Senate Finance Committee holds first in series of Congressional hearings on U.S. health system overhaul

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday hold the first of at least eight congressional hearings focusing on strategies to reform the U.S. health care system, featuring testimony by former HHS secretaries Tommy Thompson and Donna Shalala, CQ HealthBeat reports.

Thompson said the committee should first focus on changing Medicare before addressing the entire U.S. health care system, according to CQ HealthBeat. Thompson recommended changing Medicare by cutting benefits, increasing revenue and raising the age for eligibility. He noted that Medicare’s hospital trust fund will begin paying out more than it is taking in by 2013 and it could be insolvent by 2019. Thompson said, “How should we make these difficult decisions? I am calling for the creation of a bipartisan commission, similar to the base-closing commission.

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Big pay increases for finance and accounting staff

Many Auckland finance and accountancy professionals have had double-digit pay rises in the past year, but those in the middle are leading the way, with those at the top seeing little or no increase.

The pay rises are revealed in the 2008 Robert Half Auckland Salary Guide, just released by the specialist finance and accounting recruitment agency. It is based on a survey completed by more than 1,100 finance and accounting professionals, ranging from accounts payable/receivable, all the way up to CFOs, and across all industries and sectors. .

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Deltek Reports First Quarter 2008 Financial Results

Deltek, Inc. (Nasdaq:PROJ), the leading provider of enterprise applications software for project-focused businesses, today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2008.

Total revenue for the first quarter was $69.4 million, an increase of 11% from the first quarter of 2007. License revenue for the first quarter was $17.0 million, a decrease of 14% from the prior year period, while consulting services revenue increased 31% to $24.3 million, and maintenance and support revenue increased 17% to $28.1 million.

GAAP net income for the first quarter of 2008 was $4.0 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, compared to $5.1 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2007. Non-cash stock-based compensation expenses increased $1.4 million from the prior year period and were a significant contributor to the decrease in Q1 2008 GAAP net income from the prior year.

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Rep. Lynch talks military finance on trip to Iraq

Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (MA-9) recently led a bi-partisan Congressional Delegation to Iraq, Jordan and Belgium to discuss military finance issues.

The visit, according to Meaghan Maher of Lynch’s office, was part of an ongoing assessment of the status of military operations and the investigation of possible fraud and abuse in Iraq reconstruction contracts.

Lynch serves as the chairman of the House of Representatives’ task force on Anti-Terrorism funding. Accompanying him on the trip were Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA), Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME) and Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) and several House Oversight Committee Investigators.

A particular target of the investigation was the New Embassy Compound (NEC) in Baghdad.

The NEC has been the subject of an ongoing investigation due to significant cost overruns, construction delays and safety issues, Maher said.

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Prudential Financial Outlines Practical Investment Tips You Should Consider in the Retirement Red Zone(R)

Whether it’s taking stock of all your potential income sources, making sure you don’t miss out on maximum Social Security benefits or figuring out how to fund post-retirement health-care coverage, there are a number of critical investment decisions Americans in The Retirement Red Zone–the five years before and after retirement–should make.

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(AFX UK Focus) 2008-05-07 09:54 German bankers say worst of financial crisis may be over

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) – Leading German bankers say the worst of the financial markets crisis may be over but remain cautious due to the volatile business environment.

“It is impossible to foresee when the financial crisis will be over but there are some indications that the sharp decline in asset prices will not continue and that the markets are now levelling off,” Commerzbank AG. said in its quarterly report.

Chief Financial Officer Eric Strutz said in a conference call that the markets have somewhat returned to normality in April but stressed that “we have to see what happens in coming quarters”.

Deutsche Bank AG. Chief Executive Josef Ackermann also pointed to signs that some market segments are reviving.

“If no further shocks occur, wen can now jointly cope with the worst.

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Liberty Twp. creates new finance director post

To tackle the ever-increasing financial demands of a $15 million budget and multimillion dollar road improvement projects, Liberty Twp. trustees voted Monday, May 5, to create the position of finance director.

Trustees also voted to appoint accounting specialist Kristen Bitonte to the new role.

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Heads of 8 State-run Financial Firms Reshuffled

Eight of 12 major state-owned financial firms will see a change in leadership.

The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday released the results of a study to determine whether to reappoint the presidents of the 12 companies.

The results depended on their understanding of government policies, management performance and expertise, the commission said.

The Strategy and Finance Ministry also announced that its affiliates including The Export-Import Bank of Korea, Korea Minting & Security Printing Corp. and Korea Investment Corp. will replace their CEOs.

Financial authorities have accepted letters of resignation from the heads of all state-owned financial firms since the general election ended April 9.

Critics complain, however, over what they call unclear standards over who should stay and who should go.

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Investment cos. reduce emergency borrowing from Fed

WASHINGTON (AP) – Wall Street investment companies are reducing their borrowing from the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending program. “); var headline = escape(“Investment cos. reduce emergency borrowing from Fed”); OpenWin( ‘/Global/Create_Email_Story.asp?s=8291789&Headline=’ + headline + ‘&Summary=’ + summary + ‘||width=650,height=545,toolbar=no,scrollbars=1,resizable=1,status=0′)”> .

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End of life planning seminar coming

An end of life planning seminar is scheduled for Saturday, May 31 from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Federated Church at 162 Main Street in East Orleans. At the event there will be an opportunity for professional adivce on questions about end of life issues. There will be a panel of experts in their fields to help us plan for “a graceful exit.”

The panel members include attorney Brooks Thayer who will discuss the importance of wills, health proxy, power of attorney and trusts.

Andy Gustafson, Associate MA Conference Minister, will speak about financial planning to benefit those you love.

Judy Recknagel, M.D., will address medical considerations.

David Rehm, CEO/President of Hospice and Palliative Care of Cape Cod, will talk about end of life strategies.

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