insurance issues,Principles & Solutions and tips *trik tax

Thursday, 31 March 2016

Insurance Tips and trik auto insurance, auto insurance quotes, auto insurance companies, auto insurance florida, auto insurance quotes online, auto insurance america

As in "Special Event," and specifically Special Event Insurance, about which we first wrote 9½ years ago:

"World Furniture Mall "promised that if the Bears shut out the Packers in the season opener at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Labor Day weekend shoppers would get their furniture free."

Fortunately, the folks at WFM had purchased a one-off policy that paid most (all?) of the $300,000 at risk.

What's that got to do with Cleveland, you ask? It's not as if the Browns are in particular danger of winning any championships anytime soon, so why bring it up?

Well, folks following the presidential campaign know that this year's Republican convention takes place in "The Rock and Roll Capital of the World," and that this means a lot of out-of-towners, including revelers, and others. Unlike the Green Bay scenario, such a policy isn't exactly available off-the-shelf. So the city has hired a "risk consultant" (why not just say "broker?") to arrange for "a $10 million insurance policy, required under the terms of Cleveland's hosting of the convention."

I of course have zero idea how much such a policy will cost, but assume that the premium will involve at least a comma or two. Which also (presumably) means a nice commission check - that is, unless the upfront $1½ million brokerage fee already takes care of that.

Oh, what will this particular special event policy cover?

Good question:

"The policy would protect the city and its employees against any claims resulting from hosting and providing security for the convention."

Which is a nicer way of saying protecting the financial interests of these security folks when they have to handle protesters.

Mayor Daley must be spinning furiously.

[Hat Tip: Mark Naymik]

from InsureBlog http://ift.tt/1pO2Eda
via

Insurance Tips and trik auto insurance, auto insurance quotes, auto insurance companies, auto insurance florida, auto insurance quotes online, auto insurance america

Back in Aught Seven, we noted the passing of "Evel" Knievel, whose life previous to stuntsmanship included a stint as a very successful life insurance agent. Now comes an interesting story about one John Herbert Dillinger who, when he wasn't robbing banks and/or murdering folks, also took on the role of insurance agent.

Sort of:

"Dillinger and one of his accomplices posed as an insurance agent and asked police to lay out their guns so he could give them a quote."

This was back in 1933; Mr D and his crew used the review as an excuse to "case the joint," and returned that evening to steal his infamous "Tommy gun."

The story doesn't indicate whether or not the claim (if any) was denied.

Talk about an insurance rip-off.

from InsureBlog http://ift.tt/1UEFMKN
via

Wednesday, 30 March 2016

Insurance Tips and trik auto insurance, auto insurance quotes, auto insurance companies, auto insurance florida, auto insurance quotes online, auto insurance america

Yeah, about bending that cost curve. Something sure got bent:

"Consumers who signed up for Blue Cross Blue Shield health plans through the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces these last two years tended to be sicker and incurred greater medical costs than people with BCBS coverage through their jobs."

Surprise!

This is the manifestation of the insurance term "adverse selection." Briefly, adverse selection occurs when you encourage, and reward, riskier behavior, accomplished in this case by the implementation of guaranteed issue and immediate coverage of pre-existing conditions.

Folks with few or no health problems tend to shy away from buying insurance that they're pretty sure they won't need or use, while folks with chronic and/or expensive conditions tend to over-buy (which, of course, makes sense from their point-of-view). It's exacerbated, of course, when they're rewarded for doing so by premium subsidies.

But wait, there's more!

"Original CBO projections show 24 million fewer people have insurance today ... based on the CBO's own numbers, it seems possible that Obamacare has actually reduced the number of people with private health insurance."

That's right, not only are the newly-insured sicker, there are even fewer less-sickly folks signing up at all. In fact, the government's own metrics belie the (always phony) claim that "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan." Obviously, that meme's been long and well debunked, but it bears repeating if only to underscore the whole train-wreck.

Cheerio!

from InsureBlog http://ift.tt/1Y10cLx
via

Insurance Tips and trik auto insurance, auto insurance quotes, auto insurance companies, auto insurance florida, auto insurance quotes online, auto insurance america

Over at LifeHealthPro, Michael Thomas reports on new legislation being proposed that seeks to update Health Savings Accounts. He does a great job of introducing the background and history of HSA's, and provides a helpful explication of this new initiative. It's a very well-done piece.

That being said, the legislation itself is stupid. It goes off in myriad directions, focuses on non-essential "benefits," and misses the opportunity to actually accomplish something useful.

