes of risky driving; Identifies risky driving behaviors most associated with intersection collisions SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DriveCam Inc., a global Driver Risk Management (DRM) company, announced today Risk InfoCenterTM by DriveCam, the largest knowledgebase in the world to provide insight into risky driving based on actual driving behavior. DriveCam also has published its first Risky Driving Analysis PerspectiveTM to reduce risky driving behaviors associated with intersection collisions. At the core of Risk InfoCenter is the world’s largest repository of risky driving behaviors collected across multiple industries and types of vehicles. These behaviors provide crucial insights into helping fleets and the motoring public prevent collisions. DriveCam’s team of analytic experts have been collecting and analyzing audio and video coverage of risky driving behaviors for more than 10 years and, using multiple scientific applications, have identified trends, insights and root causes associated with risky driving. www.drivecam.com Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 8. Insurance Auto Auctions Acquires Southern A&S in Memphis WESTCHESTER, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc., a leader in automotive total loss and specialty salvage services in North America, today announced the acquisition of Southern A&S (formerly Southern Auto Storage Pool) in Memphis, Tenn. The acquisition comes on the heels of IAA’s acquisition of Verastar which came with four locations in Tennessee, including a site in Memphis. With the new acquisition in Memphis, IAA intends to combine the Verastar business with the Southern A&S business and relocate all physical operations within a short period of time to their new facility which will be co-located with ADESA-Memphis. This paved, full-service auction facility will greatly enhance IAA’s ability to process and sell vehicles by leveraging onsite reconditioning facilities, dealer financing and an expanded buyer base. Marvin Massey, a former Southern A&S owner, will continue with IAA to run the salvage operation from the new site. www.iaai.com Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 9. Russia Wealth Funds Investment List Is "Technical" Answers scraps public offering; Lexico buy doubtful MOSCOW, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Russia's move to put U.S. home finance firms such as Fannie Mae (FNM.N: ) on the list of securities for its $157 billion sovereign wealth funds is a technical step implying no quick market purchases, an official said on Friday. "The finance ministry is not buying anything directly. We have simply outlined a possible list of instruments, which will help compile an index," the official said. Russia's central bank, which manages the world's third largest gold and forex reserves of over $480 billion, has been investing in quasi-sovereign paper for many years. Under the existing structure some 80 percent of funds can be invested in sovereign paper, 15 percent in securities of state agencies and another five percent in securities of international financial organisations. The reserves include two funds -- the Reserve Fund of $125.4 billion and the National Welfare Fund of $32 billion -- which form an important part of the global sovereign wealth funds, estimated to manage between $1.9 trillion and $2.9 trillion. The majority of Americans fear the U.S. economy and national security could be hurt if sovereign wealth funds put more money into U.S. companies, a study released on Thursday by U.S. business advisory group Public Strategies showed. The public's fear stands in sharp contrast with Washington and Wall Street's more positive views as government officials and company executives agree that foreign investments can help American companies compete better. Financial giant Citigroup (C.N: ), for example, raised $12.5 billion from foreign funds this year alone after posting heavy losses last year. On Thursday, Russia's Finance Ministry unveiled a 15-company list with quasi-sovereign, triple-A ratings for investment by the Reserve and National Welfare Funds. Both funds still are prohibited from investing in shares such as Citigroup. Apart from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FRE.N: ), the list includes U.S. Federal Home Loan Banks and Federal Farm Credit Banks and quasi-sovereign bonds from Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Canada and the Netherlands. The ministry controls the funds, made up of oil price windfalls from the past nine years, but they are deposited in the central bank, which manages the money and pays the ministry interest on its investment. The scheme has been designed to prevent the money from being seized under any international lawsuit as the central bank is independent and cannot by law be responsible for government debts. (Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Darya Korsunskaya; editing by Tony Austin) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 10. Dresdner Bank says to support Ambac rescue FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Dresdner Bank, part of the Allianz (ALVG.DE: ) insurance group, intends to support a rescue package for