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Car doctors? Get a second opinion!

admin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 06:21:37 +0000

Whenever you set up a system, it’s only as strong as the weakest link. Sometimes, the cause of the problem is inside the organization. Whatever the cause, you can get trampled on unless you stand up for yourself. Most days, when you’re driving on the freeway, you get to see the wreckage from traffic accidents. You pass by because it’s not your problem. Auto insurance companies pick up the pieces. At least, that’s what all the ads say.

Roadside assistance had worked perfectly. I was in a rental car. “Everyone thought they were nuts. Repair a car that badly damaged and you’ve got one problem after another and no-one wants to buy it secondhand. But they kept on like a broken record. Repair, repair. Guess they needed the business. I asked the agent to give me the name of another “certified” repair shop.

Sarah from Wisconsin was making her usual commute when she was rear-ended. She was lucky. It flipped her over but she was unhurt. She did everything by the book. Waited with her car until the police appeared. Gave her statement and was later cleared of all blame in the report. Everyone who saw her car thought it was a total loss. Even the guys who came on the tow truck shook their heads and congratulated her on her escape without injury. “They dropped me off at an approved car rental agency. One telephone call to my auto insurance company and I was driving again.” She shook her head with a wry smile. “I never thought there were going to be problems.

They took one look at the wreck, smiled and called the claims assessors. After haggling, it was agreed a total loss.” The same holds true for auto insurance. Repair shops make money when they repair. You have a right to challenge the first shop’s assessment. Sarah got her check. It was a hassle but she struck to her guns and won out in the end.

What do you call a deer with no eyes? No idea!

admin — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 05:39:16 +0000

It’s easy to think nothing can ever go wrong. Who needs auto insurance? But then you meet someone like Jack and suddenly you aren’t as sure anymore. When you sit behind the wheel of your off-roader, there’s so much metal around you. Jack was driving down from Eureka to Frisco. “It was early in the day so we decided to take off into the Lost Coast trails.” He seemed calm talking about it now. Back then, it was different. “We climbed out of the car and tried calling for roadside assistance, but there was no signal. We were stranded in a wilderness, miles from anywhere. Guess that was the most frightening thing - being alone. We put up a warning round the tree so no one would plow into the wreck, then set off walking. He smiled and talked for a while about his family’s love for nature. “We stopped a couple of times and mooched around. When the kids got hungry, we ate the food we’d bought along. It was all cool until I came round a redwood and hit a deer head on. We just sat there, stunned with airbags pinning us to our seats, a dead deer hanging off the hood and wreckage everywhere. The police came fairly quickly. A wreck on those unpaved roads is a real hazard. The tow truck had further to come. By then, Jack had contacted the auto insurance company so everything was on track for the rescue. He had a rental car policy but no local garage had cars to rent. So the family piled into a truck owned by a neighbor who took them down to Westport where they got a new set of wheels. “It took a few days for the wreck to be shipped down to the body shop in Frisco. Not a surprise given where we’d abandoned it. The insurance agent was great help and got the claims department going. I guess we got to hear all the deer jokes but it was all sorted out in the end. Next time though, we’ll stay on the 101.”

Baby boomers get to be seniors at last

admin — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:47:46 +0000

As the boomer generation has aged, every part of the social system has had to bend to fit them all in. First it was the school system, then higher education. Were there going to be jobs for them all? Now, those who have survived the march of time, are finally approaching retirement making the sale of health insurance a much more competitive market. We caught up with Dave in Oakland and asked how he was preparing for his retirement. He managed a harassed smile. “My 401(k) is dropping in value. I’m rethinking my retirement.” We looked back at his plans last year. “I was all set up to finally do some traveling. Since my wife died, I’ve been waiting on retirement to take off and see the world.” He was pitched into medical insurance that would give him cover outside the US. He said he passed the time bugging local agents to give him chapter and verse on all the policies. “Guess I was a little lonely so I did a lot of research.” Then the stock markets went south and all his plans changed. “I’ve been looking more carefully at Medicare. The cover’s not so bad, so I’m looking at policies to top up the cover to get the best budgeted treatments whenever possible.” He smiled. “I’ve been doing the round of the same agents. Boy, were they pleased to see me again.” We talked about whether he was using the internet. “I’ve been following the AARP’s campaign, Divided We Fail, and their plans for an HMO for Medicare folk like me look interesting. I’ve been using the online sites to get quotes as well. It’s more effort because not all of them are set up to do specialized cover for the elderly, but there’ve been some interesting quotes.” Dave’s been a revelation. He has plenty of experience in planning his financial affairs and has been playing the field when it comes to getting quotes. As more savvy people start looking for Medigap policies, the market is likely to get more competitive and the existing discounts and incentives are likely to improve. When actual retirement is coming up, look round carefully for the right cover for you.

Emergencies? What emergencies?

admin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:07:20 +0000

Well, the good news is that you do have a health insurance plan. So many people today are finding it too difficult to keep their insurance in place. The bad news is that it may still be difficult to get treatment. Huh? Well, accidents and sickness don’t always strike at the most convenient times. Because there’s a shortage of physicians prepared to work in general practice, it’s often difficult to get a same or next day appointment. Worse, getting access to your physician at night or over the weekend can be next to impossible. Too many prefer working conventional office hours and will not offer a service “out of hours”. Very few offer any kind of telephone advice service to cover the gap. This leaves you with self-treatment (not always so reliable) or one of the alternatives. Starting in drugstores and now spreading, there are a new run of walk-in retail clinics staffed by nurse practitioners. These are open 24/7 and offer basic treatment for non-threatening conditions for a set fee. An increasing number of health insurance companies cover visits to these clinics for a modest copayment. Check out the wording on your policy. If your injuries or sickness are more serious, you can try one of the urgent-care centers/clinics. These are staffed by physicians but their opening times are limited to nights and weekends. They are not open 24/7! But, as with the retail clinics, more health insurance companies will cover a visit for a copayment. Why is the emergency room the last on this list? Well there are two main reasons. The first is that waiting times are growing ever longer in hospitals as more people head in there for treatment. If this is not a major emergency, you will get treatment faster in an urgent-care center. More importantly, the copayments required in a hospital tend to start at $100 and go up. Big warning: if you go to an emergency room and your health insurer does not classify your problem as an emergency, you have to pay the whole bill for treatment. So what are emergencies? If the injury is acute or the sickness serious, there is unlikely to be a problem. It is always better to be safe than sorry. But it’s not an emergency if you have a throat infection or your chest is wheezing. Minor skin problems, bug bites or problems in sleeping will not be covered. If you do have a chronic condition, the symptoms must have significantly worsened if this is to be an emergency. It’s almost impossible to count having a prescription refilled as an emergency. You can always learn more about health insurance features and get online quotes in the internet.