Palmerston North Women's Health Collective paid more than three times too much for work place insurance from the government's own company, @ Work Insurance.

'This is just the first of many cases that will come to light over the next few months, as employers, doctors and employees confront the lack of accountability and frustrations of a private workplace insurance system.

'The system is a mess, and it's only going to get worse.'Palmerston North Women's Health Collective applied for a quote from @ Work fo r their workplace insurance, before the deadline of July 1st.

'But they didn't hear anything from @ Work until after the deadline. @ Work then wrote to the collective to tell them that as they hadn't applied for insurance, they had automatically defaulted for at least the first three months.

'A short time later they received a bill for the three months: a whopping $436.77. Fusion Insurance Services in comparison charge only $467.97 for a whole year.

'This begs the question, is @ Work ripping off employers who defaulted to them in the chaotic change over to a private system, simply because it's a captive audience and they can?

'I'd like to see full disclosure of @ Work's rates, and I'd like to see some accountability. Minister of ACC Murray McCully needs to take responsibility for this, and he needs to do it now,' said Laila Harre.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>