Protecting Ohio insurance consumers with services

March 8, 2022

Protecting insurance consumers is at the core of everything we do at the Ohio Department of Insurance. Consumer Protection Week is March 6-12 and it gives us an opportunity to remind Ohioans how we serve and protect them, and to encourage Ohioans to take advantage of our educational information and services. We are a free and unbiased resource that consumers can depend on for help navigating the complexities of insurance and standing up for their rights. Last year, we saved or recovered $34 million for insurance consumers, helping them resolve coverage and claim disputes, identify ...

No one seems to play like in the old days

February 23, 2022

By BRENDA J. LINERT Tribune Chronicle/Vindicator Executive Editor Many of us probably can remember pickup softball games on a neighborhood sandlot, getting together for an impromptu game of “kick the can,” “snap the whip,” or just going for a bicycle ride around the neighborhood with friends. I recall riding my bike with friends on summer days — or even on warm evenings during the school year — to gather at one of our houses. We had fun doing any of those types of things, or jumping rope, practicing our “gymnastics” or creating contests to see who could swing a hula ...

When life turns upside down

February 12, 2022

In John 14, Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in Me. We don’t get a warning before our lives turn around. Things com fast. Like a spouse walks out, an accident happens, or a heart attack takes a life. The calamities are endless. We don’t have to live in fear. Jesus was warning his disciples that their lives were about to turn upside down. Christ gave them a promise – that the Holy Spirit would come to comfort them. Let’s get into God’s Word and hear the Word in our hearts when trouble comes. Pastor Mike Dyer

Is it love … or truly an addiction?

February 11, 2022

As I sat down to write this article an earworm began to play inside my head … Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love.” Do you remember it? A couple of the things I learned in college is that 1.) Everything is political; and 2.) Music, films, television shows, are political statements. Something I’ve learned since is that science has to define and explain everything. “Love” has been under the microscope, so to speak, for a long time. Some researchers say that whether a love relationship is good or bad, it is addiction because of the way it impacts a person’s life.1 In her ...

Candidates fund for themselves

February 7, 2022

Asking people for money is rarely fun. It’s probably more challenging if you’re wealthy but still are asking for campaign contributions. Several of the wealthiest Ohio Republican candidates for U.S. Senate are skipping those awkward discussions and writing their own checks, self-funding campaigns or at least coming as close as possible. If you didn’t know better, you’d think several of these Republican candidates are trying to buy the seat. Of course, we do know better. But the candidates have money to spend — with plenty left over — so that’s what they’re ...

Beware: What’s in that counterfeit tablet?

February 5, 2022

Late last fall the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center of the Ohio Department of Public Safety released a report about “Potentially Lethal Counterfeit Tablets in Ohio.” The report said, “Counterfeit prescription tablets with fentanyl and other potentially lethal contents are present in Ohio and almost certainly growing in sophistication, likely impeding individuals, including law enforcement, from easily determining tablet legitimacy, as well as potentially contributing to an increase in accidental overdoses,” the unclassified report advised. Earlier the DEA (Drug Enforcement ...