Insurance Quotes & Advice

The Democratic party lost an important leader with the passing of Ted Kennedy, the senior Senator from Massachusetts.  Until a special election is held in the upcoming months it leaves the Democrats one seat shy of 60, the number needed to stop a Republican filibuster.

Kennedy was the Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee which was responsible for drafting the Senate version of the healthcare reform bill.  Also known for years as a shrewd negotiator with his Republican counterparts, his loss might be felt the most from being able to find compromise with his political opponents.

Political analysts now fear that Democrats may cease seeking a bipartisan solution and use a “reconciliation” process normally used for deficit reduction that only requires a simple 51 vote majority.  There are worries that there could be a loss of public support for the reform bill if the legislative process is supplanted in this manner.

Senator Kennedy had been a proponent of healthcare reform for years and it is unfortunate that he died on what may be the eve of it’s passing.  He leaves a lasting legacy as one of the nation’s great political figures with nearly five decades of public service on Capitol Hill.

As the healthcare reform battle continues on Capitol Hill, Democratic leaders have reaffirmed their support this week for a government run health insurance option.  “There’s no way I can pass a bill in the House of Representatives without a public option,” stated House Majority leader Nancy Pelosi at a press conference in San Francisco.

There has been growing speculation this week that the White House maybe wavering on it’s commitment to the public option and might be willing to take it “off the table” in order to get the healthcare reform passed.  Republicans are pushing for the idea of non-profit cooperatives to compete with the private marketplace who would be given government seed money to start off with.

Despite President Obama’s wish to seek bipartisan support for the reform package, it is likely that the eventual bill, if passed will fall under party lines.  As of now the three different versions floating around the House subcommittees all have public options included.

It may all come down to whether or not Democratic leaders will be able to appease the more fiscally conservative members of their own party.  Right now a group of conservative Democrats the so-called “Blue Dogs” are threatening to hold up passage and siding with Republicans if their demands are not met.

So even if the President is willing to give up the public option, his own party’s leaders maybe unwilling to compromise on that point.

Although hurricane season has been pretty much quiet thus far, tropical activity has picked up last week and the first named storms of the season finally developed.  The remnants of tropical storm Ana are breaking up at the moment but now all eyes are turned to Hurricane Bill.

Hurricane Bill is an enormous system the has already reached Category 4 with winds recorded at over 135 mph.  Many forecasters are expecting it to veer sharply north and miss the U.S. coast entirely.

A front is moving into the eastern seaboard and is expected to push the storm away from the coast.  The northeastern states will be keeping a careful watch on the storm in case it’s track takes it more west than is expected.

Major hurricanes are rare for New England and the other northeastern states and risk of damage could be extreme as residents aren’t likely as prepared as the their southern counterparts for whom it is an annual occurrence.  I, myself living in the Northeast, can distantly remember taping up windows as a child but that was a long time ago.

This would be a good time to make sure your insurance is up to date and maybe exploring if any additional coverage maybe needed like flood insurance which is offered by FEMA through the National Flood Insurance Program.  Hopefully, Hurricane Bill will miss the U.S. coast as expected but it never hurts to be prepared.