t’s no secret that Health Maintenance Organizations, known as HMO’s, have made
healthcare affordable for many Americans, but at what risks? Most employers offer
some type of health care plan that is an HMO. Let’s face it, given the choice among
insurance coverage through your employer, in which he pays half the costs, or
acquiring private insurance coverage outside your employer, most Americans
choose to go with employer-provided HMO’s. Why then, has there been so much
controversy with HMO’s?

An HMO is an organization whereby the subscriber, or patient, is allowed to choose
a medical provider from a list of doctors within a certain medical group. Each
physician has signed a contract to see patients at a reduced rate. This type of plan
does not allow the patient freedom to see just any doctor. All referrals to a doctor,
other than the patient’s primary care physician, must be approved by both that
physician, and the insurance company.

Most physicians add HMO’s as a supplement
to their practices. With HMO’s, the patient has little or no co-payment depending on
how the plan is set up. Most HMO co-payments range between $5 to $15 dollars
per office visit. The doctor, may receive half or less than half of his normal fee from
the insurance companies. HMO’s are characterized with the tendency to over or
under treat patients. HMO’s put limitations not only on the income of the provider,
but also on the type of treatment that may be done. If a patient is in need of a
specialist for a specific ailment, the insurance company has to review and approve a
referral and deem it necessary.

The process involves the patient going to his or her general practitioner, also
referred to as primary care physician, to obtain referral. After this, the primary
doctor submits referral to the insurance company and from there it must approve.
This process could take weeks due to cumbersome paperwork and the limited
number of specialist per each group or health plan. Again, many doctors only accept
these plans to supplement their practices. It is common for them to stop accepting
your HMO after only a few years which leaves the patient a choice of either paying
cash, or changing doctors or insurance companies. One can see why this might be a
frustrating process.

Managed care reduces cost by keeping a pool of doctors and specialist to a
minimum, and at the same time keeping the volume of patients high. This often
means that a patient may not receive the same amount of attention and care as they
should, or were accustomed to. Consumers have long grumbled that HMO’s have
done too much too keep health costs down by stinting on patient care.

(1). Healthcare expenditures have more than doubled since 1965. Americans spend over
a trillion dollars a year on health care. (2). As of 1996, 110 million Americans were
enrolled in HMO’s. More than three-fourths of all individuals in HMO’s are covered
by job-based insurance. More than 13 million Medicaid recipients have been put
into managed care plans. Managed care and HMO’s have been the subject of many
negative stories in the press and are constantly being charged with endangering the
health and lives of their enrollees. As a result, congressional hearing, state, and
federal regulation, and action by the attorney’s general has been warranted.

Before we can truly understand what beast may lay before us in regards to HMO’s
and the state of healthcare in America, let’s review its’ inception. Managed care was
brought forward as a remedy for rising health care costs. The HMO Act of 1973
established federally qualified health maintenance organizations and overruled
restrictive state regulations prohibiting HMO’s. This act also provided certain grants
and loans for the establishment of HMO’s, and required employers to offer HMO
coverage if the employers was located within a qualified HMO’s service area.

It has
been cited that the underlying configuration of HMO’s rests in third-party payment.
This means that someone other than the patient picks up the tab for service. The
largest percentage of third-party payment in the system goes for Medicare and
Medicaid. These programs were enacted in 1965 and are rapidly growing. To date,
there are more than 160 million Americans who have job-based health coverage.

The main technique by which HMO’s cut back on costly treatment is through
resource constraint. This means that a certain fixed amount of money is assigned to
health care and people who provide the services must come within this limit.
Methods of this sort can be seen in the health care systems of countries like Canada
and England. It has been observed that these systems spend less of GDP in health
care than the U.S. (3). HMO’s undertake to provide for people’s medical needs for a
fixed amount of money, then “manage” the care that we receive to stay within the
limits. (4). Under Medicare contracts, HMO’s agree to take patients off the
government’s hands for a fixed percentage of per-capita program outlays,
regionally adjusted. This amounts to a colossal $5000 per enrollee. HMO’s, as a
result, have been criticized for “cherry picking” these enrollees.

HMO’s want to
attract healthier members of the Medicare population. In March of 1995, the
Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services reported that
more than 40% of Medicare HMO enrollees were asked about their health status
prior to joining the HMO. A small, but significant percentage of those seeking to
join HMO’s were given a pre-enrollment physical. This practice is not permitted
under current law!

Experience has shown that once enrollees become sick, HMO risk participants tend
to get out of the program. This reduces the HMO’s costs and drives up costs in the
Medicare fee-for-service program. There is an incentive for HMO’s to limit access to
care for older and sicker enrollees. The sicker Medicare beneficiaries return to the
fee-for-service pool, thus relieving HMO of costs associated with providing that
patient with advanced or chronic illnesses and necessary equipment for care.

The
Medicare HMO program cost the American taxpayers more than $410 million
dollars. A 1991 analysis of the managed care industry by Health Care Financing
Review estimated that the sickest 5 percent of the American population consume as
much as 50 percent of the health care dollars.

(5). United States healthcare delivery is currently in the process of extensive
restructuring. This reform movement has been underway for nearly a decade now. It
has indeed manifested itself through HMO’s and other managed care type delivery
plans. Who is really benefiting from HMO’s? It’s certainly not the doctors.

Instead of
the traditional fee-for-service, providers are being pre-paid a flat monthly fee for
providing care, known as “capitation.” Like the HMO itself, each staff physician is
paid a certain sum of money per patient, whether or not that patient comes in for
treatment. Some HMO systems incorporate withholds and bonuses, and grading
sheets to reward physicians who are most cost-effective. This clearly puts the
financial interest of the doctor against the medical interest of the patient! The
premise is clear that medical decisions are not being made according to a
physician’s best medical judgement, but according to the HMO’s profit motive.

(6). HMO’s assert they have no liability when it comes to claims of medical negligence
when injury or death occurs because they are only administering a benefit plan. In
contrary, HMO’s often determine which tests can be performed, who can have
surgery, who can be admitted to the hospital and for how long, which doctor is
available to take care of patients, and even what doctor can tell a patient about
healthcare options. HMO’s continue to claim they do not make medical decisions.

Peter Roam, spokesperson and attorney for Pacificare states: “HMO’s normally
cannot make decisions about treatment provided to their members. Those
determinations must be made by treating physicians under contract with the HMO”.

(7). Another alarming fact of HMO’s is that under financial pressure, some hospitals
are using nurses to fulfill the function normally provided by primary care physicians.
As a result of these practices, HMO’s have made huge profits and their executives
are earning large incomes. These profits and large incomes are the result of funds
created by limiting important and necessary medical care. As noted, the negative
press associated with HMO’s negligence is everywhere. What happens if you really
get sick and require long and or expensive treatment in an HMO? HMO’s dictate how
long you can stay in the hospital and whether or not treatment or surgery is
“medically necessary”.

Medical necessity rests with the HMO and its’ cost-
controllers, not with you, or even your physician. Even if your doctor thinks
treatment may be needed, pressures can be exerted on him or her to prevent this.
Last week Daniel Jones, a 40-year old Long Beach, California man, killed himself on
live television. Before he died, he made a grim and very public statement about
health maintenance organizations.

HMO’s are trying new ways to manage costs and improve care for their sickest and
most expensive patients. HMO’s only concern with regards to costs is that a very
small proportion of their enrollments become extremely sick because most people
stay fairly healthy. The premiums HMO’s charge however, hasn’t kept pace with their
costs, and profit margins have dropped shortly as a result.

(8). Kaiser Permanente
Group, the largest health maintenance organization in the U.S., reported an
operating loss of $92 million in the first quarter. The Group has struggled to cut
cost after reporting a $270 million loss just last year. The Oakland based company
cites the loss was caused by a need to direct patients away from its’ network in
California, and pay for them to be treated elsewhere. Governor Pete Wilson, of
California, has signed two bills in Los Angeles that will allow easier access to health
specialist, and require HMO’s to present their costs and benefits to consumers in
easier terms.

California joins 15 other states with AB12, in allowing women in
HMO’s to choose women’s health specialist as their primary care physicians, and to
seek services from an gynecologists without a referral.

