Health care is the hot topic these days and it’s extraordinary how powerful false information is out there regarding this subject. Even though major news outlets keep printing and reporting on all the wonderful things about a public health care option our ears end firmly tuned to the opposition. Of course being American’s it is hard to turn a deaf ear to words like socialism, government control, and publicly financed abortion. Of course being responsible citizens it’s a good idea to listen to both sides and weigh the validity of each argument. In this particular case the opposition has no real argument against a public health care option and therefore has filled the airwaves and newspapers with so many lies and contradictions that everyone’s head is spinning. Let’s take a more positive look at why the public option should pass.
Reason Number One:
The Public Option is an OPTION. For those of you that are a cramped slow on the uptake option means it is a choice. It may not be the best choice for you and that is fine. You may choose another option that works better for you. For the millions of American’s that do not have access to affordable medical insurance the public option is a fair choice. Let me restate this once again because it seems people fair don’t get it. This is an option, a choice, a decision that you come by to make.
Reason Number Two:
The public option, contrary to what you have been told, is NOT a FREE option. It is however a more affordable option for American’s that unbiased can’t afford the rising costs of health insurance. Will there be some people that pay runt or nothing for health care using the public option. Of course! There are already millions of American’s that take advantage of free health insurance. We call it Medicaid. The public option is simply going to include those American’s that are not poor enough for Medicaid but lack the financial resources to pay hundreds of dollars every month for medical insurance. Tax payer dollars will finance the public option to a degree but will eventually be almost fully supported by those that use it. But much like Medicare and Social Security, which are widely accepted, the individual cost will be minimal compared to the wait on of having a healthy society.
Reason Number Three:
Socialism is not communism! Is a public option technically a socialist program? Obvious it is! Of course we have embraced social programs for decades with little or no opposition especially in fresh years. Social Security is probably the most socialistic program I can deem of. The word social is right in the name. This is a program instituted more than 60 years ago. It has worked for millions and we have never come close to having a communist government. Everyone that works contributes to Social Security and everyone that lives long enough has the opportunity to benefit from it. The public option is no different. It works for those that need it most.
Reason Number Four:
Medical Insurance companies have obtained far too much power. Our very lives are in their hands. If history has taught us nothing, it has taught us that allowing an industry to have so distinguished power over the people and government is dangerous to say the least. When you allow a single industry to retain so much control over something as essential as medicine you open the door to slavery. No, not the kind of slavery where you are chained and forced to work in the fields but the kind of slavery that steals your freedom to live a healthy life, unless you get out in the fields and maintain the status quo. The bottom line is that you will owe your soul to the company store and in this case the company store has sold you your right to live.
Reason Number Five:
Medical Insurance agencies are basically a middle man. Middle men drive up the costs of whatever goods they are selling. In reality that is their job. The amazing thing here is that if you have insurance and you go to the doctor, hospital, etc… your will is double that of someone with no insurance. This is why your montly premiums are so high! So in reality you are paying more now than you will under the public option to cover the uninsured. If you don’t believe this is true try it out sometime. Next time you have to originate a trip to the ER shriek them you don’t have insurance and wait until you gather your bill. Then call the hospital and let them know you were mistaken about not having insurance and give them your policy info. Wait until you get the revised bill. I assure you it will at least double the bill you received when you were uninsured. You may in fact score that you have the same out of pocket costs either method.
Reason Number Six:
America is sick. It’s true. We have become an very sick society over the past few decades. The rising cost of medical care has caused many to ignore problems until they become so large it is either too expensive or impossible to do anything about it. This has a two fold effect on us as a society. First of all it makes us less productive. Considering the current economic climate the last thing we need is anything less than 100% productivity. Also it is very expensive for tax payers when so many uninsured people are sick. I can drawl you that nobody is loosing money on the sick except for the federal budget. By the way that federal budget is our money. Money that should be used to build roads, feed the hungry, create jobs, etc… A public option would allow everyone the ability to stop a serious illness before it starts. Seeing the doctor after you have a heart attack costs more than double the cost of annual check-ups and medicine to keep you from having a heart attack. This example holds true in almost every illness known to man.
Reason Number Seven:
Over 65% of the population supports a public health option. This is a huge number. George Bush won the presidency with 51% of the vote and considered it a mandate. Under this type of thinking 65% should be considered a demand. The public has a tendancy to be right about these sort of things and it is high time that the politicians started listening to the people rather than Blue Cross! This of course holds true in general when it comes to passing laws. Just the fact that the insurance companies are against a public option should be reason enough to back one.
Reason Number Eight:
Health care in general needs a face capture. The public option is only a piece of the overall reform that needs to rob set to bring us up to date concerning health care. There are many pieces to the puzzle that will form the new picture of health care in America and they are all necessary in order to ensure that health care works for everyone. Costs must be lowered, quality must be raised, and prevention must be the primary focus of health care in the 21st century. Our unusual health care system just doesn’t work any longer. Just like an automobile if it aint broke don’t fix it but when it’s a crumpled up mess that has no possibility of being repaired it’s time to trade out for a newer model. That newer model may not be as comfortable at first but eventually it turns out to be a considerable smoother dawdle.
