Archive for February, 2010

Hints on easy health coverage shopping for newbies

Health insurance market sure looks confusing to those who have to deal with it for the first time in their life. But as with anything that seems complicated at first, health insurance is quite easy to understand when you take some time to learn the basics of it. Of course, don’t expect to become an insurance market specialist overnight but the following tips will certainly help those inexperienced with health insurance shopping to get a decent policy for a fair price. Read the rest of this entry »

Some auto insurance companies blame fraud for premium increases

Let’s start off with a simple explanation of why fraud costs us all money. Insurance companies employ math-geeks called actuaries. They spend their time estimating how many traffic accidents there are likely to be and how much all the claims will be worth in a year. That total is divided among all the policy holders as the premium. It’s all guesswork but they are good guessers. Except that, when thousands of people make false claims, the insurers suddenly find themselves short of money to pay out. The result? Premium rates go up for all. Read the rest of this entry »

Making health insurance cheaper for small businesses

Health insurance spendings account for a large part of business activity costs, and their share is especially large with small businesses and home-based enterprises. And with the continuous trends in rates increase it’s getting harder and harder for small enterprises to carry this burden, causing many small businesses to drop health coverage benefits altogether.

A recent study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund in New York has concluded that small businesses tend to pay 18% more for health insurance than their larger counterparts all across the country. That’s because large enterprises have a better negotiating power due to larger numbers of workers to be insured. Having that in mind, being despaired about the thing won’t help your small business much. About 60% of 46 million people in the US who have no health insurance coverage are employed by small enterprises and these numbers keep on growing. Such tendencies are no good news for small businesses, because qualified and better workers tend to pay much attention to health benefits at the enterprise and not having them lowers your chance of attracting workers who will help develop your business better. Read the rest of this entry »

Which is better: term or permanent life insurance?

The biggest financial decision you are likely to make is buying a home, closely followed by less expensive must-haves like a vehicle. But the one deal you should aim to get right is the decision on life insurance. This is the difference between leaving your dependents with an adequate amount of cash to see them through the times of economic hardship after your income is lost, and leaving them with nothing. In this, the decision on term as against permanent insurance is the key. Put the wrong key in the lock and you open a door into real financial hardship. So what’s wrong with term insurance? Think of this as like a bet. If you die within the term, your dependents are the winners. If you prove healthy and live too long, you lose the premiums you paid and your dependents get nothing. Now, when it comes to permanent insurance, this builds up a cash value. The longer you have the policy in place, the more valuable it comes as the premiums you pay attract investment returns. During your own life, you can take some of this money back or borrow using the fund as collateral. When the sad day finally comes, the benefits are paid out to your dependents less whatever drawings or borrowings you have made. Read the rest of this entry »