Things To Consider When Choosing An International Health Insurance Plan - Part 1
Most will agree that Insurance Contract can be a pretty complex document to comprehend and when it comes to Health Insurance things can get even more confusing with terms like Deductible, Coinsurance, Pre-existing Conditions Limitations, Exclusions, Waiting Period, Limits Per Claim, Limits Per Year, Limits Per Lifetime, etc.
The following are, in our opinion, some of the key features to be considered when choosing an International Health Insurance plan.
Insurer’s Financial Strength
There is no point having an insurance policy that covers “everything under the sun” but when it comes to paying claim the insurer can not meet her obligation. So, the first thing you should look for when choosing an International Health Insurance plan is the financial strength of the insurance company underwriting the risk.
You want to look for an insurer that has a credit rating of at least A or A- assigned by AM Best Rating Agency which means the insurer has “Excellent” financial strength.
Administrator’s Track Record
Unlike traditional health insurance plan that provides you coverage within your home country, International Health Insurance needs to cater you with worldwide protection wherever you are and whenever you need it. Hence, you want to make sure your plan administrator has the experience in covering worldwide travelers and able to provide worldwide assistance on 24/7/365 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year) basis.
Here are some of the indicators for you to gauge your Plan Administrator:
The number of Members covered,The number of Countries covered,Foreign language capability of their Customer Service Team,Availability of medical professional andLast but not least, testimonials from satisfied customers.
Worldwide Assistance
When you are in a foreign land, you are facing the risks of:
Not knowing where to go or who to turn to when you have a medical situation in a foreign country;
Exposing yourself or your loved ones to sub-standard medical care that may further exacerbate your pain and suffering and putting your life at risk;
Emergency medical situations that may require you to be evacuated to save your life;
Emergency situations that develop due to act of war, terrorism or natural disaster
So, being able to speak to someone that speaks your language when you are in any of the above situations can be reassuring and in the case of emergency it can mean live or dead.
Ideally, your plan administrator should also provide a worldwide toll-free number for you to call for assistance from anywhere around the world.
Geographical Coverage
Due to the high medical costs in the North America, typical International Health Insurance will have 2 separate plans; one covers USA & Canada and the other excludes. Obviously, plans that cover USA & Canada cost more than those that don’t. So, choose a plan that has the geographical coverage that matches your overseas itinerary.
It is important to point out that if you are a US citizen living abroad, traditional sources of US private health insurance will not meet your needs. Geographical exclusions and provider limitations common to these policies will restrict or even eliminate the coverage available to you while you are outside the US.
If you are a non-US citizen, you may need an international medical insurance policy to supplement the coverage available to you through a plan sponsored by your government or to provide coverage while you are outside your home country. Or you may wish to have access to health care in other countries, including the US, in the event you become seriously ill.
In essence, if your lifestyle knows no geographic limits, you need an international health insurance that knows no boundaries.
Thomas Kua is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (USA) with more than 15 years of experience in health insurance. Tom is the founder of GHI (Global Health Insurance) Specialists, a firm specializes in providing quality International Health Insurance solutions to customers worldwide. For more information on quality International Health Insurance plans please visit: BuyInternationalTravelHealthInsurance.com BuyInternationalTravelHealthInsurance.com
Cheap Car Insurance for Teens – How to Keep the Rates Down
We love them even though they are expensive – a fact that doesn’t change once they get older. They become extra costly once they become teens. Their taste in clothing becomes more expensive. Santa no longer brings stuffed animals; he’s hauling the newest Nintendo in his bag. They need money for proms, football camps, cheerleading uniforms, and band instruments.
What happened to the days when peek-a-boo was enough to make them smile?
Teens are also notorious for having more expensive car insurance rates than older drivers. This is mainly because car insurance companies view teens as less experienced drivers and more risky to insure. Since age is already working against them, teens must take extra care to make other factors car insurance companies look at work for them.
Despite the rising costs of raising teens, there is a way to get cheap car insurance for teens – actually, it could be the most important way to get cheap car insurance for your teen. Buy your teen a practical, affordable, and safe car.
Teens dream about the day they become old enough to drive, and many teens get their first car when that day comes; however, if it is a flashy, expensive, unsafe car the car insurance company will see it as likely to be stolen or robbed, costly to repair in the event it becomes damaged, and likely to not protect against accidents.
On the other hand, if the car is modest in appearance and price, as well as equipped with safety features, the car insurance company will be more likely to offer a cheap car insurance quote for the teen.
