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Insurance mess fix is to vote out incumbents

Oh, to be a stockholder in a publicly traded, government-controlled, consumer-necessary business in Florida. Once again, the consumer in Florida takes it in the shorts.

First it was a publicly traded electric company that got the state control board to approve a multimillion-dollar increase to consumers to protect the dividend payouts to its stockholders because of hurricanes in Florida.

Now, approved statewide increases to insurance policies are being reported as profits and will most likely be paid out as dividends to the stockholders, since Florida hasn't been hit by a hurricane.

What's wrong with this scenario?

In the first case, the price of the electric company's stock was maintained (even though its mismanagement of its catastrophic fund was evident) because the consumer paid the dividends as an extra to their electric bills. This was approved by the state control board, even though the shortfall could have been paid by decreasing the dividend payments to the stockholders.

In this most recent insurance case, is the state insurance regulator going to require a decrease in premiums? Or the maintenance of the excess cash in a catastrophe fund? Or, better yet, turning the excess profits over to the Citizens Property insurance pool, since the company dumped a lot of policies into it?

Or will it be business as usual in Florida: Give the CEO a raise, pay increased dividends to the stockholders and wait until next year to request another increase in premiums?

After all, the people who pay the premiums have jobs and can afford to pay them. On the other hand, maybe we poor slobs are smarter than these corporations and the control board think.

Maybe it's time to vote out all the incumbents in our state Legislature, make lobbying a felony, limit political contributions to $1 per individual or entity, and take back our government.

John Edwards, Pinellas Park

Consumers to suffer over fine, not Wal-Mart

Class action? One winner. The lawyers! Two losers: the plaintiffs and the consumer. Wal-Mart will recover the $78-million through price increases.

R. Biggers, Clearwater

CEO's pay package is direct slap at patients

Bill McGuire and ultimate greed. How sick is that, when the Average Joe is refused his claim for necessary surgery because UnitedHealth deems it cosmetic? Or it refuses dental help for the elderly because it's "cosmetic"? I think $6.4-million plus $5.1-million for life is more than cosmetic. If McGuire donated millions back to the company, imagine how many people could get healthy and survive.

And how about the chief operating officer, chief financial officer and other board members? I'd love to know about their retirement. The public has been paying their salaries for years. Time for full disclosure before the SEC slaps McGuire's wrist and sends him into retirement.

Evelyn Garey, Largo

If you can cheat and still get paid, why not resign?

It is nice to know that someone is so intelligent that he can possibly be a criminal for manipulating stock options, have to resign and still get a lump sum of $6.4-million from his pension and $5.1-million for life, from a company that has just dropped two of the best and largest hospitals from their HMO. With that kind of a salary, I would resign, too.

Ellie Steffler, Spring Hill

Cruise experience not worthy of a return trip

Unfortunately, little has been written in regard to the shoddy cruise product being dumped on an unsuspecting public. The Caribbean experience is likely to be a first-time cruiser's destination and an opportunity for the industry to generate repeat business. When a cruise line advertises a five-star experience but delivers a fifth-rate product, is it any surprise that the cruising public will find more acceptable alternatives? What level of quality does the industry think is good enough for the general cruising public?

Imagine learning after the cruise that the line considers confirmed dining to mean: "I cannot give you assurances that no large group will book over the next few months," and make a specific group dining arrangement as one of their prerequisites to booking.

Imagine a five-course meal with all the courses delivered simultaneously. Imagine being subjected to multiple false-billing attempts. Imagine waiting in line at the pier only to be finally told that you then have to wait in line again aboard ship to finish check-in. Imagine being given a deck plan that has been out-of-date for more than a year.

Imagine witnessing the tearful lady bumped into an 8:30 p.m. dining session unsuccessfully pleading that her wheelchair-bound husband was in bed at that hour. Imagine having a malfunctioning toilet for a full day before it finally stops working for the balance of the cruise, and being told that others are sharing your problem. This is only a partial list of documented system problems communicated to Carnival Corp., but apparently not considered important enough to generate a response.

Does the cruise industry really think their performance does not have consequences?

Alfred C. Bedell, Hudson

Panelists didn't offer any solutions

I was at the Thursday evening town hall meeting for the Florida homeowners insurance crisis. Our group (11 homeowners from Crossroads Estates) were completely mystified at the stupidity of the panel members.

The male members just rambled on and on. The lady offered many good suggestions and was heartily applauded.

Since homeowners are Florida citizens and make no campaign contributions, they have no say in any events? Those panel members have all of the say and the campaign contributions to prove it. Thanks for your help.

Joe Poston, St. Petersburg

Load insurance ratings to share risk nationally

As a former commercial property underwriting executive, my opinion as to what should be done by everyone involved in this issue is to cease name-calling, finger-pointing, blame-assessing, etc., and face the problem thoughtfully, squarely and head on to resolve it!

We must keep in mind that there will always be the threat of hurricanes, especially along the eastern Atlantic seaboard and in the Gulf of Mexico.

My solution is quite simple: apply a countrywide, relatively small loading in the property insurance rating, plus a sliding scale of wind deductibles, specifically for the wind storm hazard, regardless of where the property is - be it Boulder, Colo., or Boca Raton.

In this way, a reserve can be built up over time to address the big winds when they do come. By doing this, almost everyone will be happier in the long run!

Joseph P. Corell, Clearwater

[Last modified October 21, 2006, 21:17:43]