Month: February 2023

The Impact of an Accident on Your Insurance

Auto insurance is mandatory in 48 of the 50 states. This is to prevent accidents from occurring which result in unpaid repair and medical bills. There is a relatively complex equation auto insurance companies use to calculate your bill, which includes age, driving experience, driving record, and more. Below, I’ll outline some of the components which will affect your bill, and what happens to your premium if you are involved in an accident.

Your bill is a combination of the following things, in a rough order of importance: driving history/record, accidents, age, financial status, and bonuses/discounts. The most important factor is obviously how you’re known to drive. Even if you’re in your forties, considered an age by which a driver is mature enough to drive sensibly, if you have a long history of tickets and accidents your premium will be sky high. By contrast, if you’re only twenty five but have had no accidents or tickets in your lifetime, you will most likely have a comparatively low premium. Every insurance company is different, but having more than one ticket in a year period will probably raise your premium, and every accident within 5 years will definitely impact you negatively.

What is the premium increase? Unfortunately it’s hard to say. It will depend on how much the insurance company had to pay out on your last accident. If it was determined by the company or police that the accident was your fault, the rate will rise as well. Being t-boned at an intersection in a Honda Civic will have a far different impact on your premium than slamming your Mercedes into a wall at seventy miles per hour. Mitigating circumstances can also include time of day, the other driver’s record and inebriation, or other factors.

One important way to keep your premiums from rising if you’re involved in an accident is to hire an accident attorney as soon as you are able to. An accident lawyer will coordinate with all involved parties while you recuperate or focus on travel arrangements while your car is being fixed. They can speak to your insurance company as well as “the other guy’s” and negotiate a settlement as well as the impact on you. You may be able to negotiate a settlement on your end in return for your premiums not rising. If you’re struck or have the bad luck to strike someone else with your vehicle, your first step must to contact a car accident lawyer.…

3 Great Benefits of Term Insurance

Term insurance has a lot of benefits if you ask me. But three things probably top the list:

1.Affordability – this kind of plan doesn’t involve shelling out a huge sum of money in comparison with whole life insurance or other variable plans. Actually, they won’t even hurt your wallet or credit card if you get one as the price quotes are very low, for the start-up coverages.

2. Flexibility and Ease – just like whole life insurance, most companies allow you to settle your payments with them on either of four ways (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually). Most people go for the annual or once a year option because again, the payments (or premiums as they are more often called) are manageable. I would love to give you a quote, but you are far better off checking with your local insurance firms and see for yourself the striking difference term insurance has over the other products. they will give you more or less accurate estimates on your case, as the amount varies on certain factors.

3. Maximum Protection, Minimal Cost. – compare a $100,000 whole life / variable life policy and a term policy with that same amount. Look at the premium you will be paying for. You’d be surprised of the big difference. The reason is the first kind of policy earns interest and builds up cash value, which you can use at a later date (just like a bank but only much better in terms of investment), while term insurance does not; hence, it doesn’t need a higher amount in premium.

It’s best to review your goals with your agent or broker when getting the best kind of coverage for your and your family. There are benefits of other types of insurances of course, but if maximum protection is your objective or one of your objectives (e.g. father of many children and dependents), then you just can’t live without term insurance.…

Medical Billing Software Plans

Medical billing software is useful to organize submissions to insurance companies in order to receive fees for medical services provided. It is not required by law, but medical billers are encouraged to become certified by taking a particular exam in order to be better prepared in the process of billing insurance companies. The process of medical billing can take several days to several weeks. The health care provider is contracted with insurance companies to dispense health care and keep medical records up to date for the insurance company.

The patient records include not only a medical treatment summary and plans, but demographic information, home address, phone numbers, policy numbers, social security number and diagnosis. The records define the cause, treatment, diagnosis and prognosis for future treatment of the patient. All the information in the patient records is highly confidential, but necessary for the insurance company to decide if the medical services supplied is appropriate for the patient and the dollar amount billed.

The actual claim to the insurance company is coded by the medical biller, then the claim is transmitted electronically to the insurance company. Automated Recognition Software, also known as OCR software is one of the types of medical billing software used to process the paperwork for a claim. If the medical claim is for an extremely high payment, the insurance company has claims adjusters and medical directors to examine the information and assess the patient diagnosis, treatment options and medical necessity. If the claim is approved, the medical professional will be paid a partial sum of the amount billed. This is always predetermined between the medical office and the insurance company. If the claim is denied, it may be resubmitted with additional information or corrections to again attempt reimbursement from the insurance company. Denied claims may usually be corrected and resubmitted for consideration, then paid. However, a rejected claim will not be processed because of false or incorrect information. These claims must be researched, the errors corrected and the claim submitted again.

The codes that correspond with the medical information can be complicated, using the precise codes corresponding to the diagnosis and information about the claim must be exact in order for the medical provider to be paid. Medical billing software can be used to begin the process of making a claim by verifying the eligibility of the patient for the plan of services. This saves time and confirms the patient is covered by insurance. The insurance company will then acknowledge this information and begin processing the claim.

