InsuranceSCNow.com

What kinds of insurance do I need?

2012-08-15T19:08:00.000-04:00

For starters, you will need health insurance. Everyone needs medical care. Even if you're in good health and you don't get sick a lot, there is no way to anticipate accidents and injuries, and having regular checkups is a crucial part of living a long and healthy life. The cost of medical care is now so high, that one minor accident can send you into debt for years or bankrupt your family.

You might also need life insurance, though not everyone does. For example, if you're healthy and have no dependents, you probably don't need life insurance. But if you have a child, a spouse, a parent or sibling that depends on you financially, you'll want to make sure they're taken care of should anything happen to you. Even if you don't have dependents, you might just want a policy that will at least relieve your relatives of the burden of funeral costs. Now, here's where it gets really morbid - what if you're in an accident and you don't die, but become incapacitated and unable to care for yourself? That can be a huge burden on your family, and even more expensive than funeral costs. That's where long-term care insurance comes in. And if you're lucky enough to live a long, healthy life, long-term care insurance will cover nursing home costs for you when you're elderly, or even pay for your elderly parents' stay.

The advantages and pitfalls of short-term health insurance

2012-07-01T16:14:00.002-04:00

Whether you're a college student searching for health coverage to tide you over before you start a new job, or a recently laid-off breadwinner who no longer can afford the COBRA coverage from your old job, you may want to consider exploring a short-term health insurance policy.
Short-term plans offer temporary coverage for a designated period of time (often one month to several months) to pay for things like office visits, diagnostics, inpatient care, emergency services, immunizations and prescription medications.
Often, they are high-deductible plans that would provide coverage for major medical events or emergency care -- but not regular checkups until the deductible is met. After the term of the policy lapses, you must reapply for another term. Companies like Fairmont Specialty and Blue Cross Blue Shield offer various short-term health insurance packages that you can tailor for your needs and budget -- ideally with the help of a credible local agent.
Short-term health policies may present a viable option for:
o Individuals who can't afford COBRA coverage.
o Individuals in a holding period before coverage kicks in at a new employer.
o Seniors nearing retirement who are not yet eligible for Medicare.
o College grads or other young professionals who lack coverage but who plan to find employment soon.
One of the attractive aspects of short-term policies is that they provide stopgap protection at potentially lower rates than COBRA coverage.
A 30-year-old male who doesn't smoke could pay as little as $30 in monthly premiums for a short-term plan with a $5,000 deductible, according to a preliminary online quote from UnitedHealthOne. Fairmont Specialty's short-term medical insurance plan provides a lifetime maximum of $1 million in benefits per policy. This kind of coverage helps consumers hedge against catastrophic medical bills stemming from, for instance, a sudden illness or a motor vehicle accident.
According to Families USA, a nonprofit organization that advocates for health care consumers, family COBRA premiums consume, on average, 84 percent of unemployment benefits. The group says COBRA monthly premiums average $1,069, while monthly unemployment benefits average $1,278. In nine states, COBRA premiums actually exceed (or are equal to) the average benefits that unemployed workers get.
Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, summarizes the situation bluntly: "COBRA health coverage is great in theory and lousy in reality … for the vast majority of workers who are laid off, they and their families are likely to join the ranks of the uninsured."
The major downside is that short-term health insurance does not cover those who have pre-existing conditions when they apply -- and does not cover pregnancy-related expenses.
There's also the lack of continuity. If you develop a medical problem or suffer an injury during the term of your coverage, this problem will be treated as a pre-existing condition when you apply for a subsequent term or another kind of insurance.
In other words, say you find a short-term policy that gives you low rates. It seems like a reasonable alternative to COBRA coverage, so you sign up. But during the term of the policy, you develop diabetes. As a result, you must engage in a costly course of therapies and medications. When it comes time to re-up your coverage, your rates almost certainly will skyrocket. Plus, you may not be able to get coverage for this new pre-existing condition.
Furthermore, you may not reapply for short-term coverage indefinitely. For instance, with the Fairmont Specialty insurance plan, people who are 65 or older cannot reapply. Terms, conditions and exclusions for short-term insurance, as with all health insurance, will vary from plan to plan and from consumer to consumer.

Original article:
http://www.insureme.com/health-insurance/advantages-and-pitfalls-short-term-health-insurance

Health Care Reform - Key Features

2012-06-04T09:35:00.000-04:00

Key Features of the Law
The health care law offers clear choices for consumers and provides new ways to hold insurance companies accountable. The most important parts of the law are broken into groups below. We’ll highlight new features of the law here as they roll out between now and 2014.

Rights & Protections

The Affordable Care Act puts you – not insurance companies – back in charge of your health care. The following rights and consumer protections are available through the health care law

Insurance Choices

The Affordable Care Act gives you a variety of alternatives to the individual private insurance market. If you need health insurance, these programs may be available to you.

Insurance Costs

The Affordable Care Act provides you with new ways to hold insurance companies accountable and keep your costs down. These changes can help you get the most out of your health insurance.

65 or Older

The Affordable Care Act strengthens Medicare, offers eligible seniors a range of preventive services with no cost-sharing, and provides discounts on drugs when in the coverage gap known as the “donut hole.” Learn how the health care law affects people age 65 or older.

Employers

Tax credits and new programs are now available to small businesses. Learn how the law helps make care more affordable for employers, employees, and early retirees

Full text of the Affordable Care Act (PDF)

Read more: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/index.html Key Features of the Law

-----------------------------------------------------------

Visit InsuranceSCNow.com for you questions/comments.

5 Questions to Ask About Your 2012 Health Benefits

2012-03-05T21:35:00.001-05:00

Many U.S. employers will drop a bunch of health-care options in their workers' laps in the next few weeks, if they haven't already.

