It Figures

$30.8 Million

The amount from its surplus that Kentucky’s major workers’ compensation insurance carrier, Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance, has decided to return to policyholders. Earlier this month, Gov. Steve Beshear asked the insurer to consider returning some of its $147 million surplus. Although KEMI has distributed more than $30 million in rate reductions over the last three years, this marks the first time KEMI has issued a dividend to current and former policyholders.

$50,000

The gift by BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. to Marshall University to benefit the Lewis College of Business. The contribution will further the development of an Insurance and Risk Management program at the university. According to Marshall officials, no other institution in West Virginia offers a similar program.

$19,000

The firefighting bill received by a Knox County, Tennessee man whose house caught fire in January. Rural/Metro Fire Chief Jerry Harnish says such charges are common. The bill’s recipient lives outside Knoxville city limits. People who live outside of it can subscribe for fire protection, but the man said he had no idea he had to pay for it. Insurance covers fire damage to his home, but not the bill for firefighting.

8

The number of hurricanes forecast for the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season— four of them major— posing a heightened threat to the U.S. coastline, according to the Colorado State University team. The team forecast a 69 percent chance of at least one major hurricane making landfall on the U.S. coastline in 2010, compared with a long-term average probability of 52 percent.

18

The number of states joining in a lawsuit challenging the overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system. The joint lawsuit led by Florida was filed on March 23 by mostly Republican attorney generals. It claims the reform violates state governments’ rights in the U.S. Constitution and will force massive new spending on hard-pressed state governments.

$7 Billion

The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund’s potential shortfall, according to the group TaxWatch. It said that repaying the bonds needed to finance the shortfall would cost Florida almost $4 billion annually, resulting in a loss of more than 70,000 jobs.