By purchasing your teen an affordable, practical car, not only are you helping to get cheap car insurance for your teen, you are also helping to keep your teen safe which makes buying your teen this kind of car the most important way to get cheap car insurance for your teen.
To get free quotes and learn more about insurance please visit the following
recommended sites.
ezquoteguide.com/car/ Cheap Car Insurance for Teens – How to Keep the Rates Down
myquoteguide.com/car-teen.shtml Find budget car insurance for your teen
ezquoteguide.com/car-pa.shtml Compare the best auto insurance and get easy fast rate quotes on this website if you live in Pennsylvania
Think Of Gathering Instead Of Accumulating For Annuity Sales
Client Gathering
Our goal is to extend our marketing effort with new relationships. These relationships should be with agents who have experience with selling products in the senior market. This vision is to build an interactive client base through the process of client gathering.
Client gathering is much different than client building which is a term associated with large career life insurance companies such as New York Life, Prudential etc. Client Building was a concept by which the agent grew with the client and as the client increased net worth and insurance needs changed the agent was there to provide the insurance products. Studies have shown that this concept when followed to the end would have provided a relationship with 7 direct sales and 20 indirect insurance sales over the course of the agent’s career. This type of selling is arduous and expensive plus it is not especially profitable. It is however profitable for the insurance company because it allows for the careful spacing of different age brackets of the insured. The agent in effect has used his career and effort to make certain the insurance company has hedged itself against changes in attitudes by a single person by spreading out the risk over many different people.
Client gathering is much different. Client gathering is collecting people at the end of their careers when their accumulation process is ending and the need for stabilization becomes the goal.
That is what we do, stabilize.
Everyone at one some time of their lives needs to run to safety. Safety falls into three possible categories.
• Banks or financial institutions
• United States Treasury
• Insurance Company Annuities
Our goal is to assist the client into repositioning their assets into the most stable positions while earning the best possible yield. This is done by educating the client on the benefits they will enjoy with each of these products.
The process of education centers on understanding how the client feels about their life and how their assets could be used to accomplish their goals. By understanding how a prospect feels about their personal assets allows us to determine exactly how safety and security can play a part.
When a prospect decides that safety is the more important goal with their finances then providing stabilization becomes the most important agenda.
Stabilize for safety.
Bill Broich is a 30 year annuity salesman who helps agents generate annuity leads. Visit his website to learn more -
Last Minute Small Details You Should Look At Before Signing Your Car Insurance Deal
You have done your research and looked at several insurance companies and finally you are ready to sign.
Before you sign it is of course very important that you read through the small print. It is not true that all insurance policies are the same. Do not wait to confirm this when things go wrong.
Apart from that there are a few clauses you should look out for. One increasingly notorious one is the one where people give up the right to sue. This happens through an innocent-looking clause that says any disagreements will go into arbitration. Chances are high that if anything goes wrong the car insurance company will use this particular clause to take advantage of you.
Experts strongly advice that you will be much better off if you DO NOT give up this right. If the insurance company refuses to remove this clause, then you are better off looking for another insurer for your business who will.
The other clause to look out for is the one that deals with repairs of your vehicle incase of an accident. If you own a new car and the insurance company says in the policy that aftermarket parts may be used for body shop repairs, then that is definitely a red light. It means that the resell value of your car will be greatly reduced. This is definitely not something you want to do if you plan on keeping your car and then trading it in for the next one at a later date. It will just cost you a lot of money.
There are a number of clauses that you will need to look at very carefully before you finally put ink on paper, but this is a useful guide that shuld go a long way in helping you determine where to start.
Read more on carinsurancei.com the small print in car insurance policies.
Compare Health Insurance Rates Online
In these days of spiraling medical costs, it is important to buy a health insurance policy. You may not get the best out of the deal if you don’t do some groundwork in advance. You can achieve this by doing a comparative study of the policies available in the market, their prices and coverage, and also the companies that are selling health insurance policies.
Visiting all the companies in your locality may not be a feasible option in terms of time, money, and energy. One option could be to talk to your friends who have bought health insurance policies and get their feedback. A drawback can be that your friends may not have a policy that would suit your needs. Another option could be to visit the health insurance department and get their list of reputable companies. If this is not possible for you to do, then the best option would be to do a search on the Internet.
Search the net and you will find many companies offering health insurance. Browse through the websites to find the companies offering policies that best meet your needs. You’ll get an idea of the policies available in the market, their cost, and the diseases they cover. You also need to decide whether you want individual health insurance coverage, or coverage for the entire family.
