Personal Health - Patient Advocates Help to Manage Care - NYTimes.com
A good read from the New York Times.
Personal Health - Patient Advocates Help to Manage Care - NYTimes.com.
October 2009 Archives
October 29, 2009
October 18, 2009
Missouri, Illinois Collateral Source Rules Affect Bodily Injury Claims Differently
Missouri, Illinois Collateral Source Rules Affect Bodily Injury Claims Differently.
This is an interesting story reported by the Insurance Journal. Missouri changed its collateral source rule under tort reform in 2005. Since then the vague law has been applied differently by many circuit courts. Recently, a St. Louis judge declared the law unconstitutional.October 15, 2009
Insurance For Your Home Part II
In this post I continue on with tips on home owners insurance. Make sure that your home owner's policy is a "replacement costs" policy.
Most policies sold cover replacement costs for structural damage, but it is wise to make sure that your policy is a replacement cost policy. A replacement cost policy pays for the repairs or replacement of damaged property with materials of similar kind and quality. The insurance company will not deduct or depreciate when rebuilding your home. Depreciation is the decrease in value due to the passage of time, wear and tear and other factors. If you have an older home, you may not be able to buy a replacement cost policy. Instead, you may have a modified replacement cost policy. This means that instead of repairing or replacing future typical older homes, such as lathe and plaster walls, solid wood doors, the policy will pay for repairs using the standard building materials and construction techniques in use today. If you have an older home and you want your home to be built back as it was, you should check carefully to insure that this is the way the policy reads. Most likely, you will need to purchase an additional rider or have additional language to your policy to insure a home built with older construction techniques.
Consider buying a guaranteed replacement cost policy. Guaranteed replacement cost policies will pay for whatever it costs to rebuild your home as it was before it was destroyed, even if it exceeds the policy limits. This gives the insured the protection against sudden increases in cost due to shortage of building materials, or booming real estate markets.
Insure that your home is not in a flood zone. Standard home owners insurance does not include flood insurance. Many people who were not within the typical 100 year flood plain but above have recently suffered damage to their homes because of flood waters far beyond those normally expected. You should contact the Federal Insurance Administration at 800-638-6620 to inquire about the National Flood Insurance Program offered through the government.
Make sure that you keep lists of all your personal possessions. Making lists of your personal possessions of everything you own in your home will assist you in making a claim should your home and possessions be destroyed. It is time consuming to make a paper list of everything, and some people choose to use cameras or video recorders to record the items in their home. The manner in which you record all your possessions is up to you, however, a written list along with photographs of more expensive items would be the best practice. Also, be aware that many items such as computers and jewelry have limits on the homeowner's policy. So for instance if you have a lot of expensive computer equipment, you should insure that your policy actually covers them. You may need to buy a personal articles endorsement to cover items above and beyond the limited amount of protection offered in your homeowner's policy. Very few policies have unlimited personal possession limits when it comes to expensive items such as electronics, jewelry and clothing.
There are two basic ways to insure your personal possessions. Replacement cost or actual cost value. A replacement cost policy pays the dollar amount needed to replace a damaged item with one of similar kind and quality without deductions or depreciation. An actual cash value policy pays the amount needed to replace the item minus depreciation. Suppose for example a tree fell through the roof and destroyed your refrigerator. At the time the refrigerator was destroyed it was five years old, but was in good condition. If you had a replacement cost policy for the contents of your home, the insurance company would pay to replace the old machine with a new one of similar type and quality. If you had an actual cash value policy, the company would only pay a percentage of the cost of a new refrigerator because a refrigerator that has been used would be worth less than its original cost. This means that you would either have to pay for the difference between the amount of the actual cash value and what it would cost to buy a new refrigerator or you would have to buy a used appliance.
Consider all of these factors in assessing in your present homeowners insurance or when buying a new homeowner's policy to insure that you are adequately protected.
Most policies sold cover replacement costs for structural damage, but it is wise to make sure that your policy is a replacement cost policy. A replacement cost policy pays for the repairs or replacement of damaged property with materials of similar kind and quality. The insurance company will not deduct or depreciate when rebuilding your home. Depreciation is the decrease in value due to the passage of time, wear and tear and other factors. If you have an older home, you may not be able to buy a replacement cost policy. Instead, you may have a modified replacement cost policy. This means that instead of repairing or replacing future typical older homes, such as lathe and plaster walls, solid wood doors, the policy will pay for repairs using the standard building materials and construction techniques in use today. If you have an older home and you want your home to be built back as it was, you should check carefully to insure that this is the way the policy reads. Most likely, you will need to purchase an additional rider or have additional language to your policy to insure a home built with older construction techniques.
Consider buying a guaranteed replacement cost policy. Guaranteed replacement cost policies will pay for whatever it costs to rebuild your home as it was before it was destroyed, even if it exceeds the policy limits. This gives the insured the protection against sudden increases in cost due to shortage of building materials, or booming real estate markets.
Insure that your home is not in a flood zone. Standard home owners insurance does not include flood insurance. Many people who were not within the typical 100 year flood plain but above have recently suffered damage to their homes because of flood waters far beyond those normally expected. You should contact the Federal Insurance Administration at 800-638-6620 to inquire about the National Flood Insurance Program offered through the government.
Make sure that you keep lists of all your personal possessions. Making lists of your personal possessions of everything you own in your home will assist you in making a claim should your home and possessions be destroyed. It is time consuming to make a paper list of everything, and some people choose to use cameras or video recorders to record the items in their home. The manner in which you record all your possessions is up to you, however, a written list along with photographs of more expensive items would be the best practice. Also, be aware that many items such as computers and jewelry have limits on the homeowner's policy. So for instance if you have a lot of expensive computer equipment, you should insure that your policy actually covers them. You may need to buy a personal articles endorsement to cover items above and beyond the limited amount of protection offered in your homeowner's policy. Very few policies have unlimited personal possession limits when it comes to expensive items such as electronics, jewelry and clothing.
