Never accept health insurance quotes at face value
Just in case you do claim, the policy includes every possible way of avoiding payment on the claim. So all the headlines in the quotes and on the front page of the policy sell you the idea of coverage. All the small print later in the policy limits and excludes the insurer’s liability to pay. It should all be so straightforward. The policy is a simple contract between you and the insurer. You pay a premium. If any of the following things happen to you, the insurer pays for your treatment. You look down the list of injuries, diseases and disorders. Ah, if only life could be so simple.
The first problem is who you want to treat you. Some people are happy to have anyone with MD after their name prod them, nod wisely and write out a prescription. Others will only accept someone with experience in the particular problem. The difference between the two can be thousands of dollars. The doctor in general practice will charge only a small fee for a quick consult. If you go to the nearest specialist and you are put through a battery of tests to confirm the diagnosis, the total bill for the same prescription could be relatively astronomical. Then we come to the question of the treatments. The quick solution is usually a drug but taking, say, a painkiller when what you actually need is surgery to relieve the physical cause of the pain. . . Well, if you want a cure and avoid dependence on the painkillers, your insurer must be prepared to pay a lot more money.
The problem with medicine is the uncertainty. Science has only progressed so far, identifying many possible diseases and disorders, but never being totally sure what the best treatment is. One of the current hit TV medical dramas is “House” where the problems of diagnosis are presented as entertainment. What the program fails to tell you is how much the hospital would bill Gregory House’s patients. All it does is show you the alarming number of very expensive tests you could be asked to pay for without any guarantee they will provide the definite answer. So, when you get health insurance quotes, try to get a feel for three key areas: what diseases and disorders are covered, who is allowed to treat you, and what are the limits on the treatments? Yes, there will be jargon, but never accept health insurance quotes at face value. Always try to get answers to these three simple questions. Most plans place real limits of your freedom of choice. In fact, the lower the premium, the less choice you will be allowed. Only the top-of-the-range plans leave you with a reasonable amount of control over what happens to you and your family. This leaves us with an irony. The rich who have least need for health insurance are actually able to buy the best terms. The poor cannot pay and are not covered. The rest scrape the barrel to get what treatment they can.
Credit record and auto insurance rates
Most car owners are probably well aware of the fact that their insurance rates are strongly influenced by their current credit score. The majority of insurance companies make a direct link between a person’s credit record and risk grade, because statistically those who have bad credit ratings are usually filing more insurance claims and represent a high risk to insurance providers. And those, who have good credit score, are typically the less risky drivers that tend to have the smallest numbers of insurance claims and traffic violations.
Of course other factors besides credit rating are also taken into account as insurance providers will base the rates you will get on your driving record, type of car you drive, your sex, age, and area of residence. But if you don’t have an established credit history yet, the companies working with the credit score may not be the best option to look into as you can have higher premiums and lack of special discounts for a good credit score.
Some of you may question the legal right of insurance providers to use your credit history for their purpose. However, it’s perfectly legal and allowed by state authorities for insurers to look into their clients’ credit scores. So don’t be surprised when your insurance company uses your credit information for setting up your rates. Still, only a small number of providers use the exact current credit score of their customer. Most companies have a special “insurance credit score” that is mathematically and statistically derived from the current record and helps the insurers determine your risk grade and how likely you are to file a claim in the future. And if you feel that your credit score does not reflect the actual situation you should tell the insurance company to review their calculations.
Besides the actual credit rating the insurance companies also use the following factors in order to determine a customer’s insurance credit score:
- Records on bankruptcy, charge-offs, and other public notices
- History of payments and due bills
- Duration of credit history
- Number of open credits and credit applications
- Types of credit lines used
The insurance credit score will be different with every insurance company as each provider uses a whole different set and weight of factors when determining the score. So when you get auto insurance quotes and worry about the effects of your credit score on the rates you will get, keep in mind that they will be different from one provider to another.
If you feel that your credit score is not that good and may result in high rates you have two possibilities. The first is clearing your credit record of all due bills and unused credit lines in order to improve the score in general. Get a free copy of your credit report at a national bureau and see what can be improved. The second possibility is shop around using free auto insurance quotes and seeing what companies offer the most competitive rates with your current rating. The best would be combining these two methods, of course, as this will surely result in better rates.
Types of auto insurance coverage carried with your policy
You probably know that your car insurance policy is comprised of different coverage types that each protects you against certain situations you may encounter. And knowing them and their purpose will help you tailor your policy for the best coverage and reasonable price. So before you choose to modify your coverage amounts, make sure you know the essence of the following coverage types:
Bodily injury liability. This type of coverage pays for injuries, harm or death of others caused by you while you were behind the wheel of the car included in the policy. It will also cover for your legal expenses if the other driver involved in the accident will sue you. However, this type of coverage doesn’t protect you or other people in your policy, nor it covers the damage to your vehicle. That’s why it makes sense to have a high enough amount of it in order to make sure your assets are protected in case the other party files a suit against you for injury, loss of income or pain.
