what is insurance

Some three and a half decades ago, as a newbie agent, my then sales manager introduced me to my new-to-me client, Cosmo. He was nothing like I'd would have expected of someone in his mid-sixties: vivacious, friendly, fun and just the best sense of humor. And warm, so cordial and welcoming. A year and a half later I had made the jump to independent agent, and Cosmo came with me. Over the years we helped with his life and business insurance, and more. In recent years, I most often spoke with his beloved daughter Pat. Yesterday afternoon, I got "the call;" Pat let me know that he'd passed away on Sunday , just a wee bit shy of his 100th birthday. It's odd to think that this wonderful person , whom I've known since my very first week in this indus try , i s really gone. And I'm hu mbled, as well, by the thought that , while I've delivered many claim checks over the years, this will be for one of , if not the , first policies I ever wrote. How many ag en...

Just now on the Ohio DOI website: We are aware of a phishing scam targeting insurance producers regarding a falsified insurance claim related to their company that has been submitted to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. This fraudulent email displays the NAIC and CIPR logo, can originate from a naic or gmail account and asks the recipient to click on a link to download the complaint notification. Certain anti-virus products will detect this is a malicious email but if you receive a similar email and have any concerns, contact the NAIC Service Desk at (816) 783-8500 or help@naic.org .

So the saga finally played out this past Sunday. What saga, you may ask? This saga: " I had to learn from the nice lady on the phone that their rule is that they can't send items out for delivery on the same day, and that tomorrow's deliveries are already booked ." As one might imagine, I was unconvinced that the rocket surgeons at Lowe's would actually come through with the promised Sunday delivery, so I started calling the store a little after 8:00 in the morning. I was told that they were still loading, and to try again later. Knowing that if the truck left the store without my oven there was zero chance of delivery that day, I called again at 9:00 and 10:00. Each time I was put off, and it wasn't until after 11:00 that I was able to confirm that the oven was, in fact, out for delivery. Again, there was zero effort to reach out to me until after noon, when Shawn called to tell me that the oven would be delivered between 2:00 and 4:00. Had I not diligentl...

Britain's Much Vaunted National Health Service� just can't seem to catch a break: NHS hospital trusts to pay out further �55bn under PFI scheme. Some are spending one-sixth of their entire budget on repaying debts from misguided Blair-era policy https://t.co/jxd8CdrFgr @zoesqwilliams @hilarypepper @paulmasonnews @george_gillett pic.twitter.com/YPvNwoUGQ1 � Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) September 15, 2019 Well, that'll happen when you're diverting over 16% of your current budget to cover shortfalls that were baked into the cake 20 years ago. And just what was that " secret ingredient ?" So glad you asked: The "private finance initiative" is actually a fairly efficient mechanism when costs can be controlled: " (PFI) is a way of financing public sector projects through the private sector. PFIs alleviate the government and taxpayers of the immediate burden of coming up with the capital for these projects ." Shorter: Kicking the can do...

Just now in email from CMS: " SEP Available for Victims of 2019 Hurricane Dorian " This addresses concerns that folks who had become eligible for an SEP but unable to finalize a new plan because of storm-related issues will get another bite at the apple: " Consumers who qualified for an enrollment period, such as an SEP, but were unable to complete a Marketplace application, plan selection, or enrollment process due to Hurricane Dorian, may have access to an Exceptional Circumstances SEP ." They get an extra 2 months (well, 60 days) to log in and enroll, and "request a retroactive start date based on when he or she would have picked a plan if not for Hurricane Dorian." Nice! [Additional info is available here or by calling 1-800-318-2596]

A s part of our Strides Against Breast Cancer fundraising, we're helping out with Brunch & Beer at the 5th Street Brewpub in the St Anne's District: �Love, Hope & Faith� team for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk will be hosting a Fundraising Event at the Fifth Street Brewpub on Sunday, September 15th from 10 AM to 2 PM. Come and join us for Sunday Brunch. The team will be �Guest Bartenders� during the event and will be raising money for the fight against Breast Cancer. The walk is on October 19th at Fifth Third Field in Downtown Dayton.

Back on August 31, we purchased a new oven from our local Lowe's store (wanted to support the local folks instead of ordering online). That proved to be a mistake. We were promised delivery by today (September 12), and that was the last we heard from them. No follow-up, no notification, nothing. So I called the store this morning, and was informed that the delivery had been pushed out to the 22nd. Again, no one bothered to communicate this to me. I only learned of it because I initiated the call. I told the manager that this was not acceptable, and that I expected delivery today. He insisted several times that he couldn't promise that. No effort was made to accommodate or offer alternatives. So I called corporate, and was informed that the oven had been delivered to the local store, but because Lowe's store managers are incompetent, I had to learn from the nice lady on the phone that their rule is that they can't send items out for delivery on the same day, and that t...

In which I play the bad guy: Regular readers may recall the sad case of  Nataline Sarkisyan, " a 17-year-old girl who died hours after her health insurer reversed its previous decision and said it would pay for a liver transplant planned ." There was a lot of finger-pointing, and plenty of blame to go around, but there were also some key issues that prompted much circumspection: The insurance carrier (Cigna) had initially refused a liver transplant, the fact that experimental treatments are (at best) problematic, and whether PR should override best practices. Regardless, Ms Sarkisyan ultimately passed from her condition. Now, fast forward almost a dozen years, and we learn of a young mother who, having undergone " major surgery to remove thyroid cancer ... has never truly recovered ." She was fortunate to find a " world-renowned expert in dysautonomia and autonomic neuropathies ," and began treatment. Unfortunately, these appear to have been largely ineffe...

