US Health Insurance Plans and Medical Tourism?

As healthcare costs soar and health insurance becomes even harder to afford, medical tourism is earning billions of dollars a year abroad. But is this a viable answer to our healthcare problems, and even more, is it safe?

Ten years ago, medical tourism was hardly large enough to be noticed. Today, more than 250,000 patients per year visit Singapore alone--nearly half of them from the Middle East. This year, approximately half a million foreign patients will travel to India for medical care, whereas in 2002, the number was only 150,000.

And all of them are traveling for medical reasons. Whether its plastic surgery, dental work, or major operations, its much easier and cheaper for the underinsured to get treatment abroad.

The ease of international travel, combined with outrageous health insurance costs, is making medical tourism a billion dollar business. But whether it's India, the Philippines, or Mexico, travelers are always taking risks when they go abroad for their medicine. The qualifications of doctors, accreditation of the hospital, and ability to communicate with the staff are all in question when having surgery abroad, and all can lead to dangerous side effects or other problems.

Facts on:
Health Insurance and Medical Tourism
Did you know...
This year, approximately half a million foreign patients will travel to India for medical care?
But at costs of sometimes a tenth of what one would pay here, it's easy to see why medical tourism is so alluring.

Hopefully health insurance costs will go down in the wake of upcoming legislation, making it easier for Americans to get the treatments they need right here at home. Until then, many citizens will enjoy the hospitality of hospitals abroad who promise medical care at more affordable rates.

admiral insurance company claims

First Report of Loss
You may report a claim by one of the following methods:

I. Submit online.
Click on 'Report New Claim' side menu item and complete the claim form.

II. Regular or overnight mail.
Admiral Insurance Company1255 Caldwell Road
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Attention: Angela Rando
Clearly state it is a "NEW CLAIM".
III. Email
admclaims@admiralins.com
Do not email claims to ANY claims individual.

IV. FAX
Fax #: (856) 429-3630
Attention: Angela RandoClearly state it is a "NEW CLAIM".

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Tescocompare.com Enters Car Insurance Comparison Market

Today sees the introduction of the latest financial comparison website to hit the UK. Tesco have launched tescocompare.com which will initially offer a car insurance comparison service before moving into other areas.

Facing fierce competition, in an already crowded market, that includes household names such as confused.com and moneysupermarket.com; Tesco, according to managing director Peter Dingle, aim to make an impact by focusing on accurate quotes and policy details:

“We have placed great emphasis on the fact that our site not only compares price but also looks at individual policy features to allow users to make sure they are getting the right policy for them. There will be no extra costs or charges when it comes to paying your insurance, the price quoted will be the same as if the customer went direct."

It is the last part “the price quoted will be the same as if the customer went direct” that is bound to stir up intrigue within the industry. One criticism of some motor insurance comparison services is that the quotes they find sometimes differ from what is offered upon application. This is because of assumptions the aggregator sites have to make and is something they continually strive to improve.

So how does tescocompare.com aim to deliver on this promise?

The tescocompare.com site has been launched in partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland. The comparison service offered by this paring covers 25 insurance brands. They includes Churchill and Privilege; owned by RBS and Virgin Money, Lloyds TSB and Nationwide; underwritten by RBS.

By having this close control over the insurers on its panel their hope is they can provide greater accuracy. After the teething problems experienced by tescocompare.com on its debut it is hard to pass judgement on the quality of its service.

One notable absentee from the panel of compared insurers is Direct Line, one of RBS’ largest brands, who recently launched scathing attacks on the price comparison arena and appear to be sticking to their guns.

So will Tesco triumph in yet another industry? Only time will tell, they certainly have the brand power and the marketing budget but will limiting their panel to the RBS stable prove a wise move? Or will it restrict their ability to offer the cheapest car insurance quotes compared to sites such as confused who compare 95% of the market?

You decide…

Travel Insurance Made Easy

You are finally going to take that holiday you have been planning in your head for a long time now. You did your research on the best time of year to travel to your dream location, places to go and things to see when you get to your chosen destination, where the best attractions and venues are located, which hotels are best, and whether or not you can rent a car at the airport!

You monitored the airline ticket prices for months until a great deal popped up, and then you grabbed it! You have even purchased some new clothing and a set of new luggage for this trip. As far as you are concerned, you have left nothing undone when it comes to making plans for this holiday. After all, you have been waiting for just years now to see your plans come to fruition!

