Vedder Heads West For Spring Solo Shows

Vedder Solo Shows

Eddie Vedder

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder will embark on his first solo tour this spring, on the heels of his Monkeywrench/J soundtrack to the acclaimed film "Into the Wild." Dates begin April 2 in Vancouver; Liam Finn will open.

Vedder was uncertain about presenting the material live when he spoke to Billboard late last year. "I like the idea. It'll happen when it happens if it happens," he said with a laugh.

But he has since come around to the idea, perhaps encouraged by a well-received performance of "Into the Wild" music at a private party in Los Angeles in November.

"This will be an amazing opportunity for fans to see Eddie Vedder in such intimate settings," RCA Music Group VP or A&R/marketing Matt Shay tells Billboard.com. "Working with Eddie on the music from 'Into the Wild' has been an honor, and the tour will be a true highlight for all of us."

At present, it hasn't been announced whether Vedder will be playing the shows completely on his own or with help from other musicians. Ticket information, including pre-sale access for members of Pearl Jam's Ten Club fan organization, can be found at PearlJam.com.

Vedder's "Into the Wild" soundtrack has sold 243,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The track "Guaranteed" won the Golden Globe for best original song, while "Hard Sun" enjoyed success at radio, peaking at No. 13 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart.

Before Vedder hits the road, Pearl Jam is expected to regroup and start sketching out material for its next studio album. As previously reported, the band will also assemble to co-headline the Bonnaroo festival in mid-June in Manchester, Tenn.

There's other new Vedder music in the offing as well. His track "No More" will serve as the first single from "Body of War: Songs That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran," due March 18 via Sire.

Here are Eddie Vedder's tour dates:

April 2: Vancouver (the Centre)
April 5: Santa Cruz, Calif. (Civic Auditorium)
April 7: Berkeley, Calif. (Zellerbach Auditorium)
April 10: Santa Barbara, Calif. (Arlington Theatre)
April 12-13: Los Angeles (Wiltern Theatre)
April 15: San Diego (Spreckels Theatre)

Alicia Keys, Jordin Sparks Team For Tour

Alicia Keys

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Alicia Keys will embark on a two-month North American tour April 19 in Hampton, Va., with support from 2007 "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks. The run comes in support of Keys' latest J album, "As I Am," which has spawned two big hits.

First single "No One" logged time at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Like You'll Never See Me Again" was a long-running chart-topper on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

As for Sparks, debut single "Tattoo" peaked at No. 8 on the Hot 100 and is No. 16 there this week. Second single "No Air" featuring Chris Brown jumps 25-19 this week on the Pop 100; a Chris Robinson-directed video for the track will arrive in late February.

Here are Alicia Keys/Jordin Sparks' tour dates:

April 19: Hampton, Va. (Hampton Coliseum)
April 20: Philadelphia (Liacouras Center)
April 22: Pittsburgh (Petersen Events Center)
April 24: Chicago (Allstate Arena)
April 26: Columbus, Ohio (Value City Arena)
April 27: St. Louis (Scottrade Center)
April 30: Minneapolis (Target Center)
May 1: Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center)
May 5: Los Angeles (TBA)
May 9: Las Vegas (MGM Grand Garden)
May 10: San Jose, Calif. (HP Pavilion)
May 12: Phoenix (Jobing.com Arena)
May 14: Dallas (Nokia Theatre)
May 18: Houston (Toyota Center)
May 22: New Orleans (New Orleans Arena)
May 24: Tampa, Fla. (St. Pete Times Forum)
May 25: Miami (American Airlines Arena)
May 28: Atlanta (Philips Arena)
May 30: Greensboro, N.C. (Coliseum)
May 31: Cincinnati (U.S. Bank Arena)
June 3: Detroit (Joe Louis Arena)
June 5: Cleveland (Wolstein Center)
June 6: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
June 8: Montreal (Bell Centre)
June 11: Boston (TD Bank North Garden)
June 13: Washington, D.C. (Verizon Center)
June 15: Baltimore (1st Mariner Arena)
June 17: Newark, N.J. (Prudential Center)
June 18: New York (Madison Square Garden)

Meet The Spartans (Movie Review)

Hollywood.com Says

There’s nothing funny here only sad. Sad in the sense that enough people will see Meet the Spartans to warrant a continuation of this franchise. And until that next spoof comes, there will not be a worse movie. It’s just not possible.

