Insurance

Californians who get their individual health insurance from Anthem Blue Cross, the largest insurer for individuals who don't have access to group health insurance in California, got notice of increases in their premiums of as much as 39% on March 1. This is the second year in a row for many who faced an increase of 41% last year.

Anthem Blue Cross would not comment on the number of members it currently has, but last year when it raised its rates as much as 68% it reported it had 800,000 members. With those types of increases, one might speculate that Anthem Blue Cross wants to get out of the individual health insurance marketplace.

In these uncertain times potential homebuyers continue to sit on the sidelines because they are concerned that a job loss could kill their dreams to own a home.

Innovative job loss mortgage insurance is being offered through mortgage lenders, real estate agents, new-home builders and state and local housing agencies. In many cases this protection is being offered free to the homebuyer as part of their home purchase.

One real estate agent even put out a press release about the "Worry Free" Mortgage Protection."

"The ability to provide home buyers a viable solution to the uncertainty associated with purchasing a home eliminates one of the major obstacles preventing buyers from taking advantage of once in a lifetime purchasing opportunities," Lance Mohr, a Tampa broker, stated. "Interest rates remain near historic lows even as the cost of buying a new or existing home continue to drop; combined with federal tax incentives this is literally one of the best buying opportunities presented in decades. Unfortunately, the fear of job loss and economic uncertainty has prevented many would-be buyers from acting on their desire to purchase a home."

The sky's the limit for the amount of money a water-logged jetliner that an U.S. Airways pilot ditched in New York's Hudson River last year may bring at a recently announced auction.

Capt. Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger III flew into history books when he deftly landed his disabled aircraft in the waterway after its engines swallowed wayward geese.

You might expect a plunging credit score to affect your ability to qualify for a car loan or how high the interest rate on your credit card will soar. But too often Americans don't realize a plunging credit score can cost them big bucks on insurance premiums.

One of the biggest mistakes insurers say people make is not realizing when their credit score is tanking.

"Credit scores factor heavily into your rate," says Ashley M. Hunter, a construction-risk insurance specialist who owns HM Risk Group in Austin, Texas. That's because in the eyes of your insurer, if you've missed a few payments to your credit card company or have written a lot of bad checks (that wound up in collection), chances are you'll do the same thing to them.

When you think about whether or not you want the insurance companies or the government making decisions about the health care you receive, you probably quickly answer neither. But unfortunately, that's not an option unless you can afford to pay for all your health choices out of pocket without carrying a health care insurance policy.

Since we're looking at what could be the demise of the national health care package now being held up in Congress, we'll likely continue to be solely under the control of the insurance companies. Knowing that they're going to be in control, insurance companies are flexing their muscles and making it harder for you to get the care you need.

Annie and Doug Schulte each have health insurance through their jobs. She works for a tiny nonprofit, and he is a truck driver.

But neither of their employers offers coverage for children. As a result, their son, A.J., 16, is uninsured. That's a constant worry for his parents. "You always have this fear he'll get into a car accident,'' says Annie, 36, of Foley, Mo.

The Schultes make too much money for A.J. to qualify for coverage through Medicaid or the state Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). And private insurance for their son is too expensive, with insurers setting a high sticker price because of his allergies and asthma.

A.J. is one of more than 7 million U.S. children who have no health insurance. The good news is that number has dropped to its lowest level in 20 years, Census figures show. The decrease comes largely from government programs Medicaid and CHIP picking up more children as private insurance erodes among parents.

In 2002, voters of California passed a law mandating that HMOs, which serve nearly 21 million people in California, offer more timely access to medical care. Now the California Department of Managed Health Care finally is ready to implement those new rules, to be unveiled Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to a story in today's Los Angeles Times. California says it is the first state to set time standards for HMOs.

What will these new rules mean? Patients who seek urgent care that doesn't require prior authorization must be seen within 48 hours. Otherwise, patients must get an appointment within 10 days for general treatment and an appointment within 15 days for specialist treatment. When I've been in HMOs in the past, I could usually get into my primary care physician within about a week, so that doesn't sound like a major change. But I've waited months to get to see a specialist.

Social Security is using Chubby Checker to help promote an expanded "Extra Help" program for one million more seniors who need assistance to be able to afford their prescription drugs. Seniors who were rejected for Extra Help in the past should reapply to see if they meet the new requirements.