Most companies offer free online brochures, and you can download them on your computer. You can then study the rates and the health insurance plans. For example, there are fee-for-service plans, managed care plans, HMOs or health maintenance organizations, PPOs or preferred provider organizations, and POS or point of service plans. If you opt for managed service plans, also called pre-paid plans, you can get comprehensive heath service individually or for the entire family. As is evident from the word ‘prepaid,’ the payment to the health provider is made in advance.
PPOs and POS plans are also managed care plans and they also provide the services offered under the fee-for-service and HMO plans. But you have to pay a higher premium to avail these plans.
e-HealthInsuranceOnline.com Health Insurance Online provides detailed information on Health Insurance Online, Health Insurance Quotes Online, Buy Health Insurance Online, Compare Health Insurance Rates Online and more. Health Insurance Online is affiliated with e-HomeInsuranceQuote.com Mobile Home Insurance Quotes.
Auto Insurance Rating System Explained
As drivers and motorists we tend to look at insurance policies as commodities, and rightly so. Hence, we tend not to have loyalty to any particular insurance company as we mainly shop around to find the best possible rate. Most consumers don’t know what factors influence their car insurance rates. This article is intended to bridge that gap. Knowing what factors influence rates is the first step in determining how to lower your insurance rates going forward.
In no particular order, the following are factors in your car insurance rating:
1. Type of vehicle: Most consumers believe that the higher the value of the car, the higher the rate of insurance. On the surface, this sounds logical. Insurance companies have to pay to repair cars when they are involved in a claim, have had a collision, have been stolen, etc. The value of the car does have some bearing on the rates. But the main factor is the safety of the vehicle. Safer cars cost less to insure. Insurers pay for accident benefits when an insured is harmed in an accident. Think about this: It costs a lot more to repair a human being than it does to repair physical damage on a vehicle.
2. Your location: where you live and where your vehicle is parked affects your rates. This is because different regions have different loss frequencies. Possible factors could include congestion, weather conditions, theft frequencies, and access to loss mitigation services. So if you’re shopping for a car insurance quote and can’t believe that your uncle in Iowa is paying half as much for the exact same car, it’s probably because you live in Los Angeles (or Toronto, or Chicago, or New York, Etc.) and the potential for loss is a lot higher in urban areas.
3. The amount and type of convictions on your record: It still amazes me how some people don’t understand why tickets affect your insurance rating. For obvious reasons, people that get tickets for offences such as impaired driving, careless driving, vehicular manslaughter, running red lights, and speeding are obviously not paying attention to the rules of the road and have a greater chance of causing an accident. And, yes, the insurance company pays for that; so, you will have to pay a higher rate to compensate for the higher risk. One of my favorite questions is, “How does a seatbelt ticket affect the insurance company?” People don’t understand why a seatbelt ticket would cause their insurance rates to increase. Remember point #1 where I stated that it costs more to fix a human being than it does to fix a car? If you don’t wear a seatbelt, you have a far greater chance of being hurt if you are involved in an accident.
4. Number of claims on your record: The more claims you have had in the past the higher the probability that you will have claims in the future. Does this need any further explanation? I think not.
5. Your age: Statistics show that younger drivers are involved in more accidents. So, unfortunately, new drivers have bad experiences with insurance companies from the get go. Insurance is odd in that the people with the means and ability to pay often have the lowest rates, whereas the drivers without a high discretionary income end up being charged more.
6. Credit Rating: This is a relatively modern rating factor that is, lately, being utilized by more and more insurance companies and it is becoming the most accurate predictor of future claims. The better a person’s credit rating the lower the potential of future claims. While on the surface this may seem discriminatory, it is not. To explain the reasoning, someone with a low credit rating most likely has a low income and has money problems. So, this person would be more likely to make a fraudulent claim or artificially increase the severity of a legitimate claim to get insurance money. Fraudulent claims cost everybody money, so why pass along the cost to honest people? Insurance companies figure it is better to hit this demographic with higher rates than to increase everybody’s rates, which would include honest drivers.
I hope that you, now, better understand how your car insurance rate is determined. Having this information will help you the next time you call your insurance broker or agent to renew your insurance policy or to request an auto insurance quote.
Tino Buntic’s company, Trade-Pals.com provides trade-pals.com sales leads to business professionals across North America, including insurance brokers and agents.
The HSA - What Is It?
The HSA stands for Health Savings Account. Simply put it is an insurance policy paired with a savings account. Personally, I love them. To me the HSA is a great insurance policy for people of all walks of life.