If you're one of those workers, unless you change jobs or lose your job, the choices you make will stick with you and possibly your family for all of 2012, so it's important to scrutinize and compare health-plan options.

You may be tempted to automatically re-enroll in the same plan you have now, but that could cost you. Many plans are shifting costs and benefits around and some employers have introduced new ways for workers to save money, experts say.

"If an employee blows off open-enrollment communications, the employee could pay more because they're missing incentives to pay less that are tied to participation in wellness activities," said Eric Parmenter, vice president of consulting for High Roads, a benefit consulting firm in Nashville, Tenn.

For next year, employers generally aren't as interested as they've been in recent years in raising workers' premium contributions, but they're finding other ways to pass on higher health-care costs, said Michael Thompson, principle in human-resource services at PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York.

"There's not as much focus on increasing premiums for workers as much as there is on increasing the amount of cost-sharing workers have at the point of service," he said.

People who use their health plan might feel more of a squeeze than those who don't, said John Asencio, senior vice president of Sibson Consulting, a human-resource consulting firm in New York.

"If you had a $15 copay, you'll probably see those go up to $20, $25 for physician office visits," he said.

The good news is underlying benefit-cost increases are expected to be moderate, compared with earlier in the 2000s when double-digit premium spikes whipsawed employers and employees alike.

Though they still far outpace general inflation and workers' wage gains, health-benefit costs are on track to rise 5.4% on average next year, the lowest rate of increase in 15 years, according to preliminary survey data from Mercer, a consulting firm in New York. If employers did nothing to manage the cost increase through plan-design changes, the increase would be 7.1%. The overall trend of the past five years has been about 9%, according to Mercer's findings.

Use of health-care services declined last year as people were left with less disposable income in a struggling economy and more workers faced higher out-of-pocket medical costs, said Beth Umland, director of research for health and benefits for Mercer in New York.

"If money is tight and you've got a $1,000 deductible, you might think twice about going to the doctor if you also think you could put it off," she said, noting the average deductible has doubled in the past five years.

Here are five bottom-line questions to consider as you compare your 2012 options:

1. What's new this year? As part of the health-reform law that kicks in more comprehensively in 2014, most employers already extend coverage to workers' adult children up to age 26 even if they're married or in school. And they have to offer free preventive care for a number of services such as colonoscopies and mammograms. For 2012, many employers are offering what are called consumer-driven health plans, which have high deductibles and often attached savings accounts. They're trying to control costs before 2014, when they have to extend coverage to part-time workers putting in at least 30 hours a week, among other anticipated costs, Umland said.

For 2012, the minimum annual deductible required for high-deductible health plans to be coupled with health savings accounts (HSAs) is unchanged at $1,200 for self-only coverage and $2,400 for family coverage. But the annual maximum for workers' out-of-pocket expenses is going up $100 to $6,050 for single coverage and rising $200 to $12,100 for family coverage next year, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Out-of-pocket expenses include deductibles and copays but exclude premiums.

Workers with HSAs for themselves only can contribute up to $3,100 to their accounts in 2012 compared with up to $6,250 for workers with family coverage in a high-deductible health plan. Those limits are slightly higher than for 2011.

2. What would the plan cost me? If your plan is shifting to coinsurance, where you pay a percentage of the total instead of a flat fee, you may have to think differently. "If you had a $10 or $20 copay, it was easy to understand what it was going to cost you when you went to the doctor," Thompson said. "If the plan now has coinsurance and a deductible, that visit may cost over $100 if you haven't met your deductible."

In making a total estimate of what a plan might cost you, first take stock of the premiums, the amount you contribute each month out of your paycheck, which will likely be higher for more a comprehensive benefit plan than for a bare-bones one. The second part relates to your out of pocket costs. For this, consider your recent history of health services. If you see a doctor or need blood work drawn frequently, for example, your copay or coinsurance amounts could make a big difference in your overall spending projections.

Next, if you're considering a health plan with a savings account such as an HSA, factor in what, if anything, your employer contributes to that account that may offset your costs. Your monthly premiums will likely be lower, but don't forget unpredictable and intangible costs. "How much am I saving for sure vs. how much might I lose if I actually use the plan?," Umland suggested asking. Plus, are you OK with managing another financial account? Try to find out how many extra administrative tasks you may need to do to use the HSA funds. Some offer debit cards you can swipe, but others may force you to submit and track claims for reimbursement.

3. What happens if I get really sick or injured? Try to run a worst-case health scenario under each of the plan options to see how financially exposed you would be among them should you or one of your covered dependents have a grave accident or illness. Know what expenses are counted in the out of pocket maximums. "How much would I be out of pocket in this option vs. this option if I suddenly need $50,000 worth of care?" Asencio said.

4. Are my meds covered? If you're on maintenance medication for a chronic illness, check to see if any plans will waive your copay or coinsurance on certain prescription drugs, making them effectively free to encourage you to keep taking them, Thompson said. You may have to talk to a health coach or participate in a disease-management program to get the free meds, but more employers are trying this option to get a handle on their long-term health costs. Some plans also offer a separate out of pocket maximum for prescription drugs, he said.

5. Am I leaving money on the table by failing to participate in wellness programs aimed at making or keeping me healthy? Whether it's a game-oriented workplace exercise competition, private dietary counseling, talking to a health coach or taking classes to help you quit smoking, you may not be able to afford to ignore your employer's 2012 wellness offerings. "While these programs have been around for a while, employers are really taking them seriously now as a way to manage costs," Umland said.

You may not have to do much work to score a break on your health-care costs. In fact, some employees may end up paying $25 to $50 more in premiums per month or hundreds of dollars more in deductibles if they don't complete a health risk assessment or other activities meant to gauge their general health status, Asencio said. "Companies are getting more aggressive around these issues."

