What Happens When an Insurance Company Fails?
Posted by: BeamaLife Editor on 30 Jun, 2009
The National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations (NOLHGA) is a voluntary association composed of the life and health insurance guaranty associations of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
When an insolvency involves multiple states, NOLHGA assists its state guaranty association members in quickly and cost-effectively fulfilling their statutory obligations to policyholders.
A very good read on NOLHGA website….
http://www.nolhga.com/policyholderinfo/main.cfm/location/insolvencyprocess#trouble
Please learn about best life insurance now.
Health Insurance: The Impossible Necessity!
Posted by: BeamaLife Editor on 24 Jun, 2009
Throughout this past election year, health insurance has been the hot topic. Politico’s used terms like “HMO”, “PPO”, and “Premium” as if everyone understood what they meant. Fact is, there are people who are lost about health insurance from the start and unless you know what it is or how it works, and it is easy to become one of the roughly four-million uninsured citizens in this country.
Health insurance is what helps pay for medical bills and medications that most of us are finding increasingly difficult, if not at time impossible, to pay for out of pocket. These expensive costs are why it is being called on for reform, however, even if getting it becomes possible, how it works will likely remain the same. That is, you will be purchasing insurance either for yourself, as part of a group.
Individual insurance is bought by you, for you, through an insurance company or agent. Your application will be evaluated based on how much risk you present the company and your cost of premium payment will be determined accordingly if you are accepted. Your cost and range of coverage will depend upon your provider and type of policy, whether it is comprehensive—covers several types—or basic—covers mostly just physical, surgical, and hospital. It is also a good idea to add into your coverage major medical in case a catastrophic accident or illness occurs. Once you are given your cost for insurance, you will have to pay your premiums in full yourself.
Most people use a group insurance through their employer of civic groups like auto clubs. These are single policies that cover the medical expenses of the group regardless of age or physical condition. Unlike individual, you cannot mold it to fit your specific needs; however, it usually covers everything you might come across. Your payments will be based off of the group as a whole; i.e. average age, occupational hazard, etc. Whether your group is small or large, it is typically less expensive than individual coverage. Individual and group insurance is the broad brush of health insurance, once you’ve figured out how you are getting it, it is important to understand what you have. The common types of insurance are HMO, PPO, POS, and EPO.
Health management organizations (HMO) cover only expenses from treatments by a physician or facility within its network. You choose a primary physician who decides whether or not to refer you to a specialist and you will pay a fixed monthly fee with co-payments for your visits.
Preferred provider organizations (PPO) do not require members to seek care from PPO physicians and hospitals like HMO’s even though you pay the same way. Instead you will see less percentage of reimbursement.
Point of service (POS) combines HMO and PPO’s. You will have a primary physician for referrals, but you can go outside of the network in trade of being covered at a lower level.
Finally, there are the exclusive provider organizations (EPO) which are basically the same as the PPO except there is no coverage for out of network care.
Once you’ve gotten your coverage, and you understand basics of your type, it is wise to read and ask about your coverage so you don’t find yourself with an unexpected bill. Your policy should mention it’s coverage regarding pre-existing conditions and non-duplication benefits, as well as things that affect benefits like deductibles, coinsurance, co-payments, family coverage, out of pocket maximums, and a benefit ceiling. Questions and knowledge about these things will help to keep you from falling victim to paying for what you thought was covered.
Health insurance is becoming more and more a necessity as it becomes incessantly harder to get and keep. Finding the best way to get coverage and what type is right for you is most of the battle, and if you find trouble affording it yourself or getting it through your employer, check for civil organizations or pray for government reform. If those don’t pan out, then I suggest you watch your step. Okay, now learn more about life insurance!
Help Alleviate Costs for Proper Care of Your Loved-Ones
Posted by: BeamaLife Editor on 19 Jun, 2009
It’s no secret that people tend to live longer than the generations before them. As medical research advances, so does life expectancy and the day to day tasks life involves. There comes a point in almost everyone’s life where their bodies become less and less capable of taking care of themselves on their own and require assistance. For this, home care, nursing homes, and assisted living residents were created. But as the need for them grows, so do their costs. To help alleviate the escalating price of these long-term care providers there is long-term care insurance.
Long-term care insurance (LTCI) is for all people to use when they’re no longer able to independently perform basic activities of daily living—bathing, dressing, eating—due to illness, injury, or cognitive disorder. LTCI insures people of all ages and current condition and is for anyone who wants to know they can be taken care of when they need to be.