If you a sickly person the HSA is appropriate, because it reduces your out of pocket costs to your deductible, On the other hand, if you are a healthy person that rarely sees the doctor, it provides a tax break on your health insurance costs, and it allows you to build up a savings account to cover any medical costs up to the deductible amount.
A typical HSA has a deductible that can range from $1100.00 up to $10,000.00 depending on the company that you choose and your personal preference on premiums and deductibles. Typically after you meet the deductible, the HSA then covers your health care costs at 100%. There are exceptions to this, in that, some companies offer the HSA with 80% coverage after the deductible is met.
That is the gist of the HSA. Complicated? No. It is very simple. Now there are additional benefits for the HSA that are not commonly in your traditional 80/20 plans. The additional benefits are in the form of your money.
You contribute in a HSA to a savings account that you set up concurrently. You can choose any approved HSA savings account to invest into, on a monthly basis.
Say for example that you have an HSA that pays 100% after the deductible. Your deductible is $2850 for the year, and you contribute $300 per month into the savings account.
If you are a sickly individual that sees doctors each month, then the deductible will be exhausted rather quickly and then for the remainder of the year your health care is then covered at 100%. You continue to contribute every month into the savings account, and that gives you a leg up on meeting next year’s deductible. What is the benefit to this? There are many; small deductible that is easily achieved and paid for using the savings account, a generous tax break at the end of the year, should something else happen your have 100% coverage, and you are still building the amount in the savings account so that you will have the deductible covered with less out of pocket than the year previous.
If you are healthy and have no medical expenses throughout the year, then you reap the benefit of accumulating $3600.00 into the savings account for use on future claims. This plan is a huge winner on all accounts.
Check IRS publication 501 at irs.gov to find over 40 pages of deductions that use can use your HSA savings account.
The HSA, it can change the way you look at health insurance.
J. Timothy Clark is the founder of the Clark Insurance Brokers. He specializes in helping small business owners, Real Estate agents and brokers, individuals with health problems, find health insurance for their peace of mind.
Hailing from Orlando, Florida, he is married to a beautiful wife and has twin boys.
You can call him directly at 407-443-8523, email at mailto:jtimothyclark@cfl.rr.com jtimothyclark@cfl.rr.com and check out his website at clarkinsurancebrokers.com clarkinsurancebrokers.com
Can GEICO Auto Insurance Help When It Comes To DUI Car Insurance?
DUI car insurance is quite a significant issue for those charged with drunk driving, DUI, DWI, or other alcohol-related driving offenses. Auto insurance companies including GEICO auto insurance will base their rates on a variety of factors, including driving record.
Drunk driving convictions will cause many auto insurance carriers to drop you like a hot potato as an insured; others will raise the rates significantly. In many cases it may be best not to reveal a pending case to an insurance carrier, simply because without a conviction, there is no obligation to do so.
If an accident is involved in the alcohol-related driving episode, then it becomes even more complicated when to talk with your auto insurance company and when to talk to your lawyer. Therefore, it is critical to consult with a qualified lawyer in your area to determine whether the insurance company can exclude the incident from coverage. In most cases, when someone has a DUI or DWI and gets into an accident, a GEICO auto insurance policy will cover the damage. It is not absolute, but nice to know they stand by their auto insurance policies and can back it up with their strong financial power.
By getting a free, no-obligation quote on auto insurance from GEICO Auto Insurance anyone accused of a DUI / DWI can get information on the specifics of their situation while there is still time to do something about it.
For fast info on some of the top 10 auto insurance companies click on over to auto-insurance-companies-free-quote.com Free Advice For Top 10 Auto Insurance Companies.
For more information on how GIECO Auto Insurance may be able to help you check out auto-insurance-companies-free-quote.com/Geico-Auto-Insurance.html Geico Auto Insurance - DUI Car Insurance.
By Carley Swift.
Life Insurance: Who Needs It And How Much Do You Need?
Your friendly, neighborhood life insurance agent is most likely to answer this question with the word “everybody.”
The fact is, not everybody does need life insurance. If you don’t have a family, you probably don’t need life insurance unless, of course, you’re a really nice person and just want to leave some money to a friend or a charity.
If you do have a family, the question isn’t do you need life insurance. The question is how much do you need?
A life insurance sales representative may want you to apply some kind of formula. In years gone by, he or she might have told you that you need to buy insurance equal to four times your annual salary. So, if your annual salary is $50,000, you might have been told you need at least a $200,000 policy. Today, the same agent might tell you that you need eight times your annual salary or a $400,000 policy.