[Credited] - Original source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-questions-ask-2012-health-070000424.html

Kristen Gerencher is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco.

The Rising Price of Retirement

2012-01-19T20:07:00.001-05:00

As more people work part-time rather than hit the greens, the formula for how much they need to live on is changing. Their tax rate may not fall, and expenses may be higher than planned.

Mention the word "retirement," and most people shudder. The term seems synonymous these days with the phrase, "you can't afford it." More than half of workers in the 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey by the Employee Benefits Research Institute say the total value of their household's savings and investments, excluding the value of their home and any defined benefit plans, is less than $25,000. Housing wealth has vaporized for many households. More than 27 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage—13.4 million homeowners—had negative-equity or near-negative-equity mortgages at the end of 2010, according to CoreLogic, an information and analytics firm.

Times remain tough even though the stock market is up 97 percent from its March 2009 low and the economy is gathering steam. The government's broadest measure of unemployment, and underemployment, is at 15.7 percent, and household budgets are being squeezed by rising food and oil prices—not to mention miniscule yields on savings. It all reinforces the fact that one must confront huge areas of uncertainty when planning for the last stage of life. The answer to the question "how much will you need?" depends on a series of imponderables, from the timing of your death to your health in old age.

Nevertheless, the pervasive gloom about retirement is overdone. Fact is, people are quite creative at coming up with solutions. Case in point: An aging generation isn't really retiring, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. (Think golf.) They may say goodbye to their employer and colleagues for the last time, but they're continuing to work, usually part-time. (Think consulting.) Call it the partial retirement or the job-tirement. It allows savings to compound longer. Delaying taking Social Security benefits locks in a more generous payout. "People aren't slowing down in their 60s and 70s," says Ross Levin, a certified financial planner (CFP) and president of Accredited Investors in Edina, Minn. Adds Joel Larsen, a CFP with Navion Financial Advisors in Davis, Calif.: "If you really like what you're doing, why retire?"

WHEN INCOME REPLACES SAVINGS

Just ask Don Lambert, age 67. The engineering manager retired from Fisher Controls (now Emerson Process Management, a division of Emerson) in 2002. He spent 32 years with the company, half of it abroad, mostly working on projects in the Middle East and Africa. He lives in Ames, Iowa, and when he retired he set up a consulting firm with Fisher as a client. He spent two years on contract with Fisher in Saudi Arabia, where the only thing he had to pay for out of pocket was his "newspaper and haircuts." He still works about two days a week and spends the rest of his time doing community volunteer work with the Rotary International, Meals on Wheels, and the Iowa Council for International Understanding. Lambert has a defined benefit pension plan, Social Security, savings, and no debt. He takes out roughly 3 percent of his savings a year. "I don't need to draw on a lot of my savings yet," he says.

The twin benefit from a higher Social Security benefit and returns that have compounded longer is striking. The Social Security payout rises 8 percent a year for every year of delay after age 62 and before age 70. Laurence Kotlikoff, finance professor at Boston University and head of ESPlanner, an online financial planning website, ran a simulation. Among the key assumptions: A couple is 60 years old, each earns $100,000, and they have a total retirement portfolio worth $2 million. If they elect to take Social Security at age 62 in 2013, they draw on enough of their savings for a total income averaging around $140,000 for the next 38 years. That means they can maintain their standard of living at 70 percent of preretirement income.

Yet if the same couple shifts to part-time work in 2013, making $30,000 each for four years, draws on their 401(k)s, and waits until age 70 to file for Social Security, their discretionary spending jumps by 14 percent, to nearly $160,000 over the next four decades. "To get the same living-standard-hike, the couple would need to find $455,000 lying on the street," says Kotlikoff.

UNDERMINING OLD RULES OF THUMB

But (you knew the "but" was coming, didn't you?) working longer complicates everyday money management by upending a few critical and common assumptions. A traditional benchmark is that in order for households to maintain their standard of living in retirement, they need approximately 70 percent of preretirement income. The lower figure comes from the assumption that a retiree will drop into a lower tax bracket, have more time to shop for deals, and won't incur many expenses associated with work. For instance, economists Mark Aguir of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and Erik Hurst of the University of Chicago delved into household data on food gathered by the U.S. Agriculture Dept. from the late '80s and early-to-mid '90s. They found spending on food fell 17 percent among retired households while the time spent making meals rose by 53 percent. There was no real difference between eating out at table-service restaurants for those aged 60 to 62 (pre-peak retirement) and those 66 to 68 (post-peak retirement), except that the retired household spent 31 percent less on fast food and diners.

The old rule is obsolete for the partially retired. The retiree's tax bracket may not drop. The dry cleaning bill will probably stay the same. They're busy and just as likely to grab a burger before a meeting or stop for a takeout meal on the way home as they did before retirement. "I don't think the 70 percent rule applies," says Moshe Milesky, finance professor at York University in Canada and a wealth management and retirement expert. "It may be higher than that."

The other big change is that an aging, income-earning household needs to save from every paycheck, just like their younger co-workers. After all, the cost of goods and services used by the elderly is going up. True, over the past 12 months the consumer price index is up a mere 2.1 percent. Yet that average masks some critical differences. Fuel oil is up 27.1 percent and medical services 3 percent over the same period—a big blow to the budgets of the elderly—while the price of personal computers is down by 7.4 percent, which may be a boon to younger folks. Mutual fund giant Fidelity estimates a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2011 will need $230,000 to pay for medical expenses throughout retirement (and that does not include nursing-home care). "Every single one of our friends has had some serious financial surprise during retirement that was completely unseen," says Henry "Bud" Hebeler, the former president of Boeing Aerospace. His own "retirement" turned into a career offering retirement and financial-planning advice at his website, Analyzenow.com.