As the price for care increases people look for all means of alleviating the costs. Medicaid has strict financial eligibility requirements and will likely exhaust a chunk of your life savings to become eligible. Similarly, HMO’s, Medicare, and Medigap don’t pay at all for most long-term care. However, if you are between 40 and 84 years old and have significant assets you wish to protect, then you are the perfect candidate for LTCI. If you are also in good health, are insurable, and can afford to pay the premiums now and in the future, you are practically a shoe in.
LTCI works by the benefits being triggered by a physical or mental impairment, or by your doctor certifying long term care is necessary. Once triggered, the policy pays a selected amount of money per day, for a set period of time, based on the type of long-term care outlined in your policy.
When buying LTCI, make sure you shop around and read the policies carefully for benefits, exclusions, and provision as packages can differ considerably based on the company. Once you’ve found a few you like, make sure to research the ratings of the companies using A.M. Best, Moody’s, etc. to ensure that company is in a sound financial state. After all, you can’t be insured if the company isn’t around. That is exactly BeamaLife will do for you.
To ensure that you are taken care of should a day come when you can no longer perform day to day tasks independently, you should start early to find the right insurance as premiums are cheaper when you are younger. Know your policy and consult a financial advisor, attorney, or accountant for any questions as policies can be confusing.
Long term care insurance is becoming more and more necessary as people live longer. We are all thankful for modern medicine and its ability to cure disease and keep us and our loved ones on earth longer, but who’s going to care for them when they can’t care for themselves? If you can take them in, God bless you, but for most of us, LTCI can alleviate those expensive bills of a nice nursing home or assisted living residence where the ones we love most can be happy.
Being Your Own Boss is Not As Easy as it Sounds
Posted by: BeamaLife Editor on 6 Jun, 2009
Self-employment may sound appealing, but before making the move, weigh the pros with the cons of what “being your own boss” means. Self-employment gives you the opportunity to take control, but with that freedom comes with immense responsibility and the learning of tasks you may not have ever thought needed to be done. To be able to escape that tiny cubicle, staring at a computer screen day after day, and take control of your career ignites a fire in your belly to be better than you are, but to determine if that fire just a pipe dream fantasy or a real possibility, you must know if you can take the risks and make the sacrifices to be successful.
One of the biggest positives with starting your own business is that you get to choose your own hours of operation, working conditions, and location. As nice as all that is, it is important to remember that self-employment is synonymous with sacrifice. As the boss, you must oversee everything that goes on, and with limited employees, sometimes being only yourself; long hours come with the territory, regardless of whether or not they fit into the hours of operation. This means you must have the discipline to give up that valuable leisure time for some extra work, or substitute reading the morning paper that day, or taking a long lunch, for business calls. Staying home sick, taking days off, and going on vacation all may result in lower income, therefore making the sacrifice to work harder means more money.
Work is directly equated to profit. You have to know that the juice is worth the squeeze, especially since without a benefits package, you must provide yourself with health insurance and a retirement plan. Establishing a cash-backup for bills might prove helpful, but in order to save enough money for all these things, you need to work and maybe even learn some new skills. For some things—like accounting—it may be beneficial just to hire a professional, but taking the time to find books and software that will teach you the necessary skills may be more cost-effective, as well as more time consuming. As a self-employer the dedication to make it work should outweigh the loss of leisure time.
Initially, you may not be making much money at all. Between start-up costs, operating costs, employee payment, and possibly bank loans, the initial profit you will keep might not seem like much. If money is trickling in rather than flooding, then know that you will be the last to get paid.
For some, some cost can be saved from working at home. By working at home you will save on start-up costs, lower operating costs since you would already be paying for heat, electricity, etc., and reduce commuting time and expenses. However, working at home can hinder immediate growth since space will be limited and finding another location means refactoring in all the costs you were trying to save.
It may seem like there the bad outweighs the good, but there is one factor that tips the scales, you are doing what you love. It wouldn’t make sense to start your own business if it was something you hated and treated like a chore. So if you want to be self-employed, make sure you love what you’re doing because that will make every one of the negatives feel miniscule. In addition, you can ensure that nothing at work makes you feel otherwise because as the head of the company you get to choose who you want to work with. It is up to you to decide who you employ and what people you will work with. This means you must be able to get along with all types of people, be it employees, clients and consumers, suppliers, bankers, lawyers, or accountants, but when you get to choose them all, there should be no reason why you don’t get along while working together directly.
The bottom line is if you can work long and hard, tolerate risk and stress, cope well with potential disaster and failure, and work well alone and with others, then perhaps self-employment is right for you. If not, then perhaps you should keep that job in the cubicle.
Learn more about life insurance for business owner and defined benefit plan for highly successful business owner.
