10 CEOs Who Got Rich By Squeezing Workers 12MAI11

WE were told extending the bush era tax cuts for the wealthy would create jobs.......

— By Josh Harkinson

Corporate profits grew 38.8 percent in 2010, the biggest increase since 1950. But while CEOs earned an average of 20 percent more last year, many Americans continued to lose their jobs and benefits. The insecurity of the middle class has a lot to do with how executives are paid. Bonuses pegged to stock prices encourage CEOs to mercilessly outsource and downsize, slashing costs to boost profits. The result is that more corporate leaders are getting paid at the expense of average workers. Here are 10 of the worst offenders:

*Duke's pay would have dropped even more had Walmart not stopped calculating his bonus based on same-store sales, which have declined over the past two years.

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HEALTH INSURANCE PROFITS SURGE AGAIN 13MAI10

 Click the header or the link below to go to this report from Health Care For America Now.


http://hcfan.3cdn.net/d605c2281191ac1f04_kam6bn3ga.pdf

Today, Health Care for America Now released a report¹ on insurance company profits and the results are stunning.  In the first quarter of 2010 the profits of the five biggest insurers increased at record levels while they covered less people and spent less on care.  That's why we need to give the federal and state governments more power to reject and modify rate hikes.

Health Care champions Senator Dianne Feinstein of California and Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-9) have introduced legislation² that will build upon the landmark health care law that was passed in March and give the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the authority to end unjust premium increases.



The Insurance Company's recent behavior³ has shown they will do and say anything to keep their bloated CEO pay and inflated profits by denying our care and jacking up our rates.   We need to give regulators the power and resources to check the insurance companies and stop business as usual.




1. HCAN Report: Insurance Giants Reap Big Profits By Shedding Members, Spending Less on Medical Care

2. The Health Insurance Rate Authority Act of 2010

3. Press Release: Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans Systematic Dumping of Members Diagnosed With Breast Cancer 

HEALTH CARE DEATH SPIRAL from MOJO 12 FEB 10

Last week the LA Times reported that Anthem Blue Cross planned to raise premium rates by 39 percent for some of its customers. HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius demanded to know why. Yesterday they answered:
Financial woes have pushed healthier people to drop coverage or buy cheaper plans, the company argued to Sebelius.
...."While this dynamic always exists, in a challenging economy it becomes more prevalent as individuals who are paying for coverage without a government or employer subsidy must choose to continue coverage or use the money for other necessities," wrote Brian A. Sassi, president and CEO of the consumer business unit at Wellpoint, Anthem's parent company.
....WellPoint said the increases relate only to the individual insurance market, less than 10 percent of its California members, and that a minority of its 800,000 individual policy holders will see 39 percent increases. The company said an independent actuarial firm concluded its rates were "sound and necessary."
That's pretty much the answer everyone expected. Normal medical inflation was up less than 10 percent last year, so that doesn't come close to justifying a 39 percent rate hike. The only thing that does is getting stuck with a smaller, sicker pool of customers as healthy people decide to pay their mortgages instead of continuing to shell out for health insurance they're willing to risk living without.
This is, of course, the primary argument for single-payer health care, in which everyone is covered and everyone shares costs equally. Failing that, it's also the argument for an individual mandate. Basically, any system that doesn't rely on pools of customers (the entire country, an entire age cohort, an entire union, an entire company, etc.) runs the risk that healthy people will opt out, driving prices up for everyone else in an endless spiral. They'll eventually opt back in, of course, but only when they get sick—and this is, needless to say, not a sustainable business model.
However, as President Obama said on Tuesday, it's "a preview of coming attractions" if we don't get our health care act together. That's why the Senate and the House need to get serious about figuring out a compromise and passing health care reform. It's not going to get any easier by waiting.