Hebeler has devised his own formula for how much to save in retirement while working. He recommends taking your monthly take-home pay, after all deductions and taxes; multiply it by the number of years you will still work, and divide that figure by the number of years it's possible you have to live. For example, say a 65-year-old plans on working another 10 years, expects to live to 95, and makes $2,100 a month after deductions for Social Security, Medicare, union dues, and the like. The monthly amount she can spend from that paycheck would be $700 (2,100 x 10/30 = $700). The remaining $1,400 should go right into savings. Clearly, this isn't our parent's retirement.

Best Bets for Whole Life Insurance

2012-01-14T11:37:00.001-05:00

Make sure you buy from a reputable company when you need coverage to last a lifetime. In the June issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, Kim Lankford writes that fifty- and sixtysomethings should consider buying permanent life insurance rather than term life insurance if they still need coverage. A permanent cash-value policy, such as whole life, provides a safe place for savings, portfolio diversification, an instant line of credit and tax-free money to pay expenses after your death.
If you're buying whole life insurance, you're looking for coverage for the rest of your life. So you want to make sure you get a policy from a company that will be around for a while.
For whole life, a mutual company is usually your best bet. As a policyholder, or member, of a mutual, your cash value earns dividends because you “participate” in the company’s investment gains and skill (or luck) in selecting risks. The big mutual companies, such as Guardian, MassMutual, New York Life and Northwestern Mutual, specialize in whole life insurance and have top credit ratings. Some former mutuals, such as MetLife and Prudential, still sell dividend-paying policies by setting aside a special reserve to pay dividends. As with any other investment, past performance is no guarantee of future results. But the way that many people compare insurance offerings -- by looking at hypothetical projections of cash values ten, 20 and 30 years ahead -- doesn’t make sense because these projections (known as illustrations) are not guaranteed. Insurers have been known to issue inflated illustrations based on impossibly optimistic projections -- and fail to deliver. Roger Blease, a pioneering insurance analyst who runs Blease Research, in Easton, Pa., says a better idea is to go back and look at similar whole life policies from different insurers to see how the total premiums paid have translated into today’s accumulated cash values. (He assumes the dividends are reinvested.)
Here are Blease’s rankings of national companies over the past 20 years, with the annual rates of return for a policy sold in 1991 to a man who was 55 years old that year: --Northwestern Mutual, 4.44% --New York Life, 3.37% --Thrivent, 3.20% --MassMutual, 3.01% --The Guardian, 2.62%

Health insurance: Two other numbers to look at

2011-12-22T07:06:00.000-05:00

Most people, of course, have almost no control over their health insurance: They get what their employer provides (if they have a good job) or else they get nothing. Whether they pick their own policy or not, the first two numbers everyone looks at are thepremium and the deductible. Well, here are two other numbers that are at least as important.

The premium and the deductible, of course, are very important–those are the numbers that determine whether you can afford thepolicy and when it starts paying something if you get sick.

If you think of your insurance as being a sort-of prepaid medical package–you pay a monthly premium and they provide whatever care you need–then the deductible (and the co-pays) are what matter. If you think of it as insurance though, there are two other numbers to pay close attention to: the out-of-pocket maximum and the policy limit.

The out-of-pocket maximum

Even after you pay your deductible, your insurance only pays a percentage of your bill. (It used to be universally 80%. Now you often see 90% for in-network coverage and 50% for out-of-network coverage, but in policies that you buy yourself, just about any numbers can show up.)

This is all well and good as long as you don’t get seriously ill or have a bad accident. If you do, though, even 10% of your medical care can add up fast. An extended stay in the hospital–even a short stay in intensive care–can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars. If that happens, your 10% plus co-pays would be in the tens of thousands of dollars–enough to ruin the finances of many households.

That’s what the out-of-pocket maximum is all about. Once your share of the charges hits the maximum, the insurance should pay the rest.

The out-of-pocket maximum is the single most important number in determining if your insuranceis really insurance. If your finances are such that you could pay the maximum without going bankrupt, then your insurance policy is about the size you need. If they aren’t, then you don’t really have insurance at all–you’ve got one of those increasingly common pre-paid medical packages. (And you’ve got a bad one–one that leaves you vulnerable to ordinary bad luck ruining your finances along with your health.)

One other thing to be aware of regarding the out-of-pocket maximum is that it often doesn’t apply to out-of-network coverage: you not only have to pay 50% instead of 10%, but the amount you pay may not count toward the limit, leaving you on the hook for virtually unlimited expenses.

The policy limit

Just like any insurance, medical insurance has a policy limit–the most they’ll pay. When I got my first job, $1 million was common. Nowadays I see a lot of policies with $3 million or $5 million limits (although I’ve also seen policies with limits of just $300,000).

A policy limit is necessary for the insurance company in order to be able to calculate how much they’re on the hook for–without that information, they have no idea what premium to charge.

The policy limit doesn’t come into play very often. Usually, insurance companies will aggressively deny coverage for expensive stuff right from the start–long before they even approach the policy limit. But it’s always possible to argue about coverage for procedures that the insurance company doesn’t want to pay for–you have access to appeals, arbitration, lawsuits. In the extreme, it’s even possible to get the legislature involved, passing laws that require insurance companies to pay for certain things. That’s not true about the policy limit. Just like with other kinds of insurance, once you hit the policy limit, the insurance company has no obligation to pay any more money.

If your health insurance is to be real insurance–the kind that protects your finances from being ruined by bad luck–then you’ll want to pay special attention to the out-of-pocket maximum and the policy limit. Appropriate amounts for those values will matter far more than the deductibles, co-pays, or even the premiums.