Reason Number Nine:
One word, morality! That’s right morality. It seems so many of us are caught up with the idea of what is the morally true thing to do. Well the morally correct thing to do is to purchase care of each other. I don’t judge anyone could give considerable argument for that one. It isn’t just about you! It’s about us. All of us working together to make a better society for our children. This includes making a healthier society for everyone. Opening up the door for quality medical care is an essential factor when it comes recreating a great society. We owe this to our parents, our children, our neighbors and our friends. We owe it to each other to ensure that we are all as healthy as possible.
Reason Number Ten:
The public option will be a self supporting program that enriches the lives of everyone in the country. The middle class will grow by leaps and bounds if the cost of medical care is reduced. A titanic middle class is prime indicator of a viable economy. A public option will free up money that can be invested, used to open recent businesses, used to pay for college tuition, old-fashioned to win goods, and even allow some of us to originate saving again. These of course all capitalist ideals rather than socialistic. So a social program like universal medical insurance will contribute to our capitalist society by allowing us to grow our economy while still caring for the sick.
In the kill there will be sweeping health care reform. This reform will include a public option for those that require it. No longer will insurance executives make medical decisions instead of doctors. There will be a fair and equal ability to have a health care plan that is affordable. Medical care will be streamlined in order to gash out the attempts to achieve money by the insurance companies at the cost of patient lives. It’s time to pass health care reform that includes a public option. I can’t state this enough so here it goes one more time. OPTION means CHOICE. You don’t have to use the public option but you will probably want to.
Filed under Automobile Insurance Information by on Feb 26th, 2011. Comment. 
Those words tend to make business owners very uncomfortable. I think it has more to do with the AUDIT part of it.
If you have Liability or Workers compensation insurance you will eventually be contacted by an insurance auditor hired by the insurance company to conduct an audit.
An insurance audit is basically a “checking of the facts” about your business. When your policy was issued, your premium was based on your estimate of variable rating information, such as payroll or sales. An insurance audit is performed to choose what the actual premium should be based on your company’s actual results.
This guarantees you have the proper amount of coverage in the event of an incident.
There are 3 types of audits and you may end up doing 1 type or all 3 over the course of your business life:
The first two types are basically the same, Phone or Mail-in.
Both of these types of audits consist of a form being sent to you for you to fill out with the pertinent information and then sending this information, and any verification sources, back to the auditor for processing and review.
In the case of a phone audit, the auditor generally requests an appt to go over the audit with you by phone. The auditor uses this call to interpret any items that require more detail.
The third type is the one that most people dread- The Physical audit.
This type requires you to set and confirm an appt for an auditor to come to your place of business or to your accountant’s office. The audit can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours depending on the size of your company, # of employees and how well you have prepared your books.
When scheduling the appointment, the auditor will provide you with a list of the documentation you will need to have ready for the audit.
Some items you may be asked to provide:
Payroll records with overtime separated
Job titles and descriptions
Listing of corporate officers
Subcontractor costs
Subcontractor Certificates of Insurance
Sales receipts
Quarterly Federal and Spot filings
Automobile information
The auditor then goes through all records and inputs the information into a software program (Auditors usually carry a laptop).
At this point you may be asked some questions. If you are unable to physically be at the audit be sure the person who is there can answer most, if not all, questions. Also be sure to provide a day and time the auditor can call you later to clarify any missing info.
Possible questions:
In detail, what does your company do?
Again in detail, what does each employee do?
Commercial work or residential? Or both?
What are your hours/days of operation?
When the auditor is done they should review the findings with you and may ask for you to sign a statement confirming they have done so.
Many auditors (if applicable) will advise you on how to better prepare for next year.
Once the auditor leaves the audit they will then re-review the information provided and double-check for spelling errors, etc. the audit is submitted for review and processing to your Insurance carrier. It can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks before you will secure out the final results from your insurance company.
If you have questions during this waiting period, you should yell them ONLY to your insurance agent or broker. The auditor has no control or information about your audit once it is submitted for review.
Some fine hints:
Please remember, the auditor is an information gatherer only. They have no control over your account.
They are just doing their job- be courteous and helpful
Do not lie to the auditor- they may not catch it but someone down the line will and then you can be fined and/or canceled.
If you repeatedly ignore appointment requests or continuously confirm, then cancel, appointments the auditor will be forced to file a Non-compliance portray. In this case generally the insurance company will send you a premium bill that includes a hike of up to 30%. Keep everyone the time and irritation, just make and withhold the appointment.
Don’t let the audit process stress you out. The auditor wants to make things as easy as possible for you as it makes their job easier as well.
Filed under Automobile Insurance Information by on Feb 20th, 2011. Comment.
