Archive for August 25th, 2009

Raise your hand if you want to pay $850 higher health insurance premiums to cover in vitro fertilization ?

August 25, 2009

Some interesting factoids from a noted Harvard professor …

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Through the Medicare and Medicaid programs and state government regulations, it sets the prices paid to providers, determines who is covered for what in its insurance plans, and requires that certain benefits are included in insurance policies.

But, some consumers may not want expensive ‘Cadillac’ health plans that pay for acupuncture, fertility treatments or hairpieces …

The government of Massachusetts, for example, requires 52 benefits, including in vitro fertilization, a benefit that raises the price of every family’s health insurance by $850 or so.

But, some consumers may not want expensive ‘Cadillac’ health plans that pay for acupuncture, fertility treatments or hairpieces …

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Despite the government’s regulation of the prices, coverage, and benefits in Medicare, the program has incurred a $38 trillion liability – a sum equivalent to nearly three years of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.

The country’s 87 private insurers’ general and administrative expenses are 5 percent, a percentage lower than Medicare’s.

40 percent of doctors refuse to see Medicaid recipients due to its stringent provider payment rates.  Increasingly, physicians refuse to see Medicare enrollees too, for similar reasons.

To compensate for the government’s shortfall in payments to providers, enrollees in private health insurance have been forced to pay about $90 billion more annually.

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Source: RCP, Government Should Get Back to the Basics on Health Care, August 22, 2009
Regina E. Herzlinger, McPherson Professor at Harvard Business School and author of “Who Killed Health Care?’(McGraw Hill, 2007)http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/08/22/government_should_get_back_to_the_basics_on_health_care_97986.html

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Posted in Health Care / Medical Insurance | 1 Comment »

Mission accomplished: Bank the $100 million in line-by-line spending cuts.

August 25, 2009

Three months ago, President Barack Obama ordered his cabinet secretaries to find $100 million in budget cuts for the current fiscal year to emphasize the point that he, too, was serious about belt-tightening.

I missed the report when it came out.

The answer: Agencies overachieved, cutting $102 million – roughly 0.006% of the estimated federal deficit.

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From Bizblog, Obama Completes $100 Million Budget Cut, July 29, 2009

The list of 77 spending cuts, which the White House is calling “the $100 million savings challenge,” reflects the vastness of government — and its vast inefficiency…

The Air Force has proposed replacing its specially formulated jet fuel with commercial aviation fuel, which it will top up with some military additives. That will save nearly $52 million next year, when the program begins.

The Office of Thrift Supervision, a division of the Treasury, identified unused phone lines costing $320,000.

By increasing the number of soldiers traveling on each airplane chartered for rest-and-relaxation leave, the Army will save $18 million in the next few months.

The Navy will save $5 million a year by deleting inactive Internet accounts.

The Justice Department will save $573,000 through fiscal 2010 by setting up its printers and copiers to use both sides of the paper.

By emailing some documents instead of printing them out, the Department of Homeland Security will save $318,000.

Both Homeland Security and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have pledged to take the same step that has sent the newspaper industry into a tailspin: They will start getting their news online free, rather than renew their subscriptions. Homeland Security will save $47,160.

The Coast Guard realized that maintenance schedules for its 1,800 small boats assumed they were for recreational use such as water-skiing or bass-fishing. By adjusting maintenance schedules to reflect what the Coast Guard actually does, the agency discovered it can save $2 million a year.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is going to save $3.8 million by refurbishing and reusing or selling its emergency trailers — like the ones provided to people displaced by hurricanes — instead of ditching them.

Congratulations – great job, Obama. You are the cost cutting president, indeed.

http://bizblogger.blogspot.com/2009/07/obama-completes-100-million-budget-cut.html

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See also:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124882436513388423.html

For the official report with all cuts:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/blog/admin_savings_appendix_–_final.pdf

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Posted in Budget - Deficit | Leave a Comment »

Forget the cola wars … now, it’s Big Carl vs. Big Mac in “the burger wars” ..

August 25, 2009

Ken’s Take: (1) Nice example of “judo marketing” – leveraging a much bigger competitor’s strength. (2) the mobile diner shows some marketing cahones (3) never, ever say that you’re not concerned about what competitors are doing – just riles them up (4) even if you say you’re not concerned, be concerned and counter-punch

Excerpted from WSJ: Hardee’s, Carl’s Hope to Steer Angus Eaters. Aug 19, 2009 

The burger wars are heating up, with the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. chains taking aim at McDonald’s Corp. with a taste challenge and an attack on Big Mac.

In September, Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. restaurants will offer mail-in refunds to customers who claim to like a McDonald’s Angus burger better than a Carl’s Jr. ‘Six Dollar Angus Burger ‘ — which actually costs $3.99 –or a $3.49 Hardee’s Angus Thickburger.

The chief executive of CKE Restaurants — the parent of both Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. —  said that McDonald’s national rollout last month of $3.99 Angus burgers “gave us the perfect opportunity” to change a perception among consumers that burgers at Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s cost more than those at McDonald’s.

Moreover, feeling that the McDonald’s Angus burger was a copycat of CKE’s Angus burgers, Carl’s Jr.  is introducing the Big Carl, to go up against the Big Mac.

The Big Carl contains seven ounces of beef, compared to the Big Mac’s 3.2 ounces, and costs $2.49, about 50 cents less than a Big Mac, depending on the city.

“After they so blatantly copied our burgers, we felt it was fair play.” 

The Big Carl burger will be backed by a snarky marketing campaign. One television commercial begins with a parody of the Big Mac jingle followed by a voice from Carl’s Jr. saying, “We’ve got a jingle, too. Double the meat. Double the cheese. Less money. La La La La La.”

One day next month, the company will park a Carl’s Jr. mobile diner outside McDonald’s restaurants in Los Angeles and offer to swap McDonald’s customers’ Big Macs for Big Carls.

CKE could have a hard time making a dent in its large rival. With 14,000 U.S. stores, McDonald’s dwarfs CKE, which has 1,082 Carl’s Jr. restaurants and 1,713 Hardee’s in the U.S.

Hardee’s sells different types of Thickburgers, the biggest of which is the Monster Thickburger, which tips the scales at 1,420 calories and 108 grams of fat. McDonald’s Bacon and Cheese Angus burger weighs in with 790 calories and 39 grams of fat.

McDonald’s isn’t worried about CKE’s efforts. “It’s flattering that there’s so much attention around us … our Angus third pounder is a great burger and I’m not too concerned about what other folks are doing.”

Full article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125064285111841883.html?mod=djemMM

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Posted in Mktg - Promotion | Leave a Comment »