In most cases, this is probably too simplistic an approach, as it tends to assume that you are your family’s sole provider.
Today, there are a number of other factors that should be taken into consideration. Does your spouse work or is he/she a stay-at-home mom or dad? Are you a single mother or father? And where does that put you? How old are your children? Will your surviving spouse be raising kids for three years or 15? If your spouse works, how much does he or she earn? If something should happen to you, is there family nearby that could help raise your kids or is the nearest family 1,000 miles away?
Let’s take a hypothetical example. Jim W. is 45 years old, earns $75,000 a year and has two kids age 15 and 17. Jim’s wife, Martha is 43 and earns $50,000 a year. Jim and Martha believe their kids are college material. How much life insurance does Jim need? Let’s assume $25,000 a year times the two boys, times four years. That’s $200,000. Jim also wants to make sure Martha lives comfortably for the rest of her working life and figures she’ll need an additional $25,000 a year to do this. Multiply this $25,000 by 22 and that’s $550,000. Add this to the cost of the boys’ college, and Jim needs at least a $750,000 life insurance policy … and that doesn’t include anything for Martha’s retirement!
Now, compare this to Beth who is the single mother of a boy, Robbie, age eight and a girl, Kinsey, age 12. How much insurance does Beth need? There’s no spouse but if anything happens to her, the kids will go to her sister, and the sister will need financial help. So, assume $10,000 a year to the sister for 16 years — $160,000 – plus college for the kids at $200,000. This adds up to a policy of maybe $360,000. See the difference that circumstances can make?
Before you purchase a policy, sit down and figure out who will need to be taken care of, for how long they will need the help and, realistically, what that help should consist of. If you die this should not be like winning the lottery for your survivors. Don’t buy so much insurance that you will be really strapped for all those years before you pass on.
The next step is to do some comparison-shopping. Different insurance companies often quote different rates on just about the same coverage as they tend to rate risks differently. You should also look at the cost of term vs. cash value life insurance. Many experts believe that if you’re young, with young kids, your best bet is a term policy as it costs less, yet can offer good coverage. For example, if you’re 35 and in good health, you can probably buy a $500,000, 10-year level term polity for less than $300 a year. And a 20-year, level-term policy might cost you no more than $400 a year.
You might also save money on the term insurance by buying more than one policy. For example, if you have two children, one age 12 and one age eight, you might consider buying a 10-year, level term policy to take the 12-year old through college, and a 20-year term policy to cover the eight year old through college.
Finally, you can get quotes on term insurance and even buy it without ever seeing a life insurance agent. There are a number of web sites where you can do this, including quickquotes.com, reliaQuote.com and intelliquote.com.
It is important to understand that the quotes available from these sites are just preliminary quotes. The insurance company you choose will not provide a firm quote until you have provided all requested information and, in most case, have taken a physical. The good news is that the physical will be done in your home and at your convenience.
Cash value life insurance is a much more complex issue. The best way to get information on it is to sit down with a good, experienced agent who can explain the alternatives available and the costs and benefits of each.
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Is Comprehensive Car Insurance Worth Taking?
Fully comprehensive car insurance is the dearest and fullest cover that you can take out when insuring your car, however the name is a little on the mis-leading side, fully comprehensive suggests that your car would be covered for everything when in fact this is not entirely true.
Fully comprehensive car insurance is just one of three major types of insurance that is available from all insurers; however when it comes to deciding if this type of insurance is suitable for your needs several factors have to be taken into account. If your car is over a certain amount of money and is brand new then you really don’t have much choice but to take out fully comprehensive, if you have to take out fully comp then it is imperative that you shop around for the best deal and cheapest premiums possible.
A good fully comprehensive insurance policy will cover you for not only being involved in an accident but also for malicious damage to the car and damage down to the windscreen. An excellent policy will also give you many additions, depending on where you look for your policy you could find that some personal accident cover is included in the policy along with you having cover while driving abroad for a period of time.
When it comes to getting the best deal then without a doubt the cheapest deals can be found online, all online companies will give you quick and simple quotes for the insurance along with offering attractive deals that can usually online be found online. Some sites will allow you to make comparisons with several companies and this is the quickest way to get the cheapest quote when it comes to comprehensive car insurance, however it is essential that you compare the hidden exclusions within the policies as all policies have them.
Jason Hulott is Business Development Director of Protection Insurance, an internet based insurance business dedicated to getting consumers the best rates and the best products. Visit our protection-insurance.com Car Insurance Directory.
