Traderelic

Archive for November, 2011

The world frequently disappoints us. We all hope people will prove honest and good neighbors. Yet we more often find ourselves on the receiving end of dishonesty and selfishness. When this is just one-to-one, we can attempt to arrange our affairs to minimize future losses or opportunities for conflict. But when the dishonesty is on an industrial scale, it ends up costing us all extra dollars, and there’s little or nothing we can do about it. Over the last two or three years, it’s been impossible to pick up a newspaper without seeing a story about rising auto insurance premiums, often caused by the rapidly increasing levels of fraud. That, as they say, is the tip of the iceberg. The wave of gangs crashing their cars and claiming medical expenses is only worth a few billion a year. Unfortunately, a few billion is peanuts. When it comes to Medicaid and Medicare, the FBI estimates the amount fraudulently claimed to be between $60 and 200 billion a year.

When you recover from the shock, you should ask why the range of the estimate is so wide. The answer is depressing. Although the FBI is on the case, it does not begin to have the resources to investigate the full extent of the problem. All it can do is to base the estimate on samples taken from different sets of files. Think of the top and bottom numbers as being the worst and best case scenarios. Your curiosity is piqued. How can the losses be so great? Does Medicare and Medicaid not have anti-fraud systems in place? Now comes the real killer. The administrations of both the entitlement programs have a “pay and chase” approach. This means they unquestioningly pay all claims and only if evidence later emerges of a possible fraud do they then chase for repayment. Needless to say, most fraudsters are rarely in a position to repay in full (or at all depending on how much time has passed). The result is massive fraud. It begins with health professionals billing for work they did not do and for treatment they did not deliver. Pharmacists invoice for drugs supplied even though there are no prescriptions written. And then, of course, come the actual criminals who set up fake clinics to bill insurers and the entitlement agencies. They last for a few months before disappearing.

To help fight the battle, some of the local FBI agencies are buying billboard ads begging us to act as whistleblowers and turn in the doctors we see billing the health insurance companies for tests and treatment we did not receive. Why should we care? Because when you add up all these false items on legitimate bills, these are billions paid out by insurance companies and the federal government. So those of us who pay health insurance premiums are paying way too much. Those of us who pay taxes are seeing billions of our tax dollars paid out to fraudsters instead of legitimate claimants who are ill. So the federal authorities should immediately withdraw the “pay and chase” policies. No suspicious claim should be paid. If this needs more staff, this creates jobs and is good for the economy. If it saves money, the jobs will be self-funding.

Under Obamacare, there’s a new accent on preventative care. The earlier the diagnosis, the more cost-effective the treatment. If access to reproductive care is also classified as preventative, this will have profound implications for the health insurance debate. This will open up a new war of words between the liberal establishment that favors funding women’s healthcare, and the GOP which campaigns aggressively to withdraw funding from any healthcare service that directly or indirectly supports abortion or fails to emphasize abstinence rather than contraception. So, because these health insurance issues should be resolved during 2012, we can expect men to begin debating how much healthcare women should receive.

Although it’s a slightly different issue, you are probably following the failure of Penn State to deal with the allegations of sexual assaults made against the football team’s former defensive coordinator. With two senior University officials resigning and facing felony charges alongside the alleged molester, the reputation of the football team and the University has taken a major hit. If we translate this into slightly less extreme situations in the workplace, there are always opportunities for employees to “abuse” each other, using the word in its widest form. It can be a boss bullying staff in the hope it will encourage them to work harder, or one employee finding it offensive to work alongside someone thought to be gay. Once there’s a sexual element, the seriousness of the matter grows rapidly. Offering better working conditions or other rewards for sexual favors can quickly become sexual assaults. There are two quite different issues that arise.

The first is the need for all businesses to have a formal workplace policy defining the different forms of harassment and discrimination, backed up by mandatory training programs to raise awareness and produce a better atmosphere. There’s some evidence to suggest many abusers are unaware of the effect they have on others. By alerting them to the problem, some respond constructively. If the others fail to respond, this can trigger the first step along the disciplinary process to terminate their employment. From a legal point of view the aim should be to implement a zero-tolerance policy. While this will not prevent litigation against the business, it will certainly reduce the level of damages awarded against it. The second issue is to avoid any retaliation against the accuser. When a relatively new recruit into the business accuses a senior manager of sexual harassment, there’s a tendency to defend the reputation of the manager. After all, he or she may be a colleague or friend. This can result in pressure being put on the accuser to withdraw the allegations and, if this is refused, penalties being imposed. All forms of retaliation aggravate awards of damages against the business. If this employee makes a formal complaint, liability issues may bankrupt the business.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported more than 11,000 allegations of sexual harassment in 2010. Remember there’s no limit on the amount of compensation an employee can claim for sexual harassment. Even if you are fortunate and the award is low rather than in the millions, the loss of reputation and the legal costs can be enough to finish the business. So, as you are reviewing your own workplace policies, you should also be talking with your small business insurance advisor about the cover provided by the Employment Practices Liability Insurance Policy. Why should you insure? As a small business owner, you have a multitude of everyday tasks to keep the business on track. You have to delegate the operational side of the business to managers and rely on them to implement your strategies. The first you may know about a sexual harassment claim is when the law suit arrives. Small business insurances can protect you from financial disaster but this does not absolve you from responsibility. You should enforce a zero-tolerance policy in any event.

