Physicians heal themselves: the good news for consumers - declining health-care inflation - is bad news for the White House.
LAST October President Clinton kicked off the health-care debate by insisting that "only comprehensive reform will slow the frightening rate of increase in health-care costs." From day one even those who rejected his remedies agreed on the nature of the problem: soaring costs, which led in turn to a...

Business briefs.
COLUMN: BUSINESS BRIEFS Telegram & Gazette Bloomberg Index Central Massachusetts -0.57 170.61 Volume: 87,005,943 Up: 8 Down: 13 Unchanged: 8 Gainer: L.S. Starrett Co. $22.00 +$1.10 (volume of 6,648 shares) ...

Hanover has strong first quarter; Net income down, but better than predicted.
Byline: Bob Kievra WORCESTER - The Hanover Insurance Group Inc. yesterday reported first quarter net income of $58.5 million, or $1.12 a share, strong results for a property and casualty insurer pinched by a tough winter and a weak economy in some parts of its footprint. ...

Robust Hanover poised to grow; President sees bright future.
Byline: Bob Kievra WORCESTER - The Hanover Insurance Group Inc. has set the groundwork for a robust expansion period, taking advantage of changing market conditions with a talented core of professionals who have crafted nimble products independent agents want to sell, the company's president and chief executive...

Enterprise staffs Eugene call center.
Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard The local economy is slowing down, but that isn't stopping the new employer in town. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, North America's largest rental car company, is moving full-speed-ahead to staff its call center in downtown Eugene. The company, based...

What's driving the downward trend in employer-sponsored health insurance?
Although the majority of Americans receive their health insurance through an employment-based health plan, that number is declining as health insurance premiums rise, the share of the premium that is passed on to employees rises, and fewer firms offer coverage to their workers (Fronstin 2003). The decline in employer-sponsored...

State's cities, towns must find ways to tame health care costs.
Byline: Marylou Buyse, M.D. COLUMN: As I See It Health care has become the Pac-Man of municipal budgets, devouring an increasingly larger share of local revenues and leaving little left over for essential services such as road and bridge maintenance, education and police and fire...

Insular Life rakes in P1.2 B in first semester.
Byline: ANA MARIE MACUJA Insular Life, the country's first and largest Filipino life insurance company, has surpassed its net income for the year 2006 after posting a net profit of P1.2 billion in the first half of 2007, the same amount which the company earned for the...

Florida Methodists spread insurance risk, explore national plan.
Wesley United Methodist Church is an active congregation of a few hundred members in Marco Island, Florida. A prime-location church only two miles from the Gulf Coast, it has ministries to homeless people, students and elderly people, and each year sends missionaries to Guatemala. The congregation will...

P/$ rate at P46.70/$ 1.
The peso exchange rate closed at P46.70 to the US dollar last Friday at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp., (PDEx). The weighted average rate stands at P46.765. ADB Carbon Fund at $ 151 M The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Asia Pacific Carbon Fund (APCF)...