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Medicare Premiums Increase for 2010

Tue, October 20, 2009 - 1:13:35

The feds announced yesterday Medicare Part B premiums will be increased to $110.50 monthly in 2010, an increase of 15%.

This increase effects 12 million people or 27% of those on Medicare. The rest are not subject to the increase due to the fact that by law, Medicare premiums can't be increased more than Social Security benefits which are not being increased.

Rising medical costs are being blamed which some feel is right in line with what they've been trying to fix with healthcare reform.

Medicare is currently a hot topic in many areas. Obama feels cutting the massive fraud that's been identified will help greatly in savings to use in support of healthcare reform and keep it budget neutral. Some seniors worry the money savings will somehow result in issues with their coverage and treatments. Also, more and more doctors have given consideration to no longer accepting Medicare all together. This stems from the already low reimbersments from the government that some make up for by hiking rates to the private insurance companies.

Another big worry with Medicare is the fact that it keeps going over budget. If the government is having problems predicting the costs of Medicare, how can they predict healthcare costs on a much larger scale with healthcare reform? Experts expect baby boomers to hit Medicare hard over the next few years as more become eligible for coverage. Without a doubt this will increase costs, but what will happen? Will the budget just be greatly increased? Will there be restrictions? Will payouts or coverage be reduced?

Regardless of your position, it's easy to understand the reason behind concerns seniors are having. Medicare and Medicare supplement insurance are held in high regards by those covered and nobody wants that to change.

Auto Insurance Rates Affected Positively by Auto Theft Rates

Fri, August 28, 2009 - 8:56:00

In one of our more recent news posts we see that the Insurance Information Institute notes the falling auto theft rates trend over the past 5 years. 13% less stolen autos in 2008 could be a result of many things, but one thing for sure is that the GPS systems which track stolen cars and easily find chop shops that are stripping and selling parts are helping. Another thing is the fact that more vehicles are coming with factory alarms and vehicle electronics are getting more sophisticated making it harder for the average Joe to use a slimjim and 3 wires to have their prize driving down the road.

This is a perfect example of how the market and the consumers naturally affect and fix their own problems though spending their dollars and developing products.

Considering auto theft and auto insurance fraud are major negative factors that affect your rates, it's no wonder that the decline shows some drops in rates across the board. For example, it dropped 3.3% from 2005 to 2006. If only something so simple could be applied to health insurance we would see rates dropp across the board! Maybe there can?! Educating people on making choices that lead to healthier lifestyles could be a start. But that's a whole other issue right now and nobody knows what direction health insurance will be going with the proposed changes in our government.

Text Driving and Road Safety

Thu, August 06, 2009 - 1:23:28

Do we need a nationwide ban on texting while driving?

People who argue against it say it takes away from their freedoms and that it's not a matter of being unable to do two things at once, but people making bad choices of WHEN they're doing it and how engrossed they get diverting attention from their driving. While these are perfectly valid arguments, are they really against because they don't want to lose the convenience of being able to fire off a note to a friend or family member while driving? Would they think differently if they had a loved one in an accident while texting and driving?

Then there's those pushing for it to be banned. They say it's not possible for people to be performing these two actions simultaneously without risk to themselves and other drivers/passengers. But where do we draw the line? Will eating and driving be against the law next? Considering most people have to actually look at their phone to text, it's very hard to deny the risk involved with taking your eyes off the road to focus on a completely unrelated task. Also, the studies aren't looking good showing accidents due to texting and is a big reason why 14 states have already banned it.

The summit being held this month over road safety may be the next step in the push to get text driving banned in all states: http://www.usinsuranceonline.com/news/article/road-safety-prevents-accidents-protects-auto-insurance-rates-19296945

One thing for sure, auto insurance companies want to see it put into law.