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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Whats new in a Disability Income Policy

1.  Critical Illness - Return of Premiums
If a policy owner with a Critical Illness contract in force (Assurity or Mutual of Omaha) - the company will refund 100% of the premium paid by the client - less any benefits paid. 
2. COLA - it isn't the same for every carrier.
Some carriers are simple, some are compound. Some are a flat rate, some are geared to the CPI. For young clients - it is good to know what you are receiving.
3. Prudential LTC - they actually have 3 different kinds of products under one policy chassis.
.Reimbursement, partial cash and full cash. Let us get you runs on all 3 for and we will let you know the why's and wherefore's of the premiums differences.
4. Guaranteed Renewable vs Non-Cancelable. Do you know the difference?
Guaranteed Renewable says that as long as you pay the 'billed' premium - there is coverage. The company does have the ability to increase premiums. However, they have to prove to their state commissioner that they had an unprecedented amount of claims that the didn't expect. Plus they have to do so on a whole class of clients. Non-Cancelable - says that the company cannot increase premiums.

Friday, January 07, 2011

Traveling in 2011 Don't forget to take a travel medical plan with you

I have medical insurance, so why would I need a travel medical policy?  My insurance requires me to pay the bill and then be reimbursed or I am hurt or sick and want to get home for medical care, the repatriation benefits can do what no other insurance can do.

Interactive Travel Insurance Guide

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Interactive Travel Insurance Guide
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Thursday, January 06, 2011

Health Spending Grew At Slowest Pace In 50 Years.

Media outlets widely covered a CMS report that showed the recession hindered Americans' spending on healthcare, but most sources still expressed concerns that healthcare expenditures continue to grow unchecked. The New York Times (1/6, A19, Pear) reports, "Total national health spending grew by 4 percent in 2009, the slowest rate of increase in 50 years, as people lost their jobs, lost health insurance and deferred medical care, the federal government reported on Wednesday." Nevertheless, "health care accounted for a larger share of a smaller economy -- a record 17.6 percent of the total economic output in 2009, the report said."
        The AP (1/6, Alonso-Zaldivar) reports, "The recession slowed the growth of the nation's health care bill to the lowest levels ever measured," yet, "the slowdown did not change the nation's underlying problem with out-of-control health care spending." Data from Medicare's Office of the Actuary show that "Americans spent $2.5 trillion on health care in 2009, or $8,086 per person." Notably, the "figures do not reflect the impact of President Barack Obama's landmark health coverage expansion, which didn't pass until 2010."
        McClatchy (1/6, Pugh) reports, "Unlike previous recessions, when spending for health services began to slow some two years after an economic downturn, the effect of the Great Recession was swift and profound on insurers, health care providers and patients in both 2008 and 2009." McClatchy adds, "Fueling the spending slowdown in 2009 was a 3.2 percent decline in private health insurance enrollment as 6.3 million people lost job-based health coverage that year. That loss of private coverage also curbed growth in out-of-pocket spending by patients, many of whom delayed medical care because of a lack of cash."
        Meanwhile, "spending on Medicaid soared -- by 9 percent, compared with less than 5 percent in 2008 -- as more people qualified for the public insurance program for the poor," the Washington Post (1/6, Goldstein) reports.
        In fact, "government spending on Medicaid and Medicare rose almost six times faster than insurance company expenditures in 2009 from the prior year as the recession pushed more Americans onto public assistance," Bloomberg News (1/6, Young) reports. The federal government "and states combined to spend $373.9 billion on Medicaid...an increase of 9 percent. Outlays for Medicare, aiding the elderly and disabled, rose 7.9 percent to $502.3 billion." Meanwhile, "insurance companies led by UnitedHealth Group Inc. spent $801.2 billion, an increase of 1.3 percent."
        Politico (1/6, Coughlin) says that despite the trend, "some sectors saw accelerated health spending, including a whopping 10 percent bump for home health care, an 8.3 percent increase in other residential and personal care and 5.3 percent for prescription drugs." Commenting on the data, Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, said, "The continued rise in health care costs is not sustainable. ... Rising health care costs threaten our economic competitiveness, make health care coverage less affordable, and crowd out other urgent national priorities. We urge policymakers to work on a bipartisan basis to pass reforms that will control the soaring cost of medical care."
        The Wall Street Journal (1/6, Landers, subscription required), Reuters (1/6, Heavey), CQ HealthBeat (1/6, Reichard, subscription required), and Modern Healthcare (1/6, Zigmond, subscription required) also cover the story, as does The Hill (1/6, Pecquet) in its "Healthwatch" blog.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Choose your Disability Policy

1.  You can choose your Disability Income policy...
But - you can't choose your disability!!
2. Residual Benefit - this is almost always necessary.
You do  not need to be totally disabled. What is normally needed is a loss of income of at least 15-20% due to a sickness or injury. The benefit paid is equal to % of benefit equal to the % of income loss.
3. Survivorship/Waiver Rider - LTC
This says that if a couple have both of their policies in force for at least 10 years - if one of them should go on claim and/or pass away - the Surviving person has their coverage paid up - and/or gets to use their spouses left benefit.
4. Work around other insurance.......Our company will issue a policy that works around in force coverage.
If  you have STD that ends in 180 days – our company will issue a small amount to go on top of the STD from the elimination period. Then, when the STD ends, the our companies benefit will increase. Other companies will start with the smaller amount and stay at that amount.

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Online Health Advice, Don't Believe Everything You Read

Record numbers of people around the world turn to the Internet for online health advice, but should they believe everything they read? A new survey suggests many people are getting inaccurate information and are not checking up on their sources.

Always check sources of online health info

The Bupa Health Pulse 2010 International Healthcare survey questioned 12,262 people from 12 different countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States between June 10 and July 14, 2010.

The main reason people use the Internet for health purposes is to find information about medications (68%). Nearly half (46%) of people surveyed said they are self-diagnosing, and 39 percent reported they were looking for other patients’ experiences. Eighteen percent of all respondents to the survey said they used social networking sites to learn about healthcare issues.

Few people, however, are checking the accuracy or source of the health information they find. Among online searchers in Britain, for example, while 58 percent looked for information to self-diagnose, only 25 percent took the time to check where the information came from.

The survey also found that people searching for health information on the Internet will likely find many different potential health conditions to match their complaints, depending on which websites they visit. The range of suggested health ailments for the same symptom can range widely; for example, a search for the symptom stomach cramps was diagnosed as being a symptom of angina, indigestion, or appendicitis, depending on the website.

In a recent survey published in Birth, 613 pregnant women who used the Internet to look for pregnancy-related information said they went online because they were not satisfied with the quality of information given to them by their healthcare providers. Eight-three percent said they used the information they found to influence their pregnancy healthcare options.

While the Bupa survey found that most of the top 20 healthcare websites people use to find health information are geared toward the scientific and academic communities and are based in the United States, online health information seekers should always check the sources of the information they find.
The Bupa report suggests individuals be as specific as possible when entering search terms, check each website for a quality mark (e.g., HONcode, URAC), read the “About Us” section on the website to find out if the authors are health professionals, and look for the date of publication, because medical advice can be out of date very quickly. Finally, individuals should consult with their physician before taking any action based on what they find on the Internet.

The bottom line is, don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. When searching for online health advice, use reliable (e.g., academic, government, scientific institutions) websites, check your sources, including references to scientific articles on the website, and protect your health.

SOURCES:Bupa Health Pulse 2010 International Healthcare SurveyLagan BM et al. Birth 2010 Jun; 37(2): 106-15