Tag: Indiana

Indiana life insurance CEO says deaths are up 40% among people ages 18-64

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://www.thecentersquare.com/indiana/indiana-life-insurance-ceo-says-deaths-are-up-40-among-people-ages-18-64/article_71473b12-6b1e-11ec-8641-5b2c06725e2c.html

Excerpt:

The head of Indianapolis-based insurance company OneAmerica said the death rate is up a stunning 40% from pre-pandemic levels among working-age people.

“We are seeing, right now, the highest death rates we have seen in the history of this business – not just at OneAmerica,” the company’s CEO Scott Davison said during an online news conference this week. “The data is consistent across every player in that business.”

OneAmerica is a $100 billion insurance company that has had its headquarters in Indianapolis since 1877. The company has approximately 2,400 employees and sells life insurance, including group life insurance to employers in the state.

Davison said the increase in deaths represents “huge, huge numbers,” and that’s it’s not elderly people who are dying, but “primarily working-age people 18 to 64” who are the employees of companies that have group life insurance plans through OneAmerica.

“And what we saw just in third quarter, we’re seeing it continue into fourth quarter, is that death rates are up 40% over what they were pre-pandemic,” he said.

Author(s): Margaret Menge

Publication Date: 1 Jan 2022

Publication Site: The Center Square

Why It’s Time for States to Raise Their Tobacco Taxes

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.governing.com/now/Why-Its-Time-for-States-to-Raise-Their-Tobacco-Taxes.html

Excerpt:

In the face of the pandemic, states across the geographic and political spectrum — including Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico and New York — are actively considering tobacco tax increases during their legislative sessions. Last month, a bipartisan supermajority in the Maryland Legislature moved to increase the state’s cigarette tax by $1.75 per pack, the first increase in nearly a decade, and to establish a tax on e-cigarettes to fund tobacco cessation and health programs.

The growing legislative momentum comes after voters in Colorado and Oregon approved tobacco tax increases in ballot measures last November. Colorado, which had not raised tobacco taxes in 16 years, will collect an estimated $175 million in revenue during the 2021-22 budget year for tobacco cessation and health programs. In Oregon, higher tobacco taxes will generate an estimated $160 million per year and help to fund the care of people with mental illnesses and other conditions.

Author(s): NANCY BROWN, AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

Publication Date: 15 March 2021

Publication Site: Governing

House scuttles proposals to politicize investments of Indiana Public Retirement System

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.elkharttruth.com/news/state/house-scuttles-proposals-to-politicize-investments-of-indiana-public-retirement-system/article_b2427808-e315-5ae3-b66b-ba77baa3ef88.html

Excerpt:

State and local government employees, including Hoosier teachers, can breathe a little easier knowing their retirement funds — for now — will not be subject to political whims.

Two proposals seeking to politicize the investments of the Indiana Public Retirement System (INPRS) failed to advance out of the Republican-controlled House by this week’s deadline, and likely will not again be considered by state lawmakers this year.

Author(s): Dan Carden

Publication Date: 24 February 2021

Publication Site: The Elkhart Truth