Monthly Archives: September 2013

Liberty Property Trust Prices $450 Million Of 4.40% Senior Notes Due 2024

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MALVERN, Pa., Sept. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Liberty Property Trust (LRY), announced today that its limited partnership subsidiary, Liberty Property Limited Partnership, has priced a $450 million offering of 4.40% senior unsecured notes under its existing shelf registration statement. The notes are due February 15, 2024. The offering is expected to close on September 27, 2013, subject to customary closing conditions. The proceeds will be used to fund a portion of the cash consideration payable in the Company's pending acquisition of the outstanding general and limited partnership interests of the Cabot Industrial Value Fund III Operating Partnership, L.P.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated served as joint book-running managers and Barclays Capital Inc., BB&T Capital Markets, Capital One Securities, Inc., Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA), Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, PNC Capital Markets LLC, RBS Securities Inc., SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., The Huntington Investment Company, UBS Securities LLC, U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC served as co-managers.

The offering may be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. A copy of the prospectus supplement and prospectus relating to these securities may be obtained, when available, by contacting Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, 222 Broadway, New York, NY 10038, Attn: Prospectus Department, email: dg.prospectus_requests@baml.com; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10179, Attn: High Grade Syndicate Desk, 3rd floor, telephone collect at (212) 834-4533; Citigroup Global Markets Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, telephone (800) 831-9146, email: batprospectusdept@citigroup.com or Goldman, Sachs & Co,. Attn: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, telephone: (866) 471-2526, facsimile: (212) 902-9316, email: prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com.

This press release is for informational purposes only and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities, blue sky or other laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

Liberty Property Trust is a leader in commercial real estate, serving customers in the United States and United Kingdom, through the development, acquisition, ownership and management of superior office and industrial properties. Liberty's 81 million square foot portfolio includes 662 properties providing office, distribution and light manufacturing facilities to 1,700 tenants.

The statements contained in this press release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities law. Although Liberty believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, the company can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. As forward-looking statements, these statements involve important risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expected results and, accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of the company. The company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, without limitation, uncertainties affecting real estate business generally (such as entry into new leases, renewals of leases and dependence on tenants' business operations), risks relating to the integration of the operations of entities that we have acquired or may acquire, risks relating to financing arrangements and sales of securities, possible environmental liabilities, risks relating to leverage and debt service (including availability of financing terms acceptable to the company and sensitivity of the company's operations and financing arrangements to fluctuations in interest rates), dependence on the primary markets in which the company's properties are located, the existence of complex regulations relating to status as a REIT and the adverse consequences of the failure to qualify as a REIT, risks relating to litigation, including without limitation litigation involving entities that we have a acquired or may acquire, and the potential adverse impact of market interest rates on the market price for the company's securities.

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Liberty Property Trust Prices $450 Million Of 4.40% Senior Notes Due 2024

Liberty Global Reverts to Neutral – Analyst Blog

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We upgrade our recommendation on Liberty Global plc. ( LBTYA ) to Neutral following its recent acquisition of Virgin Media. The acquisition has positioned the company as the largest pay-TV operator globally. Liberty Global currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Why the Upgrade?

On Jun 2013, Liberty Global completed the acquisition of British cable MSO Virgin Media. Together, Liberty Global and Virgin Media had approximately 24.5 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter of 2013. In the U.K., the merged entity poses serious competitive threat to British Sky Broadcasting Group plc. and BT Group plc. ( BT ).

Recently, Virgin Media decided to offer the video-subscription service of the online video streaming service provider, Netflix Inc. ( NFLX ). With this, for the first time in the global pay-TV industry, web-based service will be integrated into cable system. Initially, Virgin Media will test run the Netflix service with its 40,000 subscribers who use the company's next-generation set-top boxes developed by TiVo Inc. ( TIVO ).

At the end of the second quarter of 2013, the company had over 1.7 million video subscribers who use TiVo developed set-top boxes. This new converged digital TV platform provides improved graphics, on-demand video content, catch-up TV service, and web-based applications including games and personal video recorder. The set-top box integrates the Internet and live TV on one screen through fiber-optic cable.

Liberty Global has launched a hybrid IP video gateway called "Horizon TV" in Netherlands and Switzerland. This innovative IP gateway will combine cable operators' video services with web-based content through an integrated cable modem. This modem includes an open software developer platform and application store.

