Category: General Articles

HIPAA – 3 Certifications You Can Take

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has a very large number of laws dealing with different aspects of healthcare insurance and related issues. As the laws are amended and its base expands, it becomes difficult to understand its various provisions which can impede its use.

But now you can take a number of courses and get a certification after successfully completing the same. Like any other academic courses you will be required to complete the chosen course within a specific time frame and will also have to follow the additional rules of the particular institute or body at all times, or else your certification can be revoked.

Following are 3 HIPAA courses that you can apply for.

• Certified HIPAA Professional (CHP): CHP is a comprehensive course whose curriculum begins with an introduction to HIPAA and includes various technical and physical safeguards in addition to the measures to be taken from an administrative point of view. In addition to the standards laid down by HIPAA for proper Electronic Transaction, the course also comprises of advanced topics with respect to privacy and security. Administrative Simplification, transactions and code sets, security and privacy are the 4 areas that are emphasized in the CHP course which offers a good balance between getting an overview of the Act and going in detail to cover the key areas of the law.

• Certified Security Compliance Specialist (CSCS): CSCS will provide you with a substantial skill set with respect to security regulations and standards. The detailed curriculum covers security and compliance, digital healthcare, security for financial services, business continuity planning, cyber security strategy, and the U.S. Government requirements at the state and national levels as well as knowledge of relevant ISO standards. The course stresses on 5 key areas that in addition to the above curriculum includes a knowledge of International security standards besides National and state standards. Furthermore it encompasses Financial Regulations too. As you can see this course is much more detailed and advanced with a focus on security compliance.

• Certified HIPAA Administrator (CHA): The CHA course leans to the actual working side of HIPAA and can be extremely useful for healthcare provider employees like nurses and those doing administrative work at insurance companies and clearing houses. Besides introducing HIPAA the course covers the privacy topics in great detail. Administrative Simplification is of course one of the included areas of this course, the other one being the privacy angles because administrators are constantly required to handle sensitive personal data of patients and must know all aspects of its safety and disclosure.

There are other courses, too, with each one of them focussing on different aspects of HIPAA. You can select an online or in-class course depending on your learning style. Before taking up any course you must clarify the specific rules regarding timelines and how you can appear for a re-exam. The courses can not only help to increase your understanding about the extensive …

Some Reasons For Motor Insurance Rate Rises

According to the statistics it appears that we are seeing yet higher prices for our motor insurance. On almost any other service or product if there was an increase of 50% there would be a huge outcry. Yet, for some bizarre reason many motorists just hand over the requested premium.

‘Cash-for-crash’ fraudsters are being blamed for much of the rise in car insurance rates. This is where people stage crashes so they they can then make claims against the insurance company for injuries they might (or might not), have sustained.

Also being blamed is the compensation culture so common in the US. Personal injury lawyers with their motto ‘no win no fee’ are popping up all over the place. And nowadays a minor bruise can be worth a few hundred pounds if there is some slight psychological damage. And it seems that the UK is well into the insurance claim game when compared to other European countries where a dent in the wing is almost like a badge of honour and just part of everyday life.

The police can now seize uninsured motors, but much of the time the offender gets away with no real punishment when it reaches court. The criminal driver simply weighs up the cost of having insurance against not having any insurance and losing the car and paying a small fine. Although not in every case, the uninsured motorist often runs a banger of a car that is worth very little value.

Whatever the causes behind these jumps in insurance rates it usually pays to shop around and see if you can get a better premium than the one you are being asked to renew at. If you get a special introductory deal don’t expect the same next year from your present insurance company. Be prepared to haggle, your provider wants your business and is often prepared to match one you have found that is genuinely lower.

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Extra Life Settlement Brokers Aren’t Helpful

On occasion, consumers or advisers try to hedge their bets by utilizing multiple life settlement brokers simultaneously in the sale of an in force life insurance policy. However, life settlement brokers will often decline the business if they know they are the second or even third broker offered a potential case. The simple reason is that multiple life settlement brokers don’t serve anyone’s best interests.