The purported purpose is to expand eligibility for purchasing and definitions of acceptable distributions (expenses). As to the first, the law "allows Medicare recipients participating in Medicare Advantage MSAs to contribute their own money to Medicare Medical Savings Accounts" which they're currently prohibited from doing. Why is this stupid? Well, go find me an example of a carrier that currently even offers one of these plans.

I'll wait.

In a related section, the legislation "amends the existing law to reauthorize health opportunity accounts in Medicaid as a demonstration program." What, you didn't know that there was such a program in the first place? Don't feel too bad, the original pilot program was such a rousing success that "South Carolina was the only state applying for and approved to participate" in it, and at its peak had enrolled "only two adults and three children."

Winning!

There are a few decent ideas here: allowing one to buy over-the-counter meds with HSA funds, ducking some of the more onerous Cadillac tax issues. But they are far outweighed by the silliness of allowing "fitness programs" and dietary supplements as legit. I do recall, years ago, being asked if a hot tub qualified (the insured in question has back issues). Maybe this is the answer.

What does it miss? Access.

What do you mean, Henry?

Just this: why must HSA's be tied to a specific type of insurance plan? IRA's don't require you to have a certain job, or tie you to a specific investment plan. Why should HSA's (which are really just medical IRA's)? And why not expand the amount one can contribute? After all, if the idea is to really bend that health care cost curve down, doesn't it make sense to give folks even more opportunity to put their own skin in the game?

Sigh.

from InsureBlog http://ift.tt/1MSLMan
via

Tuesday, 29 March 2016

Insurance Tips and trik auto insurance, auto insurance quotes, auto insurance companies, auto insurance florida, auto insurance quotes online, auto insurance america

So I lost a client yesterday, and that's a good thing.

I wrote Sue's health insurance a year or so ago; her husband's on Medicare, so it was just her. She chose an Anthem Gold-level plan, and has been reasonably satisfied with it. A month or so ago she and her husband moved to Texas and asked me for help with notifying Anthem of their address change.

I pointed out that, although Anthem's BlueCard program would offer some relief, pretty much every claim she has going forward is going to be treated as out-of-network (at least initially). Plus, there may be better and/or less expensive options available in her new town. Finally, I'm a big believer in local agents, and so I offered to help her find one.

As usual, I turned to my "posse" (a loose-knit collection of fellow agents around the country whom I've been fortunate enough to "meet" over the years). Alas, I could find no one in her area. When I called to tell her this, she mentioned that her new auto/home insurance agent had recommended someone that he knew. I told her to jump on that right away: from the insured's standpoint, that's one of the very best types of referral.

Why's that, you ask?

It's a matter of simple self-interest: if the agent recommends someone whom he's not vetted and the client has a bad experience, that client's going to blame the initial agent. No one wants to take that chance, so these kinds of referrals are generally rock solid.

I offered to speak with the new guy to answer any questions about her existing coverage (it's what I do), and we did, in fact, touch base. He seemed like a nice, professional, knowledgeable guy, who'd actually found a comparable local plan with a lower rate for her.

So, a happy ending all around.

from InsureBlog http://ift.tt/1pXQLlA
via

Monday, 28 March 2016

Insurance Tips and trik auto insurance, auto insurance quotes, auto insurance companies, auto insurance florida, auto insurance quotes online, auto insurance america

1 - First up, seven (just seven??) ways The ObamaTax has let us down. A sampling:

"1. Low enrollment. Many people would not have jumped on the Obamacare bandwagon if they had known the relatively small number of Americans who would actually be enrolled on the exchanges by 2016.
4. Lost plans. Speaking in the Rose Garden, on July 21, 2009, President Obama said, “If you like your current plan, you will be able to keep it."

Yeah, how's that working out?

2 - Speaking of low enrollment, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has once again slashed its estimate for 2016 ObamaPlan enrollment:

"About 12 million people are now expected to have ObamaCare coverage by the end of 2016 ... Just three months ago, the office had predicted that 13 million people would have coverage."

Any bets on when it's revised downward again?

3 - And now, 1,000 words neatly summarizing the two items above:

from InsureBlog http://ift.tt/25sU1ph
via

Insurance Tips and trik auto insurance, auto insurance quotes, auto insurance companies, auto insurance florida, auto insurance quotes online, auto insurance america

[Hat Tip: Ʀєfùsєηíκ]

from InsureBlog http://ift.tt/22HlIMb
via