Health-Care Overhaul Adds Millions of U.S. Customers
“March 22 (Bloomberg) — Drugmakers and health insurers will gain millions of customers under legislation overhauling the U.S. medical system. The industry also will pay new fees to the government, and face stricter rules that may narrow profit margins and fuel mergers.
The bill that the House passed in a pair of votes yesterday expands coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans, according to Congressional number crunchers. That means more sales for Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drugmaker; UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest health insurer; and a cluster of companies led by Amerigroup Corp. that specialize in managing services through Medicaid, a program that will grow in the remake.”
“(Reuters) – Virginia’s attorney general said he plans to sue the federal government over the healthcare reform legislation, saying Congress lacks authority to force people to buy health insurance.”
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March 22 (Bloomberg) — The bond market is saying that it’s safer to lend to Warren Buffett than Barack Obama.
“Two-year notes sold by the billionaire’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in February yield 3.5 basis points less than Treasuries of similar maturity, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Procter & Gamble Co., Johnson & Johnson and Lowe’s Cos. debt also traded at lower yields in recent weeks, a situation former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. chief fixed-income strategist Jack Malvey calls an “exceedingly rare†event in the history of the bond market.
The $2.59 trillion of Treasury Department sales since the start of 2009 have created a glut as the budget deficit swelled to a post-World War II-record 10 percent of the economy and raised concerns whether the U.S. deserves its AAA credit rating. The increased borrowing may also undermine the first-quarter rally in Treasuries as the economy improves.
“It’s a slap upside the head of the government,†said Mitchell Stapley, the chief fixed-income officer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at Fifth Third Asset Management, which oversees $22 billion. “It could be the moment where hopefully you realize that risk is beginning to creep into your credit profile and the costs associated with that can be pretty scary.—
“The end of Saturday mail delivery gets closer to reality in the next 10 days, as Postmaster General John E. Potter plans to formally present his proposals to his board of directors and postal regulators.
Letter carriers would stop delivering mail to American homes and businesses and would not pick up mail from blue collection boxes on Saturdays, according to Potter. But post offices would stay open on Saturdays, and mail would be delivered to post office boxes. Express mail services also would continue seven days a week. The delivery cuts would save the Postal Service $3.1 billion in the first year and as much as $5.1 billion by 2020, postal officials said. ”
“March 22 (Bloomberg) — California, the lowest-rated state, will lead about $3.1 billion in taxable debt sales in potentially the biggest week for such issues since December as investors gain confidence in Build America Bonds.”
- 4) Pennsylvania Pensions: From Surplus To A Deep Hole (NPR…Audio)
“Pressure On Schools
Soon, school districts around the state will have to dramatically increase their pension contributions. For the Derry Township School District in Hershey, Pa., the bill will jump from about $600,000 this year to $3.7 million in 2013.
“It’s very significant,” says Superintendent Linda Brewer.
Brewer faces some stark choices: cut programs and increase class sizes, or raise property taxes.
“Our retired citizens are saying, ‘Do not raise our taxes,’ ” Brewer says. “And our parents are saying, ‘We don’t want you to raise our taxes, but if that’s what it takes to maintain these solid programs, that’s what we want you to do.’”
There’s another option: Gov. Ed Rendell and others want to soften the impact of the looming crisis with an accounting maneuver. They want to spread the pain of making the pension funds whole over a longer time frame. But critics say that will just kick the can down the road.”
- 5) The Debt Is Still On The Table (West Virginia)
“A Kanawha County State Senator says the Legislature is at the “beginnings of a solution” when it comes to dealing with the projected $8 billion West Virginia owes for retiree costs.”
“The measures were not taken up during the 60 day session, but Senator McCabe says he’s hopeful lawmakers will look at ways to address the debt in a Special Session before the end of June. That may or may not happen in this Election Year.
Senator McCabe says there is no simple solution.
“At the end of the day, everybody is going to feel the pain.”"
“Stacy McGowan’s eighth-grade daughter is worried she won’t be able to enroll in chorus and art classes  her favorites  when she starts her freshman year at Belvidere High School in the fall.
Her daughter’s elective classes may be in jeopardy because Illinois, in a crippling economic bind, owes its public school districts a budget-busting $871 million in delinquent aid as of Wednesday, including $2.8 million to Belvidere. The district has already sent pink slips to 57 nontenured teachers.
But Belvidere is not alone. Harlem, Rockton, Oregon and other Rock River Valley districts have approved or are considering drastic cuts to make up for an anticipated drop in tax revenue  and the state’s delay in paying its bills.
It all adds up to a “double whammy†of economic pain for Illinois’ public schools, state Rep. Ron Wait, R-Belvidere, said.
“Almost every school district in the state of Illinois is talking about layoffs,†Wait said.
