MILWAUKEE (AP) - Nearly half of the Wisconsin and West Virginia residents who signed up for health insurance through the new online exchanges are between the ages of 55 and 64, tying for the highest rate in the nation and raising the possibility that the two states could see higher insurance rates down the line.
Figures released by the federal government Monday show that 45 percent of enrollees in those two states were between the ages of 55 and 64. By comparison, the next-highest rate was 21 percent of enrollees in each state between the ages of 45 to 54.
Generally, states want a sizable number of young people to enroll so their participation offsets the costs of covering older, sicker Americans. If enough young people decline to buy insurance through state or federal marketplaces, it could throw off the market’s equilibrium and cause insurance rates to rise dramatically the following year.
More than 2 million Americans signed up for government-subsidized private insurance by the end of December, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Of those enrollees, 33 percent were ages 55 to 64.
Federal officials said the higher rates in Wisconsin and West Virginia could reflect state demographics, as well as a tendency for older residents to sign up before younger people. Officials said they expect a surge of younger people signing up toward the end of open enrollment March 31.
“We think more and more young people will sign up as time goes by,” said Gary Cohen, a deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “We’re very pleased with the percentages that we have so far.”
Messages left with the offices of the insurance commissioners in both states weren’t immediately returned.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A company looking to dig a huge iron mine near Mellen is complaining state regulators want too much information on its plans to take bulk mineral samples.
The Department of Natural Resources says Gogebic Taconite needs certain permissions for the sampling, including a storm water permit and an air permit exemption. DNR regulators asked the company for more information on the process last month.
The agency on Monday released a Jan. 8 letter Gogebic Taconite Engineer Timothy Meyer wrote in response. Meyer complained the DNR’s questions go beyond what’s needed for a storm water permit and an air permit exemption.
He still provided the information but noted he was doing it only to move the process forward.
Larry Lynch, the DNR’s mine project manager, didn’t immediately return a message.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The two pension funds for retired state workers operated by the State of Wisconsin Investment Board posted double-digit returns in 2013.
Department of Employee Trust Funds Secretary Robert Conlin said Monday that the strong returns means there should likely be a monthly pension payment increase for retirees in the spring. That would mark the first increase in five years, as losses suffered from the 2008 recession were spread out over that time.
The Investment Board says the state’s core fund grew by 13.5 percent last year. All 167,000 retirees in the Wisconsin Retirement System participate in the core fund, which includes a diverse group of both domestic and international investments.
The risker variable fund, which has about 40,000 investors, had a preliminary return of 29 percent.
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MILWAUKEE (AP) - A Milwaukee County bus supervisor has been reinstated three months after he was fired for breaking up a fight on the city’s south side.
The Milwaukee County Transit System announced Bill Bierman’s reinstatement on Monday.
WTMJ-TV (https://bit.ly/1fsxHonhttps://bit.ly/1fsxHon ) reports Bierman will receive back wages for the three months he was fired.
After hearing a woman scream for help on Oct. 6 and breaking up the fight, Bierman was suspended. Weeks later, he was fired.
Bierman said he was told he violated the company’s workplace violence policy.
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Information from: WTMJ-TV, https://www.todaystmj4.comhttps://www.todaystmj4.com
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