It’s a sad fact of life but machines work for less than human beings. In the good old days, every machine needed a human to watch over it and make sure it did not mess up. Now all you do is plug in these new generations of clever computerised things and they can work for days and weeks without ever having to step outside to enjoy a cigarette. It’s enough to make Karl Marx turn over in his grave as the workers of the world have slowly been losing the power to sell their labour. But inside every silver lining is a pig’s ear, or something. If a business can operate with fewer human beings, it’s making big savings that can be passed on to us, the customers. If you’re still able to find work and can afford to insure your car, this is a good thing. If you’re one of the replaced humans and now find yourself on the scrap heap of life, this is bitter medicine.

Automation brings reduced premium rates at two different levels depending on where the savings in labour are made. If the insurer has to employ a call centre full of people (hopefully not offshore to maintain what employment opportunities remain for local people), this is a moderately expensive operation. But if all the selling of policies is effectively automated, all the savings in labour costs can be passed on to you as discounts. For example, the Co-operative offers an 11% discount for buying online. When you add this to other features like a no-claims bonus rising to 70%, it makes them one of the cheapest companies in the insurance business.

But, the most interesting company is Swiftcover. Although set up as an independent, this is now a subsidiary of the Axa Group, selling out in 2007. It’s advertised as the first company relying 100% on the internet to sell its policies and deal with claims. To a greater or lesser extent, all the other major companies have a mixed strategy depending on face-to-face sales through High Street offices, the telephone, the internet and indirect sales through agents and brokers. Through Swiftcover’s website, you can buy a policy online and print out your cover note. If there are any changes to be made to the policy, this is done online. In the unhappy event of having to make a claim, you have a choice of an online process or a telephone call. This is a prize-winning company for its innovation and the cost-savings it offers. Although it now employs some 250 people in England for dealing with more than half-a-million policyholders, this is a fraction of the workforce in other major insurers.

So, when you look at the UK car insurance market, Swiftcover is leading the way in offering real competition to the established brands. Although some report its performance has dropped since it sold out to the Axa Group, this is the spur keeping the majority of companies offering cheap car insurance cover. When you’re coming up for renewal, check out all the car insurance quotes coming through the search engines. If Swiftcover is not among them, get a quote direct and compare. Similarly, look for the promotional offers being made for buying direct through the internet. There are some real bargains to be made.

When it comes to insuring ones health there’s no denying the fact that this form of insurance is a must for everyone even though it’s not legally required and is purely optional. It’s hard to imagine the current healthcare system without insurance because otherwise people couldn’t afford most medical services and doctors wouldn’t get their high salaries, which are among the highest all over the world. Thanks to insurance both customers and service providers are pleased, and everyone’s getting the thing they want. Among many types of insurance available managed care plans are the most widespread, so let’s take a closer look at some of the most common forms of insurance offered by insurers:

Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO)

This is the most common form of managed care plans as it provides the lowest price and a wide range of services included. It’s main drawback is the lack of flexibility in what concerns the places you get care from. Under HMOs you are limited to a network of facilities and specialists you may get care from and covered to the full extent. If you choose to get your services from someone outside the network your costs won’t be covered at all. Moreover, you are required to choose a primary care physician who will refer you to all the required specialists, so there’s more paperwork involved with this type of plans. Yet, you usually pay lower premiums for that so it’s really worth the effort.

Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO)

Preferred Provider Organizations offer more flexibility but for a higher price if compared to HMO plans. You are still limited to a network of providers to get care from, however if you choose to go out of network there will still be some part of your bill covered only to a lesser extent compared to in-network services. And you aren’t obliged to choose a primary care physician so there’s not so many office visits to do under this type of managed care plans. If you have the additional money and want more flexibility with your health insurance this plan type will definitely appeal to you.

