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Rand Paul: ‘Weak-kneed Republicans’ need to “get over themselves” and repeal Obamacare

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On CNN Tuesday, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) discussed why competition and choice are the most effective tools when it comes to lowering health insurance costs: “My problem with the Senate bill as it currently exists is it doesn’t fix [the adverse incentives of Obamacare],” Paul said. “We keep 10 of 12... Reported by Raw Story 6 hours ago.

China Jo-Jo Drugstores Announces Fourth Quarter and Year End Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2017

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*-- FY 2017 Retail Pharmacy Sales increased by 1.1%; Gross Margin Increased From 19.7% to 20.4%; 9 New Pharmacies Added in 2017 (net)*

HANGZHOU, China, June 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China Jo-Jo Drugstores, Inc. (NASDAQ CM: CJJD) (the "Company" or "China Jo-Jo"), a leading China-based pharmacy providing retail, wholesale and online distribution and sales of pharmaceutical and health care products through its own online and retail pharmacies, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.

*FY 2017 Fourth Quarter Highlights:*

· Revenue for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2017 was $19,792,271, as compared to $20,468,616 for the same period of last year.
· Gross profit was $3,608,236, as compared to $4,311,559 for the same period of last year.
· Net income was ($5,038,420), as compared to $802,899 for the same period of last year.
· Earnings per share ("EPS") was approximately ($0.25), as compared to EPS of $0.05 for the same period of last year.

*Fiscal Year 2017 Highlights:*

· Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2017 decreased by $7,566,535, or by 8.5% as compared to the previous fiscal year.
· Retail drugstores sales increased by $582,742, or by 1.1% as compared to the previous fiscal year.
· Online pharmacy sales decreased by $11,060,985, or by 41.8% as compared to the previous fiscal year.
· Wholesale revenue increased by $2,911,708, or by 25.5% as compared to the previous fiscal year.
· Gross profit decreased by $884,664, or by 5.1% year over year, while gross margin increased from 19.7% for FY 2016 to 20.4% for FY 2017.
· Net loss was $5,644,204 and loss per share was $0.28 per share, as compared to net income of $447,156 and EPS of $0.03 for the previous fiscal year.
· The Company ended the year with cash and restricted cash balances of $27,795,810, $67.2 million in total assets, and $40.5 million in total liabilities

*Reconciliation to Non-GAAP Financial Measures* *For The Years Ended March 31* *2017*

*2016*

Net income

(5,644,204)

447,156

Share-based compensation expenses

2,248,598

1,022,790

Change in fair value of derivative liabilities

(140,032)

(612,198)

Adjusted net income

(3,535,638)

857,748

Adjusted net income per share - diluted

(0.17)

0.05

Revenue decreased by $7,566,535 to $81,499,045 for the year ended March 31, 2017, or by 8.5% as compared to the year ended March 31, 2016, primarily due to a decline in our online pharmacy business, which was partially offset by increases in our retail drugstore and wholesale businesses. Retail drugstore sales, which accounted for approximately 63.5% of our total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2017, increased by $582,742 to $51,788,386, or by 1.1% as compared to the year ended March 31, 2016. Same-store sales decreased by approximately $2,648,725, or 5.5%, while new stores contributed approximately $2,200,622 in revenue during the year ended March 31, 2017. Excluding the RMB depreciation effect, the same store sales actually increased by approximately 0.6% period over period.

Online pharmacy sales decreased by approximately $11,060,985 for the year ended March 31, 2017, or by 41.8% as compared to the year ended March 31, 2016. This decrease was primarily the result of a decline in business referred from Yikatong and a decline in sales made via various e-commerce platforms during the year ended March 31, 2017.

Wholesale revenue increased by $2,911,708, or 25.5%, primarily through the resale of certain products for which our retail stores had prepared large orders to other vendors. Because our retail drugstores achieved large sales quantities for certain brand name merchandise, we were able to negotiate lower than market purchase prices for those items, and as a result, certain vendors who were unable to obtain a better price than ours will purchase those items from us, resulting in growth in our wholesale sales volumes.

Gross profit decreased by $884,664, or 5.1% period over period, primarily as a result of a decrease in gross profit from online sales, which decreased significantly in the year ended March 31, 2017. At the same time, gross margin increased from 19.7% to 20.4% due to higher retail and wholesale profit margins.

Net loss was $5,644,204, or $0.28 per diluted share, for the year ended March 31, 2017, as compared to net income of $447,156 ,or $0.03 per diluted share, for the year ended March 31, 2016.

The Chairman and CEO of China Jo-Jo Drugstores, Mr. Liu Lei, commented, "Despite a decline in our online pharmacy sales, we managed to not only have increased revenue in our other business segments - retail drugstore sales and wholesale sales - but also have increased our overall gross margin. Through increasing medical service prices at public hospitals and demanding a lower percentage of revenue from drug sales at hospital, China medical reform continues to push drug sales from public hospitals to other retail outlets such as retail pharmacies. As public hospitals in China dominate the retail sale of prescription drugs that was estimated to have annual gross sales volume over US $150 billion (one trillion RMB) in 2016, we anticipate that drugstores will continue to benefit from the reform. Additionally, we are implementing strategies to increase our online pharmacy sales, including increasing online drug and health products sales referred by large commercial health insurance providers."

"I am pleased to report that we now have a record number of retail pharmacies, which stood at 67 as of March 31, 2017. Our growth strategy includes opening and acquiring additional retail stores (chain) in fiscal year 2018 and employing tactics to grow our online pharmacy sales to help us continue to expand our market share and remain a leading player in the physical retail and e-commerce pharmacy businesses in China," Mr. Liu concluded.