Story
To say that Meet the Spartans is a spoof of 300 is to suggest that there is some semblance of a storyline mocking that the 2007 blockbuster epic; I refuse to give it that much credit. Rather, this movie is a lame-ass excuse to randomly throw jabs at pop culture and, in extreme emergencies, “advance” the “plot”--which only really makes fun of 300’s subtexts, not its story. It all starts in ancient Sparta, where a young Leonidas (Sean Maguire) is groomed to defeat the evil Xerxes (Ken Davitian, “the fat guy from Borat,” which is essentially how the movie introduces him) and the invading Persians (led by Method Man). But really, Spartans is all about the atrociously unfunny parodies that litter its not-brief-enough 80 minutes: Transformers, Stomp the Yard, Happy Feet, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Ugly Betty, Anna Nicole, Britney, Paris, homosexuality, bodily functions--they’re all spoofed here! A truly groundbreaking concept, indeed.

Acting
Formerly up-and-coming British actor Maguire (England's EastEnders) must’ve thought a lead role, no matter how bad the movie, would beget bigger jobs in the near future. Oops! Didn’t he ever hear of Adam Campbell, the like-minded bloke whose biggest role since headlining Date Movie was last year’s Epic Movie? In short, actors looking to break out should not be tempted by crap like this. It’s the same story: Maguire can obviously act, but he makes a complete fool of himself in the process and now must give his career time to recover. He only bears a slight physical resemblance to the actor he’s parodying, Gerard Butler (when heavily bearded), and otherwise spends the movie uttering the worst possible lines when not subjecting himself to scenes so mortifying that they’re like some kind of Fear Factor for Actors. Elsewhere, the usual D-listers pop up for a shot at regaining quasi-relevance. Carmen Electra, now a veteran of this franchise--lucky her!--plays Leonidas' wife and is leaned on for nothing more than her hotness. Which is more than can be said about everyone else, from a clearly desperate-for-work Kevin Sorbo (Andromeda) as one of Leonidas’ ‘yes’ men, to Method Man, whose heretofore-horrible film résumé just got worse.

Direction
Whereas Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer’s Scary/Epic/Date Movie spoofs might’ve bore the “this probably wasn’t as easy to come up with as it seems” tag, Spartans looks like something from a script they found in the garbage can at a middle school: Not only is it pure trash unworthy of being released, but the “jokes,” if you will, were seemingly written by and for 13- to-14-year-olds. Not one second of the movie is even implicitly deserving of a snicker; instead, it’s actually antagonizing to watch, as Friedberg and Seltzer bombard us with scene after scene of the shallowest material ever committed to celluloid. This is the absolute dreg of cinema, the lowest of the low, not to be confused with “lowbrow,” which would be an unfair compliment in this case. Spartans even fails miserably in trying to make fun of the few pop-culturisms that deserve it, and the least the writer-directors could’ve done was hire actors who physically resemble the celebs they’re spoofing! Friedberg and Seltzer are just utterly allergic to originality: Obviously you don’t expect the story to be original, since it’s all a rip-off to begin with, but they can’t even spin any of it into a single original gag. And they're so lost during the few non-spoof scenes that they resort to the dreaded pratfalls. Seriously, these dudes make Uwe Boll look like Orson Welles.

Hidden children 'serious problem'

Schools can often pick up on children's problems

MPs and voluntary organisations have said there is a serious problem of children in need slipping "under the radar" of social services.

Many do not get help because they are not known to the authorities or keep their problems from them, MPs heard.

The Commons children's select committee heard that homeless youngsters, those in care, young carers or trafficked children were most at risk.

Schools and GPs could do more to help, children's charities told the MPs.

Labour MP Fiona Mactaggart, who chaired the committee, said: "We have a pretty clear picture that this is a not a small scale problem, that it's a serious problem.

"The view of all our witnesses is that there is a key issue of professionals being able to connect with young people and listen to them and give them a voice."

'Particularly cruel'

Kathy Evans, policy director at The Children's Society, told the MPs there were concerns about two groups of children - those in touch with social services who were going to school or the GP but whose needs were not being spotted, and those who were disengaged from services.

"We have a lot of questions about how do we helpfully and ethically but proactively seek to find out whether there are any problems at home for children," she said.

Groups of children who might have hidden needs could include gypsy or traveller families, young carers or refugees and disabled children placed away from home, she said.

John Reacroft from the charity Barnardo's said children living in temporary accommodation often moved frequently and slipped "under the radar" of services.

If you are homeless your needs are increasing as a family but your access to services can often decrease

John Reacroft Barnardo's Children might end up out of school and without access to GPs, community support or day centres, he said.