Wait a minute… it seems as if you forgot one thing. One very important item is missing from your list above. You did not include travel insurance, even though you are quite aware of the importance of having a good policy, just in case something should go wrong while you are away from home. Why would you neglect an item that can keep your dream holiday from turning into a nightmare?

Let me get this straight. You say that someone told you that it was difficult to take out a travel insurance policy, and that you would have to visit a travel agent in order to get a marginally decent policy? Friend, I don’t know who you have been speaking with, but they are definitely steering you in the wrong direction when it comes to travel insurance. There is nothing at all difficult about obtaining travel insurance, and you most certainly do not have to let a travel agent sell you a policy that could very well be frightfully overpriced! Purchasing travel insurance is really very easy to do, right from your computer.

You can shop for travel insurance online without the help of a travel agent, or anyone else for that matter. Take all the time you need to look over the various policy offerings, and don’t forget to check out the Product Disclosure statement, which is what some people call the “fine print”. This will tell you everything you need to know about the insurance policy you are considering. Any reputable website will have the PDS available to download and read.

This is an easy task as well. Once you have zeroed in on two or three insurance policies that seem to be what you want, complete an online quote from each of them. Often, you will have this information in a minute or less. Compare the two or three quotes, and also compare the policies, so you can see just what you would get for that price. You know your needs better than anyone else, so it should be fairly clear as to which policy would be the best deal for you.

When you have made up your mind, purchase the travel insurance policy, and print out your paperwork. Now, you can continue to anticipate your dream vacation, knowing that you are fully covered by insurance in case of an unexpected dilemma. You can protect the investment you have in your holiday by buying travel insurance.
Cheap Insurance Article Source :
http://www.insure4less.com.au/blog/2009/04/17/travel-insurance-made-easy/

Healthcare Reform and Keeping Your Home Clean

Start Your Own Healthcare Reform by Keeping Your Surroundings Clean

Amidst the raging healthcare reform war, few consider the simple ways they can prevent illness as a result of their immediate surroundings. Reform your health by avoiding common causes of illness-certain to be a faster solution than the one we are waiting on from our federal government.

Obama has a number of ideas for healthcare reform, and while some are more popular than others, they are all sure to make getting healthy possible for more of us. Here's how you can make some of the same changes possible within your own home.

* The Obama administration wants to "protect families from bankruptcy or debt because of healthcare costs." At home, you can choose to use green, plant-based cleaning products rather than antibacterial chemicals to prevent the growth and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The overuse of antibacterial cleansers in a domestic setting can affect their use in healthcare settings, where they are needed to prevent the spread of disease in a highly infectious environment. An outbreak of bacteria that is resistant to disinfectant cleansers can cause disease that is more dangerous and massively expensive to treat.

* The Obama administration wants to "invest in prevention and wellness." At home, you can keep the surfaces that harbor dangerous germs clean to prevent illness. In addition to places like your toilet and kitchen counters that probably get the most attention, don't forget to wipe down your doorknob, computer keyboards, and salt and pepper shakers-all places that have high germ traffic but often go overlooked when cleaning your home. Hiring a professional cleaning service with experience in spotting hiding germs will help keep your home hygenic without cutting into your busy schedule.

* And, most importantly, the Obama administration wants to do this all on a budget. You probably want the same thing. There are plenty of reasonable ways to keep your home as devoid of disease-causing bacteria as possible.

Cleaning services can be very reasonably priced and you can negotiate further price reductions, particularly if you have worked with the cleaning company for some time (our Denver cleaning services clients can testify to that). You can also make your own cleaning products from things you already keep in your kitchen, like lemon juice, baking soda, or vinegar.

By staying vigilant with your home's cleaning needs, you can create your own healthcare reform-one that will be sure to improve your health and healthcare costs without getting sidelined by a filibuster.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yelena_M_Gertsenova

pmi mortgage insurance

What is Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) And How Does it Work?

Private Mortgage Insurance is a home-buying aid that nearly anyone can use. It is insurance that protects the lender if the buyer defaults on the loan. It is generally required for people who cannot get a 20% down payment. Buyers can purchase a home with as little as 3-5% down using PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance). With home prices climbing, many people have difficulty getting the 20% down payment; and studies have shown that buyers who put down less than 20% are more likely to default on the loan. Thus the PMI is useful to the lender in securing the loan, and buyers can buy sooner because they don't have to wait for years while they accumulate an acceptable down payment.

