Insurance Companies

The AARP Driver Safety Program, sponsored by the Washington County Commission on Aging, is being offered Saturday, Aug. 19, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Halfway Volunteer Fire Co., 11114 Lincoln Ave., Hagerstown. The instructor is Frederick Yerrick. The cost of taking the course is $10 per person. Checks must be made out to AARP. If the class is canceled, those enrolled will be notified. The fees will be returned or held for the next scheduled class. The course is designed to help drivers improve their skills and prevent traffic accidents.

Thanks for the rescue To the editor: On my way into work at the hospital a few weeks ago, my headlights seemed dim. Making a mental note to get a new headlight, I continued up Interstate 81. As I approached my exit, the needles on my gauges started going haywire. Glancing up and finding no spacecraft in the area, I started to worry. My other headlight was now out. I exited the highway and stopped at a stoplight. The engine died, so I let the car coast around the corner coming to a neat stop directly across from a (closed)

The malpractice insurance companies that operate in West Virginia are turning a profit and some are even reducing the rates they charge doctors. That was the message state Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline gave Sunday to a joint interim committee of the state legislature. It's time for Maryland to check out what the Mountain State is doing on this issue, to see if there's something worth copying. Cline told lawmakers that in the past year, three companies have filed to reduce the rates they charge doctors.

Your car is demolished and the insurance company wants to pay you less than you believe it's worth. A house fire or other disaster forces you out of your home until repairs are made and the insurance company wants receipts for all of the expenses you incur while living in a motel. Your home is damaged or destroyed as a result of flooding and the people who issued your homeowners' policy tell you that you're not covered at all. Then there are health claims in which the insurance company doesn't want to pay for a treatment the patient feels is necessary.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Victims of the Sept. 11 attacks received $38.1 billion in compensation, with insurance companies picking up the largest portion of the tab, according to a study released Monday. The report by Rand Institute for Civil Justice found that civilians killed or injured have received an average of $3.1 million per person from the government, charities and insurance companies, or $8.7 billion. Emergency personnel killed or injured were given a total of about $1.9 billion.

Is it better to have a governor well-versed in policy, or one who works in collabatoration with the state legislature? When looking at the 10 candidates bidding to replace West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise, we have to ask: Why not both? Wise, who decided against seeking a second term after revelations about an extramarital affair, accomplished a great deal during his first term. Recognizing that education is the state's future, Wise persuaded lawmakers to legalize video-poker machines and send much of the cash into the PROMISE scholarship program.

The West Virginia Legislature moved ahead with its 2004 agenda this week, trying to craft legislation to keep all-terrain vehicle riders from killing themselves, protect the state's water resources and make it easier for insurance companies to do business in the state. The ATV bill is the latest version of one lawmakers have tried to pass for seven years. Despite many setbacks, they keep trying because the state has the nation's highest per-capita ATV crash death rate, with 75 dying since 2000.

The West Virginia Legislature has been studying insurance availability and affordability during its interim committee meetings. I have had more of my constituents contact me regarding either the high cost of insurance or just not being able to get insured at all, than on any other issue. During our last regular session we did address the high cost of malpractice insurance and gave some relief to doctors and hospitals. We set a maximum cap on noneconomic damages, which trial lawyers said would not help.

For any other governor, the record of achievement accumulated by West Virginia's Bob Wise would provide a strong platform on which to seek re-election. His administration legalized "gray" video-lottery machines to get new revenue for the state. It also create a new scholarship program and dealt with medical malpractice. But Wise's decision to try to rebuild his damaged marriage instead of running again has made him a lame duck in his last year in office. Wise announced he would not run again in August, after it became clear his affair with another woman would become a re-election issue.