With the recent publication of its final rule, the federal government's Financial Stability Oversight Council is now in position to designate certain nonbank firms as "systemically important financial institutions" (SIFIs). There is probably no aspect of the Dodd-Frank Act that will have more damaging effects on competition in the U.S. financial system.

Some consumers and businesses might see a little extra cash this summer as a result of the 2010 health care law. The Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported an estimated $1.3 billion in rebates will be delivered from health insurers who spent more than the law allotted on administrative expenses and profits.

Insurance should cover effective and appropriate treatment for anorexia nervosa, which may or may not be residential care, for a particular patient. Adding coverage for any medical illness according to category (e.g., residential care) is usually a bad idea.

Weather change and its consequences are inevitable.  Governments and rating agencies around the world have tools  to “motivate” short-term-focused insurers to broaden their risk perspectives, with their executives facing personal liabilities if their coverage reserves fall short. Without more aggressive moves, the rest of the world could end up like Grenada and Jamaica, circa 2004.

Few recognize just how troubled this government agency really is. When measured against the accounting system used by private mortgage insurers, the FHA is deeply insolvent, with a capital shortfall of tens of billions of dollars. If it were a private firm, state regulators would immediately shut it down. 

The problem of coverage for pre-existing conditions remains relatively small and limited to the individual health insurance market, despite exaggerated claims used to advance passage of the Affordable Care Act. Nevertheless, too many people still remained at risk of falling through the cracks of protective measures provided by HIPAA, COBRA, and state-run high risk pools.

Variations in service use across regions are smaller for the private sector than for Medicare, suggesting better management in the private sector.

For all the talk about the Affordable Care Act's mandate to purchase insurance, you might think that the mandate is the linchpin of the entire law. It isn't, at least from the standpoint of whether the insurance market will collapse without it.