ZZZ Obamacare 04 Briefs

Big news at Costco: The company is reducing store hours during this coronavirus crisis.
It has been frantic at Costco warehouses. Some have described it as “panic buying” while others call it “hoarding” as shoppers swarmed around Costco’s limited, low-priced assortments of much-needed groceries and other daily household items. The effect of this higher demand has been a frantic shopping condition that has created stress on warehouse store teams to replenish shelves and service customers. Paper goods such as toilet paper have been in high demand, cereal boxes are flying out of the door, there are long lines at the pharmacies, and some fresh fruits and roasted chicken have sold quicker than ever.

Companies which have preferred to own their own aircraft to maximise operating flexibility – such as easyJet PLC, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Ryanair PLC – are looking relatively resilient as they did during the global financial crisis. These three carriers, together with Air France-KLM SA and British Airways-parent IAG PLC, have a more than 50% share of the European air-travel market.
However, even these carriers’ balance sheets are under intense pressure. The airlines have suspended most, if not all, of their passenger operations. Lufthansa – downgraded to BBB- from BBB (31 March) and under review for a possible further downgrade – has grounded 90% of its passenger fleet. Easyjet has grounded its entire fleet.

Thousands of people worldwide have already died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. For those who have life insurance, in almost all cases, they are covered, and insurance will likely pay out for deaths from COVID-19. There are a few exceptions, according to representatives from life insurance companies and industry organizations.
Potential exceptions
However, there are a few exceptions. For example, an insurer might deny a claim for a coronavirus death if the policyholder:
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o Submitted an inaccurate or incomplete application. Claims can be denied for reasons like not disclosing travel plans or lying about weight or income. If you die within the first two years of coverage, an insurer generally examines the claim and initial application more thoroughly. Still, a company can refuse to pay a claim if false information is found on the application even after the two-year life insurance contestability period ends. When filling out an application, take your time, be truthful and ask questions if you don’t understand what is being asked.

Firefighters battled a large fire at a Los Angeles-area oil refinery Wednesday, which closed a major Southern California freeway and blackened the sky with smoke.
The fire began late Tuesday night at the Marathon Petroleum oil refinery in Carson, Calif., and was knocked down about 5 hours later, around 3:50 a.m. Wednesday.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn, 67, reportedly booked the entire Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl with “special permission” to break the lockdown in the Alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. He is isolating in the resort with 20 concubines and a large team of servants German tabloid Bild has said. The royal party was deemed a “homogenous group that does not change composition”, meaning the hotel could be reclassified as a residential home for the duration of the stay…..
The royal party was deemed a “homogenous group that does not change composition”, meaning the hotel could be reclassified as a residential home for the duration of the stay.

Big U.S. tech firms such as Google GOOGL.O and Facebook FB.O plan to seek deferment of a new Indian digital tax, which has caught them off-guard as businesses battle the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, three industry sources told Reuters.
India announced last week that, from Apr. 1, all foreign billings for digital services provided in the country would attract a 2% tax. Foreign billings are where companies take payment abroad for a service provided to customers in India.
The tax would also apply to e-commerce transactions on websites such as Amazon.com AMZN.O, as well as advertising revenue earned from companies overseas if it eventually “targets a customer” in India, the government said.

BBB Serving Connecticut is warning consumers about XPO Logistics, Inc. which has accumulated 285 BBB complaints in the last three years with 124 of those complaints being in the last year. 133 of those total complaints have gone unanswered, including three complaints filed by consumers in Alabama. The Greenwich, CT based transportation and logistics company currently has an “F” rating with Better Business Bureau due to this influx of consumer complaints.
XPO Logistics is a supply chain solution company behind the delivery of large appliances and over-sized items. According to complaints on BBB.org, consumers made purchases from popular retailers like Lowe’s, Costco, Samsung, and Peloton but XPO was responsible for delivery.

When health care companies misuse or misrepresent the Current Professional Terminology (CPT®) code set, it undermines public confidence in those who provide health care services and makes it even harder to come to a consensus about how the health care system should be reformed, physicians say.
And that’s a big reason why the 4th U.S. District Court of Appeals in Virginia needs to overturn a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, says a brief filed by the Litigation Center of the American Medical Association and State Medical Societies, the North Carolina Medical Society, Maryland State Medical Society, South Carolina Medical Association and Medical Society of Virginia. The amicus brief was filed with the appellate court in the case of Peters v. Aetna.

The shift from office culture to remote work has been challenging for the hardware-focused company with a passion for secrecy. In the past, Apple has gone to great lengths to keep its new products shielded from the public until the company is ready to unveil them. Employees work behind secure doors with blacked-out windows, lock products in cabinets and are barred from discussing their assignments even with spouses. Now, working from home, some are finding it hard to adjust and there have been minor hardware development setbacks, according to Apple employees who asked not to be named talking about company matters……

Talent agency CAA has signed Soul Machines, an artificial intelligence company that creates hyper-real-looking digital avatars. CAA will represent Soul Machines in all areas, initially focusing on guiding the development and launch of its Digital Celebrity Project. (Details about this project are being kept under wraps, but could involve Soul Machine harnessing its avatar-making tech to fashion beloved celebrities).
The San Francisco and New Zealand-headquartered company predominantly harnesses its tech for business aims, ranging from service and support to product sales. One of its most recent creations, for instance, is ‘Ella’ (which stands for ‘Electronic Life-Like Assistant’) — an avatar that was stationed in the lobby of the New Zealand police’s national headquarters to assist the concierge team and talk to visitors about police services.

US corn ethanol refineries, facing a catastrophic loss of fuel demand because of coronavirus, are repurposing some products for hand sanitiser to restock supplies depleted by the outbreak.