"It's particularly cruel because if you are homeless and in temporary accommodation, your needs are increasing as a family but your access to services can often decrease because many families are housed very long distances from where they originated."

Mr Reacroft said there was a particular problem when local authorities moved a homeless family out of their area into private accommodation in another.

Local authorities now had a responsibility to pass on details of people being moved into another area - but that did not mean they would then get the support they needed, he said.

Another key factor in children slipping through the net was fear, the committee heard.

Children were afraid that telling anyone about their family problems might lead to its being broken up and their being taken into care, said Kathy Evans.

Box of chocolates

Schools and GPs were often in a good position to pick up on family problems but did not always do so, said Dr Jo Aldridge, director of Young Carers Research Group at Loughborough University.

"School is critical here. There used to be people who were more obvious in schools - educational welfare officers. They now seem to have much bigger case loads and who is there to deal with the welfare of the children?"

"A lot of teachers don't see that as their role or feel uncomfortable."

Dr Aldridge said some teachers needed more training on how they should respond if they found out a child was caring for a parent at home or had a parent who was mentally ill.

Good News: Bad News Arrives Quickly

Good News: Bad News Arrives Quickly

IT has not been a great year so far for Enfield High School. Beyond the two snow days the school district has racked up, students at the high school, in northwestern Connecticut, received an unexpected extension on their holiday break when a pipe burst on Jan. 1, letting water pour in for hours before the break was discovered. The school was closed for three days, reopened, then shut down again the next week, when the main electrical box caught fire, possibly as a result of the flooding.
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In each case, Superintendent John Gallacher checked the damage, then immediately went into emergency-notification mode. That meant activating the school’s hot-line phone number, notifying local radio and television stations and sending out school cancellation notices to the high school’s e-mail chain list, which reaches about one-third of the 950 students’ households. During the latest cancellation, Dr. Gallacher said, “only three or four kids showed up not knowing we were closed.”

“It’s not the most high-tech system,” he acknowledged, “but this is a small-town suburb with a close-knit school community. I’m sure the 300 people who got the e-mail notice picked up their cellphones and called their friends.”

But in this day of heightened security and ready alert, Enfield is the exception rather than the rule.

Since the 1999 school massacre that left 14 students and a teacher dead at Columbine High School in Colorado, followed by the Sept. 11 attacks and the shootings at Virginia Tech last April, schools across the region have been revising their emergency-notification and emergency-planning systems. Long gone are the days of parent phone chains, except perhaps in the smallest communities. In their place, school districts are investing thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade their methods of dealing with an emergency.

In Old Bridge, N.J., the Police Department’s Office of Emergency Management started looking into improving the schools’ emergency-response system in 1999. Officials came up with a plan that Capt. Robert Bonfante said first had to be sold to the Board of Education and the Town Council and then took three or four years to fully activate.

“After Columbine and 9/11, the parents were very upset,” Captain Bonfante said. “They wanted the schools shrink-wrapped. I’m sure Osama bin Laden is not coming to Old Bridge for one of our schools, but we recognized we needed an improved safety system for the kids.”

Considered a forerunner in New Jersey for school safety management, the Old Bridge program serves 15 public schools and 9 private ones in this Middlesex County town.

The system includes aerial and internal photography of all the schools, walkie-talkies for some 70 teachers and administrators who are assigned to the emergency planning committee, doors numbered with reflective tape on both sides, and constant updating of emergency numbers for students and their families.

Increasingly, the Internet has become the main tool to let parents know when school is canceled or to distribute any other notice that needs to get out quickly. Virtually every school district has a Web site, which usually has school-closing links that provide updates during inclement weather and emergency situations.

Most schools also request parents’ e-mail addresses at the start of the year, which some use to create an e-mail database that can be readily activated to send urgent or routine notices. But keeping this data current can be a full-time job, so many school districts have placed the task of notifying parents in the hands of companies that specialize in such instant communication.

Nearly every school district in Westchester, Putnam and Rockland Counties in New York uses either Connect-ED, based in California, or K-12 Alerts, based in White Plains, to handle parent notifications. So do many districts on Long Island and in New Jersey and Connecticut.

Using information provided and regularly updated by parents, K-12 Alerts’ Triple-Play service uses voice mail and text and e-mail messages to notify thousands of students, parents and staff members in a matter of minutes.

T. Gregory Bender, president and chief executive of K-12 Alerts, said that he came up with the idea after 9/11. Noting that 30 percent of cellphone numbers and e-mail addresses change annually, Mr. Bender said his goal was not only to provide schools with an efficient, updated means of instant communication, but also to save money and resources.