CHINA *JO-JO DRUGSTORES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES*

*CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS*


*March 31,*



*March 31,*


*2017*



*2016*



ASSETS








CURRENT ASSETS








Cash


$

18,364,424



$

6,671,873



Restricted cash



9,431,386




13,747,990



Financial assets available for sale



87,068




465,165



Notes receivable



253,394




15,506



Trade accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $1,415,505 and
    $2,099,244, as of March 31, 2017 and 2016 respectively



8,561,596




8,054,597



Inventories



9,923,101




10,802,691



Other receivables, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $26,854 and $28,405, as
    of March  31, 2017 and 2016, respectively



2,269,193




1,376,468



Advances to suppliers, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $1,502,255 and
    $105,542, as of March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively



5,504,141




4,230,665



Other current assets



1,566,155




1,518,048



Total current assets



55,960,458




46,883,003










PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, net



4,263,157




5,543,076










OTHER ASSETS










Long-term investment



46,152




108,539



Farmland assets



718,787




1,562,205



Long term deposits



2,294,848




2,452,056



Other noncurrent assets



1,177,005




2,595,129



Intangible assets, net



2,712,611




2,928,779



Total other assets



6,949,403




9,646,708










Total assets


$

67,173,018



$

62,072,787










LIABILITIES AND STOCK HOLDERS' EQUITY










CURRENT LIABILITIES










Short-term loan payable


$

-



$

31,011



Accounts payable, trade



19,441,195




16,667,396



Notes payable



12,691,575




17,595,634



Other payables



2,916,283




1,917,821



Other payables - related parties



927,052




2,199,775



Customer deposits



2,675,030




2,610,151



Taxes payable



681,939




483,770



Accrued liabilities



679,350




615,056



Total current liabilities



40,012,424




42,120,614










Purchase option and warrants liability



496,217




636,301



Total liabilities



40,508,641




42,756,915










COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

















STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY










Common stock; $0.001 par value; 250,000,000 shares authorized; 25,214,678 and
    17,735,504 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2017 and March 31,
    2016



25,215




17,736



Preferred stock; $0.001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized; nil issued and 
    outstanding as of March 31, 2017 and March 31,2016



-




-



Additional paid-in capital



36,581,248




22,088,267



Statutory reserves



1,309,109




1,309,109



Accumulated deficit



(12,601,257)




(6,957,053)



Accumulated other comprehensive income



1,350,062




2,857,813



Total stockholders' equity



26,664,377




19,315,872










Total liabilities and stockholders' equity


$

67,173,018



$

62,072,787

 

*CHINA JO-JO DRUGSTORES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES*

*CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)*


*For the years ended
March 31,*


*2017*



*2016*



REVENUES, NET


$

81,499,045



$

89,065,580










COST OF GOODS SOLD



64,872,127




71,553,998










GROSS PROFIT



16,626,918




17,511,582










SELLING EXPENSES



12,923,192




12,360,872



GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES



7,684,862




5,175,476



TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES



20,608,054




17,536,348










LOSS FROM OPERATIONS



(3,981,136)




(24,766)










INTEREST INCOME



379,790




299,511



INTEREST EXPENSE



(1,349)




(155,578)



OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE), NET



19,888




(187,468)



IMPAIRMENT OF LONG-LIVED ASSETS



(2,117,042)




-



CHANGE IN FAIR VALUE OF PURCHASE OPTION AND WARRANTS
LIABILITY



140,032




612,198










(LOSS) INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES



(5,559,817)




543,897










PROVISION FOR INCOME TAXES



84,387




96,741










NET (LOSS) INCOME



(5,644,204)




447,156










OTHER COMPREHENSIVE LOSS










Foreign currency translation adjustments



(1,507,751)




(1,114,730)










COMPREHENSIVE LOSS



(7,151,955)




(667,574)










WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF SHARES:










Basic



20,396,217




16,096,406



Diluted



20,396,217




16,147,505










(LOSS) EARNINGS PER SHARES:










Basic


$

(0.28)



$

0.03



Diluted


$

(0.28)



$

0.03

 

*CHINA JO-JO DRUGSTORES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES*

*CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN EQUITY*

















*Accumulated*








*Common Stock*






*Retained Earnings*



*other*



*Non-*





*Number of*






*Paid-in*



*Statutory*






*comprehensive*



*controlling*





*shares*



*Amount*



*capital*



*reserves*



*Unrestricted*



*income/(loss)*



*interest*



*Total*



BALANCE, March 31, 2015



15,650,504



$

15,651




19,301,233




1,309,109




(7,404,210)




3,972,543




39,064



$

17,233,390



Stock based compensation



885,000




885




1,021,906




-




-




-




-




1,022,791



Net income



-




-




-




-




447,157




-




-




447,157



Registered direct
    offering financing



1,200,000




1,200




1,765,128




-




-




-




-




1,766,328



Foreign currency
    translation loss



-




-




-




-




-




(1,114,730)




(39,064)




(1,153,794)



BALANCE, March 31, 2016.



17,735,504



$

17,736




22,088,267




1,309,109




(6,957,053)




2,857,813




-



$

19,315,872


































Stock based compensation



1,690,174




1,690




2,246,960




-




-




-




-




2,248,650



Net loss



-




-




-




-




(5,644,204)




-




-




(5,644,204)



Private direct offering financing



4,840,000




4,840




10,643,160




-




-




-




-




10,648,000



Issuance of common stocks
    in exchange of debts



949,000




949




1,602,861




















1,603,810



Foreign currency
    translation loss



-




-




-




-




-




(1,507,751)








(1,507,751)



BALANCE, March 31, 2017.