Several top medical billing software companies have been reviewed by professionals and graded for ease of use, quality and accuracy. One of those companies is MediTouch, furnishing electronic health records ( also known as EHR) offering a touchscreen and web based interface. The system can be configured for personal style and preferences. There is a monthly fee which includes customer support, instruction and prep. Advanced MDEHR Software is another highly praised company for their functional, easily …

How to Prevent Your Cat From Being Poisoned With Antifreeze!

Antifreeze can be deadly for your cat, however, there are eight ways to keep your cat from ingesting antifreeze. Learn what symptoms your cat will display if it drinks some antifreeze. Find out what various states are trying to do to eliminate the problem.

Antifreeze:

Antifreeze is very important to any car or truck but it can be deadly to your cat. There are two types of antifreeze:

Most major brands of antifreeze contain Ethylene glycol which has a sweet taste and an inviting smell. Because of its sweet flavor and smell is attracts many small animals to drink it. It only takes a small amount, usually around a tablespoon or two to cause the cat serious problems that often lead to the cats death.

There is a brand of antifreeze that contains Propylene glycol which while still toxic to cats is less toxic than Ethylene glycol. This brand of antifreeze has a bitter taste which tends to keep animals from ingesting as much of it.

Prevention:

The major way you can prevent your cat from getting poisoned by drinking antifreeze is by simply using common sense and doing the following:

*Keep your cat away from driveways, garages, rode ways or any other places where it might come into contact with antifreeze.

*Keep your cat away from your vehicle particularly when you are flushing your radiator or adding antifreeze.

*Clean up any spilled antifreeze immediately.

*Monitor your vehicle to make sure you have no antifreeze leaks.

*Do not store antifreeze in an open container. If you do you are just inviting any cat that wanders by to have a gulp.

*By a brand of antifreeze that contains propylene glycol. It is still toxic but the possibility of your cat drinking some of it is reduced.

*Keep your cat away from any other products that contain either propylene glycol or ethylene glycol like paint or cosmetics or any products that you do not know what the ingredients are.

Symptoms of antifreeze poison:

In the 1st 1/2 hour to 1 hour your cat will appear groggy, uncoordinated, lethargic or disorientated. This phase may last several hours. The quicker you get your cat to the vet after your recognize these symptoms especially if you have been working with antifreeze, the better your cats chances are of recovery.

2nd to 3rd day – there will be a great deal of vomiting, oral and gastric ulcers, kidney failure, coma and death. If you have not gotten your cat to the vet by the 2nd day then the chances for recovery are very slim.

State actions:

The following states have passed legislation making it mandatory that antifreeze producers add a bitter agent to their ethylene glycol antifreeze: Oregon, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Tennessee and Maine. Other states have tried to pass similar legislation but have been blocked by special interest.

While antifreeze can be deadly to your cat if you follow the eight steps to prevent …

The Myths and Realities of Property Insurance

The ins and outs of personal property insurance doesn’t need to be as clear as mud. Unfortunately, most policies are about as easy to read ancient Aramaic with a grade school English education. You almost need to be a lawyer in order to wade through it all, but here are some myths and realities for you to help you make it a little easier to understand, especially in terms of why you need to take an inventory of your belongings:

MYTH: I have personal property insurance to cover everything. I don’t need to count it all.

REALITY: You are required, by the insurance company, to document everything you own and provide proof (like photos) for those things you own.

MYTH: If anything goes wrong, my personal property insurance will pay out the amount my policy is worth.

REALITY: If your policy is worth $100,000 and you own $75,000 worth of stuff, the most you will get paid out is $75,000. If you don’t inventory exactly what you have, they will only pay out the bare minimum for everything. For instance, they’ll pay out for one TV whether you have 3 or not, and so on.

MYTH: If anything happens, I can just replace all of my jewelry.

REALITY: While you might own $10,000 in jewelry, you really should read the fine print on your contents insurance. Many insurers have a cap on items like this of about $2500 per policy for all of your pieces, not per piece.

MYTH: I don’t have anything worth the fuss of an inventory.

REALITY: Most people only think of their “valuable” items when asked to inventory. They forget how much all their clothing, appliances, kitchen items, and so on will cost to replace. Your kitchen, including appliances, could cost $2000 or more to replace.

MYTH: I will be able to remember what I have after.

REALITY: If you thought that your stuff wasn’t worth inventorying because you figured your belongings aren’t worth much, then obviously thinking you can remember everything you had after a disaster is silly. Even if you could remember it all, keep in mind that what you don’t have listed won’t get paid for. If you own a $1700 gaming laptop and don’t have it documented, you might get paid out $500 for a basic desktop computer.

I might not be an insurance agent, but I have been close to a disaster in the past with an uncle. He said that, when his house burned down, you never realize how much stuff you actually have until it comes time to replace it. He and his wife hadn’t done an inventory and found that the basic amounts paid out by the personal property insurance company didn’t cover all they had to replace and unfortunately this is a common thing. Get your insurance agent to go over all this stuff in your policy and if they don’t have time for you, then get yourself a new …