Payment backlog
The Illinois comptroller’s office has a $4.3 billion backlog of bills that haven’t been paid, and some of those date back as far as Sept. 1, spokesman Alan Henry said.”
“Fitch Ratings has warned that that Britain risks damaging investor confidence and the erosion of its AAA rating unless the Government brings in strong thrift measures in this week’s budget.”
“Hundreds of U.S. municipalities are losing money on interest-rate bets they made during the bull market in hopes of protecting themselves from higher rates. The deals backfired when rates fell, shriveling the sums paid to municipalities. Now some are criticizing Wall Street and trying to exit the contracts.”
“State lawmakers have proposed restrictions on municipalities’ ability to use swaps. “It’s gambling with the public’s money,” Mr. Wagner said. “Elected officials are simply no match for the investment banker that’s selling the deal.”
The Service Employees International Union said Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Mo., Philadelphia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Oregon all are in the hole on swaps agreements they made with financial firms. The required payments range from a few million dollars to more than $100 million a year, the union said.”
“NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The long-anticipated wave of mergers in the banking sector could soon be upon us. The buyers, however, may not be from the United States.”
- 10) Pension Woes May Deepen Financial Crisis For States (by $3 trillion?)
“A recent report from the Pew Center on the States put the tab for unfunded pension liabilities at $452 billion. But Rauh and others say pension funds are using unrealistic assumptions about investment returns, meaning the pension funding hole is likely much deeper.
“Our calculation is that it’s more like $3 trillion underfunded,” Rauh says.
And the kicker is that taxpayers are on the hook.”
- 11) Los Angeles Mayor On City’s Pension Plans (Audio)
“He says the word “bankruptcy” is not in his vocabulary. Still, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is doing everything he can to avoid it. Host Guy Raz speaks to Villaraigosa about his city’s struggle to bridge its budget deficit and fully fund its pension plan.”
“WASHINGTON – Riding the coattails of a historic health care vote, the House Sunday also passed a broad reorganization of college aid that affects millions of students and moves President Barack Obama closer to winning yet another of his top domestic policies.
The bill rewrites a four-decades-old student loan program, eliminating its reliance on private lenders and uses the savings to direct $36 billion in new spending to Pell Grants for students in financial need.
In the biggest piece of education legislation since No Child Left Behind nine years ago, the bill would also provide more than $4 billion to historically black colleges and community colleges.
The bill was paired with the expedited health care bill, a marriage of convenience that helped the prospects of each measure. That combined measure passed 220-211.”
…………………..12A) Headline from December 9 of last year: Pell Grants Facing $18 Billion Shortfall – CBS News
- 13) ‘A pension tsunami’: Officials say school funding crisis is on the horizon (Pennsylvania)
“A financial storm is hitting Pennsylvania’s school districts because the pension system is severely underfunded.
“The current funding issue confronting PSERS (Public School Employees’ Retirement System) represents the greatest challenge the agency has faced in its history,†Jeffrey Clay, PSERS executive director, said in a written statement.
Jay Himes, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, used similar language in an address to the state Senate Finance Committee.
“It has been described as a pension tsunami and a retirement disaster,†he said. “Unfortunately, this is not media headline hyperbole. We have a real school finance crisis looming.—
“The share of home purchase transactions involving distressed properties surged to almost half in February, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions.
Last month distressed properties – those involving homes acquired as part of a foreclosure or pre-foreclosure sale – accounted for 48.1 percent of the home purchase transactions tracked in the closely-watched monthly survey. This was way up from the 37.3 percent level recorded as recently as November. It was also the highest distressed property market share seen since last July.
Stepped up government efforts, including temporary foreclosure moratoriums and a push to qualify more financially troubled homeowners for mortgage modifications, temporarily reduced the number of distressed properties coming on the housing market in the fall and much of this past winter. But now a growing number of distressed properties appear to be hitting the housing market.”
Healthcare Bill Passes, Is This the Final Nail in the US Economy? (Video…InflationUS)
Junk Bonds Selling at Briskest Pace Since 2007: Credit Markets
$100 billion needed to keep power (Australia)
Shortfall plaguing pensions (“At some point, there is a day of reckoning” …”pension obligations are debts”)
employer healthcare costs up 7.3 percent in 2009
TOWN IN TROUBLE: Bridgewater’s financial crisis has been years in the making
India’s natural gas demand to double by 2015
300 take home $100K pensions (Writes about those making $100,000 on their pensions)
Spanish ‘economic miracle’ loses its splendour
Underemployment At Record 20% According To Gallup (Zerohedge)
…………….Uncle Jay 
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Blame Nathan’s Economic Edge for posting that one. Click on the link, since you might be interested in some of his comments today.
- Saxplayer00o1