To learn more visit http://insurancescnow.com/ | South Carolina Insurance

or visit my blog at http://broker.insurancescnow.com/ | South Carolina's Premier Insurance Blog

Questions/Comments: Send your e-mail to : broker@insurancescnow.com

Do You Need Long-Term Care Insurance?

2011-12-16T16:26:00.000-05:00

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, those of uswho reach age 65 will have a 40% chance of entering a nursing home, and 10% will stay in one for five years or more. So does this mean you need long-term care insurance? Possibly.
Those numbers don't take into account the millions of aging adults who will need some kind of in-home care as their health falters. By 2020, 12 million older Americans will need long-term care, according to one government estimate. Most will be cared for at home by family members.

Long-term insurance is marketed as a way to fill in the financial gaps if you have a chronic illness or disability and need help with the activities of daily life, like bathing and getting dressed.

"The additional expense of long-term [care] can be $40,000-$90,000 a year," says Rich Arzaga, founder of Cornerstone Wealth Management. "The average American cannot survive this risk and expense." Nor can you count on the government to bail you out when the time comes: Medicare doesn't pay for "custodial care." Medicare pays only for medically necessary, skilled nursing facility or home health care. It may not give you the choice of the best care in your area. And while Medicaid pays for certain types of care for the low-income elderly, who is eligible and what services are covered varies from state to state, and is determined by such things as income and personal resources.

"Many folks wrongly believe that letting the government pay for their anticipated long-term care needs is the best solution, but Medicaid programs are in trouble funding-wise in every state," says Wilma Anderson, a registered financial consultant. "In the future Medicaid may become even harder to qualify for. If you don't plan for LTC, you may have limited or no choices to pay for care when your health changes."

Here are four things to consider when planning for long-term care:

How will you pay the bills?: Many financial planners and elder care experts say long term care insurance is a good place to start. It typically helps pay for things that your medical insurance won't, like in-home care, or remodeling your home so you can stay in it longer. But as with all forms of insurance, it's vital do your research.

Investigate the cost of a stand-alone long-term care policy: The younger you are, the lower the premium will be. The cost really depends on factors like family health history, age, how much insurance you think you'll need, how long you'll need it, where care is received, and more, explains Marion Somers, PhD, author of Elder Care Made Easier: Doctor Marion's 10 Steps to Help You Care for an Aging Loved One.

Shop around for the best policies and prices. Benefits vary: Weigh the scope of coverage, benefit and waiting periods, inflation protection and other factors against your income and health needs.

Read the fine print: "Insurance companies may try to offer added-value features beyond the basic benefits, but most of them don't add much value at all. Be thoughtful and realistic about your needs and priorities," says Ryan Malone, founder of InsideElderCare.com.

Truthfully, says Somers, "Not everyone needs long-term care insurance, but everyone needs a plan."

South Carolina Life Insurance | Tip of the day

2011-12-04T17:12:00.000-05:00

Welcoming all South Carolina residents,

Are you interested in securing your financial needs?

Life insurance is an excellent way to secure your finances, but first you must make your investment with a 'financially stable' company.

AARP Retirement Calculator

2011-11-24T21:05:00.000-05:00

Retirement is a goal to be relished, not dreaded.

Yet for many people, thinking about retirement can be overwhelming. Am I saving enough? When can I afford to stop working? How long will my money last?

Now, the answers are right at your fingertips. Use the AARP Retirement Calculator to plan your financial future so you can retire when — and how — you want. You've got options. This calculator will help you discover what they are.

10% off any order over $55 at Case-mate & free shipping! Use code: cmsave10

Source: http://www.aarp.org/work/retirement-planning/retirement_calculator/

South Carolina Senior Policies | InsuranceSCNow.com

Got Insurance? Enough? You Sure?

2011-11-17T09:44:00.001-05:00

Many U.S. homeowners haven't insured their homes against earthquakes and other disasters, but the devastating losses in the wake of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan may cause people to give their insurance policies another look.

Find hotel deals at Expedia! As well they should.

Earthquakes have occurred in 39 states since 1900, according to the Insurance Information Institute, a nonprofit supported by the insurance industry. Earthquakes have caused damage in all 50 states, according to the group.

April 18 marks the 105th anniversary of the great San Francisco quake of 1906. That temblor caused an estimated $524 million in property loss at the time; it would have cost $96 billion had it occurred in 2009, according to AIR Worldwide, a provider of risk modeling software and consulting services. With a standard homeowners policy, you're not covered for damage to your home or possessions in the event of an earthquake, meaning the damage occurring from the shaking and cracking. Flood damage also is typically not included in your basic policy, says Scott Spencer, world-wide appraisal and loss-prevention manager at Chubb Personal Insurance. To be covered for both, you have to buy an endorsement or separate policy. "Most people are not adequately insured for a total loss, but total losses are so rare," says Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, a nonprofit advocate for insurance consumers. But, "if you lose the bet and something really bad happens, it can be pretty awful to not have the coverage you thought you had." Even in California, only 12% of residents have earthquake coverage. That's partly because earthquake coverage in high-risk areas can be prohibitively expensive, Ms. Bach says. While people pay in the range of $500 to $2,000 a year for basic homeowners insurance, the total cost of insuring an older home in San Francisco with earthquake insurance, for example, can cost an additional $2,000 to $5,000, Ms. Bach says. The cost of coverage varies based on where in the country you live and how old the home is, since newer building codes often make structures more resilient, according to Pete Moraga, spokesman for the Insurance Information Network of California, a nonprofit aimed at educating consumers. Get a Fast Approval on the cash you need this Season. California isn't the only part of the country where earthquakes pose a risk. For example, earlier this year, a 4.7 magnitude earthquake occurred in Arkansas -- the most severe quake the state experienced in 35 years, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Flood insurance is typically less cost-prohibitive to those who need it. To protect a home against flood damage, recognize the area's flood history and know if your home is in a flood zone, Mr. Spencer says. Earthquake insurance is available through private insurance companies, as an add-on. In California, it's available through the California Earthquake Authority, says Jeanne M. Salvatore, senior vice president of public affairs for the Insurance Information Institute. Flood insurance is made available through the National Flood Insurance Program as well as private insurance companies. On the other hand, wind damage caused to a home by a tornado is generally covered through your standard homeowners insurance, Ms. Salvatore says. The tornado season runs from April through July, but some of the most severe storms hit in the spring, according to theInsurance Information Institute. And in most states, wind damage due to a hurricane is also covered in the standard contract, Mr. Spencer says. That said, some policies in certain states exclude wind coverage -- though that practice isn't typical. "Wind deductibles are more common than policies excluding wind all together," he says, adding that the policies require homeowners to pay either a percentage or a flat dollar amount for losses due to wind-related damage. So it's worth checking to make sure your policy will adequately cover any losses. Insurance is determined based on what it would cost to rebuild your home, not its market value -- and the cost of construction has gone up in recent years. The replacement value of your home may have been $250,000 when you bought it 10 years ago, but it might cost $500,000 to build it today. Coverage should be re-evaluated regularly, Mr. Spencer says. To protect against increased construction costs, homeowners can add extended replacement-cost coverage to their basic policies, Ms. Bach says.