A life settlement broker is by definition a fiduciary, who represents only the policy seller. They are a representative tasked with negotiating the best settlement price possible for their clients. The role is analogous to a real estate agent or an attorney that fights on behalf of their client to secure the most advantageous outcome. While counter intuitive in those situations to have multiple representatives, many policy sellers readily assume utilizing more than one life settlement broker will equate to a more lucrative sale of their life insurance policy. Unfortunately, the opposite is most likely true.

Policy sellers sometimes believe they are creating competition by submitting their policy through multiple brokers. However, the competition that ultimately drives the price of a policy is between the buyers, not the brokers representing the sellers.

Policy sellers also assume that different brokers will have access to different buyers. Therefore using more brokers equates to more potential funding sources. This is true, but to a very limited extent. Established life settlement brokers usually submit policies to the same overlapping group of institutional buyers. While each broker might have a few buyers that another might not, the benefit gained by using multiple brokers is minuscule compared with the complications the situation inherently creates.

As part of the life settlement process, brokers must first pay for records and underwriting services that are required by most prospective buyers. This capital outlay can sometimes exceed $1000 to third party vendors. When policy sellers hire multiple brokers, that expense is duplicated by all brokers involved with the policy, while only one will be able to generate revenue from the transaction. The cost of acquiring the requisite information for each case must ultimately get passed along in the form of broker commissions. The more unnecessary expenses that are incurred with a muddled case, the more a broker must collect in other cases that do close successfully.

If life settlement brokers are analogous to a seller’s agent in a real estate transaction, then life settlement providers are similar to a buyer’s agent. Once a case is received by a life settlement provider from a broker, that broker is assumed to be representing the seller. If the case is subsequently received from another broker, that broker’s submission is usually rejected. This is because a buyer wants to only deal with one party. If there are multiple brokers involved, the buyer is unsure of which party is actually representing the seller. Who should the buyer negotiate with? Who has the ability to speak for the seller? Multiple representatives unnecessarily confuse the transaction.…

American Insurance Company

America was very late to join in the insurance market. The reason behind this was the fear factor. Fear of a lot risk they already knew even more of them that they did not know but could assume. So it took time to form an American Insurance Company.

After the first American Insurance Company was shaped- up, it was not easy task for its staffs to convince folks to buy one. Although by this time their counterparts in other country, to be very specific in European countries such as England would find it easy to get people buy insurances. It was very hard a job for them.

Gradually the people of America came into terms with the idea of insuring. They took fancy to know about insurance policies. Also the policies started to become more and more customer friendly to catch maximum number of buyers. And once the market was build there was no looking back. A lot of new players came into , then there were lots of American Insurance Companies.

As the awareness among people over insurance grew, the insurance went on introducing newer types of insurances covering not yet covered area of insurance. Various American Insurance Companies flooded the market with various insurance products.

Earlier each company use to specialise in each field of insurance. Soon there was more than one provider in each and every field. And the companies started struggling for existence. Then the major players of every field started to merging with each other to provide with the customers with insurances giving them choices of covering wide types of area. That was the beginning of a new era in the history of American Insurance Companies.

Now, the Americans are the most conscious persons about insurance. So American Insurance Company covers the insurance fields taking right from life to health to house to car to business to bank account to pet. Even articles are under insurance coverage. And the list never stops. Americans are more often to come under insurance coverage to be tension free of any damage to oneself or their property or any other belongings. They want to keep their worries away, if any unwanted thing happens, the will not have to pay anything from their pocket. They will simply claim from insurance company.

Now, the American Insurance Companies not only doing their business in America, they have the whole World as their marketing area.…

Four Smart Ways To Get The Cheapest Travel Insurance

For some people, traveling has become a luxury that they cannot afford. This is due to the rising costs of products and services along with the past economic crunch that so many people are still recovering from. But the concept of budget traveling has allowed even the not-so-well-heeled to take trips around the world. One major component of budget traveling is buying a cheap travel insurance. A visitor’s health insurance after all is a primary need of any traveler regardless of his/her destination. To get the cheapest travel insurance, here are some practical tips that you would want to keep in mind.

Shop Around

Just like for any other product or service, shopping around has a multitude of benefits. The most important of which is that it would allow you to get access to the best deals possible. You will not only get the cheapest prices but more importantly, those that will give you the best value for your money. Shopping around has been made easy by the online market. In the internet, you will find many online comparison services such as and that allows you to traverse the entire market in your search for the best travel insurance deal. One of the most popular insurer online is the Visitor Insurance USA, which can give you comprehensive coverage for wherever your destination may be.