(9). HMO’s are indeed big businesses that make a profit, however, they are not free-
market institutions. As managed care surges to the forefront of our health care
system, something radically new and different is happening. The social and political
effects of this remain to be seen!

http://www.lonelycanuck.com

Affordable health insurance - it seems, especially today, those words just don’t belong together in the same sentence. Health insurance monthly premiums have become the biggest single expense in our lives - surpassing even mortgage payments. In fact, if you have any permanent health problems, such as diabetes, or have had cancer at one time in your family history, your monthly cost could easily be more than the house and car payment combined.

Shopping for affordable health insurance can certainly be an eye-opener. If you have always had a health insurance benefit where you work - especially a state or federal employee - and now have to buy your own, you may not be able to afford the level of health insurance coverage you have become used to.

Affordable health insurance, however, is definitely available -if you know how and where to look.

When you are looking for affordable health insurance, you want the lowest cost per year that will fit your budget, of course. But, even more importantly, you want a company that has a good record for paying without fighting with you on every detail. Just as there is a car for just about any budget, there is also affordable health insurance. You may not be able to afford a “Cadillac” policy - but then you probably don’t need all the frills anyway.

Shopping for health insurance on the internet is the easiest and best way to find affordable health insurance. Here are five reasons why.

1. You don’t need a local agent to help you submit the claims for health insurance. The medical provider does it for you. You save money because the health insurance company saves money by not paying the agent commission. This could amount to an 8% to 12% savings to you.

2. All the top health insurance companies are at your fingertips on the internet. Most local agents can only quote you from the few companies that they represent. They may not offer you what is best for you financially or health-wise but only what they happen to have available.

3. Health insurance companies have to be extremely competitive because it is so quick and easy to compare them with their competitors on the internet today. In the past you would have had to visit physically eight to ten agents to do a similar comparison. Most folks just didn’t have the time or desire for that.

4. You can change your coverage, deductibles, and payment options with just a few clicks rather than going through the paperwork delay with a local agent (and then finding out he/she made a mistake - more delay).

5. Charging to a credit card means you aren’t going to forget a payment and be without insurance. Also, it gives you another 30 days before you actually have to pay. Also, many companies today give an additional discount for “auto-pay”.

The key, however, to finding affordable health insurance is realizing that the purpose of any health insurance is to protect you from a major financial loss - not to protect you from spending small money on clinic visits and sliver removal. These small expenses may be cumbersome but they generally will not hurt you. It’s the $100,000 heart operation that will break you. That’s the financial disaster health insurance was originally designed to prevent.

Also, keep this in mind. Health insurance, as with any insurance, is a gamble. You are gambling that you will draw out more than you pay in. Your health insurance company is gambling they will pay out less. The odds are in their favor for two reasons. They have all the facts for millions of families to average out, so they know the risk in advance. Also, they get to set the rules and the prices. The higher you set your deductible, the more risk you take. This is not a bad thing at all. You will most likely be the winner in the long run.

Yes, finding affordable health insurance is much easier than most people think.

Taking more of the risk with higher deductibles, spending a little time on the internet comparing eight to ten different companies, and deleting coverage that you will not likely need (such as maternity for many folks) will make it very possible to find your own affordable health insurance.

Dr. Deepak Dutta is the creator of SemanticBay.com - an interactive social network website based on user shared text and picture contents on any topics. Website creators, publishers, and maintainers can promote their website at SemanticBay.com using website articles. Users can join for free, invite friends, maintain buddy lists, rate contents, comments on contents and earn points.

Travel Insurance - A Need to Know guide?

Travel insurance protects holiday expenses against adverse events such as cancellation and interruption and also reimburses medical expenses, the loss or damage of property and transit delays.

Many millions of travellers and holiday makers purchase some form of insurance every year, but few people know really what it is and how it can be defined. If you know what is included, and what is not you will be able to make the most of your protection, and get reimbursed fairly.

There are four main categories of travel insurance:

1. Health and Medical reasons

Emergency evacuation: This garuantees emergency transportation to either a local hospital in the event that the traveller is unable to get there by themselves or back to a hospital near the traveller’s home town. If family members are covered on the same policy they can travel back home also.

Medical reasons: This reimburses emergency medical and dental costs. Nearly all holiday insurance plans work by reimbursing the traveller after they have paid locally for treatment. Claims are usually paid within 7 - 10 working days. Pre-existing medical conditions are covered by most policies if the policy is purchased within (at the most) 21 days from the date the traveller made the first payment or deposit.