She also recommends buying building-code upgrade coverage, which ensures that if the codes have changed and you need to rebuild, the insurance company pays for the increased costs. When you add these items, Ms. Bach says, raise your deductible to at least $1,000 to keep your premium affordable. Get the NEW Android Powered LG Optimus Q! Finally, research insurers, selecting one that offers a good quality of coverage -- not just the lowest price, Mr. Spencer says.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Source: Wikipedia"] "Many people think insurance is insurance and you buy a policy and they're all the same," he says. "But the offerings are as vast as cars. You can buy a Dodge Neon or a Cadillac Escalade.

Visit | InsuranceSCNow.com for more info regarding South Carolina Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Final Expense, Financial Solutions, Online Quotes, and more.

401(k)s: When Opting Out Makes Sense

2011-11-10T19:36:00.001-05:00

In spite of legislation that has made it more difficult for workers to opt out of their 401(k) plans, as many as one in five do just that. And a surprising number of advisers say that's not necessarily the wrong choice.

No one can be forced to save for retirement, but automatically enrolling employees in 401(k) plans was supposed to come close.

And in the five years since the Pension Protection Act gave companies legal cover to default their workers into the plans, participation is up -- opting out is apparently too much of a hassle for most employees. But even at companies that enroll every new employee as a matter of course, the dropout rate remains between 10% and 20%, a figure that seems stubborn to change, experts say. "Frankly I'm stunned that it's that high," says Roger Wohlner, of Asset Strategy Consultants. "You can lead a person to water, but you can't make them drink. More education is clearly needed here and more access to advice."

Companies have recently stepped up education efforts to convince employees it's in their best interest to rejoin the plans, but the tactic that has proven most successful is automatically re-enrolling employees every year, says David Wray, president of the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America. "Companies find that over time, employees get worn down, and they get a few more people each year."

Most people who opt out of their 401(k) plans do so because they need the money, Jeanne Thompson, Fidelity's vice president of retirement insights, says. Younger and lower-paid workers are the likeliest to drop out with 25% of employees earning between $20,000 to $40,000 not participating compared to just 8% of those earning more than $100,000, she says.

Among plans administered by Fidelity, 10% of automatically enrolled employees opt out of their plans, and another 8% reduce their contributions from the default, which typically ranges from 3% to 6%.

Still, the dropout rate is lower than in plans that don't automatically enroll their workers.
Nationally, 31% of employees do not participate in their company-offered plans, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For low-wage workers, that proportion jumps to 58%, according to Fidelity.

For those who aren't in dire financial straits, conventional wisdom holds that dropping out of one's 401(k) is generally as foolish as dropping out of high school. But there are some exceptions. If there is no company match, says Charles Buck, a financial planner in Minnesota, investors may be better off with a Roth IRA, if they qualify. A Roth IRA at a brokerage will offer more investment options, he says, many with lower fees. Also, for young people who may be saving to buy a house, a Roth IRA allows savers to withdraw their principal, penalty-free. Buck's advice to his own 30-year-old son: "Participate only to the limits of the employer match, and fund a Roth IRA with the rest."

Other advisers say that poor investment choices, or high expenses, can be a good reason to opt-out of a 401(k) plan. The best 401(k) plans charges employees as little as 10 basis points, says Mike Alfred, CEO of BrightScope, which rates plans nationwide. "There are also plans with expensive insurance costs that can run as high as 9% -- investing in a high fee 401k plan can cost a worker hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost savings over their working career when compared to a lower cost plan. In cases where all-in fees get that high, it's hard to argue with an adviser's assertion that the participant might be better served to invest elsewhere."

Click Here to get FREE FedEx SHIPPING with your order! No Coupon Code required

Learn more at InsuranceSCNow.com

South Carolina Life Insurance

South Carolina Health Insurance

South Carolina Final Expense

and other financial solutions.

Questions/Comments?

E-mail broker@insurancescnow.com

Hidden secrets of your safety… what in life insurance?

2011-10-28T17:40:00.001-04:00

Every aspect of life is circled with risk, and only proper planning makes one live above and overcome the risks. It is not unusual to find people who lived rich, but later become very poor because no proper foundation was laid for the risks associated with such level of affluence. Protecting the family and providing for them, in the event of the unexpected, is critical to determining how far the family can cope when the breadwinner is not there.