Get Multi-trip Travel Insurance

If you are regularly traveling abroad, it would save you a great amount of money to get a multi-trip travel insurance. It is like a wholesale bargain price for multiple travel insurance policies. Instead of spending much money on travel insurance every time you leave the country, you will only need to pay a one-time discounted price that will give you maximum savings.

Buy Family Holiday Insurance

If you are going to travel as a family, getting a family insurance is much cheaper than if you get separate insurance policies for each member of the family. Make sure that the policy you get covers all your family members collectively. Not only does this allow you to save money, it will also make things simpler. In the event of a medical emergency, making claims from the insurance company will be so much easier.

Get Insurance from Specialist Insurers

Getting insurance for the elderly or for people with pre-existing medical conditions can be difficult and expensive. But that is, if you rely on regular insurance companies. You do not need to spend extra big bucks if you go for specialist insurers that offer policies specifically designed for senior citizens and people with medical conditions. Make sure you research thoroughly about this if you are traveling with an elderly or with a person with medical condition. Use also online comparison sites for purchasing specialist insurance policies.

Travel insurance is an important part of any travel. Even though it may mean spending extra money, the expenditure will be worth it because it protects you from unfortunate events …

A Brief Introduction to Landlord Insurance

The insurance policy that provides protection to the investment of the landlord is termed as Landlords Insurance. This investment can be any building that is further given on rent for generation of income. The landlord can recover the loss by purchasing an insurance policy. The loss can be caused by any lawsuit or the loss of income by a tenant. All the losses are covered under insurance policy. The landlords are given compensation for any dispute related to legal fees if that landlord has purchased legal expenses as a part of the insurance coverage. The dispute can be between a tenant and a landlord. In case the property becomes inhabitable due to the damage caused to it, the costs of repair as well as the compensation to the landlord for the rental loss during the rebuilding can be recovered from the landlord insurance policy.

There are two types of insurance policies that a landlord can purchase – comprehensive policy and peril policy.

Peril policy – This policy covers only those specific losses that are stated as a covered peril in the policy. For instance, if there is a loss that has occurred due to power failure outside the building and is not listed in the policy, the landlord cannot claim its loss from the insurance company.

Comprehensive policy – It is also known as open peril policy which covers the losses those are not specifically mentioned. For instance, if there is any loss and the policy has not mentioned that particular loss specifically to be excluded, then a person can claim for the recovery of that loss from the insurance company.

There are various landlords insurance policies which include the coverage of the building and the damages caused by wind, hail, fire, smoke, lightening, explosion, damage from an aircraft, riot or civil commotion, damage by vehicles, emergency removal of property and fire department charges etc., but there are some of the insurance companies that limit the coverage to exteriors or interiors of the building which a person must evaluate very carefully before purchasing the policy.

As in the case of any other contracts, the terms and conditions mentioned in the contract of the landlords insurance policy must be read very carefully by any individual and signed carefully in order to avoid any kind of misunderstandings or inconvenience afterward during the claim of any loss incurred. A person should have a clear idea of the coverage of the losses being provided under that particular insurance policy.

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Safeguarding Records: Protect All Documents

Did you ever think about how to recover once a natural disaster strikes? Have you thought about what kinds of documents would be beneficial to have safeguarded for emergencies? Whether you may live in an area susceptible to tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes or hazardous fires you will want to have important documents protected.

What kinds of documents would this pertain to?

The IRS would like for all taxpayers to keep returns forever, but a good number to follow would be for seven years. These documents should be kept in two forms and in different safe keeping storage places. Your paper returns should be kept in a file and easily accessible. Transfer your paper returns to an electronic storage device as your second copy. Returns can be scanned and saved onto an electronic storage device, CD, DVD, or flash drive. Keep them available to grab if you need to leave in an emergency, or better yet have copies stored outside of your home. If you have made electronic copies, they are small enough to fit in a bank safety deposit box or purchase a small lock box you can store in a family member’s home.

Bank records are easily stored electronically. If you do not use online banking, you can scan paper copies and save them. Online banking provides statements which are easily stored.

