A man who risked his life to save others during the Joplin tornado has been facing a continual storm. Mark Lindquist, 51, was seriously hurt while trying to protect group home residents from the destruction. He placed mattresses on top of three middle-aged men with Down syndrome and climbed on top to further protect them. The three men died. Lindquist was injured and in a coma for three months.

Lindquist’s job didn’t provide medical insurance so according to the Washington Post he tried to qualify for workers’ compensation since he was injured on the job. But in June the claim was denied, leaving Lindquist with $2.5 million in bills, according to his sister. Lindquist Baldwin said last week.

Fortunately some good news finally arrived when the Accident Fund Insurance Company of America announced it had changed its mind. “Upon further review of the case, and receiving additional information on the facts involved in this situation, Accident Fund believes the appropriate decision is to honor Mr. Mark Lindquist’s claim for worker’s compensation benefits,” Mike Britt, president of the Lansing, Mich.-based insurance company, told the Washington Post. “We are committed to working with Mr. Lindquist to ensure he receives all the benefits to which he is entitled and helping him to recover from his injuries.” Lindquist told the newspaper that this may mean he won’t have to sell his home like he had previously thought.

Pennsylvania’s subsidized health insurance will come to an end next month, according to The Pennsylvania Inquirer. The insurance for low-income people currently assists more than 40,000 people and has another 400,000 on a waiting list for service. “AdultBasic is not sustainable,” Kevin Harley, a spokesman for the governor’s transition team told the newspaper. The program began eight years ago under Gov. Tom Ridge.

Both the exiting governor and the new one say the program is not doing well and would run out of money by the end of February. Currently it’s funded by tobacco-settlement money and donations from the state’s four Blue Cross plans. “There is no apparent source of funds,”David F. Simon, chief legal counsel of Jefferson Health System, told The Inquirer.

For people on the plan, they will have some help switching to Blue Cross. The company says it will not restrict people for preexisting conditions, something it would normally do. But the cost will be several times higher than what they are currently paying under the adultBasic plan. “Special care is horrible insurance,” Gene Bishop, an internal medicine doctor at Pennsylvania Hospital, told reporters. “When I was in practice and I first saw someone with that insurance, I thought they were mistaken. Who would sell someone insurance that you can only go four times a year?”

Well, it’s official. The U.S. Congress is preparing to tackle the American health care system. Meanwhile, President Obama is anxious to have viable legislation read to sign before the close of 2009.

The price of fuel is higher than it’s been in years, and motorists are feeling the pinch in their wallets and fleeing the roads in droves. Consequently–just as drivers, insurance companies, and state regulators alike have predicted–there are fewer drivers than ever on today’s roads. However, contrary to expectations, auto insurance rates have not likewise decreased. On the contrary, auto insurance providers, by and large,appear to be increasing their premiums