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May 2, 2005
Bush Defends Plan to Limit Retirement Benefits
President Bush on Saturday defended his plan to cut the growth of
some retirement benefits, saying it will fix most of Social
Security’s financing problems while helping people most in need,
Reuters reported. Bush’s plan would link the growth in benefits
for some retirees to inflation rather than faster-growing wages.
Wealthier people would see their future benefits curbed the most while
middle-income people would see some limits on benefits, but not as much.
Low-income people would be shielded from any cuts as their benefits
would continue to be linked to wage growth. The president has warned
that the program is headed for bankruptcy when the Social Security trust
fund runs out in 2041, the newswire reported.
USA Today Examines Impact of Medical Bills, Bankruptcy
on Patients
USA Today on Friday examined how a greater number of
U.S. workers with health insurance are accruing larger medical
bills—some to the point of bankruptcy—in part because some
employers are shifting a greater share of health care costs to workers.
According to USA Today, shifting more costs to insured
workers in the form of larger co-payments, premiums or deductibles is
having “ripple effects,” as hospitals are beginning to
collect more upfront payments from patients after being left with bad
debt by insured people who did not pay their deductibles. Read the full
article at
href='http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=23643'>www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=23643.
Law Change May Spark Rush to File Bankruptcy
Advertising by lawyers promoting the bankruptcy services offered by
their companies, combined with increased media coverage boosting
awareness of the pending bankruptcy law changes, are expected to lead to
a sharp rise in filings in the coming months, the
Tennessean.com reported. Global Insight Inc., a Waltham,
Mass., forecasting firm, expects bankruptcy filings over the next six
months to climb 9 percent above filings for the same period last year.
“I think there’ll be kind of a double whammy of the people
who actually need to file and the people who are induced to file through
lawyers advertising,” said Hon. George C. Paine II, chief
bankruptcy judge for the Middle District of Tennessee Bankruptcy Court,
the newspaper reported. Read the full article at
href='http://tennessean.com/business/archives/05/03/68927215.shtml?Element_ID…'>tennessean.com/business/archives/05/03/68927215.shtml?Element_ID=68927215.
Bankruptcy Lawyers Snipe Over Reform Law Details
Bankruptcy lawyers are up in arms over new responsibilities
they’ll face under the recently passed bankruptcy reform, and they
are planning to push Congress to change the law, MSNBC.com reported.
Attorneys and academics are focusing on three new requirements for
debtors’ rights bankruptcy attorneys that they insist have
far-reaching implications. Those provisions, they argue, would lead to
higher malpractice insurance rates for lawyers, increased litigation and
backdoor restrictions on bankruptcy filings through increased costs that
will affect lower– and middle-income Americans. Read the full
article at
href='http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7704180'>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7704180.
Credit Counselors, Debt Managers Drawing Fire
The Federal Trade Commission settled charges last month that a
Pinellas County company offering debt management services bilked
customers out of $11 million, MSNBC.com reported. But the
issue—like debt—isn’t going away quickly. The Florida
Attorney General’s office currently has four active investigations
involving complaints about debt service and credit counseling companies,
including one located in Largo. Read the full article
at
href='http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7704174/'>msnbc.msn.com/id/7704174/.
Bankruptcy Plan Approved for Missoula Athletic Club
A liquidation plan put forth by the bankrupt Missoula Athletic Club
has recently been approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ralph R. Kirscher,
the Missoulian reported. “We will be emerging from
bankruptcy in the next two or three months. We will be back without the
threat of this on our shoulders,” said Richard Dennison, who owns
the club with his wife Linda, in a brief telephone interview.
Verizon Boosts MCI Bid to $26 Per Share
In a continuation of its bidding war with Qwest, today Verizon said
it has agreed to raise its offer for MCI Inc. to at least $26 per share
in cash and stock, and MCI’s board is unanimously recommending
approval of the amended agreement to its shareholders, the Associated
Press reported.
Under the new deal, each MCI share would be exchanged for cash and
stock worth at least $26, consisting of $5.60 in cash plus the greater
of 0.5743 Verizon shares for every common share of MCI or a sufficient
number of Verizon shares to deliver $20.40 of value.
Insurer Finds $1 Billion More in Flaws
The American International Group, the embattled insurance giant, said
last night that an in-depth examination of its operations had turned up
additional accounting improprieties going back to 2000 that would reduce
its net worth by $2.7 billion, or $1 billion more than it had previously
estimated, the New York Times reported. The company also
said that the improper transactions or accounting entries, which
appeared to have been designed to achieve results “that would
enhance measures important to the financial community,” in certain
cases involved misrepresentations to AIG’s regulators and
independent auditors as well as some of its own management.
US Airways, America West Seek Allies to Help Fund a Merger
US Airways Group Inc. and America West Holdings Corp., which remain
in serious merger talks, are searching among other airlines and
investment firms for the money needed to cinch the deal, the Wall
Street Journal reported. People familiar with the discussions
have said the two must raise a total of as much as $500 million to fund
US Airways’ exit from chapter 11 and marriage to America West.
United Air Flight Attendants Renew Strike Threat
The union representing flight attendants at bankrupt United Airlines
on Friday reiterated a threat to strike if the carrier ends their
pension plans, Reuters reported. United, a unit of UAL Corp., and
federal pension insurers last week reached a settlement, clearing the
way for the carrier to shed its four employee retirements plans. A
bankruptcy judge was expected to rule on the settlement on May 10.