20 Year Term Life Insurance Probably The Best Term Policy

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One of the most popular life insurance policies is the 20 year term life insurance policy. The purchaser of the policy usually pays a level premium for the first 10 years. In some cases the premiums remain level and at the same rate for the entire 20 year period, however, some companies increase the premiums starting in year 11 and they remain level for the balance of the 20 year term. The 20 year term life insurance policy earns no cash values and there, therefore, are no dividends.

• 20 year term life insuranceThis type of life insurance policy may be totally or partially converted to a permanent policy at any time during it's lifetime without having to prove that you can qualify for it, that is without having to do a medical examination.
  
  
  There are several uses for 20 year term insurance. You may use it to pay off a mortgage in the event of premature death. In this case...let us assume you have a mortgage balance of $100,000. You buy a policy for the entire $100,000. Let us assume you die years later when the balance owed is only $60,000. The insurance company pays off the mortgage and the $40,000 balance goes to your named beneficiary.
  
  
  
  This is a good policy for a young family to start off with because it is fairly inexpensive. Young married people need to accumulate as much cash as possible as quickly as possible. They may need to save for an upcoming baby, or, may be, for the down payment on a house. They need an inexpensive life insurance policy for family protection. They can, thereafter, put their noses to the grindstone and save as much as they can in their bank accounts...with their aforementioned goals in mind.
  Business people find this 20 year term policy very useful. You just started your business, you are reinvesting every dollar that you can put your hands on in your business. You need the least expensive life insurance to cover shareholders in the event of premature death. This 20 year term life insurance policy is ideal for the situation.

Sunday, February 20, 2011 by Toolib · 0 komentar

10 Year Term Life Insurance Policy In All It's Glory

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If you are looking for inexpensive life insurance may be the 10 year term life insurance policy would fit your need perfectly. This is life insurance in its simplest form. The 10 year term life insurance policy contains a guaranteed death benefit from the outset and a guaranteed level premium. After the initial 10 years some life insurance companies allow you to renew the policy for an additional 10 years at an increased premium. This 10 year term policy provides you with ample insurance for small outlay over a fairly short period of time.

• Policy Death Benefit If you are the proud owner of a 10 year term life policy and if you should die within 10 years of your ownership of this policy the full face amount is paid to your beneficiary, either in a lump sum or in the form of a monthly income. The monthly income may take one of several different income options. You may choose to take a life income with no certain period. After the beneficiary begins receiving the income if s/he should die suddenly that would be the end of the income. No one would get anything more from that 10 year term life insurance policy. It does not matter if the income is paid only for one month. There are other options that would assure you, however, that your beneficiaries would receive more of a pay out.
  
  You could choose to pay them a life income for a 10 or 20 year certain period. This would guarantee that the income is paid for 10 or 20 years respectively. You could choose a fixed period option which would guarantee that the income is paid out for a fixed period, example 20 years or you could use the interest option, which would keep your principal in tact and pay only interest to beneficiaries for a specific period of years. At the end of this period the principal would be paid.
  
• Term Insurance Conversion Privilege Most term insurance policies have built in a conversion privilege. The 10 year term life insurance policy is no exception. This is because term insurance is temporary insurance and people usually have a need for permanent for life insurance. You can convert your policy usually to any permanent policy within a specific period of time. Some companies limit your conversion period to 8 years, whereas others may allow the policy owner the full 10 years.
  
• Available Riders To Your Policy There are certain riders that you can add to your 10 year term life insurance policy which would tremendously increase it's value to yourself and your beneficiaries. You may add the waiver of premium disability rider. If you should become disabled, anytime after 6 months of disability, the life insurance company will pay your premiums for you even if it is for the entire duration of the policy. Now, isn't that just great?
  Another rider that you can add to your 10 year term life insurance policy is the accidental death benefit rider. This is sometimes referred as the double indemnity rider. If you should die in an accident the life insurance company will pay double the death benefit to your beneficiaries.
  
• Minimums And Maximums There are certain minimum and maximum amounts of 10 year term life insurance that insurance companies will be prepared to issue on an applicants life. This may vary by age and medical history. Some companies may be prepared to issue between $20,000 and $1,000,000, others may start at 100,000 and go as high as $10,000,000 or $20,000,000.
  
• Living Benefit Riders The aids virus brought about a fairly new idea which many life insurance companies have adopted. Because of a tremendous need for additional cash terminally ill people may sell their policy to investors for a percentage of its value. As an alternative you can add a rider to your 10 year term life insurance policy which would allow you to withdraw a portion of your death benefit during your lifetime. This is called a living benefit rider. It would serve to ease the pressure on the terminally ill and their families.
  
• Spouse And Child Term Riders Many insurance companies offer the opportunity for you to add to your 10 year term life insurance policy...a comparatively small term life insurance rider on the life of your spouse and children. These riders are usually 5 year term or 10 year term riders which work out to be less expensive than had the policies been bought separately.

That is basically how your 10 year term life insurance policy would work for you.

by Toolib · 0 komentar

5 Year Term Life Insurance Policy Or Rider

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The 5 year term life insurance policy has been around in insurance circles for a very long time. It can be sold as a policy or as a rider to a permanent life insurance policy. It was never promoted much by life insurance agents perhaps because of it's extremely low premium which results in a very low commission. Another consideration is that 5 years is a very short period of time for ownership of a life insurance policy. The 5 year term life insurance policy is worth a little of your attention. It is a good policy...depending on your need.

