Insurance

Those of you paying attention have noticed that the Obama administration is actually doing what it promised: transforming America into a gigantic welfare state. And there are plenty of takers willing to cash in on it and "get mine. " Numbers don't lie. Forty percent of the population was on some form of public assistance when the president took office; today, that number stands at 55 percent. And fraud is rampant. "Exhibit A" is the Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSDI)

Lynetta McCoy has told the teenagers the ugly truth, but not the younger kids. Instead, the smallest of the 50 or so children who regularly eat meals and receive tutoring at the Boys & Girls Club at Admiral Oaks in Annapolis believe that the club's recently stolen Xbox Kinect video game system stopped working. McCoy, the club's director, brought her own Xbox from home for the kids to use on Wednesday. She's still unsure how she'll explain everything else that disappeared during the burglary of more than $15,000 worth of club computers, electronics and cash earlier this week.

The debate over gun violence has focused on restricting sales of military-style assault weapons, semiautomatic pistols and background checks. Where is the concern for the victims of shooting? The Declaration of Independence states "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. " One bullet can rob a person of all these rights.

Drivers who buy their car insurance through the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund, the state's auto insurer of last resort, seem always to be the door mats of the State House, but that comparison might be too generous. Rugs get a little respect every once in a while. For years, we have groused that MAIF customers — and there are about 36,000 of them on any given day — are legally fleeced by premium finance companies. Under state law, MAIF must collect insurance premiums in advance, but since most customers don't have the money for a year's worth of coverage (on average, at a cost of about $1,800)

Peter Beilenson — doctor and public health visionary, Baltimore health commissioner, Howard County health officer, quick-study scholar and decoder of federal regulations — remains one of our most interesting men. A person whose leadership has certainly improved the lives of thousands of Marylanders over the last 20 years, from Baltimore heroin addicts to young families in Columbia, Beilenson is now trying to establish a nonprofit health insurance...

Charles L. Hayes, former secretary and senior vice president of Monumental Life Insurance Co., died Feb. 3 of cancer at the Brookshire Hospice in Hillsborough, N.C. The former Towson resident was 85. Charles Lawton Hayes was born and raised in Cherryville, N.C., where he graduated in 1944 from Lowell High School. After serving in the Navy during the waning days of World War II, Mr. Hayes enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and earned a bachelor's degree in business in 1949.

When Baltimore's Gardiners furniture lost a Super Bowl bet with its customers, forced to give away $600,000 in furniture because the Ravens' Jacoby Jones returned a kick return for a touchdown, the store owners couldn't have been happier. Because they didn't have to pay up. Their insurance company did. And now Odds On Promotions president Mark Gilmartin isn't exactly doing the Ray Lewis dance. "It's always good to have winners in our industry," he told Insider Wednesday.

In the six months that have passed since Margaret Fulcher received her most recent homeowners insurance policy, she has moved on from being shocked to simply incensed. The premium to fully insure her Baltimore rowhouse increased fourfold last year — to a sum she can ill afford and one that she thinks does not accurately represent the cost of replacing her home. "This is a case of homeowners insurance underwater," said Fulcher, comparing her premium to a mortgage that is worth more than the home to which it is attached.

Elio Scaccio has been hired as an account executive at Palumbo Insurance Associates on Bond Street in Bel Air. Scaccio brings with him more than 10 years of experience in the insurance industry, combining personal, commercial, life and supplemental health insurance into a well-rounded and knowledgeable agent that is focused on client relationships and maintaining strong personal contact. In addition, "Elio brings sales and management experience from other industries that we are excited to have as part of our family business here at Palumbo Insurance Associates," said Tony Palumbo, founder and president of Palumbo Insurance Associates.

A recent headline stated that "Congress approves more aid for Sandy's victims" (Jan 5). Really? My take is that what Congress did was require our children to borrow another $10 billion to pay contractual obligations of government insurance claims. Insurance premiums are only covering about 1 percent of previous claims, and our children will pay the other 99 percent. Soon another $50 billion will be added to the tab, and Sandy will not be the last disaster. The government needs to either get out of the flood-insurance business or make premiums cover outlays.