25,214,678



$

25,215




36,581,248




1,309,109




(12,601,257)




1,350,062




-



$

26,664,377

 

*CHINA JO-JO DRUGSTORES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES*

*CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS*




*For the years ended
March 31,*


*2017*



*2016*



CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:








Net income


$

(5,644,204)



$

447,156



Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:










   Bad debt direct write-off and provision



679,271




(1,584,031)



   Depreciation and amortization



1,316,747




1,456,029



   Impairment of prepayment of lease use right



1,246,788




-



   Farmland assets impairment



761,403







   Impairment of land and road improvement



108,851







   Stock based compensation



2,248,650




1,022,791



   Change in fair value of purchase option derivative liability



(140,084)




(612,198)



   Change in operating assets:










   Accounts receivable, trade



(717,386)




432,677



   Notes receivable



(244,713)




118,687)



   Inventories and biological assets



191,564




(762,212)



   Other receivables



(773,359)




(67,778)



   Advances to suppliers



(3,020,156)




1,329,323



   Other current assets



(148,983)




581,847



   Other noncurrent assets



35,509




-



   Change in operating liabilities:










   Accounts payable, trade



3,936,178




1,595,739



   Other payables and accrued liabilities



1,250,755




(598,213)



   Customer deposits



237,891




(976,138)



   Taxes payable



234,780




202,026



   Net cash provided by operating activities



1,559,502




2,585,705










CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:










   Disposal of financial assets available for sale



445,968




790,845



   Purchase of financial assets available for sale



(89,194)




-



   Acquisition of equipment



(140,209)




(192,937)



   Termination of a joint venture



104,059




-



   Investment in a joint venture



(96,180)




(110,718)



   Additions to leasehold improvements



(270,990)




(57,382)



   Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities



(46,546)




429,808










CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:










   Proceeds from short-term bank loan



-




23,258



   Repayment of short-term bank loan



(29,731)




(23,258)



   Change in restricted cash



3,519,030




(5,319,861)



   Proceeds from notes payable



24,577,096




21,657,140



   Repayment of notes payable



(28,445,215)




(18,956,792)



   Changes in other payables-related parties



375,659




(481,879)



   Proceeds from sale of stock and warrants



10,648,000




2,699,500



   Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities



10,644,839




(401,892)










EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE ON CASH



(465,244)




34,671










INCREASE IN CASH



11,692,551




2,648,292










CASH, beginning of year



6,671,873




4,023,581










CASH, end of year


$

18,364,424



$

6,671,873










SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION:










   Cash paid for interest


$

1,349



$

155,578



   Cash paid for income taxes


$

57,247



$

78,550



   Issuance of common stocks in exchange of debts


$

1,603,810



$

-



   Non-cash financing activities:










   Issuance of stock purchase options to an investment bank







147,728

*Use of non-GAAP financial measures*

To supplement China Jo-Jo's consolidated financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, China Jo-Jo uses the following measures defined as non-GAAP financial measures by the SEC: net income (loss) excluding share-based compensation expenses and change in fair value of derivative liabilities, and diluted net income (loss) per share excluding share-based compensation expenses and change in the fair value of derivatives liabilities. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.

China Jo-Jo believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance and liquidity by excluding share-based compensation expenses and change in fair value of derivative liabilities that may not be indicative of its operating performance from a cash perspective. China Jo-Jo believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management's internal comparisons to China Jo-Jo's historical performance and liquidity. China Jo-Jo computes its non-GAAP financial measures using the same consistent method from quarter to quarter. China Jo-Jo believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. A limitation of using these non-GAAP measures is that they exclude share-based compensation and change in fair value of derivative liabilities charge that has been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant recurring expense in our business. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from each non-GAAP measure. The table under the heading Reconciliation to non-GAAP Financial Measures in the beginning of the release has more details on the reconciliations between GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures.

*About China Jo-Jo Drugstores, Inc.*

China Jo-Jo Drugstores, Inc., is a leading China-based pharmacy that engages in retail, wholesale and online distribution and sales of pharmaceutical and health care products, including through its online and retail pharmacies. As of March 31, 2017, the Company had 67 retail pharmacies in Zhejiang Province. The Company's wholesale subsidiary supplies its retail stores and distributes drug and healthcare products to other drugstores and drug vendors. For more information, please visit: www.jiuzhou-drugstore.com (Chinese) and www.chinajojodrugstores.com (English). The Company routinely provides important information on its website.

Forward Looking Statement

Statements in this press release regarding the Company that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future events or results to differ materially from such statements. Any such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, financial guidance, are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believe,""expect,""estimate,""may,""will,""should,""project,""plan,""seek,""intend,""anticipate," the negatives thereof, or comparable terminology. Such statements typically involve risks and uncertainties and may include financial projections or information regarding the progress of new product development. It is routine for the Company's internal projections and expectations to change as the quarter and year progresses, and therefore it should be clearly understood that the internal projections and beliefs upon which the Company bases its expectations may change. Although these expectations may change, the Company is under no obligation to inform you if they do. Actual results could differ materially from the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, including the risks associated with the effect of changing economic conditions in the People's Republic of China, variations in cash flow, reliance on collaborative retail partners and on new product development, variations in new product development, risks associated with rapid technological change, and the potential of introduced or undetected flaws and defects in products. Readers are referred to the reports and documents filed from time to time by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of these and other important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in forward-looking statements. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements.

Investor Relations Contact:

Steve Liu
steve.liu@jojodrugstores.com

Frank Zhao
86-571-88077108
frank.zhao@jojodrugstores.com  

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/china-jo-jo-drugstores-announces-fourth-quarter-and-year-end-financial-results-for-fiscal-year-2017-300481841.html Reported by PR Newswire Asia 5 hours ago.

Here’s how the GOP will bail out insurance companies — even as millions lose their health care

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The Republican Senate health care bill will result in an estimated 22 million fewer people being covered by health insurance, as the tax credits for buying health insurance are projected to be well below the expected costs of buying insurance. Nonetheless, the bill does contain some very significant... Reported by Raw Story 4 hours ago.

Premier Health to exit Ohio insurance exchange

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Premier Health is leaving the Ohio Health Insurance marketplace, citing uncertainty amid national talk of the future of Obamacare. The company announced Thursday that its Premier Health Plan will end its on-exchange plan at the end of 2017. The company has been evaluating its future on the exchange, where it has been a presence for three years. As of this year, it has about 10,000 customers and serves 16 counties in western Ohio. “The uncertainty in Washington, D.C., around the future of the… Reported by bizjournals 2 hours ago.

Excel Impact, LLC Honored as 2017 Silver Stevie Award® Winner For Fastest Growing Tech Company of the Year Under 100 Employees

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Medina, Ohio-based company succeeds in the 15th Annual American Business Awards, presented to companies across the nation.

Medina, OH (PRWEB) June 29, 2017

Excel Impact, LLC – with offices in Medina, Ohio and Miami, Florida – was recently named the winner of a Silver Stevie® Award in the Fastest Growing Tech Company of the Year Under 100 Employees category in the 15th Annual American Business Awards.

