North Carolina Gov. McCrory Opposes State Run Health Exchange

February 13, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said he does not think the state is ready to run health exchanges called for in the federal Affordable Care Act.

McCrory’s office issued a statement saying the governor had reviewed the advantages and disadvantages of expanding Medicaid in North Carolina.

The state must tell federal officials by Friday if it will run the health exchanges to help those without insurance obtain coverage.

McCrory said the state is not ready to expand Medicaid and should allow the federal government to run the health exchanges.

He said the current Medicaid system is broken and not ready to expand. He said to do so would put taxpayers at risk.

He also said the federal government has not provided enough information on the long-term costs.

The Republican governor’s stance is at odds with the preference of the state’s elected insurance commissioner, Wayne Goodwin, a Democrat who supports a state-run exchange. In a recent interview with Insurance Journal, Goodwin said the decision on how the state should proceed is up to McCrory and lawmakers but Goodwin made his opinion clear:

“Just as I did with their predecessors, I have expressed my concern that the state of North Carolina knows best for North Carolinians than the United States federal government does, particularly as it relates to health insurance and exchange matters. There are a variety of reasons why the others have varying opinions, but I believe that the state should do its job and protect consumers and help regulate this marketplace.”

Goodwin told Insurance Journal he believes health care providers and the business community also prefer a state

View the Original article

South Carolina Emergency Officials Study Sandy for Lessons

November 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Emergency officials on the South Carolina coast are looking at Superstorm Sandy to try to learn ways to better prepare for future storms.

Horry County emergency management director Randy Webster has been looking at the impact of Sandy, The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reported.

The storm hit the East Coast on Oct. 29, causing problems from North Carolina to Maine. More than 100 deaths were reported, most from drowning in the storm surge. The storm had moved by Myrtle Beach two days earlier, far offshore.

Webster has considered what would have happened if Sandy had hit the area.

“The immediate coastal impacts would be just as catastrophic, but when you get into that larger infrastructure issue we don’t have the same issues,” he said.

The Grand Strand would not face the same problems with damage to the transportation network, Webster said. The concentration of the population is also much less than New York.

The storm would have been similar to Hurricane Hugo in 1989 as far as the storm surge, up to 13 feet, he said. But Sandy lacked Hugo’s winds.

“There’s more work to be done to recognize that storm surge needs to be at the forefront and not the category of the hurricane that represents the wind speeds,” Webster said.

Storm surge impacts have been studied for Horry and Georgetown counties. Study results for the rest of the state are expected to be ready before the 2013 hurricane season that begins in June, said Sam Hodge, Georgetown County’s emergency management director.

Both men worry about complacency, since Hugo was the last major storm to hit South Carolina.

“As prepared as we think we are, we don’t know until it actually happens,” Hodge said. “There’s the unknown of will the people actually evacuate? Will we have a death toll with people failing to evacuate like they did up there?”

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Southeast NewsTopics: disaster preparedness, South Carolina, storm losses, Superstorm SandyHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

View the Original article

North Carolina Insurers Seek 17.7% Increase in Homeowners Rates

October 4, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

North Carolina homeowners could see their first rate increase in four years as the state’s rating bureau called for a statewide average 17.7 percent increase in loss cost rates.

The North Carolina Rate Bureau filed for the rate increase on behalf of all property insurers. If approved as filed, it would increase loss cost rates by 17.7 percent. That figure includes a homeowners’ rate hike of 17.4 percent, a rental rate increase of 30 percent and a 29.5 percent increase in condominium coverage.

Rate Bureau General Manager Ray Evans said the rate increase is needed due to several factors including the rise of reinsurance. He said reinsurance is a major concern for insurers such as the North Carolina Farm Bureau with a concentration of policies in the state.

View the Original article

2 Republicans Face Run-Off in North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Race

May 10, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Republicans still have to pick their candidate for North Carolina insurance commissioner after cutting the field to two.

Richard Morgan and Mike Causey topped a three-candidate field on Tuesday to advance to a runoff election this summer because neither got 40 percent of the vote. The winner faces incumbent Democrat Wayne Goodwin.

Insurance agency owner James McCall of Mooresville came in third.

Causey, of Greensboro, is a former insurance agent and political consultant who failed in three elections between 1992 and 2000 to unseat former Democratic Insurance Commissioner Jim Long.

Richard Morgan is a Moore County insurance broker whose rise to become House co-speaker with Democrat Jim Black in 2003 fractured legislative Republicans. He ran four years ago for state schools superintendent and in 2010 for state Senate.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Southeast NewsTopics: Mike Causey, North Carolina election, Republican primary, Richard MorganHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

View the Original article

South Carolina Weighs Sprinkler Mandate for New Homes

May 25, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The debate over whether all new homes should have fire sprinklers is heating up in South Carolina.

The South Carolina Building Code Council is considering whether to adopt the International Residential Code requiring sprinklers in all new homes.

The National Fire Protection Association has launched a statewide ad campaign featuring commercials and billboards in favor of the requirement. Relatives of fallen firefighters and burn victims speak in favor of sprinklers.

The Home Builders Association of South Carolina agrees that sprinklers make people safer. But the group says that putting in sprinklers in a new home is a decision that should be up to homeowners.

Whether the code is adopted will ultimately be decided by the General Assembly.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Southeast NewsTopics: home sprinklers, South Carolina building codeHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

View the Original article