2. Delays and cancellation or curtailment

Cancellation: Re-imbursement comes into effect if travellers have booked and paid for a holiday, but are unable to embark because of personal illness or injury, death (of the individual or of a family member), adverse weather conditions, transport strikes, terrorism, bankruptcy, sudden unemployment, jury duty or by sustaining serious damage to their home causing it to be uninhabitable due to fire or flooding.

Delay: This reimburses travellers for hotel, food or clothing expenses in the event of a flight delay. Some plans also cover costs associated with catching up with a cruise should another delay cause the traveller to miss embarkation.
Interruption: Insurance companies pay money to policy holders abroad if they have to cut short their trip due to illness, death (of the traveller or a family member), terrorism, weather, airline strikes, bankruptcy, sudden unemployment, and other adverse conditions which mean that, due to events outside the control of the holiday-maker, a trip has to be curtailed.

3. Death:

Accidental death - covers death or dismemberment at any time of your trip. Usually garuantees the lowest amount of coverage due to a higher risk
Air Flight accident - this covers death or dismemberment during an air flight only. Usually garuantees the highest amount of coverage due to fairly low likelihood of this occurring.

Common carrier - Covers death or dismemberment while travelling on public transport such as a plane, ferry, train bus or taxi.

4. Loss or damage of property:

Baggage loss - reimburses travellers for lost, stolen or damaged personal items. This coverage is usually restricted to the duration of the trip and not confined to baggage damaged or lost by the airline. There are two policy limits, total claim and per item maximum. Some policies also place limits on the type of items that can be claimed for - such as precious jewellery, laptops and sporting goods

Hire Car damage - This reimburses travellers for damage or loss to a rental vehicle. It is designed to allow the traveller to decline collision damage waiver (CDW) coverage offered by the car rental companies. Liability coverage should still be purchased through the car rental company. Rental Car Damage coverage is also often included with the credit card used to pay for the car rental which is often matches the coverage provided in the policy.

Assistance services - garuantees a 24-hour collect telephone advice and assistance service to travellers. This service can be used anytime a traveller needs advice. Make sure you keep a copy of this number in several places in your luggage or on your person when you move around.

To conclude

Travel Insurance from Holiday Insurance Web

The Colorado health insurance marketplace can be difficult to navigate. If you’re looking for health insurance on your own, you may be wondering, “Where can I find the right health plan for me? Where can I turn if I am denied health coverage? What are my rights as a consumer in Colorado?”

To help answer those questions, we have researched and compiled important information regarding Colorado health insurance. By taking the following tips into consideration, you’ll be able make a more educated health insurance purchase.

Things to Remember When Shopping for Health Insurance

Colorado health insurance consumers should follow the following recommendations when purchasing health insurance:

• Read the insurance policy and contact the insurance company or insurance agent if you have any questions.
• Make sure you review the section of your health insurance policy entitled “exclusions and limitations.”
• Find out how rates will increase as you age, and how often an insurance company can increase rates.
• If you are looking for a managed-care plan, check the provider’s directory to make sure there are suitable doctors, hospitals and other health care providers available.
• Find out if there are any “health plan report cards” available that assess consumer satisfaction/quality of care with various health insurance plans.
• Call the insurer’s customer service number to see how quickly you are able to get help.
• If you have special needs or preexisting conditions, make sure you contact a doctor or support organization for health insurance recommendations.

Colorado Health Insurance Subscriber’s Rights

Colorado health insurance consumers have certain rights through Colorado state law. Regardless of the type of health insurance coverage you hold, you have a right to:

• Insurance coverage for certain mandated benefits
• Know what your health insurance plan does and does not cover
• Contact your insurer to complain or appeal any decisions with which you disagree
• Receive a standard form outlining health insurance benefits for comparison between companies and health plans
• A written explanation of why an insurance company denies your health insurance application, or excludes a health condition from insurance coverage
• Coverage of emergency room care, if you believe you are facing a life- or limb-threatening injury (even if it turns out you were not)
• Prompt payment of claims

What to Do If You Are Denied Health Insurance Coverage

If you have been denied health insurance coverage in the state of Colorado due to preexisting medical conditions, you may qualify for the Colorado Uninsurable Health Insurance Plan (CUHIP). CUHIP gives uninsurable Colorado residents the ability to be insured through the state-subsidized CUHIP program. However, due to the higher risk levels of CUHIP patients, CUHIP subscribers pay about 30 percent more for health insurance than most healthy people. If you are uninsurable due to a preexisting health condition, you may contact the CUHIP administrator at 1-800-672-8477 for more information.