Excel Impact, LLC modernizes insurance buying by connecting consumers directly to insurance providers, which helps streamline the insurance comparison and buying process. The experienced marketing company now joins the ranks of other Stevie® winners like DropBox, Delta Airlines, and IBM. They accepted their award on June 20th at a gala ceremony in the New York Marriott Marquis.

When asked about the secret to their success, Alex Matseikovich, CEO and co-founder of Excel Impact, says, “Quality is the core of our business. We put quality in the forefront of every decision we make, and we treat our clients like partners. We make sure everyone reaches their full potential.”

Excel Impact focuses on adding technology into the insurance buying process. Advanced algorithms connect interested buyers with available sellers in their state, making it easier than ever to comparison shop. Since they started, Excel Impact has helped over 2,000,000 consumers get the best deal on health insurance and Medicare.

As for what the future may hold, Craig Sturgill, co-founder and President of Excel Impact, adds, “We’re honored to win the award in the under 100 category. With only 9 employees, we’re looking forward to more explosive growth next year!”

About Excel Impact, LLC
Excel Impact, LLC was founded in 2013 as a fast-paced and fast-growth online marketing company. With one goal in mind; we maximize profits by over-delivering premium quality results to our clients. That has been our mission ever since.

We currently focus our efforts on generating online insurance leads which are sold to our partners on a national basis. With the combined knowledge we have in the online marketing/advertising space, technology development, as well as formerly operating a national insurance brokerage; we have great insight into generating insurance leads of all types. We understand what insurance companies, agencies, and call-centers need to grow their businesses. Contact us today to learn how we can help take your business to the next level. Reported by PRWeb 1 hour ago.

Discovery Health Partners Sustains Momentum in Q1 with MSP Validation Wins

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Strong business case and quick ROI keep demand strong with health plans of all sizes.

Itasca, IL (PRWEB) June 29, 2017

LaunchPoint division Discovery Health Partners, a provider of payment and revenue integrity solutions for healthcare payers, added 5 clients in Q1 of 2017 for its Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Validation solution. This strong success sustains the strong momentum of the last three years during which 35 health plans chose Discovery’s MSP Validation solution, representing a third of the Medicare Advantage market.

MSP Validation, honored two years in a row as a top 100 finalist in the Chicago Innovation Awards, helps Medicare Advantage plans recoup millions of dollars to their bottom lines by ensuring the accuracy of healthcare premiums paid by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for members with other health insurance. In the last three years, Discovery has restored more than $150 million in underpaid premiums for its MSP Validation clients.

“Clients love this solution because the ROI can be realized in a matter of months,” said Paul Vosters, Discovery president. “While the larger plan has the most to gain given their larger member base, there is clear advantage for Medicare Advantage plans of any size,” he added. Q1 new clients include both small, mid-sized, and large Medicare Advantage plans, including Upper Peninsula Health Plan, PacificSource Health Plan, and one of the top 5 health plans in the U.S.

MSP Validation includes the analysis of open MSP records, validation of primacy, ECRS submissions, response monitoring, and premium reconciliation. The solution is typically delivered as an outsourced business process with Discovery experts managing the entire process on behalf of the client. It is often provided as a supplemental offering that complements clients’ existing efforts to help restore more. Clients can also subscribe to the service as cloud-based software to manage the MSP process in-house, with their own staff. Many choose to take over ongoing maintenance after Discovery manages the initial restoration effort.

About Discovery Health Partners

Discovery Health Partners, a division of LaunchPoint, offers payment and revenue integrity solutions that help health payers improve revenue, avoid costs, and enhance the member experience. We offer a unique combination of deep healthcare expertise and analytics-powered technology solutions to help our clients improve operational efficiency, achieve financial integrity, and generate measurable results. More information is available at http://www.discoveryhealthpartners.com.

# # # Reported by PRWeb 1 hour ago.

Memorial Hermann to end individual health care plans

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Memorial Hermann Health System’s insurance arm will no longer offer individual plans as of 2018. Memorial Hermann Health Plan and Memorial Hermann Health Insurance Co. will stop accepting new enrollments into the individual HMO and PPO plans as of July 1, according to the organization’s website. Current members’ coverage will end on Dec. 31. That will affect about 8,000 members, according to the Houston Chronicle and KPRC Click2Houston.com. The company will continue to offer its Medicaid… Reported by bizjournals 1 hour ago.

Fr. James Martin's LGBT book: Where it's strong, where it falls short

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Washington D.C., Jun 29, 2017 / 01:10 pm (CNA).- There’s been a lot of chatter about Fr. James Martin’s new book, *“Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity,”* and given the topic, it’s understandable why. Pope Francis’ call to “encounter” has reinforced the necessity for Catholics to go bring the Gospel to those on the margins. Within American society at large, one of the most visible minorities on the margins are those who experience same-sex attractions or identify as LGBT, and ministry to this community has been one has been of special concern among faithful Catholics in recent years. At the same time, both communities have borne legitimate struggles, as the Church faces pressures to choose between its teachings and public service, and those who identify as LGBT – including celibate Catholics who abide by Church teaching – have for years faced violence, ridicule and discrimination for their attractions.

The book contains many good and practical explanations for why conversations between these groups can come to a standstill. Fr. Martin points out how the scandal of the sex abuse crisis or mistreatment by persons in the Church can make it difficult for members of the LGBT community to listen to the Church’s guidance. Additionally, he explains to members of the LGBT community why it’s important to respect the teaching authority of the Church. Advice like this is clarifying and can help facilitate conversations with more patience and understanding. The book closes with a series of prayers and spiritual reflections, some of which provide a welcome antidote to the Pelagian poisons of our time: Fr. Martin rightfully reinforces God’s love for all his children in a world that places terms and conditions upon our human dignity and worth.

Yes, all of us are sinners and fall short of the glory of God and face the consequences of our actions. But all of us are created in the image and likeness of God; it is not our action or inaction, but God’s grace, which secures our salvation. I can only hope that these reflections provide spiritual fruit for all of the book’s readers who feel rejected, neglected, hurt, or who think their deeds somehow have rendered them unworthy of God’s love, particularly readers who experience same-sex attraction or identify as part of the LGBT community.

However, there were other aspects of the book that were troubling.  

Most of all, I was confused by the book’s avoidance of the Church’s teaching on the Sacrament of marriage, as well as the importance of the gifts of celibacy and chastity for the life of the Church. Likewise, I was baffled by Fr. Martin’s reluctance to acknowledge Catholics who experience same-sex attraction who live in obedience to Church teaching – either through celibacy or in sacramental marriages to persons of the opposite sex. If the purpose of the book is to build a bridge between the Church and the broader LGBT community, why skip over the perspective of those at the crossroads of living a Catholic life and experiencing same-sex attraction?

Eve Tushnet, an author, pro-life activist and Catholic who identifies as a lesbian spoke to similar frustrations, particularly the book’s avoidance of sexual ethics, in her review of Fr. Martin’s book for the *Washington Post*. “The Catholic sexual ethic is this book’s embarrassing secret. It’s never mentioned, and so the difficulties the teaching itself poses for gay Catholics in our culture are never addressed.”  

Tushnet later continues: “In a culture where everything from pop songs to health insurance urges us to structure our lives around romance and marriage, gay Christians *have a chance* – or a duty – to show that you can make a life of devotion, joy and mutual sacrifice within celibacy. And straight Christians have a chance not only to live the models we’ve shown them, following the paths we’ve blazed, but to support us when our callings to non-marital love leave us economically or emotionally vulnerable.”

Given the topic, it seemed jarringly incomplete to be denied even a reference to the call of Tushnet and *other LGBT Christians *trying to live in accord with Church teaching.

After reading, I also found myself wondering about the definitions Fr. Martin lays out, particularly those surrounding identity.

While certainly respect and sensitivity are necessary for any difficult conversation, I can’t help but wonder if Fr. Martin’s fixation on identity as LGBT overlooks Catholics who experience same-sex attraction but do not wish to identify as such. For instance, members of groups such as *Courage* share experiences of same-sex attraction, yet many choose not to identify as “gay” or “lesbian.” Furthermore, even within the LGBT community, those labels of “gay” and “lesbian” are falling out of use among the Millennial generation, with the terms like “queer” taking their place. If this book is to help bridge an understanding, why limit this conversation to their exclusion?

On top of that, all of these sexual identities – *including that of “straight”* – are very recent social constructions. This isn’t to say that identities don’t reflect on how we are shaped and encounter the world, or that they cannot be an effective shorthand for describing one’s background or community. Yet, as Pope Benedict XVI wrote while he was still Joseph Ratzinger, “the human person, made in the image and likeness of God, can hardly be adequately described by a reductionist reference to his or her sexual orientation” (or any other temporal identity). While we might claim a given identity – Gentile, Jew, Gay, Straight – they aren’t essential to who we are as children of God, nor should they limit us in doing what the Church, our Mother, asks of us.

Sadly, this point of Church teaching and historical understanding doesn’t come across clearly in Fr. Martin’s book. In one section, Fr. Martin rightly points to the hypocritical “acceptance” of some other groups who publicly disobey Church teaching such as known usurers or those in cohabiting relationships. However, he doesn’t merely call for consistency, but for consistency in acceptance of these forms of public sin. This is problematic for a number of reasons, but most of all because it seems to despair of God’s grace and sells short Christ’s call for all of us to live lives of virtue.

Overall, there are some useful insights in the Building a Bridge’s prayers and descriptions of where many conversations on this topic come to a standstill. And, the book may be a useful tool for a well-formed Catholic who wants a better insight into the LGBT experience, or for a member of that community who wants to understand a neighborhood priest's perspective. However, bridge-building is a difficult task. Hopefully the fruits of this book will prove to be a solid plank, but there is clearly a need for other resources, materials and direction to make up for what is lacking in this book as we seek to span these waters.

 

  Reported by CNA 54 minutes ago.

Repeal Obamacare now, replace it later: Desperate Trump urges Republican senators

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President Donald Trump urged US Republican senators on Friday to repeal Obamacare immediately if they cannot agree on a new healthcare plan to take its place.

Struggling to get consensus in the party, Republican leaders have set Friday as the goal for working out changes to Senate legislation that would repeal extensive parts of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the law dubbed Obamacare that expanded health insurance coverage to 20 million people. Their efforts were complicated on Thursday by a Congressional Budget Office report that said the Senate proposal would cut spending on government Medicaid for the poor by 35 percent come 2036.

"If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!" Trump wrote in an early morning Twitter post. U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican who has often clashed with Trump, welcomed the suggestion. Sasse said this week he was not satisfied with the Senate healthcare legislation. "Sounds great, Pres. @realDonaldTrump," Sasse wrote in a response on Twitter. "We are agreed. We need to break the logjam."

Overturning Obamacare, former Democratic President Barack Obama's signature domestic legislation, has been a goal of Republicans since the law came into effect, and has become a priority since January, when the party assumed control of the White House as well as both chambers of Congress. Trump pledged in his campaign to overturn a law that Republicans view as a costly government intrusion. However, a simple repeal is unlikely to draw the support of Republican moderates who are needed to help pass a bill in the Senate.

A repeal was the Republicans' original intent for Obamacare. But the prospect of not having an alternative in place raised worries that insurance markets would collapse and people not insured under Obamacare would be left with few or no options for coverage, hitting the poor especially hard. The House of Representatives passed its version of a healthcare bill last month, only after striking a balance between the center of the party and the right wing.
A bill produced by the Senate Republican leadership has exposed similar party divisions, with moderates concerned about the numbers of people who would lose their uninsurance, and conservatives saying it should erase more of Obamacare.

SPLIT THE BILL?

A leading voice on the conservative flank, Rand Paul, has called for jettisoning more parts of Obamacare and supports splitting the bill into two, one for repeal and one for spending. "You can repeal the taxes, you can repeal some of the regulations - I prefer all of them - and you can also do some Medicaid reform. That could be in a repeal bill, and it will be a much narrower and much cleaner repeal," he told MSNBC on Thursday. Asked about that option on Friday, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said, "That's a very strong possible alternative strategy."