This brings us to the relevance of life insurance, and how different types of life insurance can take care of our needs, now or in the future.Whether or not as a breadwinner, you will be there to provide for the family; in the event that you are unable to pay off your loan should death occur, and what happens to your assets and mortgage plans.

Finance experts say one of the instruments you should consider adding to your portfolio is life insurance. For personal financial planning, life insurance can be of great value. There are some major areas of your financial plan that can benefit from a life insurance policy, being a part of the overall plan.

Enjoy every 3rd night FREE at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa! - Expires 5/31/2011

Ugochukwu Onyeka, an insurance agent, noted that when you are determining the need for life insurance, you should consider what amount you will need, to protect your family in the event of death. “You should also analyse other areas of your life, that would be financially affected in the event of your death, and purchase enough life insurance to cover those needs and more”. Both term life and whole life insurance policies will have some features that can help you with this.

Life insurance can be used in financial planning to help you secure a loan. If you need to borrow money to start your own business, most banks and lending institutions will be concerned that if you were to die, the loan would be defaulted. To get some protection against this, it is advised that you purchase a life insurance policy that pays a death benefit of that amount, and use it to secure the loan you need. This will save your family from being responsible for the loan.

Life insurance policies, especially most whole life insurance policies, have a cash value, and you can use your built up cash value as an additional means of saving money, in case of an emergency. Because the cash value of your policy tends to increase over time.

Unlike with a bank account, where you earn interest on your principal and must pay income tax, your insurance policy will produce almost the same interest returns, and pays many times over in benefits if you should die. Your policy builds cash value when you put money into it and you do not pay any income tax on the cash values.

You can also borrow money against the cash value of your policy without any penalties. Your cash value will remain intact for you to use as you want. In some policies you may be able to borrow money at zero interest rate, and you can have the payments deducted from your final death benefit upon your passing.

To protect your family and loved ones from financial ruin, and take care of any outstanding debt you may have, you are going to need adequate life insurance. No matter which type of policy you choose and what the features and benefits are, nothing begins, until you actually pay for the coverage. Before you commit yourself to any plan, make sure you get a life insurance quote.

People say that insurance is always sold, nobody likes to buy it. Because some of us hesitate to even discuss it. May be due to fear of death, we do not want to accept the obvious fact of life. If you have some dependants or someone relies on your income, you definitely need a life insurance cover. One of the most important benefits of life insurance, is that in case of your death, you are able to protect your loved ones against financial consequences.

There are two main types of life insurance policies available in today’s life insurance market. They are term life and whole life. Each has its own unique purpose and fills a particular need in the market place.

Learn more about South Carolina Life Insurance Policies at InsuranceSCNow.com

Book your Adventure Travel on Expedia.com: Explore, discover and escape!

Health-Insurance Changes for 2011

2011-10-10T18:58:00.000-04:00

Here's what to expect when your employer gives you choices during open-enrollment season this fall.

What differences can I expect to see in my health insurance for 2011 during my employer's open-enrollment season this fall?

Employers will be making some changes to their health insurance plans for 2011 because of health-care reform — such as offering coverage to children up to age 26 — and as a way to help control rising health care costs. A recent survey of large companies by the National Business Group on Health found that employers estimate their health-care-benefit costs will increase by an average of 8.9% in 2011, compared with an average increase of 7% this year. These employers are continuing to boost premiums and co-payments, but they're also beefing up programs that encourage employees to lower their medical expenses.

Higher Premiums and Co-Pays

Sixty-three percent of the employers surveyed plan to increase the percentage that employees contribute to the premium (on average, employees contribute 17% of the premium for individual coverage and 27% for family coverage). And 46% plan to raise out-of-pocket maximums. About 40% of employers also intend to increase in-network or out-of-network deductibles.
These large employers have already been boosting employees' share of the premiums and co-payments over the past few years, and they realize that increasing employee costs cannot be their only solution — especially because many workers have had stagnant wages and may have a spouse who lost a job, says Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health.
If employers increase co-pays too much, the employees may not seek care they need, which could lead to greater medical expenses in the future. And the claims costs have a direct impact on these employers, who are self-insured and pay claims from their own money, using an insurance company only for administration (a common practice for many large companies). These employers are targeting some of their increases at areas that will help encourage employees to be more careful about costs — such as increasing cost sharing for non-emergency care at an emergency room.

The Solution
If you have a choice of several plans, factor your potential out-of-pocket costs into the equation rather than looking just at premiums. Evaluate the new rules for co-payments carefully when deciding which type of care to use throughout the year.

More High-Deductible Health Plans and Health Savings Accounts

Sixty-one percent of the employers surveyed said they plan to offer a consumer-directed health plan in 2011 (usually a high-deductible health plan combined with a health savings account), which helps lower health-care costs because it encourages employees to become better health care shoppers. In fact, 20% of the employers plan to make the consumer-directed health plan the only choice. Those that are offering several options are steering employees toward the high-deductible plans by reducing premiums and often contributing money to the employees' health savings accounts.

Get your personalized matches at one of the fastest growing dating sites!

The Solution
These extra incentives may make a high-deductible plan worthwhile, even if you aren't in perfect health. Also, most high-deductible plans now cover preventive care without cost sharing before you reach the deductible. Look carefully at the high-deductible plan option this year and consider adding some of your own money to an HSA (if you're eligible). Contributing to an HSA lowers your taxable income, and your money grows tax-deferred for the future and can be used tax-free for medical expenses in any year — even after you switch to a new job.

