Texas Department of Insurance Renews Convicted Felon’s Insurance License

Corrupt insurance agent, Arnulfo C. Olivarez, who pleaded  “HALF GUILTY” to a felony in August (see August archives) has gained the approval of the Texas Department of Insurance in renewing his insurance licenses for two more years. One wonders whats up with that? It has been our understanding that in Texas felons are not eligible for licensure by the Texas Department of Insurance. I guess we are wrong about that. Could it be possible that some sort of “deal” has been cut with the Feds?

http://www.solutionsfortexas.info/id133.html

Process for revocation of license due to felony conviction:

If the attorney determines that the license should be denied due to the criminal conviction, the attorney, with the assistance of an investigator, secures certified copies of the relevant criminal convictions and any other information deemed necessary. A letter of proposed license denial is then mailed to the applicant. The letter clearly identifies the convictions that form the basis of the proposed denial, cites the statutory authority for the proposed denial, and advises the applicant that a hearing may be requested to challenge the proposed denial.

If an applicant requests a hearing on the proposed license denial, the request is immediately forwarded to the prosecuting attorney. The attorney schedules a hearing on the nearest available date, and issues a Notice of Hearing to the applicant. After a hearing is conducted, the Administrative Law Judge issues a Proposal for Decision for consideration by the Commission of Licensing and Regulation. After considering the Proposal for Decision, the Commission may grant or deny the license.

For individuals who are already licensed when the agency discovers a criminal conviction, the process is essentially the same as that described above. A conviction discovered by Licensing staff, an Enforcement investigator, or any other agency employee is referred to the Enforcement Division. If the Enforcement attorney finds, after investigation, that the conviction warrants license suspension or revocation, a letter of proposed license suspension or revocation is issued to the license holder. If the license holder requests a hearing, a hearing is conducted, a Proposal for Decision is issued for consideration by the Commission, and the Commission ultimately decides whether the license should be suspended or revoked.

Can Risk Management be Quantified?

Employer: How do we know we are doing much better this year than last year?

Risk Manager:  What is this year is last year plus or minus this year’s change.

CFO:  But change is the only constant, so why do we need to measure it?

To quantify risk management performance, the cost of risk must be measured. The components of Cost of Risk (COR) include 1. insurance premiums, 2. retained losses, 3. risk management department budgets, 4. risk management contract services. Results are compiled to show an average COR cost per $1,000 of revenues.

Insurance Agent’s Sentencing Delayed

Admitted felon, Arnulfo “Half Guilty” Olivarez, was to have been sentenced for his crimes on December 3, 2008. However, the sentencing has been delayed and several sealed documents have been delivered to the court. Could it be that under a Plea Agreement the convicted insurance agent is cooperating with authorities to reduce his prison sentence?

For more information, refer to the August Archives on this weblog.

usa-v-rodriguez               

What is An Actuary?

“An actuary is a person who passes as an expert on the basis of a prolific ability to produce an infinite variety of encomprehensible figures calculated with micrometric precision from the vaguest of assumptions based on debatable evidence drawn from inclnclusive data derived by persons of questionalble reliability for the sole purose of confusing an already hopelessly befuddled group of persons who never read the statistics anyway.”              

Daren Daley, Perr & Knight

Community Hospitals See Record Profits in 2007

U.S. community hospitals enjoyed record profits in 2007, posting $43 billion more in revenue than expenses and creating the largest single-year jump in profit margins in at least 15 years, according to figures released by the American Hospital Association in its AHA Hospital Statistics 2009 Edition.

Texas Medical Association – Trends in PPO Contracting

Slides 8,9,10 are very interesting. Illustrates the kinds of deals that are being made that employers who foot their employees health care bills are unaware of. Also further proof that medical care cost contracted on an APO basis lead to higher health care costs in the community.

http://www.ascassociation.org/slides2008/Spangler%20Understanding%20the%20Changing%20Climate%20of%20Insurer%20Contracting.ppt#266,11,Physician Ownership

Sell Your Life Insurance Policy for Cash

Recently we brokered the sale of an existing $500,000 term life policy for a client. The owner of the company was in the process of selling his business to a concern in Mexico, and no longer had a need for the coverage. There was no cash value (it was a term life policy). We solicited bids for the policy. An institutional investor (a New York Bank) submitted the highest cash offer. The transaction was completed and our client received a check for $50,000.    

Viatical and Life Settlement Brokerage is regulated by the Texas Department of Insurance.