In 2001 our school spring break occurred in the second week of April I took my youngsters to go to my folks for few days and returned to my Victorian residence in a little town in central Illinois on a Thursday We went to mattress type of early but I woke up in the middle of the night sensing that one thing was incorrect My room appeared the exact same, there was no humorous smell or sound, but one thing was incorrect It was red Or orange Every little thing was a humorous colour And then I realized that the colour of the world outside my bedroom window was red—a thing was on fireplace It received to be the rest room at the again of the residence and I woke my husband as I jumped from the mattress and ran toward the door But the rest room was not on hearth, the storage across the alley from our storage was and we could see it from our rest room window
I titled 911 as my husband went to hose down our storage roof The volunteer hearth department was on its way and within an hour the hearth was out The other storage was destroyed but ours experienced been spared destruction—just the roof on the north side and the two sections of wooden fence next to the storage had been beyond repair Fairly lucky Or so we assumed as we returned to mattress We received lived in our residence for 11 decades at the time and possessed generally carried home-owner’s insurance policy This, yet, experienced not been our fireplace so we filed a declare with the other many people’s establishment for $1800 We dutifully got an estimate on roof repair but only claimed sufficient to do the function ourselves Their agent titled and wanted some information and facts from our fireplace chief which I gave him When I didn’t hear anything I phoned him again He was, to say the least, brusque as he knowledgeable me that it was not his insurance plan which experienced to pay, but ours Nicely that appeared silly so I identified as our agent He educated me that, indeed, it was our agency which possessed to pay and they would do so They did and we repaired the roof ourselves that summer season (feel me when I say repairing a roof is not pleasant perform) That fall we chose to move our auto insurance protection policies to a distinctive enterprise and were definitely educated just right after Christmas that our property owner’s insurance coverage service was dropping us They gave two reasons for this: 1) we received obtained 3 claims ($250, $300 and $1800) more than the last 11 decades, and 2) they were definitely no longer heading to insure those who did not have multiple policies with their service What a sham We possessed paid these men and women more than $6000 and they had been refusing our policy due to the fact of a fireplace which wasn’t even on our property Very well, high-quality riddance to negative rubbish We would just get a new insurance policies firm Or not I made a number of phone calls and was advised that on the grounds that we found a hearth on our file most firms would not insure us I started to feel like the town indigent and turned to the time honored practice of ignoring the problem Time passed and we continued to live with no insurance plan Our financial institution advised us that fireplace insurance cover would be positioned on our household That sounded wonderful on account that, truly, hearth was the biggest threat so having that covered would be a large relief We lived with that for awhile When we received an provide of property owner’s insurance policies from the National Education Association, of which I am a member, I believed we ended up all set I generally known as and the quite nice man instructed me that we didn’t qualify (thanks to our hearth), but for the 1st time a person did take the time to clarify to me that our insurance plan file showed that the hearth declare was beneath abrogation—which meant that our outdated small business was still holding out hope that they would retrieve the declare dollars from the neighbor’s business He suggested I call them and clarify every little thing and ask if the declare could go absent if it wasn’t heading to be settled He also mentioned that if they explained no the report must go absent on its very own in 5 a long time Superb I referred to as the outdated business enterprise They advised me that it was indeed, beneath abrogation, but that they obtained no hope of ever truly obtaining their funds again So I asked what I believed was a life-saving question: could they, then, remove it from our report Nicely, no, she explained, due to then it would look as if it ended up settled and it wasn’t settled “But,” I pointed out, “you just explained to me it isn’t heading to be settled” “That’s correct it isn’t But we can’t just act as if it was in no way on your report” “But why not It wasn’t even our hearth” “I’m sorry, but we just can’t” Nicely that was that Then one particular day in the summer season of 2003 I saw a sign for the fireplace insurance coverage manufacturer our lender found positioned us with and I hatched what I believed was a brilliant plan I would just go ask them to insure all the things Immediately after all, they currently experienced the most dangerous component of the gamble covered The woman who spoke with me was extremely type as she explained, very much as you would to a 5 year previous, that their specialist did not realistically insure our dwelling for us They insured it for the lender If we ever obtained a hearth the lender’s loss would be taken care of—we would get nothing Now I felt like a stupid indigent Having said that, she did suggest that I call the Illinois state insurance protection board and ask them what to do and she even gave me the number I named and the guy advised me that we had been quite a lot out of luck He stated we may perhaps be able to get 1 agency to insure us seeing that they specialized in uninsurable instances, but that it would price a great deal—and a great deal we didn’t have He also instructed me that whomever experienced shared with me the file would go absent in 5 many years was sadly mistaken—records were being kept by a operation out of Atlanta and might possibly go on deep background but by no means really went absent And he didn’t believe hearth even went on deep background He was also form adequate to inform me that if a hearth is not arson then the owner of the damaged your house is practically normally responsible for their personal damage (a reality our fireplace chief was surprised to discover) and, furthermore, that our dwelling would be most likely be uninsurable for future possible buyers as adequately My husband and I could not feel it—and no 1 else did either It was like a poor movie or the book of Job and it wouldn’t end We lived by way of an additional winter and the fourth tornado season with no insurance policies And then in April our Allstate agent sent us a letter requesting that we switch our home-owner’s insurance protection to them They received currently rejected us once but I sent a detailed letter and educated them that they used to be additional than welcome to insure our autos as effectively as our residence but that they didn’t appear to want to The agent labeled two days later to say that Allstate would gladly take on our house The saga ended when, two months ago, they removed the funds from our escrow .
Filed under Automobile Insurance Information by on Nov 8th, 2010. Comment.