Comprehensive. This type of insurance pays for the damage of your vehicle resulted from causes other than collision. For example, this type of coverage will kick in if your car gets stolen, damaged by a fallen tree, storm or flood. It will also pay for repairing your vehicle in full amount minus the deductible that you are free to choose when signing your policy. Deductible is the amount of money you are willing to pay from your pocket before getting actually covered. And the higher is your deductible the lower will be your rates.
Collision. As the name suggests, this type of coverage kicks in when your car gets into collision with another vehicle or an object (fence, pole, sign, etc,). It will pay for the repair, minus the deductible. The rule of deductible applies just as with Comprehensive coverage. And because the amount of this coverage is typically defined by the cash value of your car, older vehicles usually have no sense of carrying such coverage.
Medical Payments. This type of insurance will pay for the medical bills due to injuries delivered to you or your passengers in the course of an accident. Some companies will also cover you if you get injured as a pedestrian outside of your car. And it doesn’t take into account who was at fault in the accident.
Uninsured Motorist. This type of insurance will pay for bodily injury delivered to you or your passengers during an accident with a driver who has no or not sufficient insurance coverage. In some areas, this type of insurance coverage will also pay for the damage to your vehicle. Make sure to get it when looking for car insurance quotes, because there is a fairly large number of uninsured drivers out there.
Personal Injury. This type of coverage is available only in a number of states and will pay for the medical or funeral costs of the policyholder, the passengers or pedestrians involved in the accident with no regard to the fault of the parties.
Property Damage Liability. This type of coverage will pay for the damage delivered to other party’s property, which is usually the car, but can also be part of infrastructure (fence, house, pole, etc.) It will also cover you if the other party sues you because of the damage delivered, so it makes sense to get enough of it when looking for auto insurance quotes in the first place.
Slow and steady wins the race
Expectations are funny things. You have them and then find yourself surprised when they prove wrong. It’s like assuming every classic diner will serve apple pie only to find some that don’t. So, browsing through the news, I was surprised to come across a news item about the latest words of wisdom to fall from the lips of the American College of Physicians (ACP). For those of you who don’t follow medical affairs, the ACP was founded in 1915 and has 120,000 internists in its organization. This makes it the largest specialty organization in the medical field. You expect this kind of body to be on top of things. With advances in medical technology stunning us every week, you look to the ACP for leadership, promoting excellence and professionalism among its members by issuing guidelines and advice based on the latest evidence. So here is their latest offering. It’s finally official. The best treatment for erectile dysfunction is a PDE5 inhibitor pill.
So, all you doctors living out there in the boondocks, you must stop prescribing and recommending those pump devices. You know those vacuum tubes that encourage a hard erection when you pump out the air. More effective but painful and less convenient were those injections. Patients always liked the words of encouragement that being injected in the penis was no worse than being slapped by an elastic band on the rebound. And no more of those suppositories. Yes, keeping regular is good for you and, with the right chemicals inside and a lot of belief, there were times when these worked. Then there were all those creams, gels and patches. You know the ones. They were stuffed full of good things like male hormones. And all those other pills offering enhancement… Well, you can put all those things away in a drawer, turn the key and forget about them. The ACP has spoken in its voice of thunder. Apart from psychotherapy which can be useful if the cause of the ED is mainly psychological, the best therapy is a PDE5 inhibitor. According to the evidence, about 88% of all men using viagra find their ED is cured on the first use. The well-advertized testosterone gels and creams were no better than the placebos.
The ACP did talk wisely about dosages, indicating that slightly higher dosages yielded the best results. Their advice was also balanced. Yes, there were occasional side effects. Indeed, the committee members called for more research to determine which of the PDE5 inhibitors caused the most problems. But, as it stands, most men preferred a hard erection and were prepared to tolerate the odd runny or blocked-up nose. Why, you might ask, has the ACP decided to talk now. The answer is quite revealing. The US has an ageing population and more men are reaching an age when they may expect problems of ED. In 2025, the ACP estimates there will be more than 300 million men seeking help. This makes the ED market worth billions so they decided to endorse viagra now. Significantly, only one of the authors of this report disclosed funding from the ED manufacturers so that makes this report timely, balanced and reliable.
Preferred Provider Organization health insurance possibilities
In case you are looking for a comprehensive type of health coverage with much room for flexibility that still has a reasonable price-tag, a PPO insurance plan may be just the thing you need to cover your health needs.