New video: Dem congressman Joe Cunningham's wife is outraged her taxpayer-subsidized Obamacare plan doesn't pay for her therapy, their marriage counseling https://t.co/HQLyf1g4Iy pic.twitter.com/3NXD4qD98c � Brent Scher (@BrentScher) September 9, 2019 Okay, one comment: Heh. [Hat Tip: The Gormogons ]

[ Full disclosure: I am not active in the Medicare Supplement/Advantage market ] Recently received this in email: " New for 2020: Lasso Medicare Savings Account Plan " Medicare MSA's appear to be the post-65 version of what we typically see as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) in the pre-65 market, with some interesting twists: � $0 Premium � MSAs are one type of Medicare Advantage (MA) plan that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) partners with private insurance companies to offer. MSAs combine a high deductible health plan covering Medicare A/B expenses with an IRS-approved trust/ custodial savings account. � No admin/monthly fees for MSA account while beneficiary is on plan � See any provider or hospital that excepts [ sic ] Medicare! � Individual must enroll in a stand-alone [Part D Rx Plan]. � HSA account funds can transferred into new MSA accounts.  � Plans are available in every county in the states where they are available [ ed: go figure ]. I checke...

Our friend Holly R sent this along: " The share of Americans with health insurance fell last year, despite a strong economy that lifted families out of poverty ." [ emphasis added ] Heh. More likely: because (better wages = lower/no subsidy) It's just common sense.

You've likely read about the tragic story of the diving boat incident that claimed almost 3 dozen lives last week. One of the unexpected things that happened pretty quickly was a lawsuit ... Wait a minute, Henry: why would that be a surprise? Of course the families of those killed would seek some kind of compensation. Well, that's true, of course, but this lawsuit was actually filed by the boat's owner against those families. Hunh?? Well, it seems that there's a longstanding maritime law that enables a boat's owners to limit (or even prohibit) monetary damages as a result of this kind of tragedy: " The owners of the diving vessel that caught fire in California and killed 34 people last week filed a pre-emptive lawsuit last week, seeking to limit payouts to the families of victims. The lawsuit was filed three days after the boat caught fire, while families were still grieving, and bodies of the victims were still being removed from the water ." Wow, talk...

Once again, I'm raising money with my team: Love, Hope and Faith. Our walk is Saturday, October 19th. Will you please help out by making a donation - Any amount helps. Thank You!!

Just about two years ago, we reported on a potential problem still lurking under the radar: " For decades, life insurance carriers ... sold permanent universal life insurance policies, marketed as "insurance for life," utilizing outdated mortality tables that did not take into account the fact that Americans were, and are, increasingly living to and past the age of 100 ." To be sure, there are still quite a few other permanent-type plans out there with the same issue. And what issue is that, Henry? Well, when these plans "mature" while the insured is still alive, that person is likely to be hit with a pretty hefty tax bill; that is, the policy is paid out as a lump sum to the insured, and any excess over the total premiums paid are taxable. That could be a sizeable sum indeed, and is a double whammy (since that policy is now canceled). Until now, there really wasn't much one could do about in-force plans (hence the clarion call for a class action laws...

So a while back, we blogged on the potential issues one might face as a trans/other-American in the market for life insurance . It's now back in the news (sorta) due to this rather silly Tweet: An actuary on the staff at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is wondering whether, and how, the existence of nonbinary people might affect the world of life insurance. @naic https://t.co/w66AR7pAhd � ThinkAdv Life/Health (@TA_LifeHealth) September 3, 2019 It's silly because (for starters) trans/other Americans comprise barely a rounding error of the general population . Actuaries , by definition, work with very large groups, not infinitesimally-small ones, which would yield an essentially meaningless sample. But wait, it gets "better:" Actuaries estimate " probability of risk ," that is, the likely number of expected deaths from a (again, large) population; i t's merely a pricing tool. The only opinion that matters here is the underwriter...

Mutual of Omaha , that is: " We hope the first video interview we did with Demerri Bond was helpful and insightful. Now, we're excited to bring you the next in the series, an interview with underwriter Carol Carville ." MoO is currently our primary LTCi carrier (due to great value and strong financials), but the points Carol makes apply to pretty much all carriers.

What do you think of when you hear the word emergency? According to Webster�s Dictionary an Emergency is �an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state th at calls for immediate action .� However, insurers in Minnesota think it means something different. � Minnesota lawmakers are seeking more transparency from air ambulance companies about the prices of their rides, according to the Post Bulletin .� Why would lawmakers be interested in making these prices transparent, since the only time you would use an Air Ambulance is in an Emergency? Because customers have received � s urprise air ambulance bills �from insurers that have denied claims for emergency transport, saying the rides weren't preauthorized or weren't necessary .� I have seen my share of unwarranted denials, but this takes the cake. In an emergency there is no time to get a Preauthorization. A Preauthorization is usually required for any type of surgery, lab, test, or medication that will require...

Heh : [Hat Tip: FoIB Holly R]

As with " surprise billing ," coverage for insulin is currently a major shanda in the news: " Diabetic, 27, dies after taking cheaper insulin as he lost private health insurance ." Josh Wilkerson had recently come off of his stepfather's health insurance (he had reached that magical age of 26) and had elected not to buy his own. As usual, the reporter doesn't bother to ask why Mr Wilkerson chose to "go bare;" at his age a catastrophic ACA plan would have cost about $300 a month (assuming he didn't use tobacco). At least one plan appears to cover insulin. Be that as it may, the high cost of "regular" versions of the med have become quite expensive, which is a problem for any number of reasons, not the least of which is this: " Remember those guys who actually discovered insulin back in 1921? Dr. Frederick Banting and Charles Best were the main two, along with Dr. James Collip -- all three had their names attached to the patent aw...