Covid a non-event for life insurance industry

Life Insurance and Covid-19; Something Doesn’t Make Sense | Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity - Jeff Harris:

May 26, 2021 - "You would think that during the worst Pandemic since the 1918 Spanish Flu life insurance companies would be hedging their bets to avoid major losses from Covid-19. I haven’t written a life policy for several years so I was wondering what was going on.... I called one of the brokers I deal with that interacts with hundreds of big life insurers to get an inside look into how the Covid crisis has changed their business.

"Imagine my surprise when she said it was pretty much business as usual! Last year when the hysteria was just getting ramped up she did say the companies temporarily tightened up underwriting and reduced the amount of coverage they would offer. But as time went by and the hard data came rolling in those same companies went back to business as usual.

"I asked her specifically if life insurers wanted a Covid test as part of the underwriting process and she said none that she was aware of....  I also asked if the cost per thousand of coverage had increased due to Covid and again she said no. Rates were pretty much the same as they were....

"Life Insurance companies are very risk adverse. They don’t like losing money to unnecessary claims. The fact they’re treating Covid as a nonevent should be an indicator that something is very wrong with the whole narrative."

Read more: http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/peace-and-prosperity/2021/may/26/life-insurance-and-covid-19-something-doesn-t-make-sense/

Copyright © 2021 by RonPaul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.

Use opioids, not cannabis, Ontario government tells injured workers

Injured workers in Ontario advised to seek opioids instead of cannabis | Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly - A.J. Herrington, High Times:

July 14, 2018 - "Injured workers in Ontario, Canada who wish to treat their conditions with cannabis are being forced to use opiates instead. According to the CBC, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) is refusing to cover cannabis for patients licensed to use medical marijuana.

"Some private insurers in Canada began offering coverage for medicinal marijuana in health plans last year. And earlier this year, Sun Life Financial became the first major Canadian insurance company to pay for medical cannabis.

"David Newberry, an attorney with the Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic in Toronto, said that the WSIB often denies workers’ claims for cannabis coverage. Instead, the insurer pays for far more dangerous drugs. '“You often end up with these absurd scenarios where the WSIB is happy to pay for opiates and antidepressants that are not effective, that the worker does not want to take,' Newberry said.

"Maurice Sagle, 60, is a former carpenter who was injured in a workplace accident that left him with a compressed spine, several crushed discs, and a ruptured leg muscle. The opiates that doctors prescribed caused side effects including depression that left him homebound ... he felt that he was becoming addicted....

"Sagle decided that a strain of cannabis high in CBD and low in THC might help his condition. He consulted with his doctor and obtained his license for medical marijuana. Cannabis relieved his chronic pain without making him high.... But when Sagle filed a claim to cover his medicine, the WSIB refused.

"'They said they don’t recognize this and they sent me a paper saying no, they wouldn’t cover it,' he said. The insurer would, however, continue to pay for thousands of dollars worth of opioids.... Sagle is currently appealing the WSIB decision, an expensive process that can take as long as two years.

"Christine Arnott of the Ontario WSIB said the insurer is concerned with opioid addiction and is working to address the situation. 'We are focused on limiting exposure to the harms associated with opioid use and lowering risk of addiction. So far we have reduced the number of WSIB drug claims for opioids by 47 percent. We treat requests for coverage of medical marijuana on a case-by-case basis,' Arnott said.... And, she noted, the WSIB is 'always looking at the evolving scientific evidence around the effectiveness of pain management and updat[ing] our approach accordingly.'"

Read more: https://www.straight.com/cannabis/1102796/injured-workers-ontario-advised-seek-opioids-instead-cannabis
'via Blog this'

BC Libertarian campaigns on insurance monopoly

Kelowna West Libertarian goes after ICBC - Kelowna Capital News - Alistair Waters:

January 19, 2018 - "He may be new to politics, but Kelowna West Libertarian candidate Kyle Geronazzo is wasting no time making a visible entrance into the campaign.

"Geronazzo has taken out an ad on a large electronic billboard on the Westside, advertising his campaign and asking the public if they are 'being ripped off by ICBC.'

"The young candidate is going after the provincial auto insurer, saying British Columbians are been getting “gouged” on their auto insurance premiums.

"'While prices have come down for collision, loss-of-use and other coverages since private insurers were allowed to compete with ICBC, for third-party liability coverage the opposite has happened,' said Geronazzo in a news release... Geronazzo is one of four candidates in the Kelowna West byelection race....

"'While ICBC performs important functions as a regulator, its insurance business is a Frankenstein that combines the worst parts of public and private sector organizations. In good times, it can make profits, but these can be pilfered by governments to balance their books. In bad times, the ratepayers have to pick up the tab with higher premiums.'

"And he predicted more bad times are ahead, saying ICBC has warned it could raise rates by more than 40 per cent over the next five years.

"Geronazzo said more competition is needed and he is advocating removing ICBC’s monopoly on basic auto liability insurance to create what he says would be a truly competitive insurance market.

"'Virtually every other jurisdiction in North America has gone this route and it hasn’t been a disaster,' says Geronazzo. 'In fact, premiums have gone down and the level of customer satisfaction has gone up.'"

Read more: https://www.kelownacapnews.com/news/kelowna-west-libertarian-goes-after-icbc/
'via Blog this'