Preferred Provider Organizations represent a network of medical workers, facilities and other professionals that are contracted by the insurance company in order to get more competitive fees for their customers. So those who are getting their medical services within the specified network will be charged with lower rates than if looking for them outside. However, you can still receive medical coverage outside the network too, only that your rates will be higher compared to what you get within the network.
PPOs can be regarded as a mix of traditional indemnity health plans and later-developed managed care options. In what concerns the network organization of medical services, PPOs are quite similar to HMO insurance plans. However, when you get a PPO plan, you aren’t required to choose a primary care provider (PCP). It’s the main difference between these two quite similar health insurance plan types. And since there aren’t any PCPs in PPO plans, you aren’t required to provide a referral when addressing any given specialist within the network. And when you receive your medical care in a facility or with a specialist outside the specified network your copayments will be considerably higher, but you still will receive partial coverage.
The advantages of PPO plans:
- PPO plans help keeping out of pocket costs within certain annual limits.
- PPO plans let you consult with any medical service provider even if he or she doesn’t make part of your network.
- PPO plans offer substantial money saving potential when receiving healthcare services within the specified network of doctors and facilities.
The disadvantages of PPO plans:
- PPO plans require you to pay the deductible before receiving any coverage.
- PPO plans make services you get outside the specified network a lot more expensive.
- PPO plans have higher copayment rates if compared to other managed plan types.
Flexibility has its price
As my may guess, when a plan provides more flexibility and options it will usually cost more than a cheap health insurance plan with greater restrictions. That’s why PPOs are generally more expensive than HMOs.
Even in case you choose a lower amount of coverage with your PPO plan, there are additional fees and payments that will make your plan more expensive. So don’t base your estimations on the amount of coverage alone.
For instance, besides the usual premiums you have to pay every month, there are also additional coinsurance fees, except for the cases when you use a preventive healthcare service. There is also a deductible to be paid before you can receive any benefits from your PPO plan.
How to get a good plan?
Sometimes it may be quite hard to get a good PPO plan that would provide increased flexibility for a reasonable price. If you feel that a PPO plan is just the thing you need to cover your medical costs, you first would want to get health insurance quotes from numerous providers or talk to your insurance agent about the options you have. Shopping around doesn’t take much time but as a result you can expect substantial savings if you manage to select the right provider.
Disposing of Tramadol the “green” way
In the midst of all the debate about environmental issues, we are too often distracted by the hot button climate change. Yet controlling carbon emissions is only one of many different concerns about how we live our lives and the impact our lifestyles have on our environment. If we are to hand over a habitable planet to our children, we have to start thinking about every aspect of the systems currently in use and how we might make them safer. One of the less obvious questions is how we dispose of our unwanted drugs. There are a number of quite different issues. One day, you open the bathroom cabinet and find unexpected rows of half-empty bottles and packs of pills, all of which have passed their use-by dates. For a moment, you pause and wonder whether you should do something. Then your eye catches the toothbrush and life goes on for another month or so. Why worry?
Well, the statistics are interesting. In some parts of the country, more people accidentally poison themselves, become hooked on addictive drugs or die of drug overdoses than die in traffic accidents. That should give you pause for thought. The number of deaths from traffic accidents is already an epidemic but, when you collect the statistics from emergency departments around the country, one of the largest groups of people admitted for treatment is suffering drug-related problems. Children are common admissions. Instead of having lockable cabinets, parents store drugs in places easily accessible by children and family members, friends and neighbors with addiction problems. Children are often tempted by brightly colored pills, thinking them candy. Adults can raid your stash of unwanted drugs to feed their addiction. But how should you dispose of these pills?
The temptation is to flush them away. Except this dumps a cocktail of drugs into the sewers that drain into our rivers and seas. Downstream, the water is drawn out by another city or town but the water purification plants cannot remove all these chemicals. The result is that the downstream population consumes a dilute mixture of your drugs. Fish and animals you might eat also drink the water, treated and untreated, so there’s a big circle of life with drugs recycling through the food chain.
That’s why it’s important for every town and city to have a safe disposal system. The best are run by local police departments which offer lock-boxes at strategic locations around every neighborhood. These allow anonymous deposits and deter all but the most determined of addicts. The drugs can then be disposed of safely, usually by incineration at high temperatures. So if you want to reduce temptation and prevent accidents, you should dispose of all your drugs as soon as you have finished the course of treatment. Although painkillers like tramadol are not abused, there should be a general shift in culture to ensure all medications do not end up as part of the cocktail of chemicals in our drinking water or the food we eat. If you do buy tramadol to keep a painkiller in reserve, you should store it in a lockable cabinet to reduce the chances of accidental poisoning or overdose. With children about, you used to worry about keeping liquor in the house. Prescription drugs are far more dangerous.