Everything you do in your life involves some risk. Every decision you make has consequences and the best way to manage the everyday risks is to stay informed. So I present the 26′th Cavalcade of Risk. You won’t find a better source of information about risk anywhere on the internets.

I think the most interesting post comes from David E. Williams, who shares a story he read while he’s up in Canada: There’s something about British Columbia on the Health Business Blog. David’s comment… “In British Columbia gay teens have a greater risk of pregnancy than their straight peers. Odd.”

If it weren’t for blogs, how would you find this stuff? The interesting numbers from the article David links to in his post say: “Among gay males surveyed in 2003, 17 per cent said they had been involved in a pregnancy, as opposed to only 5 per cent of sexually active heterosexual males. Thirteen per cent of lesbians said they had been involved in a pregnancy, while only 5 per cent of heterosexual girls had. For bisexual teens, 17 per cent of males and 9 per cent of females had been involved in pregnancy.”

Wow!

A must read –Healthcare Economist Jason Shafrin presents Nursing Home Residents, Hospice Care and Hospitalizations, saying, “Does hospice care decrease hospitalizations or is it the case that those in hospice care are less likely to be admitted to a hospital or use more aggressive care regardless of the presence hospice care? This post summarizes a paper by Gozalo and Miller. The authors find that hospice care significantly reduces end-of-life hospitalizations for nursing home patients.”

A must read – Julie Ferguson writes about how Workplace disabilities are on the rise at the Workers Comp Insider. She says, “Employers beware – unhealthy worker lifestyles and an aging work force are contributing to an acceleration in the rate of long term disabilities.”

A must read – Bob Vineyard writes about Margarita’s & Medicine at the InsureBlog. “So you need an operation, and maybe a vacation. Why not combine the two? InsureBlog’s Bob Vineyard has the latest on ‘medical tourism.’”

Sounds interesting, right?

Bob points out two issues with planning a vacation around an operation…
“If there are complications while in another country which require follow up treatment once you return home, who pays for translating your medical records?” and “If there are complications, how many doctors do you think are willing to go back and correct something a doctor in a foreign country did wrong?”

Joe Paduda of Managed Care Matters writes about some of the risks health insurance companies are taking… “These are big companies run by smart people, who continue to make really bad decisions. National health care reform is coming, folks, and right now you’re part of the problem, not part of the solution.”

WBL asks “Is Gold a Good Investment?” in Wealth Building Lessons. It’s a detailed post with helpful graphs for a picture oriented guy like me. This post is very interesting to me because I just saw a show on the history channel about gold and my interest is already piqued.

Silicon Valley Blogger gives us 5 Tips For Creating A Solid Investment Plan over at The Digerati Life. I found #2 the most helpful.

Eric Turkewitz writes Medical Malpractice Trial Starting For Med-Blogger from the New York Personal Injury Law Blog. “A doctor talks about his trial prep as his malpractice trial gets underway. Can his insurer disclaim on the basis of his defense being hindered, if this gets out at trial?”

Leon Gettler shows us Internal audit risk gaps over at Sox First, “Auditors say they take risk seriously but serious gaps are emerging. Fewer are confident about their risk assessments in the areas of technology, fraud and strategy. And one in five says they don’t do an annual risk assessment of their company. And that’s despite Sarbanes-Oxley.” says Leon.

Henry asks What Is Gap Insurance, and Do I Need It? at the Binary Dollar!. I actually wasn’t even aware of the need for gap insurance until reading this article. It’s got a really cool picture too!

Ben helps out with a post called “Buy Flood Insurance While You Still Can!” posted at Money Smart Life. he says, “If you think you might need flood insurance then read this article!”

Bob Sargent writes about Identity Theft Close to Home on the Insurance Agents E&O – Flood Exposure blog. “Not only should insurance agents advise their clients on identity theft exposure, they should consider their own exposure to identity theft.” Good advice!

The Israeli Speculator presents How Much Can You Stand To Lose On a Given Day? Part I posted at Israeli Speculator. He gives us good advice about how to tell how risky your investment portfolio is, and how to do the calculation (in part II).

Kurt Cobb, blogging at Resource Insights, has some interesting ideas about long term forecasting and oil prices. Given the current price of gas, it’s pretty timely.

Blogger Bruce Schneier provides some much-needed perspective on the VT shootings, and how we perceive various kinds and levels of risk to our health (and even our lives).

The aptly named Swim at Your Own Risk has some beautiful ocean scenery, and some of its dangerous denizens, in a report on where NOT to spend your summer vacation.

IT audit manager Antony Ma, blogging at Tech Risk & Security, has some disturbing news about computer security. Turns out, Symantec’s latest virus definitions may be as bad as the virii themselves.

Michael J. Panzner, writing at the frighteningly-named Financial Armageddon blog, has a lengthy but interesting look at difficult loans and the Law of Unintended Consequences.

Chris Walsh, one of the bloggers at Emergent Chaos, dissects the notion of “reasonable risk,” using identity theft as a case in point.

Steve Walters, guest blogging at The Wages of Wins Journal, touts the beauty and “purity” of betting on the horses. Really! He discusses the beauty of both the thoroughbreds themselves, and the computations that go into placing just the right wager.

Over at Brain Blogger, Navi Johal tells us about a new study linking estrogen levels with the risk of Alzheimer’s. If you’re a woman, or know any women, then you need to read this.

And check out my post here at the Colorado Health Insurance Insider called Misperception of a Free Market. I talk about how healthcare doesn’t fall into the same phenomenon of a free economy that we enjoy in so many other industries.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Cavalcade of Risk using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

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