The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1912-08-29
WISCONSIN PLANNING
TO SELL, INSURANCE
Commissioner Thinks New De-
&partment Will Be Ready
BY September /.

Madison, Wis.-Insurance by the state
OF Wisconsin, life insurance. along the
identical lines OF the great mutual and
stock companies, Offered under, what the
state authorities &. i'll call the model pol
icy Is soon to be a fact. Plans are COM
pleted for the issuance of policies by the
state, applications are being received and
the new system win probably be launched
by September i. HN go.
The rates will not be much lower than
the charges OF the present private com,
panies, but the authorities believe that
this issuance of q state life insurance
policy instead Of being q harm to the pri-
vate companies will be a distinct beneit,
in that 1t Is expected that the issuance by
the state Of life policies viii educate the
policy holders to a better understanding
and better patronage OF the private COM
panies. especially as no person can take
out a policy for more than 5000 under
the new Wisconsin system.
The Wisconsin state insurance idea is
the result Of the investigation By a state
legislative committee several years ago
OF the life insurance situation in Wiscon-
sin. Insurance Commissioner Ekern was
tnen a member of the legislature and
chairman Of the investigating committee.
Will Issue Four Policies.
The following legislature passed laws
under which practically all OF the big OUT
side insurance companies left the state,
and have never returned. Ekern, how
ever, had begun to frame the bill for state
insurance which has now become law and
Is about, with the author as commission
er, to go into effect. At the outset, four
different policies will be issued, and the
number may be Increased later as the
state becomes proficient in the insurance
business. These four policies will be the
ordinary life, Repayment endowment, 10
payment endowment, and term, to the
age Of 65 years. Later a system Of an
~nuities, something like the French peas
ants favorite system, will be introduced,
the annuities to begin when the benefi-
Charles reach the age of 6 years. The LA
binty OF the state in the new order of af-
fairs Is limited to the amount Of money
In the insurance fund, this fund being
derived from premiums, interest, earnings
and other sources of revenue. AS the poll
cies are limited to 5000, the annuities
will be limited to $500 a year, when the
annuity plan goes into effect.
Denies SociaIistio Idea.
To the complaint that the idea of
state insurance Is socialistic the state
commissioner answers that insurance Is
public service, and should be under state
control. at least in sufficient forcc to
check any possible abuses In private COM
panies. The progress Of socialism in Wis
consin, however, has been so strongly
toward such paternalistic ideas as state
insurance that the opponents Of the new
plan say the next thing will be the es-
Establishment Of state-owned utilities along
other lines. AS a matter of fact, the in
surance law was passed by the aid of the
socialistic members Of the legislature.
The points in the system that the policy
limit shall be $4,000, thus cutting out the
heavy insurance carrier from use OF the
state idea, is especially ar idea of the
socialists. The annuity is taken as the
first step toward the socialistic idea of
old-age insurance, and while the annui-
ties under the proposed plan do not go
into effect until the beneficiary is 65 years
old, policies cannot be issued to persons
over 50 years old, or less than 20 years.
Insurance. is to be granted in multiples Of
k5O0. ',e,'
Reduces Standard Rates.
The price Of Wisconsin state life insur-
Rnce is expected to be only slightly lower
than the standard rates of the private
companies for the same forms Of policy.
The rates are announced as being based
Dn the American experience mortality
tables, with additions for extra hazards,
interest at 3 per cent and additions for ex-
penses and contingencies amounting to 81
I year per $1,000 of insurance carried and
9ne-slxth Of the value Of the insurance
distributed equally through the premium
payments.
The question of medical examination
was solved by the PRONUNCIATION of a rule
that each applicant must before the is
Iuance Of a policy, be examined by a
physician under the state board of health.
The fee for this examination will be 81
and the application must be accompanied
by the fee and the premium for three
months.
The life fund will operate on the same
reserve plan as the present old-line COM
panies. Policy loans will be permitted
at the rate Of 6 per cent, the amount Of
the loan being limited to the reserve Of
the policy. Unpaid premiums will not
lapse the policies, but will be charged
against the policy as a loan as long as
the reserve Is sufficient to balance the
premiums thus charged.