August 2nd, 2009

Auto Insurance Comparison: How and Why Should You Do It?

Author: Wills Smith

You must compare auto insurance quotes to get the most affordable auto insurance rate. Taking the help of the Internet for comparing closely related quotes would let you promptly locate auto insurance companies providing reasonable and competitive auto insurance rates for the coverage that you want. Rather than making calls here and there or searching different websites for comparison of quotes, you just need to fill out one questionnaire and immediately obtain a rate from various top-rated insurers like GMAC, Progressive, Unitrin, Infinity, Geico and others simultaneously. You need not furnish any personal details for this.

AmPmInsure: We make you Insurance Smart

While comparing automobile insurance quotes, you should take the following into account:

1) Price or Rate

Obviously, majority of us wish to pay as low as we can. As everybody is unique when it is a question of the elements that the insurers consider like age, gender, zip code, marital status and so on; it is essential to get rates from different carriers for the purpose of determining which would provide you the cheapest rate. Put differently, insurance carriers can fight to get your business.

2) Quality, Financial Strength and Dependability

A.M. Best Company is a self-governing rating agency that gauges the financial strength of insurance carriers. Many elements are taken into account to find out the rating of a company. This rating is an indication of the financial stability and the capacity of the company to fulfill its commitment to consumers. Websites like Onlineautoinsurance.com offers you with A.M. Best’s rating of every insurer so that you can make a knowledgeable decision.

3) Service

A wonderful technique to investigate about the service of an auto insurance company is to seek the opinion from an existing customer. As you pay your premium, you hope to receive the service that you are worthy of. Don’t hesitate to communicate with the customer service division of a specific auto insurer so that you can have an idea about their quality of service. When it is a matter of service, it involves the time required to answer a query and the time taken to reply for submission of a claim. Maximum insurers render a claims hotline that is available 24 hours a day for assisting the customers.

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June 10th, 2009

As debt grows, desperate car owners turn to fraud

15497-51dgDriven to desperation, a growing number of financially strapped car owners are torching, sinking or ditching their vehicles and then reporting them stolen to cash in on the insurance.

SUVs have been found ablaze in the Nevada desert, cars have been dumped in a Miami canal and a BMW was discovered buried in a field in Texas. Some vehicles have been parked in the path of a hurricane.

Known as owner give-ups, the scams have increased even as auto thefts dropped nationally — a sign that the deepening recession is pushing the trend.

Authorities say most of the false claims are filed by first-time offenders looking for a quick financial fix with little regard for the consequences.

“We see people doing this kind of crime who ordinarily wouldn’t steal candy from a store,” said Tom Reilly, a sheriff’s investigator in Dallas County, Texas.

James Quiggle, a spokesman for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, blames the problem on people who think “insurance companies are rich and fat and won’t miss a few dollars.”

Experts say the billions of dollars in insurance losses are actually recouped from honest consumers as premium increases.

When gas prices shot up to $4 a gallon last summer, investigators reported a number of suspicious auto theft claims involving SUVs and other gas guzzlers.

But as gas prices dipped and the economy sputtered, the trend extended to all kinds of models, with losses concentrated in regions hit hard by layoffs, foreclosures and other signs of economic distress.

Two years ago, Las Vegas detectives were looking into two or three cases of suspicious auto theft a week. But in the past 2 1/2 months, they have investigated 83 such cases and made 11 arrests — more than a three-fold increase, said Lt. Bob Duvall, head of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department’s auto theft unit.

Police helicopters now patrol the desert around Las Vegas in search of smoldering vehicles or others pushed off cliffs.

In one case, investigators came across a man suffering from burns at the home of a woman whose vehicle had been found ablaze. He was arrested and quickly confessed, Duvall said.

The New York Alliance Against Insurance Fraud says the number of people arrested statewide on suspicion of making false auto theft reports jumped from 96 in 2007 to 130 in 2008.

In Dallas County, Reilly estimates suspicious auto theft reports have increased 12 percent this year.