“Districts are really getting our mission,” he said, “to increase communication, lower costs and save some paper and maybe some trees.”

K-12 Alerts and Connect-ED charge districts on a per-student basis, typically $4 to $5 per student per year for unlimited use.

Some districts, like Bellmore-Merrick in Nassau County, which began using the Connect-ED system this year, limit its use to emergencies. Other districts say that the more they use the system — for sending out notices of meetings, fund-raisers and other announcements that might normally be mailed home — the more they are recouping the cost.

In Danbury, Conn., the superintendent, Sal Pascarella, said that regular use of the system also helps keep information current.

“If we only wait for the big incident, the data is not accurate,” he said. “The more you use it, the more conversant you become with it.”

W. L. Sawyer, the new superintendent of the Mount Vernon school district in Westchester County, views its instant-notification system as a way to communicate with families, not only with what he calls negative messages, like school closings, but also positive ones, like reminders that students should get a good night’s sleep before test days.

Since instituting the K-12 Alerts system last fall, Dr. Sawyer said, he had used it at least 10 times for systemwide messages and daily for calling the parents of students who were absent. He said it had helped introduce him to the community.

“I’ve gone into stores and a parent will say, ‘Yeah, you were talking to me last night,’ ” Dr. Sawyer said.

Britney's dad given power to sack management

Britney Spears Pic: PA Photos

James Spears already has rights over singer's affairs

Britney Spears' father has been given power to fire her business management, it has emerged.

James Spears has already taken control of the singer's affairs this week, a right he will hold until at least Thursday (February 14). And now, according to court documents, he has been given the right to fire Howard Grossman.

Court commissioner Reva Goetz also said that Mr Spears was entitled to see all of the management's "documents, records and assets relating to Britney Spears," reports the BBC.

However, Mr Grossman has not divulged whether he has been fired by Mr Spears, commenting: "My reputation speaks for itself."

Spears was admitted to a Los Angeles psychiatric ward on January 31, but she left on Wednesday (February 7), against the wishes of her parents.

Simmons: 'The internet killed music'

(Sunday February 10, 2008 09:30 AM)

Kiss star Gene Simmons has blamed internet downloads for destroying the music industry - insisting there will never be any more legendary bands like The Beatles.

The 58-year-old rocker is convinced illegal downloading has forced record labels to conform to a new way of working that will eventually put them all out of business.

Simmons, who is known for his entrepreneurial skills, insists there is now less opportunity for talented new bands to find recognition because the internet is swamped with wannabes.

He says, "The very same people that love the music the most have slit its throat and they're surprised it's dying. 'How come my new band can't get a shot?' 'Because you killed it, bitch.'

"Every day college kids who probably love music more than anybody are the same people slashing the record industry's throat by file sharing and downloading. It's the saddest thing for new bands. Doesn't affect me or Kiss. We can continue to play stadiums and do very well, and we release DVDs.

"But there isn't a chance for a new band to become the next Beatles or Kiss because there isn't the infrastructure to do it."

(from http://uk.news.launch.yahoo.com)

Secret hearing in Spears court case

The Los Angeles court commissioner who placed Britney Spears under her father's guardianship has held a closed-door hearing on an emergency motion.

The unspecified motion, a day after the troubled pop star was suddenly released from a psychiatric hospital, was brought before Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz by the singer's father, James Spears, and lawyer Andrew Wallet, court spokesman Allan Parachini said.

Mr Parachini would say only that the motion was unopposed.

"Everything about this matter is sealed," he said after the hearing.

In court were lawyers for James Spears, along with Mr Wallet and a court-appointed lawyer for Spears, 26.

The singer was taken to a psychiatric hospital at UCLA Medical Centre on January 31 under police escort but was discharged on Wednesday against the advice of her psychiatrist and the wishes of her parents.

"We are deeply concerned about our daughter's safety and vulnerability and we believe her life is presently at risk," the statement from James and Lynne Spears said.

"We ask only that the court's orders be enforced so that a tragedy may be averted."

Ms Goetz named Mr Spears last week as conservator of his daughter and named him and Mr Wallet conservators of her estate. The commissioner has ordered the conservatorship to last until at least February 14.

Courts place people under conservatorships when it is determined they can no longer care for themselves or their affairs.

(Saturday February 09, 2008 07:02 AM) (from http://uk.news.launch.yahoo.com)

Health Insurance in Australia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The public health system is called Medicare. It ensures free universal access to hospital treatment and subsidised out-of-hospital medical treatment. It is funded by a 1.5% tax levy.

