Bite-Sized tips from 23-year Insurance Veteran

Guaranteed Health Insurance – the True Costs

Filed under: health insurance,high risk health insurance — Tags: , — Alston @ 22:05 August 28, 2009

While you may be able to find insurance coverage for a pre-existing medical condition in certain circumstances and MediGap insurance without pre-existing conditions issues is available in most situations, forcing insurance companies to insure all comers would prove disastrous to our present system.

About a decade or so ago the State of New York forced the insurance companies to insure everyone regardless of their medical history. What happened? Almost all of the health insurance companies serving the non-group market fled the state. The remaining providers were forced to raise their rates beyond an amount that most could afford.

Basically what happened was that sicker people started buying health insurance policies. They cost the insurance companies more than they paid in. This forced the companies to raise their rates. This meant that fewer people could afford to keep their coverage. Those that were already sick squeezed their budgets tighter to keep their coverage when they could. This meant that more healthy people dropped their coverage than unhealthy people did. The companies raised their rates again. This cycle continued and continued.

Guaranteed medical insurance will only work when there is universal health insurance. When healthier people are allowed to opt out of the system, the rates just go up and up.

Should a Stay-At-Home Mom Have Disability Insurance?

Filed under: insurance tips — Tags: — Alston @ 01:53 August 18, 2009

A stay-at-home mom brings no money in the door. Since disability insurance is designed to replace income, it would be easy to say that a stay-at-home mother should not have disability insurance.

Although a stay-at-home mom brings no money in the door, she keeps a lot of money from going out of the door. If we only look at the cost of childcare, she saves her family a lot of money.

Of course, if she is married to a man with a high income, disability insurance is more important to protect his income. However the economic loss of the person who does the important job of taking care of the children, should be covered with insurance if at all possible.

Is Long Term Disability Insurance Taxable?

As a general rule, if you pay for disability insurance with pre-tax dollars the income received from the company is taxable. If you pay with post-tax dollars the income received from the insurance company is not taxable. This is true for stay-at-home mom disability insurance, short term disability insurance in ohio, group disability insurance, individual disability insurance or mortgage income disability insurance.

Protecting your income against loss cannot be over emphasized. For many families, just six months of a parent being unable to work can set a retirement plan back by a decade. This is true whether the parent works in the home or out of it.

Chances are, the loss of mom’s services would have a major impact on the family financially. Her disability could mean that her husband would be forced to work less. It could mean that the family would have to find money to pay for child care. It could be a combination of both. In any event, stay-at-home moms have a positive impact on the family’s finances and that economic value should be insured if at all possible.

What is the Meaning of Insurance Premium?

Filed under: car insurance,health insurance — Alston @ 02:44 August 12, 2009

An insurance premium is the payment you make to your insurance carrier to “rent” your policy. The word “premium” as it applies to insurance is just a fancy word for “rates” or “costs.” You can substitute either word in the phrase “what are monthly auto insurance premiums in nyc?”

An insurance premium may be paid monthly, quarterly, semiannually or annually.

At one time life insurance premiums were collected weekly. This is back in the days of the debit agents. These agents went door-to-door and sold small policies and collected premiums.

Insurance premiums can be guaranteed for the life of a policy as with some life insurance policies. They can also be subject to increase at any time as with some health insurance policies.

The money you pay your insurance company to keep your policy active is your premium. This may be one aspect of insurance that isn’t complicated.

Maternity Insurance Strategies

Filed under: insurance tips,Maternity Insurance — Alston @ 19:23 August 10, 2009

Health insurance plans that cover maternity are often much more expensive than otherwise similar individual health insurance plans that do not provide pregnancy insurance. For this reason you we suggest two strategies to lower your costs.

Two Health Insurance Policies May be Cheaper

When you find the best health insurance for maternity you may find that the policy is not the best one for the rest of the family. This may mean that you it is in your best interests to have one policy for the woman seeking to get pregnant and another for the rest of the family. We typically see savings of $100 to $300 a month using this strategy.

Maternity Insurance Benefit Timing

I’m constantly asked “can you get insurance while pregnant?” Usually the answer is “no.” There may be a governmental mandate in your area or a state-sponsored program that will cover you. Even if this is the case, chances are your choices will be much more limited, if you have any choices at all if you find yourself pregnant with no insurance.

Because of this, it is important to get the coverage in place before you conceive. With some policies, you must purchase the coverage long before you conceive. With others you will only need to be insured just before conception.

