Free Republic

With White House officials promising to work to bail out Obamacare, how can tax reform have ‘essentially repealed’ the behemoth law? On Wednesday afternoon, Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) announced they would postpone until the New Year their request for considering an Obamacare “stability” bill. Their statement capped a sequence of developments that raised almost as many questions as it answered—about the “stability” bill, the process used to consider it, and Obamacare itself.1. If Congress Just ‘Essentially’ Repealed Obamacare, Why Pass a Bill to Prop It Up? Ahead of final passage of the tax bill on Wednesday,...

House Democrats emerged from a closed-door caucus meeting Wednesday morning worn thin from arguing with White House officials over the bumpy rollout of the Affordable Care Act. One source in the room described Democratic lawmakers from across the political spectrum — from moderates in vulnerable districts to progressives in safe seats — as frustrated with the administration in equal measure. They pushed David Simas, the White House deputy senior adviser for communications and strategy, to account for the glitches on the enrollment website and for President Barack Obama’s unfulfilled promise to Americans that if they liked their health insurance policies,...

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- General Re Corp., a reinsurance unit of billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., agreed to pay $72 million to settle investor claims about its role in a fraudulent transaction involving American International Group Inc. The settlement was announced Wednesday by Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who led the lawsuit on behalf of three Ohio pension funds. The settlement requires approval by a federal judge in Manhattan.

Most of this as-yet-undiscovered problem, Gober says, lies in the area of reinsurance, whereby one insurance company insures the liabilities of another so that the latter doesn't have to carry all the risk on its books. Most major insurance companies use outside firms to reinsure, but the vast majority of AIG's reinsurance contracts are negotiated internally among its affiliates, Gober says, and these internal balance sheets don't add up. The annual report of one major AIG subsidiary, American Home Assurance, shows that it owes $25 billion to another AIG affiliate, National Union Fire, Gober maintains. But American has only $22...

Warren Buffett withdraws bond re-insurance plan Reuters Monday, March 3, 2008 NEW YORK: Warren Buffett said Monday that he was no longer offering to guarantee $800 million of municipal bonds backed by the monoline bond insurers MBIA, Ambac Financial Group and FGIC. On Feb 12, Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, offered to reinsure the bonds, but only at a steep premium. The offer excluded risky debt, including securities tied to subprime mortgages, which have caused billions of dollars of losses for bond insurers, leading them to seek new sources of capital or possible break-ups. Speaking on CNBC television, Buffett...

US Republican Presidential candidate John McCain has pledged to protect Bermuda's international businesses if he is successful in his White House bid. The Arizona Senator, who spent three days on the Island this week meeting business and political leaders, said he understood the concerns of the insurance and reinsurance sectors about draft legislation proposing a clampdown on US business operations in so-called tax havens. He told The Royal Gazette: "The industry, the re-insurance that's had such phenomenal success has been good for both nations. I would oppose any measures that would upset that." He also pledged to back Bermuda as...

I was notified by my insurance agent that our policy carrier was unwilling to re-up our contract. Reason: 'cost of re-insurance too high'. No other explanation. Last week I got a notice from my agent that the only insurance I could get was through the MA 'Fair Plan'...state program for problem properties...at DOUBLE the cost. So I called another agent. She said, "Give me the address." "Ohhhhh". [And not a good "Ohhhhh"]. She tells me that insurance carriers are, en masse, cancelling insurance contracts [when up for renewal] on any property that is within one mile of a major body...

New York, Nov. 5 (Reuters): Warren Buffett-run Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Friday posted a 48 per cent decline in quarterly profit — to the lowest level since 2001, hurt by nearly $3 billion of losses from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The company also reduced its stake in foreign currency contracts to $16.5 billion on September 30 from $21.5 billion three months earlier. Buffett has bet against the dollar since 2002 amid concern that high US trade and budget deficits might cause non-US investors to pull money from the country. Third-quarter net income for Berkshire, whose largest business is insurance, fell...

Berkshire reinsurance deals queried Agreements helped Gerling Global Re manipulate resultsBy Alistair Barr, MarketWatch Last Update: 12:22 PM ET April 26, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Berkshire Hathaway, embroiled in widening investigations into so-called finite reinsurance, courted controversy surrounding the products at least a decade ago, according to reports by state regulators. Finite transactions between some of Berkshire's (BRKA: news, chart, profile) (BRKB: news, chart, profile) main insurance units and a top reinsurer helped that company distort its financial statements, according to a New York Insurance Department examination report written in September 1999. The report was about Gerling Global Re,...

Insurance probes reach top execs AIG's Greenberg, Berkshire's Buffett become involvedBy Alistair Barr, MarketWatch Last Update: 3:06 PM ET March 7, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Insurance investigations that began last year have now reached the very top of the industry. Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, chairman and chief executive of American International Group, the largest insurer in the world, and Warren Buffett, the billionaire investing legend who heads Berkshire Hathaway, have become involved in the probes in recent weeks. "The icons of the business now are being called on to explain some of their transactions," said Andy Barile, an insurance industry...

SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) -- Seeking new ways to boost returns, some of the largest hedge funds in the world are getting into the reinsurance business. Soros Fund Management, run by billionaire investor George Soros, and $5 billion hedge fund HBK Investments helped start Glacier Re, a new Swiss reinsurer that's expected to begin underwriting risks next month with $300 million in capital. Soros and HBK own about 90 percent of the company, while U.K.-based reinsurance broker Benfield Group (LSE: BFD.L - news) and Glacier Re management own the rest, according to a Benfield spokeswoman. In addition, Ken Griffin's $10 billion,...