The private health system is funded by a number of private health insurance organisations. The largest of these is Medibank Private, which is government-owned, but operates as a government business enterprise under the same regulatory regime as all other registered private health funds. The Coalition Howard government had announced that Medibank would be privatised if it won the 2007 election, however they were defeated by the Australian Labor Party under Kevin Rudd which had already pledged that it would remain in government ownership.

Some private health insurers are 'for profit' enterprises, and some are non-profit organizations such as HCF Health Insurance. Some have membership restricted to particular groups, but the majority have open membership.

Most aspects of private health insurance in Australia are regulated by the Private Health Insurance Act 2007.

The private health system in Australia operates on a "community rating" basis, whereby premiums do not vary solely because of a person's previous medical history, current state of health, or (generally speaking) their age (but see Lifetime Health Cover below). Balancing this are waiting periods, in particular for pre-existing conditions (usually referred to within the industry as PEA, which stands for "pre-existing ailment"). Funds are entitled to impose a waiting period of up to 12 months on benefits for any medical condition the signs and symptoms of which existed during the six months ending on the day the person first took out insurance. They are also entitled to impose a 12-month waiting period for benefits for treatment relating to an obstetric condition, and a 2-month waiting period for all other benefits when a person first takes out private insurance. Funds have the discretion to reduce or remove such waiting periods in individual cases. They are also free not to impose them to begin with, but this would place such a fund at risk of "adverse selection", attracting a disproportionate number of members from other funds, or from the pool of intending members who might otherwise have joined other funds. It would also attract people with existing medical conditions, who might not otherwise have taken out insurance at all because of the denial of benefits for 12 months due to the PEA Rule. The benefits paid out for these conditions would create pressure on premiums for all the fund's members, causing some to drop their membership, which would lead to further rises, and a vicious cycle would ensue.

There are a number of other matters about which funds are not permitted to discriminate between members in terms of premiums, benefits or membership - these include racial origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, nature of employment, and leisure activities. Premiums for a fund's product that is sold in more than one state can vary from state to state, but not within the same state.

The Australian government has introduced a number of incentives to encourage adults to take out private hospital insurance. These include:

• Lifetime Health Cover: If a person has not taken out private hospital cover by the 1st July after their 30th birthday, then when (and if) they do so after this time, their premiums must include a loading of 2% per annum. Thus, a person taking out private cover for the first time at age 40 will pay a 10 per cent loading. The loading continues for 10 years. The loading applies only to premiums for hospital cover, not to ancillary (extras) cover.

• Medicare Levy Surcharge: People whose taxable income is greater than a specified amount (currently $50,000 for singles and $100,000 for families) and who do not have an adequate level of private hospital cover must pay a 1% surcharge on top of the standard 1.5% Medicare Levy. The rationale is that if the people in this income group are forced to pay more money one way or another, most would choose to purchase hospital insurance with it, with the possibility of a benefit in the event that they need private hospital treatment - rather than pay it in the form of extra tax as well as having to meet their own private hospital costs.

• Private Health Insurance Rebate: The government subsidises the premiums for all private health insurance cover, including hospital and ancillary (extras), by 30%, 35% or 40%.

Health Insurance in Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Most health insurance in Canada is administered by each province, under the national law that requires all people to have free access to basic health services. Collectively, the public provincial health insurance systems in Canada are frequently referred to as Medicare. Private health insurance is allowed, but the provincial governments allow it only for services that the public health plans do not cover; for example, semi-private or private rooms in hospitals and prescription drug plans. Canadians are free to use private insurance for elective medical services such as Lasik surgery, plastic surgery such as liposuction, and other non-basic medical procedures. Some 65% of Canadians have some form of supplementary private health insurance; many of them receive it through their employers. Private-sector services not paid for by the government account for nearly 30 percent of total health care spending.

In 2005, the Supreme Court of Quebec ruled, in Chaoulli v. Quebec, that the province's prohibition on insurance for health care already insured by the state could constitute an infringement of the right to life and security if there were long wait times for treatment as happened in this case. Certain other provinces have legislation which financially discourages but does not forbid private health insurance in areas covered by the public plans. The ruling has not changed the overall pattern of health insurance across Canada but has spurred on attempts to tackle the core issues of supply and demand and the impact of wait times.