She told Fox News the White House was confident healthcare reform can get done this summer, followed by tax reform. The CBO report, requested by Senate Democrats, provides a longer-term look at how the Republican plan would affect Medicaid spending as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell searches for a formula that most senators can get behind.

Republican discussions on Thursday were focused on two proposals. One, by moderates, would keep a 3.8 percent Obamacare tax on high earners' investment income, instead of repealing it as Republicans have promised. Another, by conservative Senator Ted Cruz, would let insurers offer skimpier healthcare plans if they also offer a plan choice that is compliant with Obamacare.

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From Print Edition:  Reported by DNA 7 hours ago.

Premier Health to exit Ohio insurance exchange

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The health system that operates Atrium Medical Center in Middletown has pulled out of the Ohio Health Insurance marketplace, citing uncertainty amid national talk of the future of Obamacare. Dayton-based Premier Health announced Thursday that its Premier Health Plan will end its on-exchange plan at the end of 2017. The company has been evaluating its future on the exchange, where it has been a presence for three years. As of this year, it has about 10,000 customers and serves 16 counties in western… Reported by bizjournals 7 hours ago.

Did Obamacare Really Save Lives?

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Did Obamacare Really Save Lives? Authored by Robert Murphy via The Mises Institute,

*One of the popular objections to the GOP proposals to reform health insurance markets is that the Affordable Care Act (aka “ObamaCare”) saved thousands of lives per year, and hence that tinkering with ObamaCare will literally kill lots of people.* For example, Hillary Clinton tweeted out:

Now to be sure, *even if the claim were true, it still wouldn’t follow that coercive redistribution of wealth was morally justified*. However, as happens so often in political controversies, libertarians don’t have to choose between property rights and tolerating widespread suffering.* Believe it or not, the data suggest that if anything, ObamaCare actually caused more Americans to die.*

None of what I write in this piece should be construed as an endorsement of the GOP bills. But *the claim that they would “kill lots of people” is not valid.*

*Oren Cass’s Amazing Takedown*

The researcher who alerted me to these awkward facts was the Manhattan Institute’s Oren Cass. *Cass makes three important points in his recent study:*

#1. The various estimates of the alleged lives saved under ObamaCare were not based on actual mortality data. Rather, these pro-ObamaCare studies relied on previous episodes (such as the implementation of “RomneyCare” in Massachusetts) where the expansion of insurance coverage went hand-in-hand with improved health outcomes. Then, taking this correlation as a “fact,” the pro-ObamaCare researchers multiplied by the expansion of insurance under ObamaCare and came up with an estimate of how many Americans’ lives were saved.

Yet as Cass points out, this procedure is flawed. What the literature actually shows is that expansion of private health insurance coverage contributes to improved health outcomes. But under ObamaCare, the amount of private coverage went down relative to what we would have expected in the absence of the legislation. What really drove the increase in insurance coverage under ObamaCare was the expansion of Medicaid. And here, it is much less obvious that this is a boon for health outcomes, as the now infamous Oregon experiment shows.

*Looking at the Aggregate Data*

#2. Now that we’ve undercut the foundations of the pro-ObamaCare figures, we can turn to the actual mortality data from the U.S. After all, as Cass says, if ObamaCare really has been avoiding tens of thousands of deaths per year, we should see that in the data.

And yet, we see the opposite. Although the ACA passed in 2010, the full expansion of insurance coverage didn’t kick in until 2014. So the relevant metric is to see what happened to (age-adjusted) mortality rates before and after 2014. Lo and behold:

*U.S. Age-Adjusted Mortality Rates per 100,000 (Annual, 2002–2015)*

Source: CDC WONDER Database

As the figure shows, *if we control for the aging of the population, the mortality rate tends to fall over time. However, for whatever reason, after falling in 2014, the mortality jumped back up in 2015, erasing all the gains since 2013.*

To see that this isn’t some artifact of this data set, we can cross-reference this information with life expectancy. Some readers may have been aware that researchers were alarmed in late 2016 when the latest figures showed U.S. life expectancy falling “for the first time in decades.”

*Looking at the State-Level Data*

#3. But now we come to the third and most devastating component of the Cass study. He is intellectually honest and concedes that the uptick in mortality in 2015 could be a fluke, or it could be a genuine problem due to something other than ObamaCare. For example, there is a festering opioid epidemic in many parts of the US, so perhaps it was just bad luck (for Obama’s legacy) that this public health crisis happened to hit right when his signature legislature fully kicked in.

Yet Cass points out that we still have a pretty good control group to assess the specific impact of the Affordable Care Act’s boost to coverage. Specifically, only 31 states (plus DC) expanded Medicaid under the ACA, while the other 19 states rejected the offer. So if it’s true that the ACA really did “save lives” relative to what otherwise would have happened, but that the absolute mortality rate in the US went up because of some external problem (like the opioid crisis), then we should still expect see mortality rates jumping more in the “red” states that rejected Medicaid expansion.

And yet, as Cass points out in his study, we see the exact opposite. Namely, the states that took advantage of ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion saw a worse impact on their mortality rates than the states that rejected the expansion.

*Conclusion*

Although I personally do not yet have a theory on the specific mechanism that may be responsible, *I am confident in saying that the actual data do not support the breathless claims that rolling back ObamaCare will literally kill many thousands of Americans.*

Fans of the Austrian school should not be shocked, though, to discover that *having the federal government get more heavily involved in the health sector has apparently made things worse.*

  Reported by Zero Hedge 6 hours ago.

Stockman: Debt Is the Third Benjamin Franklin 'Certainty'

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Stockman: Debt Is the Third Benjamin Franklin 'Certainty' Authored by David Stockman via The Daily Reckoning,

Benjamin Franklin supposedly said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

*If old Ben were still around he would surely add “debt” to his famous saying. *Indeed, a recent Experian study of its 220 million consumer files actually proves the case.

It turns out that 73% of consumers who died last year had debts which averaged nearly $62,000. In addition to the kind of debt that apparently always stays with you — credit cards and car loans — it also happened that 37% of the newly deceased had unpaid mortgages and 6% still had student loans with an average unpaid balance of $25,391!

*Once upon a time people used to have mortgage burning ceremonies when later in their working years the balance on the one-time loan they took out in their 30s to buy their castle was finally reduced to zero.*

And there was no such thing as student loans, and not only because students are inherently not credit worthy. College was paid for with family savings, summer jobs, work study and an austere life of four to a dorm room.

*No more. *The essence of debt in the present era is that it is perpetually increased and rolled-over.* It’s never reduced and paid-off.*

To be sure, much of mainstream opinion considers that reality unremarkable — even evidence of economic progress and enlightenment. Keynesians, Washington politicians and Wall Street gamblers would have it no other way because their entire modus operandi is based not just on ever more debt, but more importantly, on ever higher leverage.

*The chart below not only proves the latter point, but documents that over the last four decades rising leverage has been insinuated into every nook and cranny of the U.S. economy.*

Nominal GDP (dark blue) grew by 6X from $3 trillion to $18 trillion, whereas total credit outstanding (light blue) soared by 13X from $5 trillion to $64 trillion.

*Consequently, the national leverage ratio rose from 1.5X in 1980 to 3.5X today.*

My point today is not to moralize, but to discuss the practical implications of the nation’s debt-topia for Ben Franklin’s other two certainties — death and (especially) taxes.

There’s no doubt that the modus operandi of the American economy has been transformed by the trends displayed in the below chart.

It so happened that the 1.5X ratio of total debt-to-income (GDP) at the beginning of the chart was not an aberration. It had actually been a constant for 100 years — except for a couple of unusual years during the Great Depression.

It was also linked with the greatest period of capitalist prosperity, economic growth and rising living standards in recorded history.

*By contrast, today’s 3.5X debt-to-income ratio has two clear implications.*

· First, *the nation effectively performed a leveraged buyout (LBO) on itself during the last forty years. *And that did temporarily add to the appearance of prosperity.
· But it also means that *the U.S. economy is now lugging two turns of extra debt compared to the historic norm*. Mainstream opinion, of course, says “so what?”

The U.S. economy is lugging $35 trillion of extra debt, that’s what.

That’s right. In the absence of the 40-year leverage aberration since the late 1970s, the chart below would show about $29 trillion of credit market debt (public and private) outstanding, not $64 trillion.

*Make no mistake, $35 trillion of extra debt make a very practical and very large difference.*

The soaring leverage ratio of recent years came at a heavy price — and one which Keynesians and their camp followers simply refuse to acknowledge:

*America’s 40-year LBO didn’t create permanent incremental growth. It just stole it from the future.*

*Today’s added leverage and the incremental spending it currently finances eventually become tomorrow’s higher debt service cost and reduced spending. *In fact, the latter is already occurring. And that’s the reason I call the chart below “The Great Inverse.”

*The trend level of real GDP growth captured by the gray bars has been heading south since the early 1970s.* And during the last 10 years it’s averaged only 1.2% annually, or just one-third of the 3.8% average recorded during the American heyday (1953-1971).

This stunning deterioration occurred precisely as the national LBO hit full stride (red line), rising from the historic 1.5X to the current 3.5X.

*Ultimately, all this debt and financial suppression is the enemy of investment and productivity.*

It encourages massive financial engineering in the form of stock buybacks and merger and acquisition (M&A) deals. This diverts economic resources from productive investment on main street to leveraged speculation in existing financial assets on Wall Street.

*The retail sector, for example, was the site of massive borrowings to fund share buybacks and LBOs — until Amazon knocked over the house of cards, causing what I call Retail Armageddon. *The retail sector will see upwards of 30,000 store closures over 2016-2018 alone.

*We’ve also seen massive debt envelop the auto sector, which is nearly $3 trillion.* This is a sector that bears very close watching, as I believe it’s ready to implode any day now.

In short, the sum of business sector debt stood at $8.7 trillion on the eve of the great financial crisis. It now stands at $13.2 trillion. And that $4.5 trillion gain was not pumped into productive investments on main street.

The Fed’s reckless money printing is grinding down the U.S. economy’s growth with rising debt and higher leverage ratios — exactly the kind of causation that lies behind the Great Inverse chart.

*And that gets us to death and taxes…*

*A surprisingly high share of today’s soaring medical costs are designed to ward off the former. But the overwhelming share of households have no savings or remaining debt capacity.*

So they demand government help with their medical bills and sooner or latter we end up with Medicare, Medicaid,  tax subsidized employer plans ($200 billion per year) and Obamacare.

During the next decade, for example, upwards of $25 trillion or nearly 63% of personal health care costs will be financed by the programs listed above (including the state share of Medicaid).

*Needless to say, that’s why government funded health care has become the true third rail of American politics.*

The entire population has been driven into government financed or subsidized health insurance. And as these policies became increasingly socialist (i.e. based on community ratings and homogenized rather than risk-differentiated premiums), the whole system becomes more inefficient and costly.

*But capitalism doesn’t work if you have no economic prices and no real consumers. What you get instead is price-insensitive patients and organized provider cartels, which attempt to maximize their incomes by lobbying public and private insurance payors.*

The solution of government insurance then becomes the driving force of endlessly escalating government budgets.

*There is not a snowballs chance in the hot place the system will be reformed any time soon because the baby boom gave itself an LBO. That is, 73% of the population going into its “final expenses” with $62,000 of debt.*

*In short, the national LBO of 1980-2017 has saddled the nation with a giant Welfare State (health care and retirement pensions) because the bottom 90% of the population has no material savings.*

And financing that mushrooming Welfare State will mean, in turn, higher taxes and more public debt as far as the eye can see.

When you look at the Great Inverse chart above it becomes fairly obvious that even more debt and taxes will result in even lower economic growth. That will only necessitate even higher taxes and debt to pay for the Welfare State.

