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Parents of Autistic children push for better insurance coverage

February 14, 2009 By

Parents of Autistic children packed a statehouse committee room this week to press for better insurance coverage for their kids. Lawmakers appear sympathetic to their cause but are worried about the cost. The parents were lobbying for a bill that requires companies that offer health plans to 50 or more employees to cover specific treatments for Autism.

Susan Smith of Brayton has two 16 year old sons with the disorder. She says she discovered many services were not offered in Iowa because parents couldn’t afford them. "It is truly difficult to convey to you the helplessness a family feels when they know that a reputable intervention has been identified and is available in other areas of the country, yet were unavailable to our children because of the cost and the state that we lived in," Smith said.

To remedy the situation, Smith took graduate classes until she was certified to provide behavioral analysis for her sons. Now, she wants insurance companies to cover that kind of treatment for other Autistic children. But, the interim chief medical officer at Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Dr. Paul Karazija, says it would be "unsustainable" -especially since the bill allows for up to 36-thousand dollars worth of coverage per a year.

"You’re facing a potential payment for that 480 enrollee population of 17-million dollars," Dr. Karazija told lawmakers. "So, I want you to think about the fact that that is potentially a disproportionate amount of expense considering we have to administer benefits to two million plus members." Josh Cobbs of Sioux City also has a son with Autism.

"Many will say this is too costly to implement, but is the premium increase of a-dollar-86 ($1.86) per month – which is, by the way, less than the cost of a grande coffee at Starbucks – too high to give a child with autism the ability to live a happy and productive life?" Cobbs asked legislators. But the senior vice president of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry says even a small increase may be too much to bear for some companies. John Gilliland says each additional mandate adds up.

"So regardless of the economy, good economy, bad economy, that adds up to money out of Iowan’s paychecks and at the end of the day that’s not in their best interest," Gilliland said. Insurance carriers also argue that some of the Autism treatments covered in the bill are "educational" rather than medical. After the meeting, legislators said they were sensitive to both sides of the issue and would work to balance the need of the individual families with the rising of cost of insurance for all Iowa families.  

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With:

Thought, not money important for Valentine’s gift

February 14, 2009 By

Forget spending a hundred bucks on roses. A relationships expert says you don’t need to fork out a bundle of cash to give an expressive, loving gift for Valentine’s Day.

Susan Schiltz-Day, a licensed mental health counselor in Urbandale, says put some thought into what your loved one says he or she really wants and go that route, even if it’s something simple like your attention, holding hands or a hug.

Schiltz-Day says: “There’s a lot of things right now that are very commercialized in terms of Valentine’s Day. It’s a nice way to nudge ourselves that this is something we need to look at, reminding ourselves how important those relationships are.”

 She says when married couples get too wrapped up in their jobs or the children, it shows in the divorce rate of between 40 and 50-percent. She says the emphasis needs to be on building and maintaining a satisfying relationship.

Diamond earrings aren’t worth much if there’s no love behind the gift. Schiltz-Day says, “I don’t think the money is probably nearly as important in terms of where your heart is at.” She says couples need to take time, focus on each other and how to grow the relationship.

One avenue is to introduce new activities the couple can do together. That might include: concerts, plays, skiing, hiking, dancing, vacationing in a new city, or taking a class. She says there are two important keys in a successful long-term commitment.

Schiltz-Day says, “Knowing how to resolve conflict and knowing how to refuel the relationship and deal with inherent boredom that comes from particularly ongoing relationships.” She says another key to a successful relationship is to be sure you have more positive moments than negative moments. Research suggests couples need at least a 5-to-1 ratio of positive to negative interactions or feelings — stable marriages have a significantly higher ratio of positive moments to negative ones. 

Filed Under: Human Interest

U-I finance expert expects stock market to make rebound

February 14, 2009 By

A University of Iowa finance professor is optimistic the stock market might be ready for an uptick. Todd Houge  say there are indications things could be swinging back up.

Houge says he’s reluctant to say the market hit bottom, but says since late November there’s been substantial negative economic news, but the market is higher than it was at that point.

Houge says the market may’ve factored in a lot of bad news already, so that news isn’t having the negative impact it otherwise might.

He says it makes him "a little bit optimistic that maybe the market has priced in the really bad news" and we may be near a market bottom. Houge says if we have hit a bottom, then that would be good news for getting the economy turned around.

Houge says there is evidence that the stock market tends to lead the economy by six months or so, and the turnaround in the stock market likely would start before an economic turnaround. He says many economists say the turnaround won’t come until late this year or into 2010. Houge says he sees good things happening if the stock market starts to show an upturn.

Houge says a lot of hedge funds and mutual funds managers are holding cash now, and as soon as we see what looks like an improvement in the market, he expects them to invest the cash into the market. Houge says that influx of cash could give things a good boost. He says there appears to be alot of money sitting on the sidelines waiting to get back into equities, and he wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple of days in the next couple of months where the market is up substantially.

Houge says that might be enough to get things going and to get investors back into the game. Houge is an assistant professor of finance in the U-I College of Business. 

Filed Under: Business Tagged With:

Banking superintendent says there’s sticker shock over car loan rates

February 14, 2009 By

Banking Superintendent Tom Gronstal The state banking superintendent says consumers are experiencing a bit of sticker shock when they take out a conventional car loan.

State Banking Superintendent Tom Gronstal says consumers got used to the low-interest or no-interest rate loans from car manufacturers.

 "A lot of the credit that consumers relied on to purchase cars and other durable goods that was provided by manufacturers captive finance companies has dried up," Gronstal says. "Those captive finance companies — like GMAC, Ford Motor Credit, those storts of entites — had loan rates that were, essentially financed by their parent company, in order to help sell the product."

Now, since car companies’ loans aren’t as readily available, many consumers are approaching a traditional bank for a loan to buy a car or a big-ticket appliance. "Banks…have to charge a more realistic interest rate and so I think people are kind of shocked that, perhaps, a one- or two-percent car loan isn’t available to them anymore, so they think that credit isn’t available," Gronstal says. "Credit is available, but the banks, they have to charge more."

Gronstal says there appears to be retraction on both sides of the ledger when it comes to loans. "We see both a shrinking in demand for loans and a more cautious approach to lending by the lenders," Gronstal says. "But the biggest decline in credit availability is not bank credit. It’s credit from non-bank sources."

Gronstal testified before the Legislative Oversight Committee this past week, answering questions on a variety of issues. According to Gronstal, ag banks and farm borrowers are in "good condition" and he foresees no shortage of farm credit for the 2009 growing season.

And Gronstal said the few Iowa banks which receive federal bailout funds should have no problems adhering to the $500,000 limit on salaries for the top 15 executives. "I can tell you that for most Iowa state-chartered banks, the top 15 people in the bank don’t collectively make a half a million dollars (today)," Gronstal told legislators.

Filed Under: Business, Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government Tagged With: