We believe that the new health care reform legislation will bring about significant changes to the American health care system. For a further discussion of health care reform and its potential impact on our business, see Part I, Item 1 - Business - Health Care Reform. In addition, refer to the risks and uncertainties related to health care reform as discusses in Part I, Item 1A - Risk Factors - Future changes in health care law present challenges for our business that could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows.
We received rate increases in most of our Medicaid markets during the third quarter of 2010, including net increases of approximately 2.5% to 3.0% in Florida effective September 1, 2010 and 1.5% to 2.0% in Georgia effective July 1, 2010, that were below our medical cost trends. Hawaii program rate increases, which we believe have improved the stability of the program, also were effective July 1, 2010. New York program rate increases were also implemented during the third quarter of 2010 that were effective April 1, 2010.
We cover a wide spectrum of medical services through our MA plans, including in some cases, additional benefits not covered by Original Medicare, such as vision, dental and hearing services. Through these enhanced benefits, the out-of-pocket expenses incurred by our members are reduced, which allows our members to better manage their health care costs.
We currently believe that we will be able to meet our known monetary obligations, including the terms of the settlement agreements reached to resolve the government investigation and related litigation, and maintain sufficient liquidity to operate our business. However, one or more of our regulators could require one or more of our subsidiaries to maintain minimum levels of statutory net worth in excess of the amount required under the applicable state laws if the regulators were to determine that such a requirement were in the interest of our members. Further, there may be other potential adverse developments that could impede our ability to meet our obligations. The table below presents our cash and investment positions as of December 31, 2010 and 2009.
The cost of medical benefits is recognized in the period in which services are provided and includes an estimate of the cost of IBNR medical benefits. Medical benefits payable has two main components: direct medical expenses and medically-related administrative costs. Direct medical expenses include amounts paid or payable to hospitals, physicians and providers of ancillary services, such as laboratories and pharmacies. Medically-related administrative costs include items such as case and disease management, utilization review services, quality assurance and on-call nurses, which are recorded in Selling, general, and administrative expense. Medical benefits payable on our Consolidated Balance Sheets represents amounts for claims fully adjudicated awaiting payment disbursement and estimates for IBNR. The following table provides a reconciliation of the total medical benefits payable balances as of December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008:
We obtained goodwill and intangible assets as a result of the acquisitions of our subsidiaries. Goodwill represents the excess of the cost over the fair market value of net assets acquired. Intangible assets include provider networks, trademarks, state contracts, licenses and permits. Our intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives ranging from approximately one to 26 years.