Investigators in border states are finding an increasing number of charred cars with American license plates in Mexico.

“It’s one thing to find a stolen car in Mexico, it’s another to find it stolen and burned in Mexico. It doesn’t make a lot of sense for a thief to take your car and burn it,” said Tom Downey, an investigator with the National Insurance Crime Bureau based in San Diego.

Such cases can result in felony charges of insurance fraud, making false statements to police and insurance providers, and arson, if the car is burned.

Along with serving prison time, defendants can also be ordered to pay restitution.

Reilly says most of his cases don’t make it to trial because suspects strike plea deals. Some even agree to discuss their crimes in videotaped interviews that Reilly uses for educational seminars.

“Some said my back was against the wall, or this looked like a good idea at the time, who can I hurt?” Reilly said.

Brian Moody, senior editor of the Web site Edmunds.com that offers information to car shoppers, says owners trying to lower their debt can attempt to renegotiate payments, sell their car or trade it in for a less expensive model.

“You’re not going make money that’s for sure, but the big selling point is that it’s legal,” he said.

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June 2nd, 2009

Easy ways to save on your car insurance

carsThere are a number of ways to save on car insurance. 

However, it depends on how old your car is and how much insurance you want.  

Lets start with what’s required in Arizona.

The state has one of the lowest insurance requirements for liability, which covers you in the case of an accident.

Arizona’s requirement is $15,000 liability for one person, $30,000 liability for all involved and $10,000 for property damage.

Also, the state does not require you to have insurance for uninsured motorists.

It’s up to you to decide if you want more than what is required, the size of your deductible and how much comprehensive and collision insurance you need.

First, compare rates.

You can do it company by company, or go to websites like the Arizona Department of Insurance or Carinsurance.com.

Consider raising your deductible.

If you raise it from $250 to $1,000, experts say you can save about 30 percent. 

If there’s a claim, you do pay more upfront before the insurance kicks in.

If you have an older car, don’t pay more than the car is worth.

Experts recommend adding up your comprehensive and collision premium, then multiplying that amount by 10.

If your car is worth less than that, don’t buy the coverage.

Ask about low mileage or multiple policy discounts.

Also, consider using only one company for all your insurance needs.

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May 25th, 2009

Travel insurance: What you must know

travel-insuranceTravel Insurance policies have become indispensable for every person going abroad. Many do so through the year and this has meant an increased level of importance for travel insurance policies.

Such a policy helps in avoiding unnecessary expenses on healthcare during travel; most people accustomed to medical insurance policies in India often find they pay a heavy price for the claims made on such overseas policies.

International travel policy

An international travel insurance policy covers medical expenses of the individual when abroad. This will also provide for compensation in an accident.

This policy can be taken for specific countries a person is visiting. There are separate policies for the US, as the medical infrastructure and accompanying conditions there are different.

Apart from reimbursement of expenses on various medical treatments, such policies also cover a wide range of other expenses like dental treatment, loss of passport benefit, checked baggage loss benefit and so on. These ensure total coverage from the time a person begins the trip till the time they return home.

Claims

There are a lot of areas where some claim could arise due to conditions faced under several situations. This could result in a position where it might be tempting for the individual to make some claims, but this may turn out to be a mistake.

The individual might not actually get a net benefit and may end up paying a large part of the expenses themselves. And this will be in addition to the premium paid to the insurance company when taking the policy. This might come as a shock for a lot of people but here is the reason why this could well happen.

Deductible

This entire situation occurs since there is a term called deductible present in the travel insurance policy. The deductible is a condition whereby the policy holder would share in the losses of the insurance company related to the policy up to a specified figure.

Whenever a payment has to be made by the company, a specified part will have to be made by the individual policy holder. For example, if there is a deductible of $150 and you make a claim of $300, then only half the claim of $150 will be paid by the insurance company. In this case, if the claim is for a sum of $100, then the entire lot will have to be paid by the policyholder.