Better Deals for Primary-Care and Wellness Programs

Many employers intend to reduce or eliminate the co-pays for primary care and preventive care, which can help catch problems early and lower medical expenses in the long run. Employers have been experimenting with various forms of wellness benefits over the past few years, and most now give people bonuses for participating in wellness programs rather than penalizing them if they do not. "They like carrots more than sticks," says Darling. Forty-one percent of the employers are offering discounts for participation in wellness programs, and the average incentive to employees is $380; 22% of employers offered discounts on premiums for participating in tobacco-cessation programs.

[What your doctor may not tell you]

The Solution
Employers realized that they needed to provide workers with better incentives to sign up for wellness programs. So if participating in one seemed like a hassle in the past, it may be worth a second look this year. Also, get a list of free preventive-care services and make the most of them throughout the year.

Extra Charges for Brand-Name Drugs

Over the past few years, more employers have been charging varying levels of co-pays for different types of drugs. Sixty-three percent now have a three-tiered design for their prescription-drug coverage, charging the lowest co-pay for generic drugs, the middle rate for preferred brand-name drugs and the highest co-pay for other brand-name drugs.
People also have to jump through more hoops to get their drugs. Seventy-three percent of employers now require prior authorization before they will let you use certain drugs, and many are using step therapy, which requires doctors to try a lower-cost drug first before certain higher-cost drugs will be covered. Employers are also changing co-pays to encourage you to get your drugs from a cheaper source. For example, some will fully cover the cost of maintenance medications only if you use mail-order pharmacies. If you choose to get the medication at a local pharmacy instead, you pay the difference between the cost of mail order and the retail price.

[See How Behind Are Your Retirement Savings?]

The Solution
If you take medications regularly, look carefully at how the drugs are covered and your potential out-of-pocket cost. Switching to generics, when possible, will always save you money, and the cost savings becomes even more pronounced if your employer charges a lower co-pay for the lowest-cost drug. Also reconsider where you buy your medications if your employer provides a higher level of coverage for mail-order pharmacies. And find out about any prior authorization or step-therapy requirements before using a new medication so you don't get hit with surprise charges if you don't follow the rules.

Visit: http://insurancescnow.com/

Health Insurance

Send your questions/comments via email to: broker@insurancescnow.com
Receive your free quote here.

Follow on..

Facebook

Twitter

Open enrollment cutoff for Medicare plans moves up

2011-09-25T01:00:00.000-04:00

A new deadline for privately run versions of the government's Medicare program may trip up customers who typically wait until the holidays to settle on their health insurance coverage for the coming year.

This fall's open enrollment deadline for Medicare Advantage plans and Part D prescription drug coverage has been moved up nearly a month to Dec. 7. The new deadline aims to help prevent coverage problems arising from late-December enrollment decisions, but it also could pose a quandary for many beneficiaries.

Medicare Advantage plans cover more than 11 million people. They offer basic Medicare coverage topped with extras, such as vision or dental coverage or premiums lower than standard Medicare rates.

Most beneficiaries enroll after they turn 65. Then they have an open enrollment window every fall in which they can drop their coverage and switch to another plan. Here are some questions to consider this fall.

— What deadlines will change?

Beneficiaries will receive their annual notice telling them about any changes in their coverage for next year by Sept. 30, which is a month earlier than last year. Insurers then will start marketing their 2012 plans on Oct. 1.

This year's open enrollment runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. That's a longer stretch than last year's window of Nov. 15 to Dec. 31.

But the health care overhaul calls for the earlier deadline to ensure that new coverage begins as planned on Jan. 1, according to a Senate Finance Committee aide. The new date provides more time for applications to be processed by the end of the year.

— Will the deadline changes affect many beneficiaries?

Medicare Advantage customers will have enough time to consider their options and enroll in another plan if they avoid waiting until the last minute, said Judith Stein, executive director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, a Connecticut-based consumer group.

But last-minute stragglers are common. Plans can receive as much as a quarter of the applications for coverage they normally get during open enrollment in those last three weeks of December, according to Matt Burns spokesman of UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest Medicare Advantage coverage provider with more than 2 million customers.

Many people take time to make their coverage decisions. Beneficiaries start seeing Medicare Advantage ads in the fall. Then they might talk to their families, stew on the decision, and wait for the holidays to pass, said Dr. Jan Berger, chief medical officer at Silverlink Communications Inc., which works with Medicare Advantage providers.

— What happens if you miss the deadline and make no changes?

This can get complicated.

If the plan is still offered for 2012, then a customer who doesn't make any changes remains enrolled. But details of that plan may change.

If the plan is discontinued, customers may be switched to another Medicare Advantage plan offered by the same insurer. They also could be dropped into regular Medicare, which does not provide prescription drug coverage.

Options do not completely dry up if a beneficiary misses the Dec. 7 deadline. From January 1 to February 14, Medicare Advantage customers can drop their plans and enroll in regular Medicare. During this time, they also can pick a Part D prescription drug plan to go along with that coverage, but they cannot jump to another Medicare Advantage plan.

Here's another wrinkle: Beneficiaries can enroll any time during the year in a Medicare Advantage plan that has prescription drug coverage if they receive a low-income subsidy or if they have access to a plan with a five-star quality rating. The catch: Only a few plans attained that rating for this year, said David Lipschutz, an attorney with the Center for Medicare Advocacy.

The government will announce a new list of five-star rated plans next month.

— Should Medicare Advantage customers review their coverage even if they don't plan to make changes?

Absolutely.

Plans can change how they cover expenses from year to year. Customers may find that prescription drugs that were covered last year aren't covered in the new year, or they may suddenly face a big bill for a costly treatment like chemotherapy. Any changes will be laid out in the annual notices consumers receive from their insurers.

"People really, really need to look carefully and not assume that because something worked last year it will work this year," Stein said.

Interested to learn more visit http://insurancescnow.com/ or http://insurancescnow.com/seniorpolicies.html

E-mail your questions or comments to broker@insurancescnow.com