There are two basic ways to insure your personal possessions. Replacement cost or actual cost value. A replacement cost policy pays the dollar amount needed to replace a damaged item with one of similar kind and quality without deductions or depreciation. An actual cash value policy pays the amount needed to replace the item minus depreciation. Suppose for example a tree fell through the roof and destroyed your refrigerator. At the time the refrigerator was destroyed it was five years old, but was in good condition. If you had a replacement cost policy for the contents of your home, the insurance company would pay to replace the old machine with a new one of similar type and quality. If you had an actual cash value policy, the company would only pay a percentage of the cost of a new refrigerator because a refrigerator that has been used would be worth less than its original cost. This means that you would either have to pay for the difference between the amount of the actual cash value and what it would cost to buy a new refrigerator or you would have to buy a used appliance.
Consider all of these factors in assessing in your present homeowners insurance or when buying a new homeowner's policy to insure that you are adequately protected.
October 9, 2009
Insurance For your Home Part I
If your house is destroyed by a catastrophe or if your possessions are stolen from your home, you don't want to suddenly find out that the home owners insurance policy that you purchased pays less than you thought it would.
To avoid being underinsured, you should consider the following tips.
If you already have homeowners insurance, speak with your agent or company to make sure you have enough. Most insurance companies recommend that you insure your home for 100% of the cost of rebuilding the home. Very few homes are totally destroyed but yours could be one of those homes that is totally destroyed. If your home is insured for less than 100% of the rebuilding cost, you have assumed the risk of not having enough money to replace it with one of similar size and quality. In addition, in a rising real estate market, the cost of rebuilding your home may be outstripped during the time of the catastrophe and the time it takes to actually begin and complete construction. Make sure your agent knows about any improvements, or additions to your home since you last obtained your insurance policy. If you do not regularly increase your limits to cover the cost of rebuilding, the additions or improvements you have made to your home may not be able to be rebuilt in the event of a catastrophe.
To assess your cost of rebuilding have an appraisal done.
The amount of insurance you buy should be based on actual rebuilding costs not the market price of your home. Market prices of homes fluctuate both up and down and at any particular time your home is damage it may be higher or lower than the original purchase price. However, the cost of rebuilding your house rarely goes down as generally speaking wages, materials and other costs tend to rise over time with inflation. You can contact an appraiser through recommendations from your local real estate agent, insurance agent or by consulting the phone book. The true cost of rebuilding your house is based on local construction costs, the type and size of house you own, including the level of construction, the style and amenities. For instance, if your home is a solid brick exterior, it would obviously cost more than one that has vinyl siding. So to insure that you have adequate insurance get an appraisal of the rebuilding costs. Some insurance companies offer a service which calculates the approximate cost of rebuilding which can also serve as an aid in selecting the amount of coverage to rebuild your home.
Purchase riders that increase your coverage to keep up with local building cost inflation. If the limits of your policy haven't changed since you bought your home, then you're probably underinsured. Many insurance companies offer an "inflation guard clause" that automatically adjusts the dwelling limit when you renew your policy to reflect the current constructions costs in the local area.
To avoid being underinsured, you should consider the following tips.
If you already have homeowners insurance, speak with your agent or company to make sure you have enough. Most insurance companies recommend that you insure your home for 100% of the cost of rebuilding the home. Very few homes are totally destroyed but yours could be one of those homes that is totally destroyed. If your home is insured for less than 100% of the rebuilding cost, you have assumed the risk of not having enough money to replace it with one of similar size and quality. In addition, in a rising real estate market, the cost of rebuilding your home may be outstripped during the time of the catastrophe and the time it takes to actually begin and complete construction. Make sure your agent knows about any improvements, or additions to your home since you last obtained your insurance policy. If you do not regularly increase your limits to cover the cost of rebuilding, the additions or improvements you have made to your home may not be able to be rebuilt in the event of a catastrophe.
To assess your cost of rebuilding have an appraisal done.
The amount of insurance you buy should be based on actual rebuilding costs not the market price of your home. Market prices of homes fluctuate both up and down and at any particular time your home is damage it may be higher or lower than the original purchase price. However, the cost of rebuilding your house rarely goes down as generally speaking wages, materials and other costs tend to rise over time with inflation. You can contact an appraiser through recommendations from your local real estate agent, insurance agent or by consulting the phone book. The true cost of rebuilding your house is based on local construction costs, the type and size of house you own, including the level of construction, the style and amenities. For instance, if your home is a solid brick exterior, it would obviously cost more than one that has vinyl siding. So to insure that you have adequate insurance get an appraisal of the rebuilding costs. Some insurance companies offer a service which calculates the approximate cost of rebuilding which can also serve as an aid in selecting the amount of coverage to rebuild your home.
Purchase riders that increase your coverage to keep up with local building cost inflation. If the limits of your policy haven't changed since you bought your home, then you're probably underinsured. Many insurance companies offer an "inflation guard clause" that automatically adjusts the dwelling limit when you renew your policy to reflect the current constructions costs in the local area.
October 7, 2009
Health Insurance Companies Make Life & Death Decisions
A recent article in the LA Times demonstrates how insurance companies make life and death decisions. A man needing an organ transplant was approved by his insurance company to have the operation in California, but the wait list was very long. His doctor recommended having the operation in Indiana where he could get the organ sooner, but the insurance company denied the procedure to save money. Read the whole story hear.