*Benjamin Franklin also famously said at the end of the Constitutional Convention, “gentleman you have a Republic, if you can keep it.”*

*If he had known about today’s trifecta of death, taxes and debt, he might not have pronounced so boldly.* Reported by Zero Hedge 3 hours ago.

32 million people would lose coverage if Obamacare was repealed

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Republican senators are skittish enough that their health care bill would leave 22 million people more without health insurance by 2026, compared to Obamacare. Reported by CNNMoney 3 minutes ago.

CBO’s Failed Obamacare Enrollment Projections

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CBO’s Failed Obamacare Enrollment Projections The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has consistently failed to accurately predict how legislation will impact health insurance coverage. For example, in 2012, the CBO estimated that 25 million people would have coverage under Obamacare right now. According to a June 2017 report from HHS, only 10.3 million were actually enrolled. CBO’s guess was off by nearly 15 million people. And as the chart shows, CBO has consistently gotten it wrong.

The CBO’s history of inaccuracy is reason enough not to blindly trust its analysis of the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). In fact, CBO’s past inaccuracies contribute to its misleading analysis of insurance coverage under the BCRA. The starting point CBO uses to score the BCRA says that 15 million people should be enrolled through Obamacare’s exchanges right now – wrong again.

The CBO was wrong when it first analyzed Obamacare in 2010. And it was wrong when it updated its projections in 2012 and 2014. Even today, the CBO is using a starting point from 2016 to predict the impact of repealing and replacing Obamacare that has already been proven, well, wrong.

  Reported by The White House 21 hours ago.

Remember All of Obamacare’s Broken Promises?

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There were a lot of promises made in selling Obamacare—and it seems like just about all of them have been broken.

They told us if you liked your doctor, you could keep your doctor . . . and yet so many Americans have lost access to their doctors under new Obamacare insurance plans.

They told us if you if you liked your health insurance plan, you could keep it . . . and yet millions of Americans saw their insurance plans canceled because of Obamacare.

They promised that premiums would go down by $2,500 and that everyone in America would be covered. Here’s what President Obama guaranteed back when he was on the campaign trail:

“Our conscience cannot rest so long as nearly 45 million Americans don't have health insurance and the millions more who do are going bankrupt trying to pay for it. I have made a solemn pledge that I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family's premiums by up to $2,500 a year. That's not simply a matter of policy or ideology—it's a moral commitment.”

Both those promises have been broken too.

Far from covering every American, Obamacare has left 28 million uninsured.

In fact, despite all the disruption and the billions in spending, as of February 2017 Obamacare’s exchanges cover just 10.3 million people. That’s less than half the number of Americans the Congressional Budget Office estimated back in 2012 would be enrolled.

And premiums didn’t go down by $2,500 for the average family—they went up by nearly $3,000! Reported by The White House 21 hours ago.

GOP Health Bill Could Let Insurers Cap Spending On Expensive Patients

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Current law requires all health insurance sold on the exchanges to cover 10 essential benefits — with no annual or lifetime limits to reimbursement. But the GOP plan might let states reinstate limits. Reported by NPR 22 hours ago.

Why Are Insurers Bailing on Obamacare?

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More and more health insurance companies have been pulling out of the state Exchanges. Is Obamacare doomed? Reported by Motley Fool 22 hours ago.

Regence BlueCross to offer new plans and network in Portland next year

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Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon has sent letters to its Portland-area customers saying it is discontinuing individual health insurance plans for 2018, due to the unsettled marketplace here and nationwide. Though it will end current plans, Regence and sister company BridgeSpan are finalizing new plans for the region that would be limited only to providers from Oregon Health & Science University, Adventist Health and Tuality Healthcare in its network, said Regence spokesman Jared Ishkanian.… Reported by bizjournals 21 hours ago.

THE INSURANCE AND THE IoT REPORT: How insurers are using connected devices to cut costs and more accurately price policies

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THE INSURANCE AND THE IoT REPORT: How insurers are using connected devices to cut costs and more accurately price policies This is a preview of a research report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about BI Intelligence, click here.

Insurance companies have long based their pricing models and strategies on assumptions about the demographics of their customers. Auto insurers, for example, have traditionally charged higher premiums for parents of teenage drivers based on the assumption that members of this demographic are more likely to get into an accident.

But those assumptions are inherently flawed, since they often aren't based on the actual behaviors and characteristics of individual customers. As new IoT technologies increasingly move into the mainstream, insurers are able to collect and analyze data to more accurately price premiums, helping them to protect the assets they insure and enabling more efficient assessment of damages to conserve resources.

A new report from BI Intelligence explains how companies in the auto, health, and home insurance markets are using the data produced by IoT solutions to augment their existing policy pricing models and grow their customer bases. In addition, it examines areas where IoT devices have the potential to open up new insurance segments.

 Here are some of the key takeaways:

· The world's largest auto insurers now offer usage-based policies, which price premiums based on vehicle usage data collected directly from the car.
· Large home and commercial property insurers are using drones to inspect damaged properties, which can improve workflow efficiency and reduce their reliance on human labor.
· Health and life insurance firms are offering customers fitness trackers to encourage healthy behavior, and discounts for meeting certain goals.
· Home insurers are offering discounts on smart home devices to current customers, and in some cases, free devices to entice new customers.

In full, the report:

· Forecasts the number of Americans who will have tried usage-based auto insurance by 2021.
· Explains why narrowly tailored wearables could be what's next for the health insurance industry.
· Analyzes the market for potential future insurance products on IoT devices.
· Discusses and analyzes the barriers to consumers opting in to policies that collect their data.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the IoT, choose one of these options:

1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> *START A MEMBERSHIP*
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> *BUY THE REPORT*

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of insurance and the IoT.

Join the conversation about this story » Reported by Business Insider 18 hours ago.

Kasich signs Ohio state budget, vetoes Medicaid freeze

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Gov. John Kasich (KAY’-sik) has once again stood against fellow Republicans in the Ohio Legislature to support a Medicaid expansion that now provides health insurance to 700,000 low-income Ohioans. The 2016 presidential contender vetoed a proposed freeze from Ohio’s state budget before signing it late Friday. Conservatives had called on the outspoken […] Reported by Seattle Times 17 hours ago.
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