GE pays six-figure sum to insure CEO’s life
General Electric has paid $314,511 in life insurance premiums to cover its chief executive to the tune of $22 million. Jeffrey Immelt is covered by two policies and the six-figure premium is the largest in the S&P 100 Index according to Bloomberg. At the other end of the scale is Apple’s Tim Cook with a $2,520 premium and JP Morgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon whose employers have stumped up just $101. Bloomberg says that executive policies are often part of a wider compensation package and that is the case at GE. Spokesperson Dominic McMullan said: “We provide our named executives with additional benefits that we believe are reasonable, competitive and consistent with the company’s overall executive compensation program.”
Canadian healthcare costs more than most think
The cost of health insurance in Canada is twice what it was a decade ago according to the Fraser Institute. A study shows that the cost of health insurance is 48.5 per cent higher now than in 2005; $8,205 now up from $5,527. Premiums are also increasing at a pace 1.6 per cent faster than average incomes and the report’s co-author Bacchus Barua told the Ottawa Citizen that it’s a risk: “When health care insurance is growing faster than income, it’s an indication you can’t sustain it.” He said that many Canadians assume that health care is free because they don’t see a specific bill for insurance due to it being paid from federal government funds. Others believe that the premiums cover the entire cost of healthcare, again this is not the case.
IAG dips into capital reserves as reinsurance on quake runs out
New Zealand insurer IAG and its Australian parent are having to use capital reserves to settle claims from the 2011 Canterbury earthquake. The insurer says that is how now reached the NZ$4 billion reinsurance limit and that claims continue to come in. IAG NZ has a 45-48 per cent market share in the country and is estimated to have around 6,500 properties to repair as a result of the devastating quake in February 2011. It says it is around 78 per cent through the process but wants to have completed the task by June 2016. However around 50 claims per months continue to add to the load.