Remember to Shop Around

Health insurance plans can vary widely in both price and coverage. Make sure you take the time to shop around, ask questions and learn as much as you can about potential health insurance policies.

About InsureMe

If you’d like to compare multiple Colorado health insurance quotes, try InsureMe.com’s free referral serviceyou’ll receive up to five free insurance quotes from insurance agents who compete for your business.

James Omdahl is and employee of InsureMe, an Englewood, Colorado-based company, that links agents nationwide with consumers shopping for insurance. Specializing in auto, home, life, long-term care and health insurance quotes, the InsureMe network provides thousands of agents with insurance leads every year.

With our world becoming increasingly dangerous, it only makes sense to make prevention as a top priority. As health insurance becomes popular with employees, prepaid legal plans are making the transition from the office to the telephone.

What are prepaid legal plans? A prepaid legal plan is a type of arrangement where the person pays or an employer pays on behalf of his employees for legal services they may need in advance. Think of it as a medical benefit plan or any prepaid service. A consumer pays certain amount monthly or annually for specific legal services that can be used when and if needed.

Why the need for a prepaid legal service? Although it is expected for every citizen to know their rights, most of us only refer to them when we are in trouble. So unless you have a personal or family lawyer, a prepaid legal plan is your best defense against anything that has to do with the law.

Depending on your chosen prepaid legal plan, the legal services that are available to you may be limited. Any basic prepaid legal plan may include office consultations, legal advice and review and preparation of some legal documents such as a will or contract. More comprehensive prepaid legal services can cover trials, bankruptcy, settling marital disputes and the like.

Is it worth it to own a prepaid legal plan? Well, with America having dozens of legal cases filed on their courts everyday and people becoming more conscious of their legal right, it pays to be cautious. Prevention is better than the cure. When people understand their rights under the law, they can avoid turning minor problems from exploding out of proportions.

A lot of prepaid legal services have made it easier for plan owners to contact them through the telephone. This not only makes the lawyers accessible to the prepaid legal plan owners but it also makes them more at ease with asking legal advice.

A prepaid legal service clearly benefits its owner because it takes away the hassle of having to mistakenly choose a bad lawyer to an honest one. Often, the companies who offer prepaid legal plans screen their lawyers before hiring them, making sure that you get value for your investment.

There are two types of prepaid legal plan available to consumers. The first is the basic access plan for employees. This is where a member can easily access legal services through the telephone.

Although the package offers a limited number of services, the member can be assured of making better decisions with the proper legal consultation from a lawyer. Should a member from this plan need services beyond what is included in the package, they have to pay additional fees.

The second type is the comprehensive prepaid legal plan. Aside from the consultation services, a comprehensive plan has member can receive employer-funded benefits which includes negotiations with parties, preparing legal documents and representation in court. Some companies offer legal service coverage for families too.

We live in a world where the law has a firm hand in everything. Knowing that you have ability to get legal advice before doing anything consequential is a great way to avoid a lot of trouble on the courts. A prepaid legal plan may very well be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make for you and your family.

Let’s face it, there are few people in the world who actually enjoy trawling through a car insurance policy. All the legalese and multitude of terms make it heavy going. But it is important to know exactly what you are signing on for so that you can work out if it is what you want. Once you understand the different aspects of a car insurance policy you may choose to forego some of the options in return for a discount on your car insurance premium.

However, it is unwise to do this if you don’t first know what it is you are giving up. There are a few basic terms that you need to understand like Collision Coverage, Comprehensive Coverage, Bodily Injury Liability and Property Damage Coverage.

Here is a snapshot of what each of the terms mean:

Bodily Injury Coverage – the funds that an insurance company would pay for damages caused to another individual involved in a motor vehicle accident.

