NEW YORK (AP) — Banks have been disappointing customers many ways lately — tightening mortgage lending standards, paring back home-equity and credit-card lines and lowering savings interest rates — but they're receiving higher marks for at least one thing: their ... [full story]

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — On the eve of Hurricane Katrina, massive pumps that keep water out of this New Orleans suburb went silent when the roughly 100 workers who run them were allowed to flee under a "doomsday" evacuation plan. With ... [full story]

Republican John McCain wants to change how people get their health insurance, shifting away from job-based coverage to an open market where people can choose from competing policies. McCain said Tuesday he would offer families a $5,000 tax credit to help ... [full story]

ASHINGTON (AP) -- Health insurance provider Aetna Inc. spent more than $575,000 in the first quarter to lobby on Medicare and pharmaceutical issues, according to a disclosure report. Aetna also lobbied the federal government on legislation involving Medicare reimbursements to doctors, ... [full story]

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A state Senate panel could begin voting on proposed changes to Michigan's individual health insurance market as early as this week. But it might take more time for lawmakers to strike a compromise from competing proposals. Attorney ... [full story]

A duck changed Dan Amos' life. Amos, 56, is CEO of Aflac Inc., whose insurance business has soared since 2000, when it first aired TV ads starring a talking duck. Now Amos travels with stuffed ducks and wears a tie ... [full story]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Aflac Inc.'s stock slipped Wednesday after a UBS Investment Research analyst downgraded the company, saying the insurer's shares are optimistically valued. UBS analyst Andrew Kligerman downgraded Aflac to "Neutral" from "Buy." With the stock up 48 ... [full story]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- When Wanda Glenn first sought disability benefits from MetLife Inc. in 2000, she "never in a million years" expected it would end up as a Supreme Court case. But on Wednesday, the justices will hear oral arguments ... [full story]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP)--Allstate Corp.'s (ALL) sales agents in Florida can keep writing new policies after the company asked an appeals court to rehear its suspension by state insurance regulators. The Illinois-based insurance giant would have had to stop writing new ... [full story]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Assurant Inc. awarded President and Chief Executive Robert B. Pollock $3.5 million in total compensation in fiscal 2007, a year in which he spent time on administrative leave as a result of an ongoing probe by ... [full story]