Insurance policies are important enough to scan and make copies as well. Any legal documentation which you would need in the aftermath of a disaster would be beneficial to backup and store separately. When your home has been destroyed, you will want to make your claims as soon as possible. Making claims with insurance companies takes time and if you have everything ready in a safe place, your recovery time will be lessened.

You will want to take pictures or videotape items throughout your home and keep them in two different places as well. Thanks to digital cameras and video equipment, keeping this type of documentation stored electronically is a breeze. If your home is destroyed, you will want visual proof of the items for insurance and casualty loss claims. The market value of the items will be more easily proved with the photographic record.

When you set out to document everything and get it electronically backed up, it will be a bit of a time investment. Updating will be simple. Having easy access to the items as you leave your home during an emergency needs to be part of a well set plan. Review emergency plans with your family a few times a year, more often if you have young children. Your place of business should review yearly and update with any changes. Since you may not be at home when a natural disaster strikes, it is a good strategy to have copies of these items located elsewhere.

Take the time now to save the important documents now so when a disaster happens or an IRS audit presents itself, you will have …

Rescue Your Auto Insurance Quotes – Report Insurance Fraud

While we’d love to think the best of the people around us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the bottom line is that insurance fraud is running rampant-and it’s innocent drivers that are paying the price. If you want to keep frauds, scammers and con artists from ruining the low prices you find on your auto insurance quotes, it’s important to do your part in preventing insurance fraud.

Report it.

You see, when an insurance company has to pay out a claim born in insurance fraud, everyone loses. Why? Because the company’s paying for something it shouldn’t have to pay for, and because they’re paying out more to cover their losses all of the rest of their customers are going to be looking at a hike in their insurance rates. A study done by the state of California shows that insurance fraud is the second most expensive crime in the United States, only topped by following in the footsteps of Al Capone and using tax evasion to find yourself on the wrong side of the IRS.

Do you really want to pay for someone else’s criminal misconduct? Of course you don’t. None of us do. Especially when all you’re really doing is lining their pockets while they walk away with the proceeds! The best thing you can do to stop fraud from completely annihilating your auto insurance quotes is to turn the perpetrators in as soon as you know what’s going on.

It can be very, very difficult to accuse someone of fraud, especially because if you’re finding out about it firsthand it’s probably someone close. A mother, perhaps. A brother. A friend. An ex. A boss. Your sister’s second cousin’s brother, twice removed. There’s no rhyme or reason to the white collar criminal element, especially when it comes to insurance fraud.

The good news is, all you have to do is put the bug in the insurance investigator’s ear. If you suspect insurance fraud, pick up the phone and call the insurance company. In most cases it can be a completely anonymous process. Insurance companies understand. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to admit you suspect someone is committing fraud, and the long-term consequences of that suspicion can be devastating if the accused finds out who it is that’s pointing the finger.

Most states sponsor fraud agencies designed to investigate suspected insurance scams. All you have to do is pick up the phone, then duck quietly out of the picture. The investigator (and time) will take care of the rest.

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Get Car Insurance Quotes Safely

It is impossible to live life without insurance. We all need to insure the items we have worked so hard to acquire. Having adequate insurance cover is a way to help us sleep peacefully at night. Modern life is hectic and stressful. Knowing that you will be compensated if anything goes wrong with your valuable assets is one of the best stress relievers.

If you have a car then you know that in the US it is a law that you must get car insurance. Quotes for insuring your vehicle is readily available and the first step in getting sufficient coverage. There are still drivers who are under the impression they have to meet with an insurance company representative face to face. Most have heard about online quotes but they feel uneasy using this service.

There is no need to be suspicious of online quotes. This is the fastest growing means of drivers getting their quotes. The reason this method is so safe is because there are websites that are specifically designed for this very purpose. Think of it as a service that has come about due to the high level of advancement in technology. It is also a service that is offered due to insurance companies wanting to provide potential clients with the easiest way to get a quote. They know you have to get car insurance quotes and they know they have to ensure that you get them safely.

All it requires of you is to get online and request a quote. You will be provided with a list of quotes from reputable insurance companies. This information is available to you within minutes. Not only are you provided with quotes but they will be from location relevant insurers. Don’t hesitate to get car insurance quotes the safe way.

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