Finance Tips

Finding adequate health coverage in case you have a serious health condition can be not quite as easy as with healthier customers. But it’s still possible, only that people with health conditions usually pay higher fees and have to wait longer for their insurance plan to kick in.

When it comes to defining which conditions are considered serious and which are not, every company has its own definitions for them. But in most cases insurance companies agree the following to be of a high risk:

• cancers of most types
• heart diseases
• nervous system issues
• AIDS and other serious diseases

Group coverage

Prior to the 1996 adoption of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), workers looking for group coverage from their employers were often rejected or had their serious conditions excluded from coverage altogether. After the HIPAA has taken force it guaranteed that all workers who are eligible for group coverage can get one regardless of any pre-existing conditions. The document imposed certain requirements over insurance providers, such as:

• waiting period not exceeding one year
• no waiting period if your diagnosis or treatment were made more than six months ago

In most states these regulations are even more generous towards those looking for group health insurance with pre-existing conditions.

Individual coverage

HIPAA also assures that buyers with pre-existing conditions can obtain individual health coverage by using two sources:

• high-risk pools (specialized in providing coverage to people with pre-existing conditions)
• private insurance providers (who can’t refuse you with coverage if you are eligible)

Health insurance coverage can be quite expensive

Getting insurance from high-risk pools can be quite costly as the rates can be twice the amount you will be charged by an ordinary insurance company. Still, the majority of high-risk pools have 25-50% higher rates than the standard ones. But it’s the price you have to pay in order to get individual coverage if you are considered a high risk by typical providers.

To learn whether high-risk pools are available in your state you can contact your state insurance department or the National Association of State Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans.

In case there are no high-risk pools in your state you should seek health insurance plans from a private insurance company. In that case, if you have a pre-existing condition the company has no right to keep you waiting before you can get your coverage. On the other hand, private insurance companies can charge you whatever amount they may find suitable.

You have to understand that insurance companies are assuming high risk when insuring a person with a serious pre-existing condition. That’s because such persons tend to require more care and call for medical services more often than persons with no pre-existing conditions, pushing up the costs of coverage above average. Don’t get offended by such trends, it’s just the way things are.

And don’t forget that the rule of comparison shopping also applies. No one is forcing you to get the first plan you get a quote for. Try getting as much quotes from different companies in your state as you can and compare them. Sometimes you may find a provider who will charge you the same rate as a person with no serious health concerns. Also keep in mind that your condition could be considered as a high risk in one company and could be within the norm in another one.

Torrential downpours, a dam bursts, the levies don’t hold, a tree collapses during a storm, a hurricane, a tsunami, an earthquake, a tornado-the house is victimized by natural disaster and your possessions are caught in the fold. Now, the insurance adjuster is on his or her way, provided it is a weekday, and you’ve got mounds of destruction to clear out. They may pay for new carpet, repair to the roof, a new couch, replace your computer, but will they cover all your books, records, stamp collection, and other hard to account for valuables? Probably not. That could be thousands of dollars you are losing! However, if you have kept detailed records, you can make them pay. It’s not that hard either. Keeping Records To get the restitution you deserve from a home disaster, you have to provide detailed and accurate records. Otherwise, it is too easy for the insurer to say that your claims are frivolous or inaccurate and get out of paying them. With this in mind, there are a number of criteria that you must have on record. You want to keep track of: * Name of item * Who the item was purchased from * Date of purchase * Purchase price * Book value for item (such as for cars, collectibles, antiques) * Condition of item You may also want to keep good digital images of the item on file. This way, you have indisputable evidence. Use a computer database, even an Excel spreadsheet will do, to consolidate all of this information. Keep a digital backup as well as print copies in a safe location. You don’t want your records to be destroyed by the disaster as well! Plan of Attack The first thing to do is remember to log all of the information for any new items that you acquire or purchase. Scan the receipt and keep it with the other information. Have everything on file digitally and in hard copy. As you are essentially dividing the items you must record into two sections-old stuff and new stuff-staying very on top of the new stuff is an easy way to make sure you don’t fall more behind. You might be tempted to rush through the old items because you are terrified that the disaster will strike before you are prepared. There is no need to rush! Unless the dam just broke and you are downstream, as long as you steadily chip away, you will quickly have the data ready to get the most from your home insurance. It will help to prioritize the order in which you go about your work. Start with the most important/expensive items, the move on down the list in order of difficulty to replace, rarity, sentimental value, etc. Go all the way down to your shoes; you can get your home insurance company to pay the $100 they cost. Set a schedule. If it takes 20 minutes to record most of the data and get a digital image on file, at an hour a day, that is 5 items per. If you have 200 to do, you’ll have records ready for your home insurance in about 6 weeks.

The majority of US citizens who have their health insured get their coverage through employer-sponsored group plans. Still, not all employers provide such coverage options. And if you happen to be employed at such an enterprise this means that you are forced to look for an individual insurance plan.

Despite the common belief, there are some pros to buying individual insurance through private companies. The biggest advantage here is of course in the possibility of tailoring your policy to your exact needs, instead of coping with plans selected by the employer. You are free to adjust the plan just as you like, dropping coverage you don’t need and raising your deductibles for lower premiums.

And instead of being the hostage of your workplace in terms of insurance coverage, with individual plans you get the protection you need no matter where you are working at the moment. For as long as you pay the premiums you will be covered, even if you’re unemployed.

However, there are certain disadvantages to individual insurance plans as well:

* Group insurance plans provided by employers usually carry more coverage than individual plans with the same rates. That is because group plans have lower marketing and servicing costs compared to individual ones.