Further, customers can view TV programs on multiple screens such as PCs, iPhones and iPads. Horizon TV also features an in-build application store for YouTube, Wikipedia and Facebook. This service will be introduced in Germany and Ireland by the end of this year.

BT GRP PLC-ADR (BT): Free Stock Analysis Report

LIBERTY GLBL-A (LBTYA): Free Stock Analysis Report

NETFLIX INC (NFLX): Free Stock Analysis Report

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Liberty Global CEO Says He Doesn’t Expect Apple to Sell a TV

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Liberty Global Plc (LBTYA) Chief Executive Officer Mike Fries, who runs one of the worlds biggest cable companies, said he doesnt expect Apple Inc. to sell its own television, disputing speculation among analysts.

I dont think Apple is going to build a TV, Fries said today at an investment conference in New York. Apple instead is talking to U.S. cable providers about revamping the interface for pay-TV services, he said.

Analysts such as Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray Cos. and Brian White of Cantor Fitzgerald have predicted Apple will release a television set, vaulting the company into a new market. Until now, its TV efforts have been limited to a $100 Internet-connected set-top box that streams video from providers such as Netflix Inc., Google Inc.s YouTube, Hulu LLC and Apples own iTunes.

The company has been beefing up what is available via Apple TV in recent months by striking deals with Walt Disney Co. (DIS)s ESPN and Time Warner Inc. (TWX)s HBO. Apple also has been negotiating with Time Warner Cable Inc. to give subscribers of the cable service access to their channels via Apple TV, people familiar with the talks have said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Sherman in New York at asherman6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net

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Liberty Global CEO Says He Doesn’t Expect Apple to Sell a TV

Liberty Delivers a Better World While Utopians Promise a Perfect One

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Editors Note: September 26, 2013 is the 115th anniversary of the birth of Leonard E. Read

Why are unattainable utopian visions attractive and inspirational to so many while the promises of liberty, under which a vastly-improved society can actually be attained, are so often disregarded? Leonard Read, among Americas most prolific defenders of liberty in the 20th century, considered that question.

In Let Freedom Reign, Read argued that libertys failure to gain more adherents than utopian statism derived in substantial measure from the fact that the ends envisioned, rather than the means involved, often motivate people. Unlike the utopian visions, the freedom philosophy recognizes that a system of free markets is an amoral servant that does not claim to generate no objectionable results to anyone. For this reason, liberty faces an inspirational disadvantage.

A good illustration of utopianisms advantage over freedom is the utopians assertion that he can deliver equality of results (implicitly assumed to be equality at a high level of prosperity). This in turn leads to rationalizations for cutting freedom off at the knees. Yet some forms of inequality are inseparable from astounding social benefits, particularly the massive gains from specialization among people with differing abilities and circumstances, coordinated through voluntary market arrangements.

As Read noted in Having My Way, rather than bemoaning any inequality of results, it would be more accurate to say, inequality exists, fortunately! as long as it is combined with freedom, which he called our working handmaiden.

[F]reedom and equality are ... mutually antagonistic. The equality idearests on the antithesis of freedom: raw coercion. It is ... impossible to be free when equality is politically manipulated ...

Not our likenesses, but our differences, give rise to the division of labor and the complex market processes of production and trade ... it is to our advantage to specialize and to trade with other specialists. ... By thus serving others and becoming ever more skilled and outstanding (unequal) in the process he best serves his own interest.

Read recognized that inequality among individuals was a fact and that the working handmaiden of voluntary arrangements allowed the members of society to better achieve what they desired. As a result, Read also saw that attributing disliked results, such as deviations from an idealized equality, to voluntary arrangements, misplaced the blame. Those deviations are rooted in an underlying reality utopians simply assume away. Therefore, restricting voluntary arrangements, beyond preventing force and fraud, cannot solve the real problems that arise from scarcity. However, the attempt to do so hobbles the markets ability to coordinate the productive plans of people with vastly different skills and circumstances, causing harm in the misguided attempt to accomplish good.

Read saw that libertys defenders must face the fact that markets are amoral servants which enable people to do whatever they want better. They cannot be relied upon with certainty to only do good and inspirational things. But whenever they enable doing ill, they only reflect the desires individuals have. If we reformed ourselves, markets could do no harm. In contrast, coercively reforming ourselves by law does not eliminate the cause of such harm and so does little to actually stop it. Moreover, the restrictions on markets adopted in the process throw out the amoral servant that allows us to accomplish greater good than achievable via any other known means.

