Norway’s Storebrand returns to profit
Norwegian insurance group Storebrand said Wednesday it would not pay dividends to its shareholders despite returning to profit last year following massive losses in 2008. The company made a net profit of 928 million kroner (116 million euros, 159 million dollars) in 2009 following a loss of 2.23 billion kroner in 2008. “In a year characterised by major market fluctuations, Storebrand delivered a good result for its customers and owners,” chief executive Idar Kreutzer was quoted as saying in the earnings report. Storebrand said it would... Lire la suite
US new jobless claims tumble
New claims for jobless insurance benefits in the United States tumbled in the past week, official data showed Thursday, highlighting ongoing improvement in the critical labor market. The seasonally adjusted initial claims in the week ending February 6 were down to 440,000, a decrease of 43,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 483,000, a Labor Department report said. The latest claims reading was much better than the forecast of most economists of around 465,000, as the world’s largest economy emerges from its worst recession... Lire la suite
Official tells US health insurer to justify 39 pct rate hike
US Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Monday called on a health insurance company to publicly explain why it raised premiums for some customers by 39 percent. “With so many families already affected by rising costs, I was very disturbed to learn through media accounts that Anthem Blue Cross plans to raise premiums for its California customers by as much as 39 percent,” or 15 times faster than inflation, Sebelius said in a letter that was faxed to the insurer. The rate hikes were “even more difficult to understand” in the... Lire la suite
US lawmakers push insurers on Holocaust claims
US lawmakers unveiled legislation Thursday aimed at helping Holocaust survivors or heirs of Nazi victims sue for insurance claims, estimated to run in the hundreds of billions of dollars, in US courts. Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s bill seeks to compel insurance companies, who often have the sole proof of the existence of Holocaust-era policies, to disclose the names of the insured. “For too long the insurance companies have had the upper hand, denying Holocaust survivors and their families their rights,” said... Lire la suite
Obama warns voters will judge Congress on health care
US President Barack Obama Thursday sharply warned lawmakers, including those in his Democratic Party, that they must answer to voters if they balk at passing his long-delayed health reforms. Obama, seeking to reinvigorate his ambitious change agenda in a treacherous political year, said that a jobs bill should take priority in Congress, but then lawmakers must get back to his stalled health legislation. “We have to move forward on a vote,” Obama said, adding that he was prepared to sit down with Democratic and Republican lawmakers and... Lire la suite
