Difference Between Health Insurance Deductibles and Co-Pays

The Difference Between Health Insurance Deductibles and Co-Pays

• Health insurance deductibles are not the same thing as co-pays.
• If a health insurance policy has a $50 co-pay and a $500 deductible, then the insured is responsible for paying for the first $500 of health care costs under his policy.
• After he has met the $500 deductible, then he is responsible for paying a $50 co-pay for each claim filed under his health insurance policy.
• The insurance company will pay the remainder of the charges due for each visit as long as the place providing medical care is covered under the health insurance policy.

How Health Insurance Deductibles Are Used

Health Insurance Deductibles Explained

• If a health insurance policy includes deductibles, then the insured must pay a certain amount of money toward his health care before the insurance company has to pay anything under the health insurance policy.
• For example, if an insured has a $1,000 deductible toward his hospital/surgical coverage, then he is responsible for paying the hospital for the first $1,000 of health costs incurred.
• After he pays the first $1,000, then the insurance company will begin paying toward health care costs after the first $1,000 as paid out under the agreed to terms of the policy.

Helpful Health Insurance Tips - Deductibles

Purpose of Health Insurance Deductibles

• Health insurance deductibles are a way to help offset the cost of health care.
• Health Insurance deductibles require the insured (the person who is covered under a health insurance policy) to pay a certain amount toward his own health coverage before the insurance company has to begin paying under the health insurance policy.
• The insurance company considers the amount of the health insurance deductible when determining how much the premiums for the health insurance coverage will be.
• The higher the deductible is, the lower the premiums are likely to be. 
• Deductibles -- it's an important feature the consumer has cost control over!

What TO do at the SCENE of an AUTO ACCIDENT

What TO do at the SCENE of an AUTO ACCIDENT:

1. STOP immediately, but do not obstruct traffic.
2. ASSIST injured. Have someone call police. Repeat after 5 minutes.
3. SECURE names, phone numbers, addresses of other drivers, witnesses, injured persons.
4. SECURE make, model, license numbers of all cars involved.
5. MAKE rough drawing of scene, showing position of cars and other details.
6. TAKE pictures.
7. DON'T hasitly accept claim settlement at scene of accident.
8. LET police or insurance adjuster determine fault.
9. REMAIN calm, courteous and consistent in your version of accident.
10. NOTIFY your insurance agent as soon as possible.

To be involved in an automobile accident is a very stressful situation; to know what TO DO can help mitigate the trauma and inconvenience associated with it.  SAFE TRAVELS!

Insuring your Vehicle - Factors Effecting the Rate

If you don’t have car insurance, you are exposing yourself to serious financial catastrophe if you get into an accident. Also, if you get pulled over, not having insurance may be an extra point on your record.
Some of the things that affect your insurance rate are:

• Your age is important. Older drivers tend to be safer more responsible, while younger drivers tend to have more accidents. This is according to statistics, not anybody’s opinion, so don’t take it personally. Obviously, there’s nothing you can do about your age. Just realize that it’s a factor.
• If you live in a crime ridden neighborhood, where cars are getting stolen all the time, you might have to pay higher rates. If you get an alarm, it might be a bit cheaper.
• The amount of miles you drive in a month is also a factor. More time out on the road means more chances of getting into an accident. Maybe you could take the bus occasionally or even better yet, ride your bicycle around. You could probably use the exercise.
• The value of your car also plays a roll. If you are insuring a Mercedes Benz, you’ll pay a little bit more than if you were insuring a Honda Civic that’s got a few dents in it. Of course, it doesn’t make any sense to switch cars just to get cheap insurance, but realize it’s a factor.
• If you are a safe driver, you don’t have any tickets and you haven’t ever crashed your car, then you can expect to pay much less for your insurance. If, on the other hand, you have several tickets and have totaled a few cars, then your insurance is going to be pretty expensive.

These are the things that have an effect on your insurance rates. If you drive safe, and keep an inexpensive car in the garage every night, then you should be OK.

When Filing a CLAIM on Homeowners Insurance RAISES your Rates!

Even though the purpose of insurance is to pay for CLAIMS there are certain circumstances when filing a claim will raise the rate, some of them are:

·        A claim has exceeded a specific threshold amount

·        Claims have increased in a particular region

·        An individual's claim history

There are some instances where filing a claim will raise the rate an individual pays for their homeowners insurance premium. Normally an insurance company will not raise a person's insurance rate after only one claim has been filed. Usually, a person's insurance rates will rise depending on how many claims have been filed in a specific time period or threshold. When insurers pay out for individual claims they may need to increase rates to make up for the amount they have already paid out. As a result a policyholder may see increased rates at their renewal.
If claims for a particular region have increased as the result of a storm such as a tornado an insurer can take a variety of actions. These actions can come in the form of rate increases. A rate increase not only affects individual's filing a claim but an entire state depending on an insurer's loss history. In order for an insurer to raise the rate on an insurance policy they are required to notify the state in which the rate increase will take effect. They can do this by using a specific provision which is either "file and use" or "use and file". The difference between the two is that under a file and use provision an individual state can deny the rate increase request.
An insurer has a few options available to them as the result of the amount of claims that have been paid out on a specific type of policy. If the amount of claims exceeds their threshold amount they can either non-renew individual policies, charge a higher premium or withdraw from a particular market. When an insurer withdraws from a particular market they stop selling new policies and non-renew existing policies as they expire.

Additional Living Expenses (ALE) - Homeowners

As Agents who answer homeowners’ insurance questions, we know that one of the most common concerns for our displaced customers is additional living expenses (ALE).

No matter how many questions we answer on the subject, there always seems to be another twist or turn in the issue. What is it that makes the ALE coverage so complicated?

For starters, it seems that the broadness of the coverage itself is a sticking point. The standard homeowner’s policy provides coverage for an increase in living expenses incurred by the insured so they can maintain their normal standard of living. That standard of living is the key; how the insured lived before the loss is what needs to be replicated after the loss. So any animals kept on the property get boarded, and if the insured has a swimming pool or hot tub, alternative living arrangements with similar items are required.

Another common issue is food. Some adjusters have balked at buying beer, wine, snacks, and such on the basis that these are not necessary or healthful foods. No matter, if this is what the insured typically eats, this is what the insured gets. If the insured is a gourmet cook and makes gourmet food every night, then once displaced the insured is entitled to gourmet food, even if it involves expensive, five-star restaurants.

The best way to look at ALE is to look at how the insured lived before the loss, and duplicate it as much as possible after the loss. Indoor pets get to stay indoors, and the insured can live on cake and cognac as long as this is how the insured lived before the loss.