Megapolis Insurance

Midwestern farmers who saw their land swamped by summer flooding may be socked again with steep increases in their crop insurance premiums, the expensive result of the failure to fix broken levees before the winter snow and next springs rains.

The Missouri River rose to record levels this year after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began releasing massive amounts of water from reservoirs in Montana, Nebraska and the Dakotas that had been inundated with melting snow and heavy rains. Many levees in downstream states such as Iowa and Missouri were no match for weeks of sustained pressure and gave way. Homes and farms were damaged or ruined.

The U.S. Department of Agricultures Risk Management Agency said $114 million in claims have been paid so far for flooding damage on 436,000 acres along the Missouri River downstream from the Gavins Point Dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border. Record high water levels also created havoc along the lower Mississippi River from Missouri to Louisiana.

In southeast Missouri, the corps used explosives to blow gaping holes in the Birds Point levee to let water out of the Mississippi River and save the tiny town of Cairo, Ill., on the rivers eastern bank.

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Standard & Poors on Friday warned a swathe of European insurers that they could face a credit downgrade as a result of the continents fiscal crisis.   

Allianz, Aviva, Axa, Generali and Mapfre were among 15 firms warned by the US-based ratings agency.

S&P said the creditwatch was related to an earlier warning on the ratings of 15 of the 17 countries of the eurozone. S&

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As the beneficiary to a life insurance policy, you’re responsibility is to collect your benefits and pay the applicable taxes. Whether the policyholder had been one of your parents, siblings or close family friends, you’ll need to be around to accept your benefits and handle the money responsibly. Beyond your responsibilities of managing the money and obeying the tax laws, your role as the life insurance policy beneficiary is really quite simple. You don’t even need to put much thought into such matters beforehand, because most companies that handle these policies will gladly assist you if questions ever arise.

Receiving benefits from any type of insurance policy can bring some changes into your life. Whether the payout is large or modest, the new money can make an impact on the ways in which you live and spend. With all these changes comes a heightened need for budgeting awareness, because you’ll need to spend that money responsibly if you wish to get the most from your payout.

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Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., are battling to undo this annual fee, which is expected to raise $8 billion in 2014 and $14.3 billion by 2018. Also, some Senate Democrats are warning that a provision in the health law could undermine farmers’ ability to obtain health insurance and some consumer advocates are warning that a tax rule needs to be re-written. 

CQ HealthBeat: Republican Senators Want To Kill Health Care Law Insurance Fee Two Republican senators have joined the battle against the health care overhaul law’s annual fee on insurers, a provision of the measure that the White House will likely fight hard to retain. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Orin G. Hatch of Utah have introduced a bill to repeal the fee, expected to raise $8 billion in 2014 and $14.3 billion by 2018. In remarks on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Hatch said the fee, which insurers and GOP lawmakers call a tax, “is going to hurt employers and employees. It

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