Klobuchar calls for insurance investigation Citing her prosecutor credentials, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., urged a probe into potential abuses by the long-term care insurance industry. She wrote that a March 26 New York Times article about insurance companies refusing to pay claims for assisted-living facilities and other benefits confirmed what she has heard for a long time: "certain insurance companies are using improper tactics (some might call them cheap tricks) to deny legitimate long-term care insurance claims made by senior citizens who have conscientiously paid their premiums." She asked Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, to look into alleged wrongdoing. "If these reports are true ... then these insurance companies have committed the very worst kind of fraud against our seniors, against their families, and against the American taxpayers," she said. BRADY AVERILL http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1083733.html