Point Of Service (POS)

Point Of Service plans are often referred to as a mix of HMO and PPO plans as they provide the benefits of both these forms of health insurance. You gain the flexibility of PPO in what concerns the places you get services at, yet you still have to choose a primary care physician and have a network of providers to work with. One of the greatest benefits is that you may choose your family doctor as a primary care physician even if he or she doesn’t make part of the insurer specified network, which is definitely appealing to those who have long term relations with their family doctors. PPO plans may vary in price so it’s really recommended to shop around if you want to get the best rate possible.

As you see, managed care plans come in different forms with the sole purpose of giving you exactly what you need. So it’s really important to assess your individual health insurance needs before choosing the plan type to address them adequately.

As a year, 2011 has been one of the worst on record for weather-related claims. There were fierce ice storms starting the year, followed by some of the worst tornadoes and hurricanes we’ve ever seen. This October, records have been broken with a major snowstorm hitting the northeastern states. In some areas, power has been out for more than two weeks as overstretched power companies struggle to repair utility wires brought down by trees and ice. Of all the states, Connecticut is the hardest hit with more than 835,000 outages. This is not a direct criticism of the power companies. Each company is responsible for the maintenance of thousands of miles of wire. Inevitably, trees grow close to the wires and it’s not always economically convenient to trim back all the threatening branches. So, when snow turns to ice, the weight can bring down young and old trees alike. Cutting and clearing the trees and then restringing the wires takes time even in perfect working conditions. As the winter conditions persist, delays are inevitable. The decision of Connecticut’s Governor Dannel P. Malloy to hold an inquiry into the slow response is pure politics. Equally, the suggestion the state might take action through the courts is unlikely. Actually proving malfeasance by the power companies will be difficult.

It’s going to take weeks before we have a clear idea of the extent of the losses. No business can confidently carry a loss of production or sales lasting more than one week let alone two. In some cases where the raw materials are perishable, the losses have been two-fold, e.g. food retailers, restaurants, and food processing and manufacturing companies. It’s ironic food that should be kept chilled or frozen can be lost even though the weather remains cold but, with hygiene concerns, businesses cannot take food out of refrigerators and bury it in the snow. The only companies that see a positive benefit are businesses that can clear the fallen trees and keep the roads clear. To give you a clue as to the scale of the losses, the claims are already greater than those following Hurricane Irene which dumped vast amounts of water on the Northeast.

So as we approach what could be another severe winter, now’s the time to check your business interruption insurance. Remember, one of the standard preconditions of a claim is that your own business premises should have been damaged. If a hurricane passes close by and leaves your property flooded, this entitles you to claim. But if the weight of ice brings down utility wires some distance away, there’s no damage – simply an absence of power. Once you ensure you can claim, you need to think carefully about what is to be included in the cover. This could be loss of profits, the expenses of moving to another site where there is power, replacement of lost stock, and so on. Talk through the implications for the premium rates with your small business insurances advisor. You should aim to keep the business going without having to lay off staff subject to the cost of the cover. Look carefully at your location. How quickly has local power company restored power after an outage? How much is the additional business insurance cover worth?

We tend to hear a lot about aggressive drivers and see them every day on the roads. Insurance companies warn against such drivers and charge offensive risk-takers with much higher premiums for getting their cars insured. But what we don’t know is that more than a half of us turn into Mister Hyde the moment we get behind the wheel no matter how calm we tend to be out of the car. A recent study of 4.000 British drivers has indicated that about 40% of motorists experience a drastic personality change once they get into traffic. Two thirds of these drivers become more aggressive while a third becomes on the other hand more defensive and cautious. And it doesn’t really matter how aggressive the person is in everyday life.

The most aggressive group of drivers is of course younger males, that’s why they are always charged the highest by insurance companies. Male drivers generally tend to be more aggressive on the road than women, speeding, going on red and switching lanes too often. Yet this doesn’t mean that female drivers are all good and realist while behind the wheel. Talking on the phone while driving is another sign of carelessness and female drivers are known for this behavior too.

Yet the new police forces promise to take on reckless drivers since 2012 by introducing on-spot fines for driving near or above the limit. The new rules will set a minimum 80 pound fine and three points on the license to drivers caught speeding or creating risky situations on the road. These regulations will be introduced in England, Wales and Scotland the next year alongside new more rigorous regulations regarding drug-influenced driving to eliminate all loopholes for drunk driving. Moreover, courts will have more power to seize vehicles from aggressive and drunk drivers if they are caught on the scene.

If you tend to realize that your driving style is aggressive and can cause problems to other motorists you should consider going through a defensive driving course. This will certainly help to review your driving style but moreover it can also give you a little cut in car insurance premiums. If you find a defensive driving course that issues legitimate certificates that your car insurance company takes into account then you can use the certificate when renewing your policy in order to show that you’ve become a lesser risk to the company.