Sen. Ben Nelson, who has collected hundreds of clocks, is the Democrat making everybody wait for the answer to the burning Washington question: Will he be the last vote that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gets to advance President Barack Obamas health care remake?
Maybe, Nelson says - if Reid can find a way to put tougher abortion restrictions in the bill and satisfy the legions of anti-abortion Nebraskans. Challenging his party is a role the moderate Nelson has played many times, most notably when he supported then-President George W. Bushs tax cuts in 2001 and 2003.
Now his ultimatum has produced - - - - >

Seniors now on Medicare pay an average of $4,400 a year of their own money for supplemental insurance, premiums, prescription copays, and deductibles for inpatient care and doctor visits.
Thats even after taxpayers pick up most of the cost of covering the elderly. Under one scenario Democrats are considering, people age 55 to 64 would have to pay full freight to join Medicare. Private insurance plans could well be a better deal for them.
“Its more complicated than just saying, Open Medicare up to people 55-64,” said health economist Marilyn Moon, co-author of a 1999 proposal to expand the program. “In theory, - - - - >

The new rules, known by the German abbreviation VorstAG, make executives personally liable for a first tranche of claims made against the company because of their decisions. So-called Directors and Officers insurance previously covered all such claims. The rules will cause premiums to rise for German companies in 2010 as they seek additional coverage for directors personal liabilities, Riddell said in an interview on Dec. 3.
German law doesnt bar executives or companies from buying separate insurance to cover the first tranche executives are liable for, which - - - - >

The lawmakers instead backed a proposal to establish a program modeled on the U.S. government employee-insurance system that would have private companies provide coverage under federal oversight to millions of uninsured Americans, the person said. They also want to expand eligibility for the federal Medicare program for the elderly.
The deal was negotiated by 10 Senate Democrats seeking an alternative to the government-run program. While most Democrats support the so-called public option, the idea has drawn fire from party members in the Senate and all Republicans. It - - - - >

The lawmakers today plan to debate limits on the use of federal funds for abortion, a major issue dividing Democrats along with whether to create a new government-run insurance program. Behind closed doors, senators working on their own and with Majority Leader Harry Reid are finding compromise elusive.
President Barack Obama met with Senate Democrats yesterday for what he called a “pep talk.” New Jersey Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg said Obamas message “can be best summarized as straighten up your spine.”
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The amnesty, or tax shield, which ends on Dec. 15, allows tax evaders to declare assets held beyond the reach of tax authorities and avoid prosecution by paying the government a 5 percent fine. The plan allows investors to take out private insurance as an alternative to repatriating assets.
Since the amnesty was implemented, premium income at the Baloise units, which sell variable annuity and investment-type life-insurance products to wealthy customers, has jumped Jan de Meulder, the head of the international corporate division at Baloise said in - - - - >

Majority Leader Harry Reid won over two holdouts in his party hours before a 60-39 vote Nov. 21, ending questions about whether Democrats could stick together to clear the first hurdle to passage. The $848 billion, 10-year plan would make the biggest changes to the U.S. health-care system since the Medicare insurance program for the elderly was created in 1965.
“Our plan saves lives, saves money and saves Medicare,” Reid told reporters after the vote. While acknowledging challenges in the coming weeks, he said, “we can see - - - - >

“We wont lower price levels further and we will increasingly end unprofitable motor insurance business,” Karl- Walter Gutberlet, head of car insurance at the German property and casualty division, said in an interview in Munich. “We will not defend market share at all costs.”
Auto insurance is the biggest part of Allianzs German property and casualty unit, bringing in 37 percent of premium income. Premiums fell last year amid a price war that has rattled the 20 billion-euro German motor-insurance market since 2005. - - - - >

Axa is seeking to win support from independent board members at its Melbourne-based unit, Axa Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd., after an unsolicited bid the French insurer made with wealth manager AMP was rejected, Axa Chief Executive Officer Henri de Castries said yesterday.
Paris-based Axa will raise 2 billion euros ($3 billion) in a rights offer designed to fund the Axa Asia Pacific bid and other “potential” takeovers, the company said. The insurer plans to spend a “few hundred million euros” buying the rest of units it controls - - - - >

Net income rose to $909 million from $154 million a year earlier, the Zurich-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. The median estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for a profit of $1.16 billion.
Gross written premiums from general insurance, including auto and homeowner policies, fell almost 10 percent in the first nine months of this year as Zurich Financial faced a “challenging environment” in North America. The insurer also reported equity, debt and mortgage impairments totaling $379 million in the quarter. - - - - >