In case of a large expense, the deductible might not be significant because this is usually something like $100-200 on specified items. So, if a person has a medical expense of $5,000, then the figure of the deductible might be small. In fact, for the major expenses, often there is no deductible present.

However, the situation changes when it comes to small expenses. The deductible is likely to be a significant part of the expense when the latter is small.

For example, consider where a person has a policy that covers $100,000 of medical expenses in the US. This policy also covers the dental expense and the deductible is $100. If a person goes for a dental visit or some treatment with a dentist in the US, then the expense could come to $200.

This might seem very significant when it comes to the Indian traveller, because it will be around Rs 10,000 when converted to rupees. However, the insurance company will pay only $100 of the expenses, while the remaining $100 will have to be paid by the holder. So, apart from the premium, an additional Rs 5,000 would have to be paid by the individual.

This kind of deductible is present to ensure the policy holder does not make small claims that will be difficult for the insurance company to service. Since this amount has to be paid by the holder, they would be better off not making the claim in several cases. In such a situation, there has to be a careful evaluation of when the claim should be made and when not.

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May 15th, 2009

Why insurance won’t cover alternative medicine

alternative-medicineAs the government eyes healthcare reform to address today’s problems in coverage and expenses, there’s a group of lobbyists representing an unusual set of clients who want their services covered in insurance plans. It seems that acupuncturists, chiropractors, homeopaths and even faith healers want your visits to be covered  so they can attract more patients to their alternative practices. Today, if you want to see an alternative medicine practitioner, you have to pay out of your pocket, but if your insurance company will subsidize your visit, odds are you may be more willing to come and see them. Whatever per service revenue they lose in negotiations, they’ll gain in volume. However, their case might be lost before it’s even considered in a Congressional hearing.

Insurance companies base their coverage on sets of guidelines that are created by physicians and reviewed for anything questionable or objectionable. Before the companies are willing to pick up their part of the tab for a new treatment, they want to know that it works, that it will improve the quality of life and that it makes sense. For them to do anything else is just gambling with their money and hence, they try to rely on evidence-based medicine as much as they possibly can. How can their guidelines track something as obscure as spiritual or holistic health? And why should they cover something that scientists and doctors are sure doesn’t work past the placebo effect? We’re talking about companies that will think twice about giving you a new kidney. Do any of the alternative medicine advocates really think the same companies will want to cover New Age medicine?

The same insurance companies have their own powerful lobbies and armies of political allies who can throw a lot more money and a lot more weight around Washington DC. Currently, alternative medicine proponents have only one serious supporter, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA). And while they might sway some congressmen and women with a passionate presentation or two, representatives of insurance companies will be ready to line up expert after expert who will truthfully tell them there’s no solid proof that alternative medicine is on par with conventional medical practices and that faith healing is a religious tenet  rather than a valid practice that has any place in a hospital. Why then should the government ask insurance companies to cover these ideas? And what politician would want the negative press that would come with advocating something like this?

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May 13th, 2009

Insurance approved for school laptops

The Gladewater school board approved a computer insurance contract Monday for laptop computers that high school students are set to get during the 2009-10 school year.

The contract with Student Insurance Protocols will cost the district $57 per student and will have a $25 deductible, said Superintendent J.P. Richardson. Laptops will be covered for power surges, fire, theft and natural disaster.

The district will hold a meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at the high school auditorium to give parents more information on the laptops, he said.

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May 7th, 2009

Save on Homeowners Insurance

houseYour dwelling is one of your most significant assets. It gives shelter to you and your family. It’s full of memories and things important for you. Regrettably each year thousands of houses are ruined by fires, accidents, storms, theft, and property damage. Is your dwelling house protected with insurance?

One reason it might not have decent insurance coverage is the recent downturn, which is understandable. But it’s not going to help you if a catastrophe destroys your dwelling. This inevitably will lead to financial problems for you and your family.