U.S. bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc (ABK.N: ) with a sum in the low double-digit millions of euros, the head of Dresdner's investment banking operations said on Monday. Various rescue options for Ambac were now under discussion, Stefan Jentzsch told reporters. "If what is now on the table comes to pass then we will take part in the package," he said. Dresdner is one of several banks working on a deal that could shore up Ambac's balance sheet and preserve its top credit rating, thus avoiding a credit rating downgrade that could force investors to sell billions of dollars of securities. (Reporting by Patricia Nann) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 11. INSURANCE NEWSLINK Articles Recent articles added to INSURANCE NEWSLINK, the worldwide, strategic concise intelligence database of over 30,000 articles including interviews, uniquely analysed by company, market, research, regulatory, and IT topics. Please click here for a content overview and a 15-day free review. THE TIME EFFECTIVE WAY TO STAY AHEAD
Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 12. First Pacific Shies Away From Freddie Mac Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:09am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - First Pacific Advisors, which presciently dumped risky mortgage debt holdings in 2005, has now stopped buying some of the safest mortgage bonds guaranteed by government-chartered Freddie Mac. The Los Angeles-based asset manager's latest move follows Freddie Mac's (FRE.N: ) actions to ease capital requirements on its mortgage insurance partners. Freddie Mac made the change to help the insurers retain more premiums to pay claims and rebuild dwindling cash levels. But Freddie Mac's decision adds to a drumbeat of events that may be chipping away at the quality of its bonds, based on the financial strength of the company or at the underlying loan level, said Julian Mann, a mortgage and asset-backed bond manager at First Pacific, which invests $10 billion. "For now, we have a trading halt," Mann said. Freddie Mac's decision "does illustrate the rather elastic nature of these changes taking place, and the random event risk one needs to consider. These evolutions are not thoroughly vetted." Decisions by Chief Executive Officer Robert Rodriguez and his team in 2005 to dump debt backed by Alt-A loans, which are riskier than prime mortgages, and shares of lenders that were easing standards helped First Pacific avoid much of the credit fallout that caused more than $100 billion in bank losses. (Additional reporting by Lynn Adler; Editing by Leslie Adler) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 13. TrygVesta 2007 Pretax Profit Falls To $616 Million COPENHAGEN, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Danish insurer TrygVesta (TRYG.CO: ) on Monday posted a larger-than-expected 16 percent fall in 2007 pretax profit, due largely to reduced returns on investments, and said it saw profit falling again this year. Pretax profit fell to 3.1 billion Danish crowns ($615.8 million) from 3.7 billion in 2006, compared with 3.2 billion expected in a Reuters survey of analysts. The group said in a statement it saw pretax profit of 2.5 billion crowns this year, but inclusion of capital losses on equities up to Feb. 18 would reduce the pretax profit outlook to 2.1 billion. Premiums are seen growing 5 percent in local currencies. By 1346 GMT, TrygVesta shares were 1.7 percent lower at 372.50 crowns, underperforming the Copenhagen bourse's top-20 OMX index , which was 0.9 percent up. The combined ratio -- a measure of cost of claims against premium income -- improved to 86.1 percent from 86.4 percent in 2006. A figure below 100 percent means an insurer's underwriting business is profitable. Gross premiums rose 4 percent to 16.6 billion crowns in the year from 16.0 billion. (Reporting by Kim McLaughlin; Editing by David Holmes and Quentin Bryar) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 14. Bids Fall for Morgan Stanley's CICC Stake - WSJ Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:01am EST PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Three suitors vying for Morgan Stanley's (MS.N: ) stake in China International Capital Corp. have cut the value of their offers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. The second-round bids for the stake in CICC dropped to roughly $600 million, down from the first round of bids of more than $1 billion, according to the WSJ's online edition. The bidders include Bain Capital, TPG and a consortium composed of General Atlantic LLC, Starr International Co. and J.C. Flowers & Co., the WSJ said. The offers fell through for several reasons, including the share structure at the company, concerns about the buyer's potential influence over management and the decline in the valuations of comparable companies, the WSJ said. CICC's management has been granted "phantom shares" that will dilute Morgan Stanley's stake to about 27 percent from 34.3 percent, the WSJ said. Phantom shares are rights granted to employees who don't have voting power but give holders dividends similar to those given ordinary shareholders, the WSJ said. Morgan Stanley could not be immediately reached for comment. (Reporting by