This brought Read to focus on the crucial distinction between inspirational utopian ends and the means such ends necessarily entail. The collectivist means, backed by force, that utopias require are immoral, so such systems cannot be moral.

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Liberty Delivers a Better World While Utopians Promise a Perfect One

Liberty Star Completes ZTEM Geophysical Survey at Hay Mountain, Southeast Arizona

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TUCSON, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Liberty Star Uranium & Metals Corp. (Liberty Star or the Company)(OTCQB: LBSR) announces that its geophysical contractor Geotech Ltd. (Geotech) Aurora, Ontario, Canada completed a ZTEM geophysicalsurveyon September 20, 2013.

ZTEM (Z Axis Tipper Electromagnetic system) is a fixed wing or helicopter borne survey method measuring electromagnetic changes because of geologic features in the area of the survey. Geotechs computer technology and sensitive measuring equipment enables detection and modeling of the shape of metallic mineral bodies at depths of up to approximately 2,000 meters below the surface.

The survey was conducted over Liberty Stars Hay Mountain Project as part of exploration work for the delineation to a depth of about 2,000 meters (about 6,000 feet) of a porphyry copper, gold and other metal system suggested by previous geochemical surveys of the area and the recommendations contained in SRK Consultings NI 43-101 style report undertaken in 2011.

The Hay Mountain ZTEM survey consisted of 432.73 kilometers (268.88 miles) @ 200 meters and 400 meters line spacing, and approximately 8 meters between samples (readings) along each line.

With the delivery of the ZTEM interpreted data Liberty Star geologists, headed by Company CEO and Chief Geologist James A. Briscoe, can begin the work of combining the Geotech findingswith the Companys many geologic and geochemicalmapsinto GIS (Geographic Information Systems, ESRI computer maps) that can undergo further analysis that will lead to specific targets for a phased drilling program to begin as funding allows.

James A. Briscoe James A. Briscoe, Professional Geologist, AZ CA CEO/Chief Geologist Liberty Star Uranium & Metals Corp.

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Liberty Star Completes ZTEM Geophysical Survey at Hay Mountain, Southeast Arizona

Ingber ’15: Brown: The libertarian of the Ivy League

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I am not a libertarian. While I may agree with libertarians on some issues, I certainly do not share their approach on foreign policy. I lean toward interventionism, and I admittedly tend to favor a hands-on government role when it comes to national security sorry, Ben Franklin. With that said, I am sympathetic to the libertarian emphasis on individual freedom and limited government. These notions have deep historical roots in the United States and remain a fundamental part of our political culture. And though much of Browns student body avowedly favors a large government presence on economic and social welfare issues, I believe we can learn a bit about government policy from our beloved Brunonia, the libertarian of the Ivy League.

It is no secret that we have plenty of freedom at Brown. From designing our own education to navigating the many social outlets on campus, Brown boasts an incredibly liberating, hands-off approach. Most notably, the Open Curriculum allows students to carve their own paths, to try and fail, and to explore and reject all on their own. While various advising institutions make recommendations about which classes students should take, at Brown, undergraduates could easily take four classes in the same department or take all of their classes S/NC. This is a free market at its finest.

We learn the ins and outs of Browns sinuous academic roads by talking to our peers, shopping classes and experimenting on our own. We do not have to sift through top-down rules. Such rules would suggest Brown students are not capable of or willing to figure out what is best for themselves. The fact that the Universitys administration allows this freedom displays an incredible amount of trust something our political structures as a whole can learn from. Why should we not emulate this hands-off approach in the real world? At the end of the day, individuals, rather than governing bodies, know what makes them happy.

It is also no secret that Brown has repeatedly been ranked as one of Americas happiest schools. Perhaps Brown students are some of the happiest in the country because of the very free market approach at Brown I just described. I would undoubtedly be less happy if I had a mandatory lab science or language to take before I graduated. The freedom we enjoy as students percolates into the classroom itself students at Brown are in classes that they want to take, not because they are forced to. Granted, many complain when fulfilling tough pre-med or other requirements. But Brown not only abstains from setting many of those it also does not force students to take that path. The American government could learn a bit by looking at Browns libertarian approach, its students happiness and the trust the administration bestows upon the student body. There seems to be an invisible hand guiding Brown students to academic success and happiness.