As an alternative, you can concentrate on ways to save on your home insurance. Numerous householders are saving on their premium by increasing their deductible. Raising the deductible one level can save a family hundreds of bucks each year on home insurance.

Householders also obtain a rebate on their premium by setting up appropriate guards around the house, such as fire alarm, extinguishers, and burglar alarms. Is your dwelling equipped with these?

Third, buy two or more insurance policies from the same insurer. You can purchase car, home and life assurance from one company, allowing it to “bundle” the insurances and give you a strong rebate on all policies. This is a good way to save money on a much demanded product.

Always insure your dwelling for 100% of the monetary value to replace the house after a loss. The above scenario is known as “insured to value,” and it’s yet another way to save much.

Be sure to keep a solid credit score. Many insurance companies will analyse your credit report as part of the insurance process. The providers use your credit score to help develop their own insurance score, which decides how high of a risk you are. The higher the risk, the higher the insurance premiums. Many insurance providers believe a good credit score is an indicator of responsibility, meaning you will pay your premiums on time and won’t file excessive insurance claims. You can obtain a copy of your credit report from the credit bureaus and review it for mistakes. Correcting mistakes can help boost your credit score. So can paying down debt.

While it is important to cut back on expenses during a tight economy, it is not a good idea to cut back or cancel your home insurance policy. You want to make sure your investment is protected. If you have specific questions or need an insurance quote, contact a qualified insurance provider. They can help you design a home insurance policy that not only meets your needs, but that is also affordable.

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May 3rd, 2009

Is Your Business a Safe Investment?

business-insuranceA good sales result, of course, is a key factor in your company being a good investment of your time, talent and money. However, to be a “Safe” investment, you also need to protect your enterprise from potential losses. Below you will find a list of some of these risks. Insurance is an important method of limiting your risk exposure and making your venture a safer investment.

We specialize in helping company owners in Central Texas improve their business insurance protection.

1. Owner Safe? You, the owner needs to be safe for your firm to be safe.

a. Personal Liability

A venture owner is a particularly likely target for a lawsuit. A typical owner has both increased wealth and increased visibility. Your personal lawsuit risk is the back door to your company. Higher liability limits on your personal insurance policies including an Umbrella (Excess Liability) policy are important to lock and bolt this back door.

b. Owner Succession Plan (Life Insurance to fund?)

Proper estate planning and owner succession should be part of your business plan. Don’t work a lifetime to build wealth with company ownership and then pass it to Uncle Sam in taxes instead of your family. Also, the value of your venture depends on your leadership. If you are not available, a plan for a successor can be crucial to its value if you are no longer available to be that leader. Life insurance on you, the owner, can be a tool to help manage this risk.

c. Owner Health Insurance (personal bankruptcy risk)

If you are your own boss, you often will need to provide for your own health insurance. Approximately half of the bankruptcies in the United States are due to unpaid medical expenses. If you become overwhelmed with medical bills, it could impact your firm. Don’t expose yourself to the potential catastrophic financial risk of a major illness or injury by not protecting yourself with a major medical insurance plan.

I particularly like the High Deductible Health Insurance plans that are Health Savings Account compliant for business owners. Self-insure the everyday medical costs with your contributions to your H.S.A. funds but have the Major Medical Insurance backstop provided by the High Deductible Health Insurance to protect you (and your company) from the financial costs of a major illness or injury.

2. Asset Safe?

Your investment in the property assets of your firm can be critical to your operations and ability to continue to operate. Replacing business assets damaged or lost can also affect your profits. Protect your company assets from loss with commercial property insurance.

a. Buildings

If you own your firm’s facilities, loss due to fire, tornado or other perils can endanger this significant investment. If the buildings or other fixed assets are mortgaged, your bank loan normally will require insurance to protect the lien.

b. Building Improvements

Often overlooked, most commercial ventures with leased facilities have a considerable investment in fitting out the landlord’s space to suit their operations. This can include very expensive installed equipment. Think in terms of a fire that destroys the building. The landlord’s insurance normally will only rebuild your space to bare walls and concrete floor. Your insurance protection will need to be structured to fund the cost to rebuild this bare space back to the facility you need.

c. Contents / Equipment / Inventory

Business property includes all the loose items like tools, office equipment, computers and inventory that you have. Each specific item may not be significant in cost but they can add up to be a large investment. Visualize a total loss event like a tornado or building fire and think how much it would cost to replace all your contents.