With Extra Help, seniors can pay as little as $1.10 for generics and $3 for brand name drugs. The Extra Help program also eliminates premiums and annual deductibles. Currently the Extra Help program provides assistance to more than nine million senior and disabled Americans -- saving them an average of almost $4,000 a year on their Medicare prescription drug plan costs. You can apply for Extra Help online at the Social Security Web site.

Whether it's for your boat, car, home or life, insurance is a necessary evil. But since its main job is to protect you in the event of a crisis, your insurance policies are probably facets of your budget you don't pay a lot of attention to or consider when you're trying to trim some financial fat.

Make this the year you save money on your insurance. These easy-to-implement tips will help you slash your premiums in 2010.

Are you a hoarder? If so, your homeowner's insurance could be canceled or your rates could be raised.

Often, insurers don't know if you like to hoard because they don't inspect the home on the inside at the time the insurance is written. They just take pictures of the outside of the property and, if it looks good, write the policy. Sometimes they don't find out that someone has a problem with hoarding until a claim is filed.

At the time a claim from a hoarder is filed, the "claim would be paid according to contract," according to Dick Luedke of State Farm, and most contracts do not exclude hoarding.

So your claim would likely be paid, but then the problems could start. In severe cases, the insurance company may cancel your homeowner's coverage, and in other cases, they may raise your cost because of the increased risk of hoarding.

You probably wouldn't send a holiday card depicting the family dog biting the boss. Or one that shows a brand new flat screen falling out of the back of your truck.

While these scenes aren't ones you'd like to experience at the holidays, experts say it's wise to keep in mind that accidents (like these, as well as ones similar) do happen. Even at the most wonderful time of the year.

"Holidays mean more guests, more driving, and more new possessions than any other time of year. It's important to make sure all your presents, parties and travels don't fall outside your current coverage," said Tim Gaspar, president of Gaspar Insurance Services in Los Angeles.

Early Saturday morning the Senate gave unemployed persons a Christmas gift. Through a trick in legislation, unemployment benefits were extended for the long-term unemployed who were slated to lose those benefits December 31. The Senate bill also provides up to 15 months of help with health insurance benefits through COBRA subsidies. Without the legislation benefits would have ended for any unemployed who already received nine months of help with their health insurance benefits on December 31.

The House of Representatives approved a six-month extension for a total of 15 months of COBRA benefits last week, so now the legislation is ready to go to the President's desk for signature.

In order to get the legislation through the Senate, Democrats had to use a trick. They attached the extension to the must-pass 2010 defense appropriations bill.

Have you ever wondered what happens to your car after you turn the keys over to a valet? If you've ever found damage to your car after letting a valet park it, you know that it can be hours of phone calls before you get even the basic information you need to file a claim. Also you may find it difficult to prove that it was the valet who did the damage.

Well folks who parked at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown St. Louis may have a very strong case to prove damage when someone calling himself "valet underground" posted dozens of videos on YouTube showing a valet doing donuts, peeling out, burning out, revving engines and spinning tires in expensive cars, in the parking garage about six months to a year ago.

As we watch the healthcare debate rage on in Congress, it's helpful noting that wholesale change of a flawed-but-longstanding system has happened in the past, despite the odds against it. A good example from the history books: Boss Tweed.

"Everything will fall apart if we change it." "The government will ruin it." "The government could never do it as well as the private citizen can." "Give us a way to opt out."

The refrains from Capitol Hill's healthcare debate may remind us of a past adventure in "socialism": not the time when we switched from private militias to standing government-organized armies (although that happened, too), but the pre-Civil War era in New York City, when the job of firefighting was wrested from the private sector and placed in government hands. It's hard to imagine that anyone today thinks that old system of response was superior. But that's pretty much how our healthcare system works -- and it's a mess, letting a whole class of people fall through the cracks.

Now that the party season is at hand, and you may be planning to host a big shindig, think about protecting yourself or your company from a huge liability bill by getting event liability insurance.

Accidents can happen at parties, especially if booze is being served, and you could get stuck with the bill if one of your guests causes damage.

With weddings and bar/bat mitzvah parties costing $20,000 and more, you can also protect deposits and get them back as long as the reason for cancellation is one of the allowable excuses in the policy. Yes, some policies even allow "cold feet" as an excuse.

Considering that you can get as much as $2 million in insurance for as little as $450, it's worth the cost to protect against a much larger liability.