Collision Coverage – this covers the cost of repair or replacement of the insured’s car no matter who caused the accident.

Comprehensive Coverage – this is for the cost of repair or replacement of the insured’s car for reasons other than an accident.

Property Injury Liability or Property Damage Coverage – this covers any costs associated with damage to property as a result of a motor vehicle accident. In many cases this is mandatory.

With Collision Coverage you can choose the level that you pay in the event you need repairs or replacements if your vehicle collides with another vehicle or property. This amount is called the deductible and basically the higher the deductible you elect, the lower your premiums will be. How does it work? Just like medical insurance, you pay the deductible amount, sometimes called an excess, first and then the insurance company pays the remaining repair costs.

Comprehensive Coverage encompasses things like damage caused from falling objects, fire, certain natural disasters, theft and vandalism. Deductibles work the same way as with Collision; the more out of pocket costs to you, the lower your car insurance premium will be.

Liability coverage – either bodily or property damage – kicks in if in the course of an accident there is damage to either another person or property. For example, if you drive into the back of another driver or your foot slips off the brake onto the gas pedal and you plow down a mailbox. Your liability coverage will kick in and pay for the damages that you caused with your insured vehicle.

Every car insurance policy is different and that’s why it pays to read through several car insurance quotes from different companies so that you can make a fair assessment of which policy is right for you. Now that you know about the basics of what you are paying for and why it is necessary, that job should be a lot easier. Not reading the Sunday paper easy, but hopefully much easier than you would have found it before reading this article.

What exactly is Term Life Insurance?

Term life is a form of life insurance where you’re covered for a number of years - the number of years is called the term. Term life insurance policies can be for as long as 30 years or for 20 years, 15, 10 or 5. After those years the policy can either be over or it can be renewed at a higher price based on your age at that time.

What’s the best way to utilize term life insurance?

Term life is very good to have a lot of insurance – for now. It makes sense if you have kids at home who are dependent on your income coming in for years to come for their living expenses. Also, a spouse, even if working, would have a financial hardship in case of your death. If you can’t develop the funds for permanent life insurance like whole life insurance then get the most term that you can.

Are there “stores” for term life insurance on the web?

Yes, but they are not all the same:

a. There’s the sort that asks for information about you which is marketed to agents as a sales lead.

b. Then there are ones that sell life insurance but want you to give your information before giving you insurance quotes.

c. The websites of life insurance companies themselves which are usually informational in nature and if you email them, you’re referred to one of their insurance agents.

d. An internet site that gives you direct and anonymous access to term life insurance rates. Then if you get a quote that works for you, you can make contact. One that does this is www.lifeinsure.com

Suggestion/Action Plan

If something happened to you and you have people financially dependent on you, it’s crucial that you have ample life insurance whether term life insurance or if finances allow it – permanent life such as whole life or universal life. Go to a website that allows you to learn on your own and get various quotes from a lot of life insurance companies. The web can be of immense help to you in this research.

Neil Willner is a co-author of The Life Insurance Blog and The Disability Insurance Blog.

Why do people invest in cars? How important are cars in the life of an individual? Can we consider a car an investment or is it only a luxury? Almost everyone wants to have a car of their own. They don’t just buy a simple car, but those cars that are in style and go with the fashion. Such cars cost a lot of money, but these people are willing to pay the price for nice wheels. After buying a car, buyers sometimes add additional features to their cars to make them more attractive and more convenient to use. Some people change the car’s color, others install high-tech features like DVD players, sub-woofers, or LCD monitors. This is how technology affects these simple cars.

Now the question is, “is a car an investment or not?” If we look at it simply, we can say that sinking a lot of money into a car is only for luxury and not for the purpose of investment. Why? Because paying a lot of money for a car can only cost us money; it cannot give us an income in return. That is true. Buying a car can only drain our cash-flow–especially with taxes. But there is a type of value provided by a car that cannot be found in other things. And that is the comfort that it can give to us in terms of transportation.