Jessica Hall, editing by Gunna Dickson) © Reuters 2008 All rights reservedReturn to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 15. Bond Insurer Rescue Hopes Boost Stocks, Dollar LONDON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - World stocks and the dollar rose on Monday as talk of a rescue plan for U.S. bond insurer Ambac and comments that Qatar is interested in investing in European banks eased concerns about the health of the banking sector. Commodity prices remained firm, with U.S wheat and soybean prices setting record highs due to supply concerns. Silver hit a 27-year high and platinum and gold held near last week's record peaks. High commodity prices have been a source of inflation concerns in recent weeks. Investors have been spooked by the threat of credit downgrades raised by the monoline bond insurers' exposure to U.S. subprime mortgages. The monolines provide cover against defaults in securitised debt. Downgrades could trigger a wave of forced selling in bonds the insurers have guaranteed, which would lead to more losses by banks in the six-month-old credit crunch. A rescue plan for Ambac Financial (ABK.N: ), which could be announced on Monday or Tuesday, could allow the U.S. bond insurer to keep its top rating and avert debt sell-offs. (Additional reporting by Dominic Lau) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 16. Bank Insurance News In Brief - 02/25/08 TODAY'S BANK INSURANCE IN BRIEF" is provided each week courtesy of Michael White Associates @www.bankinsurance.com. To read these stories , visit http://www.bankinsurance.com/editorial/news/default.htm
Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 17. Munich Re eyes $5 billion net in tough 2008 Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:17am EST MUNICH (Reuters) - Munich Re (MUVGn.DE: ) aims to make up to 3.4 billion euros ($5 billion) in net profit in 2008 -- down from a record in 2007 -- despite falling reinsurance prices and a tough year in financial markets, it said on Monday. "We have again set ourselves a high profit target, even though a more difficult environment is to be expected in the insurance and capital markets this year," Munich Re Chief Executive Nikolaus von Bomhard said in a statement. Von Bomhard said prices and margins in reinsurance were under some pressure but the company aimed to sustain at least 3 billion euros in annual net profit in the years ahead. SUBPRIME NO WORRY Munich Re on Monday repeated that it had about 340 million euros of subprime exposure or less than 0.2 percent of its total investments. Its write-downs and losses on subprime investments totaled 15 million euros in the fourth quarter and 166 million euros in 2007 as a whole. (Editing by Louise Ireland) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 18. Towergate In Talks With Candover Over Stake-Source LONDON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Buyout firm Candover is in talks with Britain's Towergate to take a 25 percent stake in the insurer, a source close to the matter said on Monday, a day after the group said it was in discussions about financing. Towergate, Europe's largest independently owned insurance intermediary, is majority owned by founder Peter Cullum, who would sell part of his stake to Candover. Towergate said on Sunday it was in talks about raising fresh finance, but said there was no certainty the discussions would lead to any changes in structure. It did not name any potential new shareholder and declined to comment further on Monday. "The talks with Candover are beyond preliminary but I wouldn't say a deal is imminent," the source said. Speculation over the future of Towergate has been rife in the sector, stoked after the group last year was reported to be considering a sale for almost 3 billion pounds to a private equity house and newspapers later speculated it could consider an initial public offering. Others in the industry have said Towergate could get snapped up by one of the larger insurance groups. Candover declined to comment on Monday. (Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 19. FACTBOX: Clinton and Obama's health plans Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:47am EST (Reuters) - Following are details of healthcare plans offered by Democratic White House hopefuls: New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's health care plan, estimated to cost about $110 billion per year, would require all Americans to get health insurance. Under a public-private partnership, they would keep existing coverage or choose from private insurance options members of Congress receive. Individuals may also choose a public plan similar to Medicare. Plan creates new federal subsidies for those who can't afford coverage and imposes new mandates on large employers to provide health insurance or help pay for it. Small business will receive tax breaks to provide health coverage. Plan forces insurance companies to give coverage to everyone, ending discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. Drug companies would also be required to offer fair prices. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's plan provides health coverage for almost all Americans. Creates national public insurance program to allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health care similar to that available to federal employees. No one will be turned way or charged more due to illness and everyone who needs it will receive a subsidy for their premiums. Requires all employers to contribute toward health coverage for their employees or toward the cost of the public plan. Creates a national health insurance exchange to reform the private insurance market. Mandates that all children have health care coverage. © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 20. INSURANCE NEWSCAST "Pictures Of The Day" -- Sponsored By:
