LAT: Army, Insurer in Iraq at Odds (another AIG ripoff?)

[unhappycamper]

Army, Insurer in Iraq at Odds
By T. Christian Miller, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — Besieged financial services giant American International Group Inc. repeatedly has sought to derail an effort by the Pentagon that could save taxpayers millions of dollars on reconstruction work in war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq.

For more than a year, AIG and industry allies have fought an initiative to cut the rates for workers' compensation insurance that U.S. contractors operating overseas are required to carry, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Rates have soared since the war in Iraq began, raising suspicions among government officials that the companies may be overcharging contractors and, ultimately, taxpayers who foot the bill. AIG and a handful of other companies dominate the highly specialized market — whose value since the Sept. 11 attacks has rocketed by more than $1 billion, according to some estimates.

"We're saying, let's stop the train here. We need to look at a new concept," said Bunnatine Greenhouse, the Army Corps of Engineers official leading a proposal to conduct competitive bidding for the insurance. "We have the insurance companies shaking in their boots right now."

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-insure13jun13,0,5966469.story?coll=la-home-headlines