Investment doesn’t mean that when the money goes in more money will always be what comes out. There are more kinds of payouts than cash payouts. Encarta Dictionary defines investments as money invested: an amount of money invested in something for the purpose of making a profit; a contribution to activity: a contribution of something such as time, energy, or effort to an activity, project, or undertaking, in the expectation of a benefit, purchase: a purchase, especially something that somebody should be able to use for a relatively long time. It simply means that buying something, a car for example, can be considered an investment. Even placing your effort in something that can provide you a future benefit is considered an investment.

Buying a car costs you a certain amount of money. But you invest your money not for nothing. The gain that you will receive is the comfort and protection only a car can provide. It can give you convenience in terms of transportation and travel. A car, considered as an investment, should be taken care of and should also be protected by car insurance. This thing should be taken care of so that it can provide you your desired comfort for a longer period of time.

Clive Green is a writer with expertise in the fields of self-improvement and finance. http://www.1carinsurance.org

The subject of life insurance can be a confusing one and we spend a lot of time discussing various ways to buy life insurance. How much do I need? How much will it cost? Will my beneficiaries have enogh to live comfortably? What is the difference between cash-value and term life insurance? Which is the cheapest to buy?

CASH VALUE LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES
Cash value life insurance, such as universal and whole life, combine a death benefit and a tax deferred saving element. Occasionally referred to as permanent life insurance, these types of policies are intended to cover you for your lifetime.

Annual premiums for cash value policies generally are higher than those of term life policies as part of each premium pays for insurance and the remainder is invested. Cash value is what you can borrow from the policy or receive by surrendering it. These funds are ideal for retirement planning and college funding, among other goals, because they accumulate tax deferred until you withdraw them and then may be partially taxable. Loans and withdrawals will reduce the policies cash value and death benefit.

LIFE INSURANCE MADE EASY

Term life insurance is the most fundamental type of life insurance. You purchase coverage for a designated period, from one to many years and the policy will provide a death benefit if you die during that period. Many polices let you renew your coverage for repeated terms until age 65 or even 100.

Term life insurance is popular with younger people because it provides the maximum amount of coverage for the lowest cost. Early premiums are low and increase as you become older. For example, a $250,000 death benefit will cost less in your 30s than it will in your 50s. For this reason, term life insurance is usually a better value for shorter term or finite life insurance needs.

Ivon T. Hughes of The Hughes Trustco Group is a licensed Insurance Broker. Author of The Life Insurance Handbook. - Get a FREE Copy TODAY!
Email: info@trustco.ca Web: www.hughestrustco.com

Life insurance is something that can give those who have it a real peace of mind and a sense of financial security. If you are in the market for life insurance, you may have questions about it. Do you really need it? If you do need it, how much do you need? What is the difference between whole and term life insurance and how do you know which one to purchase? Is it a good idea to “cash out” your insurance policy? Where should you buy an insurance policy? These are all questions that you should look at carefully before you purchase any type of insurance policy. Here are a few answers:

1. Do I need a life insurance policy? If you are single with no dependents, or anyone that you are a guardian over, you probably do not need this type of insurance. It is meant to cover a loss of income. On the other hand, if you are a stay-at-home parent, without a tangible income, you should have policy because the loss of your services could result in a great deal of expense.

2. What is the difference between a “whole” and a “term” life insurance policy? “Whole” refers to the total life span-no matter how long. This is generally a much more expensive type of policy unless you buy it for your child when they are very small. The amount of insurance coverage that you need also decreases after a certain point in time, so it is not always practical to carry this type of insurance. Term life insurance is for a set period of time like 10, 20, or 30 years. It is less expensive and therefore more practical for most.

3. How much life insurance should you have? This depends on a lot of factors. Most experts say that you should have at least enough to cover 2 years of expenses. Remember to think about any additional child care costs, college, and other issues.

4. Should you “cash out” your life insurance policy? Usually it is not a good idea. You will only get a percentage of your total benefit to use, and you will have to pay interest on the amount you “borrow.” Plus, it decreases the death benefit to your beneficiaries.

5. Where should I look for a policy? Use trained insurance professionals rather than people who specialize in other areas such as banking or finance. Check out the company online and you can find ratings by consumers and by the industry to give you an idea of which companies are most reliable. Most of all, you should trust them.

Once you have a policy in place you can breathe more easily knowing your loved ones are taken care of.

Eriani Doyel writes articles about Insurance. For more information about life insurance visit fnsinsurance.com