Just as the Open Curriculum mirrors a free market, the social atmosphere at Brown reflects a smart approach to social politics in the United States. We have an exceptional Residential Peer Leader program at Brown, a program focused on building relationships and creating resources for students in need. RPLs do not function as spies or security seeking ways to get students in trouble. This allows students to seek help when they truly need it rather than ignore something that could severely hamper their experience at Brown. I believe that states should adopt this philosophy when writing legislation on social policy. From drug policy to a womans right to choose, a less overbearing government would lead to happier Americans. Allowing people to make their own decisions provided that they do not harm others will lead to a happier, freer population.

I understand that sometimes we need to correct the market from the top. Imperfections exist. The introduction of the writing requirement is a perfect example of this. The University recognized a shortcoming in our system and fixed it. I accept the necessity of these types of reforms, but we need to make sure that we are focusing on the right kinds of repairs in the right places. These solutions should neither significantly dampen the overall experience of a student or citizen nor greatly impinge on the individual right to choose a certain path.

I am not suggesting that we abolish all regulations in the United States. All I am saying is that we, a student body that tends to favor a top-down economic approach in government, could learn a little from the way we do things at Brown. Because I think I know what makes me happier better than the government does.

Zach Ingber 15 would love if Brown Dining Services had fewer rules about where and when you could use meal credits. Feel free to email him atZachary_ingber@brown.edu.

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Ingber ’15: Brown: The libertarian of the Ivy League

How likely are a company’s employees to accept coverage under Health Care Reform? – Video

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How likely are a company #39;s employees to accept coverage under Health Care Reform?
In this video, Dave Marini of ADP discusses findings from a recent study by the ADP Research Institute® and suggests ways to improve participation rates. For...

By: ADP

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How likely are a company's employees to accept coverage under Health Care Reform? - Video

Minimum health care for maximum city, Mumbai

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By 2020, Mumbai is expected to become one of the largest urban agglomerations in the world. The much-touted health care infrastructure in the megalopolis has, however, failed to cope with the exponential population growth.

According to the 2011 census, Mumbai and its suburbs are home to 1.2 crore persons. Projected calculations estimate that more than 13 lakh people will be added to the population pool by 2021.

According to BMC figures, the island city has seen a reduction of two lakh persons and recorded negative growth in past ten years and upto seven lakh persons have been added to suburbs. To add to the woes of this migrating population, the health infrastructure in the suburbs continues to be poor. In the past 10 years, the population in the island city has decreased substantially.

There are numerous reasons for this demographic shift. Clearly, former residents of the island city are giving up their erstwhile small houses in search of cheaper and spacious properties in the suburbs, said a senior BMC official.

Researchers have pointed out that there is a glaring deficiency in public health infrastructure in the suburbs as health care facilities continue to be concentrated in the island city. This, in spite of the area seeing a negative growth of population. Increase in slum population and migration of city islanders to the suburbs has led to the mushrooming of numerous small-time nursing homes and private hospitals.

The Mumbai Human Development Report 2009, points out that, on an average, only about 21% of city households use public health services. The rest approach private doctors or hospitals. To add to the problem there is a huge scarcity of public dispensaries and health posts in Mumbai, which compels a majority of people to depend on private physicians. All this creates the breeding ground for quacks or bogus doctors and vulnerability of the poor to their mercy.

While, tertiary care hospitals like KEM hospital in Parel, Nair hospital in Mumbai Central and Sion hospital are among the top-notch medical colleges in India and they produce among the best doctors in the country, the load on these three hospitals to cater to a humongous influx of patients is beyond comprehension.

Patients throng the hospital corridors not only from Mumbai but also from satellite towns of Thane, Kalyan, Mira Road, Bhayander and Navi Mumbai. In totality, KEM, Nair and Sion Hospitals, see a footfall of up to 14,000 patients a day. This has led to the hospitals infrastructure to crumble.

BMCs health committee member and NCP corporator Dr Saiyeda Khan explains that there is an acute disparity in distribution of hospital beds across Mumbai. The island city (Colaba to Mahim) is home to three super specialty hospitals - state-run JJ Hospital, KEM Hospital and Nair Hospital with capacity to hold more than 6,000 patients at any given point of time. In comparison, the bed capacity at Sion Hospital which caters to the population from the far suburbs is merely 5,000. This disparity exists even as many of are migrating to the suburbs from the island city in search of better living conditions, said Khan.