Health Insurance in The United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The U.S. market-based health care system relies heavily on private and not-for-profit health insurance, which is the primary source of coverage for most Americans. According to the United States Census Bureau, approximately 84% of Americans have health insurance; some 60% obtain it through an employer, while about 9% purchase it directly. Various government agencies provide coverage to about 27% of Americans (there is some overlap in these figures).

Public programs provide the primary source of coverage for most seniors and for low-income children and families who meet certain eligibility requirements. The primary public programs are Medicare, a federal social insurance program for seniors and certain disabled individuals, Medicaid, funded jointly by the federal government and states but administered at the state level, which covers certain very low income children and their families, and SCHIP, also a federal-state partnership that serves certain children and families who do not qualify for Medicaid but who cannot afford private coverage. Other public programs include military health benefits provided through TRICARE and the Veterans Health Administration and benefits provided through the Indian Health Service. Some states have additional programs for low-income individuals.

In 2006, there were 47 million people in the U.S. (16% of the population) who were without health insurance for at least part of that year. About 37% of the uninsured live in households with an income over $50,000.

In 2004, U.S. health insurers directly employed almost 470,000 people at an average salary of $61,409.

Other Factors Affecting Insurance Prices

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A recent study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers examining the drivers of rising health care costs in the U.S. pointed to increased utilization created by increased consumer demand, new treatments, and more intensive diagnostic testing, as the most significant driver. People in developed countries are living longer. The population of those countries is aging, and a larger group of senior citizens requires more intensive medical care than a young healthier population. Advances in medicine and medical technology can also increase the cost of medical treatment. Other factors that increase utilization and therefore insurance prices are lifestyle-related: increases in obesity caused by insufficient exercise and unhealthy food choices; excessive alcohol use, smoking, and use of street drugs. Other factors noted by the PWC study included the movement to broader-access plans, higher-priced technologies, and cost-shifting from Medicaid and the uninsured to private payers.

Moral Hazard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Moral hazard occurs when an insurer and a consumer enter into a contract under symmetric information, but one party takes action, not taken into account in the contract, which changes the value of the insurance. A common example of moral hazard is third-party payment — when the parties involved in making a decision are not responsible for bearing costs arising from the decision. An example is where doctors and insured patients agree to extra tests which may or may not be necessary. Doctors benefit by avoiding possible malpractice suits, and patients benefit by gaining increased certainty of their medical condition. The cost of these extra tests is borne by the insurance company, which may have had little say in the decision. Co-payments, deductibles, and less generous insurance for services with more elastic demand attempt to combat moral hazard, as they hold the consumer responsible.

Adverse Selection

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Insurance companies use the term "adverse selection" to describe the tendency for only those who will benefit from insurance to buy it. Specifically when talking about health insurance, unhealthy people are more likely to purchase health insurance because they anticipate large medical bills. On the other side, people who consider themselves to be reasonably healthy may decide that medical insurance is an unnecessary expense; if they see the doctor once a year and it costs $250, that's much better than making monthly insurance payments of $400 (example figures).

The fundamental concept of insurance is that it balances costs across a large, random sample of individuals (see risk pool). For instance, an insurance company has a pool of 1000 randomly selected subscribers, each paying $100 per month. One person becomes very ill while the others stay healthy, allowing the insurance company to use the money paid by the healthy people to pay for the treatment costs of the sick person. However, when the pool is self-selecting rather than random, as is the case with individuals seeking to purchase health insurance directly, adverse selection is a greater concern. Some individuals have extremely high medical expenses, in extreme cases totaling a half million dollars or more. These represent a relatively small percentage of the insured population, however. Adverse selection could leave an insurance company with primarily sick subscribers and no way to balance out the cost of their medical expenses with a large number of healthy subscribers.

Because of adverse selection, insurance companies employ medical underwriting, using a patient's medical history to screen out those whose pre-existing medical conditions pose too great a risk for the risk pool. Before buying health insurance, a person typically fills out a comprehensive medical history form that asks whether the person smokes, how much the person weighs, whether the person has been treated for any of a long list of diseases and so on. In general, those who present large financial burdens are denied coverage or charged high premiums to compensate. One large U.S. industry survey found that roughly 13 percent of applicants for comprehensive, individually purchased health insurance who went through the medical underwriting in 2004 were denied coverage. Declination rates increased significantly with age, rising from 5 percent for individuals 18 and under to just under a third for individuals aged 60 to 64. Among those who were offered coverage, the study found that 76% received offers at standard premium rates, and 22% were offered higher rates. On the other side, applicants can get discounts if they do not smoke and are healthy.