3. Lawsuit Safe?

Liability = lawsuit. Most commercial operations have specific risks of lawsuits that can result in significant financial losses. The cost of a lawsuit includes the legal costs to defend the allegation and if found guilty, the cost to settle. The business environment in the United States is very litigious - check out any phonebook cover for opportunities to hire a lawyer and sue the company of your choice.

a. Premise Liability

Any enterprise that has a business location including jobsite locations has a premise liability risk. This is often also called the “Trip & Fall” risk — a person of the public getting hurt from walking on your location. A retail store is a clear illustration of the premise risk with an open door to the public to enter and browse.

Premise Liability protection is normally a key component of the Commercial General Liability insurance contract.

b. Products / Completed Operations Liability

Product Liability is the risk of offering to the public a product that may cause injury. An example would be a restaurant serving food that makes everyone sick or a manufacturer that creates a defective product which results in injury. Even if your business operations does not create products, your company still can have a significant lawsuit exposure to a defective product you resale or distribute that causes injury and results in a damaging lawsuit.

Completed Operations is the risk of work you have finished being defective and causing damage or injury. An example would be an auto garage installing brakes wrong causing a traffic accident. Another example would be an electrician installing wiring wrong resulting in a building fire.

Product & Completed Operations protection are normally components of the Commercial General Liability contract. Manufacturers typically have a separate Product Liability contract to provide the higher level of protection needed for that type of firm.

c. Worker Injury Liability

Any employer with hired help has the risk of a worker being injured while at work and suing the business. A frequent mistake is hiring “1099 Contract Labor” and not realizing that they are employees for purpose of work related injuries. A single lawsuit from a worker hurt on the job can result in a very large settlement and overwhelm your company finances.

Worker’s Compensation Insurance is a state mandated benefit package that shifts the worker injury risk from an employer. A Work Comp contract normally also includes Employer Liability to protect a company if a lawsuit attempts to skirt the Work Comp statute. The cost of Work Comp varies depending on the type of work being done.

d. Auto Liability for commercial vehicles (Work Truck Insurance)

Many enterprises provide delivery service or use vehicles for their operations. Auto accidents are the source of many lawsuits and a significant risk for any business with work trucks and other owned vehicles. Another less recognized risk is on “non-owned autos” (example: employee auto) that are on job errands and “hired autos” (example: rented truck for a special delivery) that are rented for company activities.

Commercial Auto Insurance is available and can be customized to meet the particular insurance protection needs for your work vehicles.

e. Employment Practices Liability

Most employers don’t think about the lawsuits that can result from unintended mistakes in their relationships with their employees. Using professional practices in hiring, terminating and promoting employees is the best defense to lawsuits resulting from an angry ex-employee but any employer needs to have insurance protection as a backup.

Employment Practices Liability is often a component available with a Commercial Insurance Package policy.

f. Professional Errors & Omissions Liability

If you are a licensed professional or provide important professional advice, you are at risk of a lawsuit resulting from giving the wrong advice. Consultants are particularly at risk for Professional Liability because your business activity is professionally grounded advice. Even if your advice was sound, defending a lawsuit can still overwhelm your company finances.

Professional Errors & Omissions Liability is normally available as a separate insurance contract.

g. Other Lawsuit risks?

No one can predict all the possible events that could result in a lawsuit. A prudent owner should discuss their business liability risk with their lawyer on a regular basis. You visit your doctor for an annual health check-up, why not an annual legal liability check-up with your lawyer? Your insurance agent can then discuss insurance plans to provide protection for lawsuit risks identified by your lawyer.