It is imperative that basic health care and treatment be provided in the 16 peripheral hospitals across the city that are run by the civic body. Apart from this, the bed capacity in peripheral hospitals and Sion Hospital, which is the only tertiary care super-specialty hospital in the suburbs, should be strengthened, said Khan.

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Minimum health care for maximum city, Mumbai

Health care is the economy, Obama insists

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When Bill Clinton ran for president, his campaign headquarters famously had a sign on the wall reading: "It's the economy, stupid."

One of the lines of criticism against the next Democratic president has been that he allegedly hasn't paid enough attention to the still-ailing economy and instead chose to implement dramatic reforms of the health-care sector. If it was "the economy, stupid" in 1992, shouldn't that be even more so in 2013?

This evening at the Clinton Global Initiative, Bill Clinton invited President Barack Obama to address this line of criticism directly.

(Read more: Bono defends Ireland and its low taxes)

"Why didn't you just focus on the economy and leave this alone?" Clinton asked.

Obama's answer challenged the premise of the question.

"It's important to remember that health care is the economy. A massive part of our economy. The idea that we can separate out the two is a fantasy," Obama replied.

The president went on to elaborate on that theme in a way that seemed aimed directly at Republican lawmakers who are attempting to defund certain aspects of Obamacare. Health-care reform, he argued, is a form of deficit reduction.

The fact is that the U.S. has, for decades, lagged behind other industrialized nation when it comes to health-care coverage.

"So when we talk about our deficit, the reason we have not only current deficits and projected long-term deficits, the structural deficit we have is because of how much we spend on health care," Obama said. "If we spent the same amount of money on health care, with the same outcomes, as Canada, or the U.K., or Japan, that would remove our structural deficit."

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Health care is the economy, Obama insists

Health care law reuniting Obama, Bill Clinton – NBC40.net

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By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton took to the same stage Tuesday to promote the new health care law that Obama championed after Clinton's own efforts to reform health care years earlier fell flat.

Joining forces under dimmed lights in a hotel ballroom in New York, Obama and Clinton laid out the law's benefits and its connection to the economy while dispelling what they called disinformation about its downsides. Clinton, acting as host, lobbed the questions; Obama answered with the eagerness of a guest on a daytime TV talk show.

It was a pair of presidents in dark suits, reclining on comfy, white chairs as they reflected on the effort that went in to passing the sweeping law, and the intense challenges facing its implementation. New exchanges where Americans can buy health insurance - a centerpiece of the law - open for enrollment on Oct. 1.

"I don't have pride of authorship for this thing, I just want the thing to work," Obama said. He added that he was confident Americans will be swayed by its advantages even though polls show they're deeply wary of the law. "The devil you know is always better than the devil you don't know."

Clinton felt free to point out some of the drawbacks in the law's implementation, while making clear that Obama was not the one to blame. For example, he noted that the Supreme Court said states could not be forced to take Medicaid money to finance the expansion of health coverage.

"That's going to lead to a cruel result, and there's nothing the president can do, and it's not his fault. That's what the Supreme Court said," Clinton said.

The hourlong appearance, sponsored by the former president's foundation known as the Clinton Global Initiative, marks the start of a concerted campaign by the Obama administration and its allies to inform consumers about their options under the law. It also took place around the 20th anniversary of Clinton's address to a joint session of Congress calling for an overhaul of the health care system. That effort, by Clinton and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, was unsuccessful.

Mrs. Clinton, who ran against Obama before becoming his first-term secretary of state, introduced the two presidents with a list of what they have in common. They're both left-handed, love golf and have fabulous daughters, she said. And one more thing:

"They each married far above themselves," Clinton said with a laugh.

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Health care is the economy, Obama says

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When Bill Clinton ran for president, his campaign headquarters famously had a sign on the wall reading: "It's the economy, stupid."

One of the lines of criticism against the next Democratic president has been that he allegedly hasn't paid enough attention to the still-ailing economy and instead chose to implement dramatic reforms of the health-care sector. If it was "the economy, stupid" in 1992, shouldn't that be even more so in 2013?

This evening at the Clinton Global Initiative, Bill Clinton invited President Barack Obama to address this line of criticism directly.

(Read more: Bono defends Ireland and its low taxes)

"Why didn't you just focus on the economy and leave this alone?" Clinton asked.

Obama's answer challenged the premise of the question.

"It's important to remember that health care is the economy. A massive part of our economy. The idea that we can separate out the two is a fantasy," Obama replied.