Since insurance that covers maternity is so expensive ideally, you would get the coverage just before you need it and drop it right after. While this is a recommended strategy to lower your costs it comes with an obvious risk and one that isn’t so obvious.

Pregnancies aren’t always planned. By trying to save money by going without maternity until you need it you may wind up paying more because you got pregnant before you purchased the additional coverage.

If your health declines, you may not be able to qualify for a maternity insurance plan. Something as unrelated as a broken leg can keep you from getting another policy until you are released by your doctor. Health issues that are more serious, such as diabetes, can keep you from changing your coverage at any time.

With the medical costs associated with pregnancy increasing each year it is important to have the maternity coverage when you need it. However, since this coverage is so expensive to purchase as part of an individual health insurance policy, thought must be given to the process as you look for the best health and maternity insurance for your family.

Avoid this Personal Finance Mistake

Filed under: Maternity Insurance — Alston @ 02:57

Failing to update your insurance policies can cost you a lot. It can cost you in extra monthly payments for coverage you no longer need. It can cost you when hazard impacts an uncovered or poorly covered asset.

Your need for insurance may change from year to year. You should review your coverage each year to make sure your insurance covers you well.

Health Insurance

Owing a health insurance policy that included maternity insurance may have been a crucial component of your insurance planning a few years ago. However, if you are past the baby making stage of your life, maternity insurance may just represent a cost with no benefits.

Your need for low deductible insurance may have also passed. If your children are older, you may no longer be concerned about frequent visits to the doctor and my do be just as well served by a higher deductible policy.

Life Insurance

If the amount you have purchased for life insurance will no longer generate the income you want your family to have after you are gone, or will no longer pay for the things you intended it to pay for, it may be time for a review. Conversely, if your assets have grown, you may need less insurance on your life. If your children are no longer minors, you may need less coverage as well.

Auto insurance

If your car has gotten older, you may want to drop the comprehensive and collision coverages on it. You may be surprised at how low a payment you might get for the loss of your car. It may be best to take the money you save by having a lower auto insurance premium and use it to help you save for a new car.

Home insurance

Your home insurance policy should cover, among other things, the cost of rebuilding or repairing your home. If construction costs have gone up in your area since you last updated your coverage, you may want to update your policy.

Using Two Health Insurance Companies To Cover Costs

Filed under: insurance tips — Alston @ 01:12 August 8, 2009

Having two health insurance policies means that you will pay twice. It doesn’t mean that you will get twice the benefits. When you combine the insurance rates they may be double the rate of having one policy, however when you combine the benefits they won’t be.

You may wind up with slightly more in benefits, but the additional benefits of the second policy are unlikely to even come close to justifying the additional costs.

A medical insurance policy will typically have a provision written into the contract that greatly reduces your benefits if you have a second policy. There are exceptions. Certain types of policies, such as cancer policies, other critical illness policies and hospital indemnity policies will typically pay their full benefits even when you have other coverage.

Most companies will not issue you a policy if you say that you intend to keep your current health insurance policy inforce. This is for your protection. A second health insurance policy isn’t likely to be in your best interest.

It is better to simply get one very good policy. To find health insurance rates for Alabama or health insurance quotes for any other area in the US request private medical insurance quotes from us.

Using two health insurance policies to cover your costs will probably be much more expensive than simply using the money you would have paid on the second policy to cover your uncovered expenses.

How to Value a House for Insurance

Filed under: home insurance — Alston @ 23:13 August 4, 2009

The primary homeowners insurance coverage that most people think about is called the “A Coverage” or “Dwelling Coverage.” In a standard homeowners policy, this covers the house and structures that are permanently attached to it.

When it’s time to learn how to file home insurance claim, neither a home insurance company in Houston TX nor a provider of home insurance Chicago IL will be likely to pay you more than you are covered for. They are also unlikely to refund monies to you if you have over-insured your home.

Often home owners will base the amount of coverage on the market value of the house. This is incorrect for two reasons.

The first reason is that market value of the home includes the land the home sits on. A homeowners insurance policy does not cover land.
The second reason that this is incorrect is the fact the coverage amount should be based on the cost to repair or rebuild a home. Often the market value of a home is much higher or lower than the potential cost of rebuilding it.

When selecting a value for the Dwelling Coverage of your homeowners insurance policy make sure that you select an amount that will cover the cost or rebuilding your home. Saving money on health insurance just requires a little homework. Keep reading and keep saving.

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