4. Business Continuation?

The secondary economic hardship of an insured loss can be more challenging than the actual damage.

a. Income & Continuation - Ongoing wages and expenses

Income and Continuation keeps your firm alive while the damage is being restored. Most enterprises cannot afford to cease operations and must find an alternative location and continue to serve their customers. Also important to any company is retaining its important talent.

b. Extra Expense to accelerate reopening or relocation

Being out-of-business due to an insured loss can damage your market share as clients seek service elsewhere. The sooner you can reopen the better. Extra Expense helps accelerate re-opening or relocation by minimizing the time your firm is closed.

Conclusion

Risk is part of the commercial environment. Reducing or avoiding risk is just good business. Understanding your business risks and buying valuable insurance protection to offset risks that must be taken is another key component to helping your venture be a safer investment.

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April 29th, 2009

Women often charged more than men for individual health insurance

When a woman obtains health insurance through her job, the law is clear: She can’t be forced to pay any more than a man for the same coverage.

It’s a different story, though, for the growing number of women who shop for coverage on their own — because they’ve lost a job, perhaps, or are self-employed. Often, they can expect to pay a surcharge of 7 percent or more just because they’re female, according to a Mercury News review of rates for top-selling health plans sold to individuals.

On top of that, most of those plans don’t cover maternity services.

Insurance companies say the difference is because women cost more to insure, but critics say the practice amounts to discrimination.

“The individual health insurance market is the last resort for people who can’t get health insurance on their own,” said Lisa Codispoti, senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center, which conducted a national study last year that examined higher insurance costs for women. “We see it as fundamentally unfair for women to be charged more, simply because of their gender.”

Higher costs and lack of pregnancy care for women are hardly the only disparities facing customers in the individual health insurance market, which covers about 2 million Californians.

Older people are charged several times more than younger customers. Rates for those with even minor pre-existing conditions can be astronomical, if coverage

isn’t denied in the first place. And several insurers have settled lawsuits recently accusing them of canceling coverage of customers after they get sick.

‘It’s infuriating’

The gender disparities have received less attention but are equally galling to some.

“It’s infuriating,” said Jan Taylor, a 55-year-old San Jose resident with a bladder condition, who had a “really frustrating and actually very scary” experience shopping for health insurance in 2007 after she lost her job and her Cobra benefits expired. “For them to charge women more and not cover pregnancy, it just doesn’t make sense.”

Two bills pending in the Legislature would bar insurers from charging different rates based on a person’s sex (AB 119, by Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento) and force them to include maternity care in policies sold to individuals (AB 98, by Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate).

The city of San Francisco in January filed a lawsuit that seeks to prohibit different health care rates for women and men, but the suit is on hold pending the outcome of the legislation. Ten states ban so-called gender rating, and two others limit how much more women can be charged than men.

Insurance companies say the varying treatment of women vs. men is a matter of dollars and cents. Rates, they say, are based on studies of their actuarial costs: Women (particularly younger women) generally seek more preventive care than men, so their costs are often higher. It’s the same principle, they argue, as charging a 20-year-old man more than a 20-year-old woman for car insurance because young men are more accident-prone.

“When you start eliminating insurance underwriting (criteria) like this, the result is that more young men will drop coverage when their premiums increase,” said Charles Bacchi, interim CEO and president of the California Association of Health Plans. But others contend that health care has a moral dimension that car insurance lacks. Blacks and Latinos generally incur higher health care costs than whites, they point out, but it’s illegal for insurers to base health care rates on a person’s race.

The Mercury News review of health insurance rates looked at premiums charged for the 10 bestselling plans for 30-, 45-, 50- and 55-year-olds in San Jose, using the online portal http:// ehealthinsurance.com. The results diverged wildly. In most cases, women are charged more, but in some instances there is no difference, and a handful of policies actually cost more for men.