When you purchase a home with PMI, the lender secures the policy for you. You pay for the PMI at closing or, most often, you pay a monthly fee with the monthly payment. If you default on the loan, the lender receives the difference between the down payment you made and 20% of the loan amount. PMI payments can be considerable, so it is best to avoid using private mortgage insurance if possible.

Once the loan is paid down to 80% of the property value, most lenders would drop PMI coverage if buyers had a good payment history and requested to drop it. However, most consumers were not aware of this possibility and had to keep track of their loan balances. People often failed to request the change, and they paid unnecessary insurance payments for years. New laws passed in 1998 have made lenders and buyers equally responsible for how long the PMI is carried on a loan so that this situation is no longer a problem. When a loan is paid down to 78% of the value and if the buyer is current on the loan, the lender must automatically terminate the PMI.

Private Mortgage Insurance is a helpful option to protect lenders and to help people get into homes without having to wait while a large down payment is accumulated.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eric_Kandell

Different Types of Mortgage Insurance

There are different kinds of mortgage insurance. Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is insurance that protects the lender - the mortgage company. Many home buyers cannot afford to make the traditional 20% down payment on a home. They can make SOME down payment, but they don't have and can't get the money necessary to make a 20% down payment. With less than a 20% down payment, the lender is taking a larger risk. PMI is their guarantee that they won't lose money. The buyer pays the monthly premiums for PMI.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Veterans Administration (VA) are both governmental entities that guarantee mortgages. Borrowers must meet certain requirements in order to qualify for an FHA or VA guaranteed loan.

Basically, mortgage insurance works like this. Let's say that you want to buy a home that sells for $264,000 - that was the average price of a home in the U.S. in October 2007. A 20% down payment would be $52,000. Not many people can come up with that much cash all at one time. If you can make a down payment of, say, $15,000, a private mortgage insurance policy will be written to insure the balance of the usual down payment, and the premiums will be added to the monthly payment.

Many people do not realize that the PMI policy can be canceled after the mortgage has been reduced and/or the home has appreciated in value.

In the past, buyers were not informed that mortgage insurance could be canceled when the loan-to-value ratio decreased to a certain point - usually 78%. The Homeowner's Protection Act of 1998 made it mandatory for companies to inform buyers each year about the terms and status of their mortgage insurance and give them the option to cancel when it was no longer required by law.

=> http://mortgage.need-to-know.net/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Milos_Pesic

How Does Insurance Work?

There are lots of different kinds of health insurance. Plan that cover medical services and prescription medicines, plans that cover dental expenses, disability insurance that replaces income lost due to extended illness or injury, long-term care, and so on. In the United States, people typically refer to the plans that cover medical expenses as "health insurance", and these plans are usually bought by employers and offered to employees as part of their compensation, or "benefits".

Health insurance plans are usually sold once, then renewed on an annual basis. So when a consumer buys health insurance (either directly or through an employer), the insurer agrees to pay for health expenses as long as the premiums are paid on time and the account is in good standing.

Health insurance plans come in two flavors: "Fee-for-Service" or "Managed Care". Both types of insurance cover major medical, surgical and hospital expenses, and are often referred to as "major medical plans". Fee-for-service plans pay the medical service provider a fee for each service provided to a patient, and that patient can usually go see whatever health care provider they wish. Managed care plans, on the other hand, pre-pay contracted providers for each member's coverage in advance. Members are offered a financial incentive to use providers who belong to the plan.

Here are a few common terms that you'll probably run into:

Deductible: This is the amount you must pay out-of-pocket before the insurer will pay anything. Deductibles can vary widely, ranging from $0 to a few thousand dollars.

Co-insurance amount: This is the percentage of your medical expenses you must pay after you reach your deductible. This will typically range from 10-30%.

Maximum out-of-pocket amount: This is maximum amount you are required to pay in a given year, after which the insurer will pay 100% of the cost of covered medical expenses.

Covered benefits: Types of medical services the insurer will pay for.

Exclusions: Types of medical services the insurer will not pay for.

Its true: there's a lot of jargon, and plans are difficult to evaluate and compare. But it's important, and worth your time. Carefully review plan descriptions, and take your time to understand the coverage of any plan you're currently under - or considering purchasing.

Kurt Stammberger is VP, Marketing at Healthia Inc. Healthia provides integrated comparison-shopping information on group health insurance and small business insurance plans [http://www.healthia.com], free tips and advice for selecting the best plans that suit your needs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kurt_Stammberger