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21. American Association For Long-Term Care Insurance Honors Nation's Top-100 LTCI Producers At Industry Summit Nation's Top Sellers of MultiLife Long-Term Care Insurance, #1 Combo Life + LTC and #1 Annuity + LTC Producers Also Recognized Atlanta, GA - Monday, February 25, 2008 - The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance recognized the nation's top-100 long-term care insurance producers today at the 2008 National LTCi Producers Summit held at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta. Nearly 600 leading producers and marketers are in attendance at the Association's seventh national conference for members. In addition to the annual recognition for sales of traditional long-term care insurance, the Association honored the nation's top sellers of multilife (worksite) long-term care insurance as well as combo products (life and annuity policies) that offer long-term care benefits. "There are some 40,000 insurance and financial professionals nationwide who sell at least one long-term care insurance policy in any given year,” explains Jesse Slome, Executive Director of the Association, the industry's profession organization. “To be recognized as one of the nation's top-100 in front of your peers is an important way to salute these individuals' professionalism, accomplishment and dedicated commitment to serving consumers in their community.” Award recipients were honored at a special breakfast held at the Association's national conference. "For the first time, the Association expanded the awards program to salute the nation's top agents and brokers who sold combo life and annuity contracts that now provide LTC benefits," Slome explained. "These new coverages are an important and growing part of the overall long-term care insurance industry." The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (www.AALTCI.org) is the national trade organization for professionals dedicated to serving the long-term care needs of individuals, businesses and organizations. For information, visit the organization's Website: www.AALTCI.org. Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 22. Conseco Announces Delay of 2007 Form 10-K and Restatement Relating to the Company's Material Control Weakness Remediation Procedures CARMEL, Ind., Feb 25, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Conseco, Inc. (NYSE: CNO), announced today that it will delay the filing of its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007. The Company currently expects that it will file its 2007 Form 10-K on or about March 17, 2008. The extension (as permitted under Rule 12b-25 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) will allow the Company time to complete the December 31, 2007 financial statements and incorporate the correction of errors, the majority of which were identified during the remediation of the material weakness in internal controls disclosed in its 2006 Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Due to the significance of these corrections, Conseco will restate its financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005, along with affected Selected Consolidated Financial Data for 2004 and 2003, and quarterly financial information for 2006 and the first three quarters of 2007. Therefore, the previously issued financial statements of the Company for those periods should no longer be relied upon. www.conseco.com. Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 23. Suncorp Says Australia Storm Costs To Top A$100 Mln SYDNEY, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Suncorp-Metway Ltd (SUN.AX: ), Australia's second-biggest car and home insurer, said on Monday the total estimated costs from storms in northern Queensland state were seen exceeding A$100 million ($93 million). Suncorp said, however, that its reinsurance arrangements would limit its liability to A$100 million. Australian insurance companies have been battered by heavy storms and a large number of major weather events in the first half of fiscal 2008. In December, Insurance Australia Group Ltd (IAG.AX: ) cut its insurance margin forecast for the 2008 business year because of storm damage claims. Flooding in Queensland state since the start of 2008 has forced evacuations of towns, closed mines and washed away crops. Suncorp said it would give a further update on its costs from the storms when it reports half-year results on Feb. 28. ($1=A$1.08) (Reporting by Denny Thomas;) Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article
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