Inherent Problems With Insurance

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Insurance systems must typically deal with two inherent challenges: adverse selection, which affects any voluntary system, and ex-post moral hazard, which affects any insurance system in which a third party bears major responsibility for payment, whether that is an employer or the government. Some national systems with compulsory insurance utilize systems of risk equalization to overcome these inherent problems.

Health Plan vs. Health Insurance

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Historically, HMOs tended to use the term "health plan", while commercial insurance companies used the term "health insurance". A health plan can also refer to a subscription-based medical care arrangement offered through health maintenance organization,HMO, PPO, or POS plan. These plans are similar to pre-paid dental, pre-paid legal, and pre-paid vision plans. Pre-paid health plans typically pay for a fixed number of services (for instance, $300 in preventive care, a certain number of days of hospice care or care in a skilled nursing facility, a fixed number of home health visits, a fixed number of spinal manipulation charges, etc.) The services offered are usually at the discretion of a utilization review nurse who is often contracted through the managed care entity providing the subscription health plan. This determination may be made either prior to or after hospital admission (concurrent utilization review).

How it Works

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

December 2007 A Health insurance policy is a contract between an insurance company and an individual. The contract can be renewable annually or monthly. The type and amount of health care costs that will be covered by the health plan are specified in advance, in the member contract or Evidence of Coverage booklet. The individual policy-holder's payment obligations may take several forms :

• Premium: The amount the policy-holder pays to the health plan each month to purchase health coverage.
• Deductible: The amount that the policy-holder must pay out-of-pocket before the health plan pays its share. For example, a policy-holder might have to pay a $500 deductible per year, before any of their health care is covered by the health plan. It may take several doctor's visits or prescription refills before the policy-holder reaches the deductible and the health plan starts to pay for care.
• Copayment: The amount that the policy-holder must pay out of pocket before the health plan pays for a particular visit or service. For example, a policy-holder might pay a $45 copayment for a doctor's visit, or to obtain a prescription. A copayment must be paid each time a particular service is obtained.
• Coinsurance: Instead of paying a fixed amount up front (a copayment), the policy-holder must pay a percentage of the total cost. For example, the member might have to pay 20% of the cost of a surgery, while the health plan pays the other 80%. Because there is no upper limit on coinsurance, the policy-holder can end up owing very little, or a significant amount, depending on the actual costs of the services they obtain.
• Exclusions: Not all services are covered. The policy-holder is generally expected to pay the full cost of non-covered services out of their own pocket.
• Coverage limits: Some health plans only pay for health care up to a certain dollar amount. The policy-holder may be expected to pay any charges in excess of the health plan's maximum payment for a specific service. In addition, some plans have annual or lifetime coverage maximums. In these cases, the health plan will stop payment when they reach the benefit maximum, and the policy-holder must pay all remaining costs.
• Out-of-pocket maximums: Similar to coverage limits, except that in this case, the member's payment obligation ends when they reach the out-of-pocket maximum, and the health plan pays all further covered costs. Out-of-pocket maximums can be limited to a specific benefit category (such as prescription drugs) or can apply to all coverage provided during a specific benefit year.

Prescription drug plans are a form of insurance offered through many employer benefit plans in the U.S., where the patient pays a copayment and the prescription drug insurance pays the rest.

Some health care providers will agree to bill the insurance company if patients are willing to sign an agreement that they will be responsible for the amount that the insurance company doesn't pay, as the insurance company pays according to "reasonable" or "customary" charges, which may be less than the provider's usual fee.

Health insurance companies also often have a network of providers who agree to accept the reasonable and customary fee and waive the remainder. It will generally cost the patient less to use an in-network provider.

History and evolution

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The concept of health insurance was proposed in 1694 by Hugh the Elder Chamberlen from the Peter Chamberlen family. In the late 19th century, "accident insurance" began to be available, which operated much like modern disability insurance.This payment model continued until the start of the 20th century in some jurisdictions (like California), where all laws regulating health insurance actually referred to disability insurance.

Accident insurance was first offered in the United States by the Franklin Health Assurance Company of Massachusetts. This firm, founded in 1850, offered insurance against injuries arising from railroad and steamboat accidents. Sixty organizations were offering accident insurance in the U.S. by 1866, but the industry consolidated rapidly soon thereafter. While there were earlier experiments, the origins of sickness coverage in the U.S. effectively date from 1890. The first employer-sponsored group disability policy was issued in 1911.