For 30-year-olds, the surcharge for women is typically about 5 percent, although two Aetna plans charge women 25 percent more than men, and one policy sold by Anthem Blue Cross charges men a higher monthly premium than women. The gap exists even though eight of the 10 plans for that age do not cover maternity care. (The two policies that do provide pregnancy-related care, both sold by Kaiser Permanente, charge the highest premiums: $296 and $180 a month).

Gap narrows with age for 45-year-olds, the female-male cost gap is typically about 10 percent, while the gap tends to narrow after that. For 50-year-olds, women generally pay about 5 percent more than men. The margin was smallest among 55-year-olds, and two plans offered at that age charge men about 4 percent more. Insurers say that’s because older men incur higher health care costs than older women do.

The fact that rates vary so widely undercuts the insurers’ argument that higher rates for women are based on their actuarial costs, said Jones, who chairs the Assembly Health Committee.

“There’s no consistency or rationality to the pricing; it’s all over the map,” he said. “We don’t think it’s based on actuarial science, we think it’s based on discrimination against women.”

The practice of charging women more than men in the individual health care market appears to have begun only a few years ago, and health experts say it’s unclear why it started. But among the plans reviewed by the Mercury News, the two with the widest gender gap — 25 percent — are both sold by Aetna.

The company declined a request for a phone interview, but a spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail that the insurer’s rates “reflect the underlying costs for men and women by age as documented in actuarial studies and general claims experience.”

Some health care experts say barring insurers from charging differently based on sex would have a relatively small effect on rates. Insurers, they say, would likely respond by charging men slightly more to even out prices.

‘Flawed’ market

“The individual market is flawed — it’s very expensive and often the case that people who need coverage the most find it impossible or very difficult to get,” said Marian Mulkey, a senior program officer at the California Healthcare Foundation. “But it’s hard to think about policy tweaks” such as the gender bill “that can make a significant difference.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spent more than a year pushing for comprehensive health care reform that included an overhaul of the individual market, but it was defeated last year in the Legislature. Now President Barack Obama is seeking a similar makeover.

In the meantime, health care advocates say they’re intent on changing the current system.

“When you’re trying to encourage more women to get health insurance,” said Jones, the lawmaker, “it doesn’t make sense to charge them more than men.”

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April 16th, 2009

The Internet Speeds Up Car Insurance Comparisons

Comparing car insurance can now be done quickly and efficiently thanks to new technological advances that have evolved online. In recent years, consumers have turned to the World Wide Web to simplify their lives in many ways. From online banking, to paying bills, and even holiday shopping. The same now applies when it comes to individuals and their need to compare coverage quotes for their motor vehicle.
Time-cutting websites such as www.OnlineAutoInsurance.com assist consumers with practically every aspect of their insuring needs. Such sites can quickly and easily deliver multiple quotes from various reputable insurers which visitors can view and compare. Rate comparison can be completed free of charge and require no obligation of policy purchase. Security is a main concern among online users, but many websites only require basic information in order to obtain the prices of premiums. Personal information such as driver’s license numbers and social security numbers do not need to be provided in order to compare quotes.
The major benefit of these services is that individuals no longer have to seek out policy providers on their own. Website technology eliminates the hassle of having to sift through a phone book and calling a handful of companies; instead, consumers are provided with a single questionnaire in order to instantly obtain rates and compare auto insurance from a variety of insurers, some of which they may have missed or overlooked by other means.
Although the average person may only think of price when comparing insurance companies, there are very many other various factors that should also be considered, such as the financial stability of a carrier and the available protection plans. Coverage knowledge also proves to be a valuable resource when it comes to insuring vehicles because it can mean the difference between satisfaction and a costly misunderstanding.
The ability to purchase a policy online may also be available if one so chooses to do so through the usage of secure web-based applications and electronic signatures. If saving time and money is important, consumers should definitely take advantage of the convenience that comes with this method of comparing insurers and even purchasing a policy online.

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