June 24, 2010-Bismarck Tribune
Hamm says N.D. insurance customers
favor basics
Posted: Thursday, June 24, 2010 2:00 am
When given a budget and a chance to choose health benefits, North Dakota customers prefer broad, basic insurance plans with preventive care, a state Insurance Department study says.
But they rejected “lifestyle” benefits such as coverage of impotence drugs, according to the study announced Wednesday.
Small groups were asked to choose from a menu of possible insurance benefits, including hospital and drug coverage, preventive care, dental and vision benefits, and mental health care.
The exercise, called Choosing
Participants initially were asked to pick their preferred plan. Then they met and were asked to design a
Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm said the groups preferred spreading their health care dollars among most of the categories, without choosing more expensive options — such as lower deductibles — in any one category.
They favored coverage for preventive care, and did not include insurance for “lifestyle” benefits such as impotence and infertility treatments and hair transplants, Hamm said.
“They wanted to get as many of those different categories and basic needs filled as possible, instead of trying to build a rich plan in one or two areas,” he said.
Hamm said the North Dakota Legislature may use the report to consider whether to keep some mandated health-insurance coverage plans.
The North Dakota report has also been forwarded to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in hopes that it will be used to help design a standard, basic benefits package, Hamm said.
In all, 143 people took part in the sessions, while 79 did the CHAT exercise on the Insurance Department’s website, the report says.
The agency said they represented all income and age levels; many had
June 18, 2010-Bismarck Tribune Editorial
Look again at graduated driver’s
licenses
Tribune editorial | Posted: Friday, June 18, 2010 2:00 am
What’s the biggest reason behind adopting a graduated driver’s license for teenagers?
Saving lives.
States that have gone to some form of incremental progression of young driver licensing have seen a 20 percent drop in teen traffic fatalities.
Argue what you may, it’s about white crosses along the side of the road for young men and women.
It’s not a black and white issue in terms of being able to drive or not. It’s about lengthening the amount of time between getting that learner’s permit and obtaining a full-fledged license — adding time, and experience.
Generally, here’s how it would work, according to material from
– Learner stage. At age 14, young people could get a
– Intermediate stage. It would require the teens to be at least 151/2 years of age, have no violation, log at least 40 hours of supervised driving with 10 of those hours being at night, have had a learner permit for at least 12 months and pass a driving
– Unrestricted stage. The driver would have to be at least 16 years of age, have no traffic violations, no history of drug or alcohol use and have had an intermediate license for at least six months.
There would be an exception for teens involved in farm and ranch work.
It’s more complicated. Today, you can go from learner permit to licensed driver relatively quickly. With a graduated driver’s license, there are many more hoops to jump through, and young drivers would gain experience as they gained maturity.
A graduated driver’s license was considered in the 2009 legislative session and was rejected by lawmakers. The opposition was based on a number of issues, but could be traced largely to a concern about forcing government into people’s lives.
That’s something lawmakers have to balance with saving the lives of teenage drivers.
In 2009, there were 16 fatal teen-driver accidents and 545 injuries. The numbers are frank reminders of what’s at stake.
The insurance commissioner and a coalition of interest groups should make another run at the Legislature on the issue of graduated driver’s licenses.
It would be an important tool in keeping North Dakota highways safe, not just for teenagers, but for all the drivers in the state.
The bottom line: It would keep more teens alive.
June 11, 2010-Fargo Forum
ND agencies getting break on building insurance
By: Associated Press, INFORUM
BISMARCK — North Dakota’s state and local government agencies will be getting a break on their building insurance.
The state’s Fire and Tornado Fund covers damage to government buildings.
Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm says the agencies will get a 50 percent credit on their insurance bills, starting July 1. Hamm says that will save local governments about $3.2 million.
Hamm says the fund has a minimum balance of $12 million. In April it had more than $27 million in assets.
Hamm says the fund has had good investment returns this year. Last year when the stock and bond markets were down, the fund didn’t give a credit on its premiums.
June 11, 2010-KFGO News
Bell considered “extreme flight risk”
source:Paul Jurgens, KFGO News Center
The lead prosecutor in the murder of 11 year-old Jeanna North says he hopes the Federal Bureau of Prisons knows what they have in convicted kidnapper and child killer Kyle Bell.
As KFGO News first reported, the former Fargo man has been moved from the “supermax” prison in Colorado to what’s considered a maximum security prison in Arizona.
Bell escaped from a prison-transport bus in New Mexico and was on the run for three months after he was convicted in the North case. Before that, he jumped bail on child molestation charge in Fargo and was captured in Denver.