The president went on to elaborate on that theme in a way that seemed aimed directly at Republican lawmakers who are attempting to defund certain aspects of Obamacare. Health-care reform, he argued, is a form of deficit reduction.

The fact is that the U.S. has, for decades, lagged behind other industrialized nation when it comes to health-care coverage.

"So when we talk about our deficit, the reason we have not only current deficits and projected long-term deficits, the structural deficit we have is because of how much we spend on health care," Obama said. "If we spent the same amount of money on health care, with the same outcomes, as Canada, or the U.K., or Japan, that would remove our structural deficit."

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Health care is the economy, Obama says

Fitch Affirms Health Care Service Corporation Ratings

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CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Health Care Service Corporation's (HCSC) Insurer Financial Strength Rating (IFS) at 'A+', its long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A', and the 'A' rating on the company's $500 million issue of 4.70% senior unsecured notes due Jan. 15, 2021. The Rating Outlooks are Stable

KEY RATING DRIVERS

HCSC's strong competitive position, conservatively structured balance sheet strength and solid earnings profile all support the current ratings. Balanced against these strengths is HCSC's concentration in its two key markets of Illinois and Texas.

On July 31, 2013, HCSC completed its acquisition of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Montana's insurance assets and operations. BCBS Montana will become one of HCSC's five BCBS operating divisions. BCBS Montana has 250,000 customers.

HCSC is a leading provider of health insurance and managed care services in Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. It is the nation's largest nonpublic health insurer with greater than 13.5 million members.

A key competitive advantage is the company's exclusive right to use Blue Cross and Blue Shield (Blues) trademarks in HCSC's four core states. In addition, access to Blue Card, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association's (BCBSA) national account platform, has helped establish and grow HCSC's leading market position.

HCSC has a conservative balance sheet measured by strong statutory capitalization, modest financial leverage and a high quality, liquid investment portfolio. HCSC's NAIC RBC ratio was 620% of the company action level (CAL) at year-end 2012. Surplus increased by nearly 7% or $656 million to $10.2 billion through the first half of 2013.

Debt to total capital as of June 30, 2013 was 4.8%, which Fitch considers very modest for both the current rating category and the entire market sector. The company has $500 million in senior unsecured debt with 4.7% coupon maturing in January 2021.

HCSC's annualized return on capital was considered strong at 11.8% through the first six months of 2013, especially in light of its conservative capital position. HCSC's EBITDA margin was 8.2% through June 30, 2013, which is consistent with Fitch's median guideline for the current rating category.

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Fitch Affirms Health Care Service Corporation Ratings

Health care law reuniting Obama, Clinton

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By: Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Health care is reuniting President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton.

The two are set to appear together Tuesday to discuss Obama's health care law at a session sponsored by the Clinton Global Initiative, the former president's foundation.

The joint appearance comes exactly one week before people who don't have health insurance can start signing up on Oct. 1 for coverage plans through new insurance marketplaces. It also comes as the Obama administration and those who stand to benefit from the law's success, such as insurance companies, launch a campaign to inform consumers about their options under the law.

The Affordable Care Act requires everyone to carry health insurance or face penalties. Obama has said the goal is to make health care more affordable while extending coverage to millions of people who don't have it.

Clinton's appearance will be his second in recent weeks to help promote the 3-year-old law, which has been contentious from the start. In a speech earlier this month in his home state of Arkansas, the former president explained how the law works and argued that it makes the country stronger. He urged opponents to quit trying to undo the law and to work instead to improve it.

The law "does give us the best chance we have to achieve nearly universal coverage, provide higher quality health care and lower the rate of cost increases, which we have got to do in a competitive global economy," said Clinton, who failed to expand access to health care during his eight years as president.

The Republican-controlled House has voted more than three dozen times to repeal, delay or eliminate funding for the law, arguing that it hurts the economy by imposing too many requirements on businesses and individuals, and driving health care costs higher as a result. None of the bills have advanced in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Obama highlights popular, consumer-friendly provisions of the law, such as requiring that mammograms and other health screenings be conducted free of charge, and allowing parents to keep children on their plans until they turn 26. He also has highlighted requirements for insurers to spend a certain percentage of premiums on health care.

But large numbers of Americans say they don't understand the law. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted earlier this month found just 30 percent of people saying they understand the law and how it will affect them. Sixty-nine percent said they understand the law only some or not very well.

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Health care law reuniting Obama, Clinton