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PIA Western Alliance
You are most likely up-to-date on this crisis but we’ll summarize. The California wildfires at one point numbered 15. They have killed — so far — 41 people and caused an estimated $65 billion in losses. That number and the number dead will likely climb.
The fires consumed over 100 miles of land. At times, it raged and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses including several large and small wineries in the heart of California's wine country.
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PIA Western Alliance
Weekly Industry News Focus: Congress & Wildfire Funding
Posted By Administration, 7 hours ago
Is the burning down of wineries what is going to finally get Congress to act and find a way to fund the prevention of wildfires? It may be the tipping point for action. While that may seem snarky, some think that’s maybe the case. Billions spent fighting fires this year that is added to the billions spent the year before and the year before that didn't do it and deaths and destruction in the past couldn't move the two political parties to do something, either.
Nothing seemed to move them. Now there are 15 wildfires raging in California and they've destroyed a number of huge — and very successful — wineries. It will be years before the wine industry in California recovers.
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PIA Western Alliance
This is an on-going story and by the time you read this everything could have changed. One thing that might change the president's decision is the need for tax reform and passing a budget which Democrats will use as a way to get President Trump to change course on his ObamaCare stance.
On Thursday last week, President Trump issued a much expected order ending the cost sharing reduction (CSR) payments to insurers participating in the ObamaCare exchanges. In announcing the end to the payments, the president said he’s starting the ObamaCare repeal process.
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PIA Western Alliance
Vertafore has released the fourth annual Millennials in Insurance Survey. It's a bit of good news for an industry whose talent is aging and retiring at a rapid rate. Current estimates are that 25% of insurance agents will leave the business in the next two years.
The bad news there is a lot of insurance history and insurance experience is going out the door. Here's the good news. Those millennials working in insurance — with a millennial being someone born between 1982 and 2002 — love their jobs. It appears the future has arrived.
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PIA Western Alliance
Every day we hear of a new cyber space attack. It's a company or a government agency or a ransomware attack. Something. Always something. Worse, individuals, business and government seem powerless to stop the onslaught. Firewalls and other protections — like limiting and carefully checking email and personal and employee restrictions — don't really work since the attacks are relentless.
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PIA Western Alliance
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is over $25 billion in debt and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) says by the end of October, it will be completely out of money.
Congress is looking at a fix. However, those in the know will tell you in the last decade — and after Hurricane Katrina put the NFIP in debt — Congress has been struggling to find some sort of an answer to the nation's flood insurance disaster.
The latest effort is a $36.5 billion rescue bill passed by the U.S. House last week. New Jersey Republican and House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen said it will provide relief for Hurricane's Harvey and Irma and send a small patch of money for wildfire relief.
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PIA Western Alliance
Social Security recipients will get a 2% hike in benefits next year. It's not large and is small by historical standards, but it is the biggest jump since 2012. On average recipients will see an increase of about $27 a month.
The hike is determined by the rate of inflation in the 3rd quarter and then uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures for the price of food, housing, clothing, transportation, energy, medical care, recreation and education for the percentage of increase.
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PIA Western Alliance
Workplace happiness is critical to productivity. We all know that. But define happiness. It's a subjective definition. What one manager defines as happy would be misery for another.
Defining worker happiness is also splitting hairs. Reality is a much better measuring stick. Happy employees are more loyal, more willing to work for less and they’re way more productive.
A study done in 2015 said insurance workers — on the happy-unhappy scale — sit close to the bottom when it comes to workplace happiness. Just 22% of them say they are happy at work.
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PIA Western Alliance
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