* Most group insurance plans provide coverage to all employees and their family members, while individual plains may refuse to cover persons who have certain health problems. And some plans will also drop coverage on a range of pre-existing health conditions.

* In the majority of states, the premiums you pay for individual health insurance gradually increase as you get older. At first, you can avoid paying too high premiums by switching providers on a regular basis. But as you age, it will be harder to get cheap health insurance as most companies charge older people with higher rates.

If you still wish to find good individual insurance plan then you will definitely need a good insurance agent to work with. Defining the amount of coverage and types of coverage to be included in your plan is a tough decision. Working with a competent agent will help you define your insurance needs and get the right coverage for your personal situation. Remember that you have to trust your agent in order to get the most out of your collaboration. You have to provide all the information required as only this way your agent can help you with the best health insurance quotes he can find.

Don’t forget to ask the following questions when looking for an individual plan:

• Will this plan offer the coverage for going to a specific doctor or hospital?
• What the referral system is all about?
• How pre-existing conditions are covered?
• What about coverage away from home?
• How much should I pay in premiums, deductibles and co-payments?
• Are there any additional payments I have to know about?
• Are there any maximum amounts that the plan will pay?
• Are there any specific benefits available with this plan?

It may look hard finding a good plan in the individual insurance market. So make sure to make the purchase with caution, like you would do with an expensive item, say a car. Research all of your options, see what companies are offering and make the decision only after analyzing all the possibilities.

One sad fact becomes obvious to all start-ups. No matter what you want to help get your business up and running, it never seems to come cheap. In part, this is because you don’t know where to find the discounts. But, more often than not, it’s a problem caused by your past experience. Take auto insurance as an example. You may have owned a vehicle of some kind for several years and, with multiple quotes available online, you can see what the average rates are for the standard makes and models. Except, these are the rates for non-commercial use. The problem starts because of the number of people insured. The majority of drivers do not use their vehicles for commercial purposes so they make a big group when it comes to dividing up the expected cost of loss. With a smaller number of commercial drivers, you have higher costs divided among a small number of insureds.

OK, so why are there higher costs? As a careful owner-driver, you remember the last premium hike and drive more carefully to get through the next couple of years without another accident. But if you sit in a vehicle insured by your employer, there’s no incentive for you to drive carefully. Any premium hikes will not be passed on to you. This is a big management problem. You may rely on a fleet of vehicles for your business. If there are too many off the road being repaired, you cannot make deliveries or meet your other commitments. That means your insurance cover must include not just all the liability costs to repair the damage your negligent drivers cause, but all the costs of maintenance and repair, and for hiring replacement vehicles while yours are off the road. In a perfect world, all your fleet drivers would have excellent driving records and never pick up tickets while driving for you. So how are you going to encourage them to keep their perfect records for you?

Now let’s think about what you are carrying around in those vehicles. Are these goods likely to catch fire, leak dangerous chemicals or cause any other injuries if there’s an accident? This is the time to sit down with your insurer and give full details of your business use. This is not just to get all your operational uses covered, but also to avoid any unnecessary cover that might be included in the standard package. Insurers depend on you to make a full disclosure of the risks. If your reputation for truthfulness is not good, the premiums are likely to be set higher. Affordable small business insurance rates are earned by running a good business in a transparent way. Insurance companies have detailed models for all the major business types and they will quickly spot anything “unusual” about your business. This puts you in the catch-up position, having to explain and justify. Although it may be more expensive when you start, you will earn lower small business insurance rates over the years by running an efficient operation with a only small number of claims.

It does not matter which part of the country you look at, the recession has been biting hard. One of the less obvious effects has been the fall in the amount of tax revenue collected by city councils and state governments. Property taxes? Well, no properties have held their value and many are unoccupied and awaiting sale. The take from local sales taxes and other sources have also fallen. There are deficits everywhere. No one wants to raise any of the taxes. Everyone in politics is therefore playing the game of finding cuts to public services. Except, every now and again, a politician comes up with an idea and you just have to rise in standing applause. The way of collecting money is just so magnificently outrageous you have to applaud the savviness of the politicians who could sell it locally and have the nerve to enforce it.

Welcome to the world of Californian ingenuity. With an economy equal to several European countries rolled into one, California has been facing major deficit problems for the last ten and more years. It all comes from the massive rise in population from 24 million in 1980 to 34 million in 2000. This is the largest population increase in any US state and it forced government at all levels to expand public services from new roads to schools to healthcare services. This would not have been a problem except Californian voters vote for tax limits as in Proposition 13 reducing reliance on property taxes for government spending. This has left the state with major deficit headaches for years. So, if taxes cannot rise and voters want to see spending maintained on public services, creativity is required.

Welcome to Huntington Beach unless, of course, after reading this, you decide you would rather steer clear of this friendly place. If you get into a traffic accident inside the city limits, you will be presented with a bill of up to $3,000 to cover the response of the emergency services. There’s actually a price list. If you are trapped in your vehicle, that’s $2,000 to pry the metal apart to free you. If there’s a fire, it will cost you $750 for the fire services to put it out – that’s on top of the $405 an hour for every fire truck that attends the scene of your accident.

First, the good news. If you are a taxpaying resident of Huntington Beach you get rescued for free. The tax dollars you pay cover the cost of the services. But if you live outside the city, you are liable. Now the bad news. If your auto insurance does not cover this expense, the bill comes directly to you. So, if you are planning a visit to Orange County (yes, the list of cities following Huntington Beach is growing rapidly) check out your auto insurance policy to ensure you will not be even more out of pocket than usual should you get into an accident. It really does not pay to have an accident in Orange County.