Before the development of medical expense insurance, patients were expected to pay all other health care costs out of their own pockets, under what is known as the fee-for-service business model. During the middle to late 20th century, traditional disability insurance evolved into modern health insurance programs. Today, most comprehensive private health insurance programs cover the cost of routine, preventive, and emergency health care procedures, and also most prescription drugs, but this was not always the case.

Hospital and medical expense policies were introduced during the first half of the 20th century. During the 1920s, individual hospitals began offering services to individuals on a pre-paid basis, eventually leading to the development of Blue Cross organizations. The predecessors of today's Health Maintanence Organizations (HMOs) originated beginning in 1929, through the 1930's and on during World War II.

Health Insurance

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term health insurance is generally used to describe a form of insurance that pays for medical expenses. It is sometimes used more broadly to include insurance covering disability or long-term nursing or custodial care needs. It may be provided through a government-sponsored social insurance program, or from private insurance companies. It may be purchased on a group basis (e.g., by a firm to cover its employees) or purchased by individual consumers. In each case, the covered groups or individuals pay premiums or taxes to help protect themselves from high or unexpected healthcare expenses. Similar benefits paying for medical expenses may also be provided through social welfare programs funded by the government.

Health insurance works by estimating the overall risk of healthcare expenses and developing a routine finance structure (such as a monthly premium or annual tax) that will ensure that money is available to pay for the healthcare benefits specified in the insurance agreement. The benefit is administered by a central organization, most often either a government agency or a private or not-for-profit entity operating a health plan.

Led Zeppelin Confirm Reunion Gig

The surviving members of legendary rock group Led Zeppelin are to reform for a star-studded tribute concert in London.

Singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones will play at the show to remember the late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun.

The one-off concert, the trio's first performance for 19 years, will take place at the O2 arena on 26 November.

Tickets will cost £125 and be allocated by ballot. Pete Townshend, Bill Wyman and Paolo Nutini will also perform.

Ertegun, who signed Led Zeppelin in 1968, died last year.

The place of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980, will be taken by his son Jason.

Plant said: "During the Zeppelin years, Ahmet Ertegun was a major foundation of solidarity and accord.

"For us, he was Atlantic Records and remained a close friend and conspirator. This performance stands alone as a tribute to the work and life of a longstanding friend."

The news is likely to spark a huge rush for tickets as devoted fans scramble to get into what could be the band's last show.

Tickets will only be available to those who register on a dedicated website, ahmettribute.com, and will be limited to two successful applications per household.

With their pounding, blues-influenced anthems and explosive stadium shows, Led Zeppelin paved the way for artists across the worlds of heavy metal and alternative rock.

Their best-known songs include Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Rock and Roll, Kashmir and Communication Breakdown - although they never released singles in the UK.

Led Zeppelin's last full concert was in Berlin in July 1980 - two months before John Bonham died.

'Whole set'

Page, Plant and Jones performed at Live Aid five years later, and also get back together at a concert to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Atlantic Records in 1988.

But a rift between Jones and the other two band members opened after Page and Plant started working together without him in the 1990s.

Rumours of a reconciliation surfaced several years ago, leading to speculation about a reunion.

Harvey Goldsmith, who is promoting the concert, said that he had originally asked the three band members to play a 30-minute set.

"Jason Bonham became part of the catalyst, and they did a week's rehearsal," he said. "We had a meeting and Robert turned around and said we're not going to do 30 minutes, we're doing to do a whole set."

"It's a day I never thought would come," said Dave Lewis, editor of Led Zeppelin fan magazine Tight But Loose. "The four people on stage in 2007 - wake me up, I'm dreaming!"

The concert coincides with the release of a new two-CD best of compilation, Mothership, on 13 November.

Profits from the show will go towards scholarships in Ertegun's name in UK, the USA and Turkey, the country of his birth.

His wife Mica said: "He would be very proud that Led Zeppelin have chosen to reunite and headline a benefit concert in his name featuring so many of his friends.

"I would like to thank all of the artists for their generous contribution to help make Ahmet's vision a reality."

Goldsmith said Ertegun "became a friend and was my mentor".

"Our industry deeply misses such a giant of music," he said. "It is a fitting tribute that these great artists have all come together to perform in his memory."

He also warned that tickets being sold on the black market would be cancelled.

Paolo Nutini, Ertegun's last UK signing, went on to score a hit album last year.

"He touched my life with his amazing personality and opened a few doors when I was starting my career," he said.

"He was a special guy, a real gentleman and it's such a shame he's gone but a massive tribute that all his music lives on - and will do forever."

(From http://news.bbc.co.uk)