European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 12, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday november 12, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 3 states seek Relief on insurance costs California voters Roll Back Auto rates by Itic associated press voters in Califon Tia have taken up the subject or Auto insurance Reform with dramatic results. So have Legislatures in new Jersey and Massachusetts. Con Sumer groups and Industry officials say these arc merely the first shots of the Battle. There is no question that Auto insurance is going to be an Issue in 1989," said Warren Ivy a vice presi Dent with the insurance information Institute. In cer Tain areas the Cost of insurance has risen to the Point that it becomes a Public policy  rising Auto insurance rates in California and the legislature s inability to Case the financial pain brought an epidemic of initial Ives to the state s ballot. Voters tuesday rejected ballot initiatives offered by state legislator trial lawyers and the insurance Indus try and passed by a narrow margin an initiative that would Roll Back rates in nearly air properly and casualty insurance policies 10 19s7 Rales and then Cut premiums an additional 20 percent insurance Industry officials said the initiative. Proposition 103, offers no Way for insurers to Cut i hair costs and will Force some companies out of business. Other insurers arc contemplating limiting i hair business in California. _ managers _.  companies. It was a totally irresponsible and destructive  consumer advocate Ralph Nader who campaigned for the ballot initiative has a different perspective on its National Impact. The message from California voters is enough is enough " he said. Now we re getting Calls from other slates and other groups interested in doing the same  while not necessarily an Issue on other state ballots Auto insurance and other insurance issues have be come a concern to Consumers in several Stales Florida voters rejected a ballot question that would have set a 1100,000 ceiling on non economic Persona injury lawsuits. The Bill supported by Busi Nesses and doctors was aimed at reducing the Cost of liability and malpractice insurance. Pennsylvania Consumers raised a Hue and cry last  state officials voted to triple id s24 a special assessment on Auto insurance policies. The outcry was so great that the increase was delayed and several Bills have been introduced in the legislature to Deal with the state s insurance problems. In Arizona a special legislative panel will hold hearings next month to find ways of cutting Auto insurance costs now the fifth highest in the nation. Teachers in several Kentucky cities marched out of class to protest their higher medical costs under the state s new self insurance program. The slate went 10 self insurance after insurers demanded an increase in premiums. Industry officials blame rising Auto insurance rates on increases in Auto thefts insurance fraud Auto Mobile costs and audio repair and litigation resulting from Auto accidents. For the most part the problem is worse in big cities where Auto ownership Rakitic and crime is High. There s no getting around the fact that the forces driving insurance costs Are not under control said Ron Howorth a vice president with the National association of Independent insurers. In California the legislature s inability to come up with Laws to Case the insurance Burden led to voter frustration. Whenever a solution was offered that harmed the insurance Industry the insurance Industry was very Good at blocking the legislation. The same was True with the trial lawyers so nothing was accomplished said Manuel Valencia a spokesman for proposition 104, the California insurance Industry s own Defeated plan to offer some Rale Relief. Other states have responded to consumer frustration with new legislation. New Jersey which had the High est rates in the nation was Able to offer modest rate cuts by allowing motorists to buy less expensive poli cies with greater deductible plans. This month Massachusetts with the highest rate of claims in the country passed similar legislation aimed at reducing insurance rates. While High Tutto insurance Rales have Long been a problem in the state a surcharge that raised Rales an average $40 annually galvanized a protest against the system. We were not having any Success until then said Paula Gold the state s Secretary of consumer affairs. The Consumers became outraged and really let the legislators know  Industry officials say the California Vole is Likely Roget insurers moving in the direction of Reform. The deliberative method that produced Bills in Massachusetts and new Jersey will Benefit the con Sumers More than what was done in California said Levy. But Nader thinks the Public outrage at higher and higher Rales May close out the Chance of Compromise Between Consumers legislators and insurers there is a High probability that what happened in California will now happen in others alas hcs Aid. . Will help soviets pick site on Mars Washington apr Nasa has agreed to help pick a Landing site on Mars for a robot Craft thai the soviets will launch in 1994. . And soviet scientists announced thursday. Samuel w. Keller head of the Nasa delegation thai has been negotiating wit soviet scientists said the soviets had picked four candidate Landing Sites after the United Stales provided detailed maps of the Martian surface. Keller said the soviets had asked for More details on the candidate Sites. He made the comment at a news con Ference marking the end of a week of negotiations Between representatives of the National aeronautics and space and Minisi Alion and a delegation represent ing the soviet solar system exploration program. The two groups met to work out areas of cooperation. Valeriy l Barsukov head of the soviet delegation said the four candidate Sites Ore All within 30 degrees of Mars Equator Buthe declined to be More specific. This improbable group from left Michael Dukakis Lloyd Bentsen. Dun Quayle and George Bush mount Sandmore greeted shoppers at the Del Amo mall in to Francc calif., a Day after the election but this mount Rushmore is made of Sand and like posters and Sand castles around Long. Campaign won t be percentage of recruits with aids virus declining Atlanta a the percentage of new . Military recruits with aids infections is decreasing apparently because More men who fear they May have the antibody Aren t signing up Federal health officials said thursday.  in the first six months of the military s testing pro Gram for the acquired immune deficiency syndrome beginning in october 198s, 15 out of every 10,000 recruits were found to Stipe signs of the virus however Between october 1987 and March 1988,12 in every 10,000 recruits were infected the National centers for disease control reported. Our leading hypothesis is that it reflects self defer ral among High risk applicants people who know they have aids virus infections or suspect the might be at increased risk arc not Corning into the recruitment centers said or. Mana Gwinn an aids specialist with he Atlanta based cd one reason researchers believe High risk recruits May be staying away is that although there has been a statistically significant decrease in aids infection among male recruits infection rates among female recruits who May be less Likely to think they Are infected have stayed largely constant the cd said1in its weekly report. The Rale of aids infection among male recruits has dropped from 17 per 10,000 in initial testing to 12 in the latest numbers while the rate for female recruits has risen from seven per 10,000 to eight. Women May be less aware of their risk for infection the cd said. Only 9 percent of All . Aids cases have occurred in females homosexual or bisexual males account for.61 percent. The military has tested More than 1.5 million recruits for aids infection. Mure than 2,100, or , have tested positive. Federal health officials estimate that 0.6 percent of the . Population is infected with the aids virus. Although aids infection rates Are lower among Mil itary acc nails than the Public. Largely because Gay men and drug ii ices Are subject to exclusion from Mili tary service the military test results arc still of inter est to researchers Gwinn said. If the incidence of info Dijon were to decline we migh detect it first in inc. Youngest age groans she said noting that military recruits tend to be in their late teens or Early 20s v were we to see a dramatic decline in the youngest age group it would be potentially encouraging she added. That is not what is happening at the present time though