Cavalcade of Risk #143: The Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Edition

November 2nd, 2011 by Julie Ferguson

Welcome to Cavalcade of Risk #143. In searching to see if the number 143 had any particular significance, we stumbled on an interesting bit of trivia about the late lamented children’s hero, Mr. Rogers. For the last 30 years of his life, he maintained his weight at exactly 143 pounds. According to writer Tom Junod, Rogers found beauty in the number because, “the number 143 means ‘I love you.’ It takes one letter to say ‘I’ and four letters to say ‘love’ and three letters to say ‘you.’ One hundred and forty-three.” There are a lot of interesting facts associated with Mr. Rogers. Did you know that every one of his famous sweaters was knitted by his Mom? Learn more in 15 reasons Mr. Rogers was best neighbor ever. The world would probably be a lot less risky a place if we all took Mr. Rogers’ message of respect to heart.
Moving on to our entries this week, we begin with some good news that we can all revel in. In his post Remember: I’ll Drink to That!, Henry Stern of InsureBlog tells us that moderate tippling may reduce our risk of Dementia. We’re not sure Mr. Rogers would approve, but pass the Bloody Mary, please.
At Risk Management Monitor, Emily Holbrook notes that Thailand’s worst flooding in five decades has affected companies in every industry, from automotive to technology to pharmaceuticals and beyond. She demonstrates Thailand importance in global supply chains in her post about the 5 companies hit hardest by the Thailand floods.
If Doctors were aware of the actual costs of healthcare being incurred when they provide treatment, would that help in controlling costs? Louise Norris of Colorado Health Insurance Insider examines a physician’s cost control suggestion in her post about real time tracking of healthcare costs.
Russell Hutchinson covers the insurance equivalent of the last mile: actually ensuring that coverage will work for you by covering the proper handling of the policy and how the proceeds will feed into your estate management plans. See Insurance and the Filing Cabinet at Chatswood Consulting Moneyblog.
Despite the fact that millions of children are uninsured, many of these children are eligible for Medicaid/CHIP. Jason Shafrin, The Healthcare Economist, examines trends in participation in these public insurance programs in his post about state governments providing health insurance to more children.
David Williams offers his thoughts on the risk-reward tradeoff related to prostate-specific antigen testing in his post a few observations on the PSA testing debate at Health Business Blog.
Are on-line video doctor visits are a cost effective way to increase access to health care? In his post about virtual medical office visits, Dr. Jaan Sidorov points out that this form of telemedicine has the additional advantage of offering a lower cost alternative for insured beneficiaries who already enjoy high access.
In which industry are you most at risk of suffering an on-the-job injury: construction, manufacturing, mining, or nursing homes? Find out in our Pop Quiz here on Workers Comp Insider
Eric Turkewitz of New York Personal Injury Law Blog presents a real-world case of an insurer playing the odds and losing in his post about a insurer being slammed for bad faith as the Judge cites “A Few Good Men”.
Jacob looks at five common life insurance mistake and how to void them at My Personal Finance Journey.
FMF says there are standards that every policy should uphold as well as additional, more personal considerations to take into account when buying long-term care insurance. He offers guidance for the basics in buying long-term care insurance at Free Money Finance.
Should the Federal Insurance Office release insurers’ statutory financial data to the public in a manner similar to that used by the SEC with its EDGAR tool? R.J. Lehmann tackles this topic in FIO, FOIA and a free market in insurance data posted at Out of the Storm News.
Super Saver makes the case that while the short term downside risk of the stock market is high, the long term downside risk is still low in his post Is it Different this Time? at My Wealth Builder.

Tags: