Insurance Blog

If you are a person who don't trust banks or don't want to deal with their unreasonable bank charges like overdrafts then you are in trouble, you can't pay your health insurance without a bank account.

Next January federal health law will require Americans to carry health insurance, but most health plans accepts credit cards for first month's premium then pay the succeeding monthly premiums with check or an electronic funds transfer from a checking account. To those who don't have bank accounts this will be a real problem.

I think the government should require the health insurance providers to implement a reasonable payment options for everyone.

You can read more about it here. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/05/17/184814772/latest-health-hurdle-buying-insurance-without-a-bank-account

No more gibberish insurance talks and hiding conditions by using terms ordinary people are unfamiliar with, and that are usually in the middle of a thousand-word fine print.

Insurance can be expensive but it's worth it. A report by the New York-based Commonwealth Fund estimated that 84 million adults in the US have inadequate health care coverage. Families are foregoing care because they cannot afford it, even with the implementation of the AffordableCare Act in January 2014. The under-insured and uninsured will just be transferred to an inferior plan with huge out-of-pocket costs.

A 3-month old baby boy in Nebraska was separated from his parents for 100 days because their insurance company refuses to pay for their baby to be moved.

The baby is in Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital in Denver, while his parents live in Lincoln, Nebraska, and have been forced to commute to see their son every other weekend.

Julius James Frack was born on December 30, 2012 weighing one pound, six ounces and was only 12 inches long.

Jennifer and David Frack weren't expecting the baby to arrive soon but had complication with her pregnancy while visiting family in Sydney, Nebraska, after Christmas.

Doctocs in Sydney said that the mom needed needed specialized care and arranged for her to be flown to Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital in Denver. Because Julius was so small, he was rushed to the hospital’s NICU.   

The mom healed in a few weeks and was allowed to go home but the baby was too fragile for long drive. Howerver, the parents need to go back to work. And since December, the parents has been spending too much money to drive back and forth from Lincoln to Denver every other weekend.

Fracks asked to have Julius moved since the commute is too much. Doctors told the parents that the baby needs to be transferred by helicopter and doctors at Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital helped them fill out paperwork but their insurance company denied the request.

The Fracks’ insurance company, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, released a statement that said, “In general, when our nurses and physician reviewers look at cases such as this, the decision to cover a service is based on whether a ‘medical necessity’ exists,” said Dr. David Filipi, Chief Medical Director, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebrask

source: http://kdvr.com/2013/04/14/parents-separated-from-baby-for-100-days-over-insurance-decision/#ooid=9kOHB5YTqKX8XQn55UgtnqXYpYBIbLXu

collision coverage - insurance coverage that cover for the repair or replacement of the policy owner's car in the event of an accident, no matter who caused the accident. Collision coverage requires the payment of a deductible when a claim is made and is required for financing a car.

collision coverage is optional, but may be important to include it in your policy.

If you cause the accident you can't collect for damage to your car from the other driver. Collision coverage will pay for the damage, even if an accident is your fault.

The amount of collision coverage your policy provides and the cost of premiums will depend on the value of your car. Premiums are much higher for vehicles that are expensive, accident-prone, easily damaged, or hard to repair.

The insurance company is only obligated to pay only up to the car's cash value (Car Market Value before the accident - Salvage Value of the damaged car).

When to drop collision coverage?

If your premiums plus deductible are equal or more that the value of your vehicle, you can drop the coverage.

If you have a $1,000 collision deductible on a vehicle that's worth $1,000, it becomes useless since it's the total amount of your car.

Or, if your collision premium is $300 for a six-month policy term, you're paying $600 per year to insure your vehicle against damage that may never happen and you still have to pay the deductible (out of your own pocket) for example $500 that would make a total of $1,100 which is more than the value of your vehicle.

Storm and hurricanes happens, and flood damage can happen to anyone specially if you are located near coastlines. Most insurance compay offer flood insurance through National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) this program let property owners to purchase insurance protection from the government against losses from flooding. This insurance is designed to provide an insurance alternative to disaster assistance to meet the escalating costs of repairing damage to buildings and their contents caused by floods.

If you live in certain areas with greater odds of flooding and have a mortgage, federal law may require you to have flood insurance. But even if you’re not required to have flood insurance your home and properties could still be at risk.

Flood Insurance Coverage:

Flood insurance covers the structure of your home and your personal property from flood damage.  However, regular water damage and flood damage can be separate, specific conditions when it comes to property insurance.

Most flood insurance policies require a 30-day waiting period before the coverage is effective. 

Impacted By Recent Storms?

If you need to report a claim from Geico or follow up on one you've already submitted, use online claims (http://www.geico.com/claims/) center or call anytime at 1-800-841-3000.

Visit Geico catastrophe center (http://www.geico.com/claims/catastrophe-center) for other storm related information.