‘Editor’s Column’ Archives
January 2012
Demonstrating Value– Brokers add value to the products they sell. There. I said it. Someone had to. Granted, telling readers of California Broker that professional health insurance agents matter fails to achieve the heroic stature of, say, telling a group of tri-corner hat-wearing Tea Party members that Fox News is neither fair nor [...]
December Issue 2011 by Kate Kinkade
Moving Forward While Nothing Changes... The “Super Committee” exhibited less than super ability to arrive at a compromise on finding $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion to trim from the budget over the next 10 years. And our weary country can no longer anticipate any real change in the near future. Perhaps, it is time we adjust to our [...]
November Issue 2011by Kate Kinkade – Words, Words, Words
Do you remember when estate tax became the death Tax? It was right before the majority of Americans who were at no risk of incurring this tax eagerly supported its reduction or demise. Someone struggling to make it on a median wage salary was quite comfortable with having people who had estates pay extra tax, but how can we tax death? “Clearly [...]
It Isn’t Insurance Anymore, It’s
Financing – by Kate Kinkade
As health reform moves forward, it is worthwhile to consider whether the word “insurance” should be used to describe the financing element of the new system. It is easy to forget what insurance is or what it was supposed to be. The theory of insurance is that financial institutions make money by pooling risk while individuals and businesses [...]
Fix Them or Fire Them
by Kate Kinkade
By the time you read this, something will have happened with the debt ceiling. It will have been raised (most likely at the last possible moment) and repercussions will be flowing. Regardless of the outcome, the debate about the debt ceiling demonstrates how poorly the government is performing its basic job of meeting the needs and desires of the [...]
How Rate Regulation Can Benefit Consumer Groups by Alan Katz
Rate regulation can be big business for consumer groups. In some states, regulators must approve health plan rate increases before they take effect. In others, carriers may need to file their rate changes with regulators, but as long as the rate increases are actuarially sound they move forward. California, where rate increases tend to [...]
A Look at Life’s Changing Climate by Kate Kinkade
We are in a period of frequent and varied product and pricing changes in permanent life insurance. The product market has not stabilized in terms of pricing or design, so agents should expect to continue evaluating new products and comparing existing products on the market. The long period of a low fixed interest rate environment is finally [...]
A Serious Issue of Uncertainty
by Kate Kinkade
The healthcare reform debate remains alive and well in spite of the fact that federal legislators spent the better of part of the past 18 months getting a bill in place. It seems that the American people are to be denied certainty wherever they turn; the tax law is temporary; the direction of the economy is still in doubt; and now the future of [...]
Becoming Certain about Uncertainty
by Kate Kinkade, CLU, ChFC
The past few weeks have brought more uncertainty to Americans who were generally looking for answers rather than more questions. Between the recent court decision on healthcare reform and, most importantly, the tax bill, consumers who want to plan for more than few years need help with financial decisions. A U.S. District Court judge found the [...]
The Argument for Doing Nothing
by Kate Kinkade, CLU, ChFC
By the time you read this editorial, the question of whether the Congress and President will have done something or done nothing will likely be answered. Which means this article may be moot – but here we go anyway. The “do nothing” strategy (or lack thereof) means exactly that. No bills, no vetos, no new deficit reduction package – [...]