• Why A 5 Year Term Life Insurance Policy? 5 year term life does have it's place in the portfolios of many life insurance buyers and can fulfill a very important need. If you have a short term need for life insurance then this type of insurance may be for you. If you find it necessary to take out a loan for a short period of time a five year term life insurance policy on your life can assure the lender that if you should die before the loan is repaid they will get back their money...
  Certainly that is a good reason to buy this type of insurance. You may take the loan to pay for a college education either for yourself or a child or grandchild.
  The face amount of the 5 year term life insurance policy remains level for the duration and so does the premium. Even though it is initially taken out for 5 years some companies allow you to continue beyond the initial 5 year period at a higher premium. The death benefit is more often than not free of income taxes. You may convert your policy to permanent insurance in the future.
  
• Waiver Of Premium Rider It may be wise to add a waiver of premium rider to your 5 year term life insurance policy. If you should become disabled...anytime after 6 months of disability...the life insurance company will take over the payment of your premiums for you, even if it is for the rest of your life. Think about it for a moment...
  Do you realize that people become temporarily disabled an average of about 5 times during their lifetime. If you become disabled for at least 6 months with most companies they will pay your 5 year term life insurance premium for you...even if your disability lasts for the rest of your life. Now isn't that amazing? If and whenever you return to work you pick up the premiums from that point...you owe the life insurance nothing for the unpaid premiums.
  
• Accidental Death Benefit Or Double Indemnity Rider The famous double indemnity rider can also be attached to your 5 year term life insurance policy. If you should die in an accident the life insurance company will pay to your beneficiary twice the face amount of your policy. Let us suppose you bought a $500,000 5 year term life insurance policy with one unit of accidental death benefit for each $1,000 of your policy and you died in an accident. The life insurance company would pay $1,000,000 to your family. That would be just beautiful, wouldn't it?

by Toolib · 0 komentar

Understand COBRA for Health Insurance

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What Is COBRA Continuation Coverage?

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) requires most group health plans to provide a temporary continuation of group health coverage that otherwise might be terminated.
COBRA requires continuation coverage to be offered to covered employees, their spouses, their former spouses, and their dependent children when group health coverage would otherwise be lost due to certain specific events. Those events include the death of a covered employee, termination or reduction in the hours of a covered employee’s employment for reasons other than gross misconduct, divorce, or legal separation from a covered employee, a covered employee’s becoming entitled to Medicare, and a child’s loss of dependent status (and therefore coverage) under the plan.
Employers may require individuals who elect continuation coverage to pay the full cost of the coverage, plus a 2 percent administrative charge. The required payment for continuation coverage is often more expensive than the amount that active employees are required to pay for group health coverage, since the employer usually pays part of the cost of employees’ coverage and all of that cost can be charged to the individuals receiving continuation coverage. The COBRA payment is ordinarily less expensive, though, than individual health coverage. While COBRA continuation coverage must be offered, it lasts only for a limited period of time. This booklet will discuss all of these provisions in more detail.
COBRA generally applies to all group health plans maintained by private-sector employers (with at least 20 employees) or by state and local governments. The law does not apply, however, to plans sponsored by the Federal government or by churches and certain church-related organizations.
Under COBRA, a group health plan is any arrangement that an employer establishes or maintains to provide employees or their families with medical care, whether it is provided through insurance, by a health maintenance organization, out of the employer’s assets on a pay-as-you-go basis, or otherwise. “Medical care” for this purpose includes:

• Inpatient and outpatient hospital care;
• Physician care;
• Surgery and other major medical benefits;
• Prescription drugs;
• Dental and vision care.

Life insurance is not considered “medical care,” nor are disability benefits; and COBRA does not cover plans that provide only life insurance or disability benefits.
Group health plans covered by COBRA that are sponsored by private-sector employers generally are governed by ERISA. ERISA does not require employers to establish plans or to provide any particular type or level of benefits, but it does require plans to comply with ERISA’s rules. ERISA gives participants and beneficiaries rights that are enforceable in court.

Alternatives to COBRA Continuation Coverage

If you become entitled to elect COBRA continuation coverage when you otherwise would lose group health coverage under a group health plan, you should consider all options you may have to get other health coverage before you make your decision. One option may be “special enrollment” into other group health coverage.
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), if you or your dependents are losing eligibility for group health coverage, including eligibility for continuation coverage, you may have a right to special enroll (enroll without waiting until the next open season for enrollment) in other group health coverage. For example, an employee losing eligibility for group health coverage may be able to special enroll in a spouse’s plan. A dependent losing eligibility for group health coverage may be able to enroll in a different parent’s group health plan. To have a special enrollment opportunity, you or your dependent must have had other health coverage when you previously declined coverage in the plan in which you now want to enroll. To special enroll, you or your dependent must request special enrollment within 30 days of the loss of other coverage.
If you or your dependent chooses to elect COBRA continuation coverage instead of special enrollment, you will have another opportunity to request special enrollment once you have exhausted your continuation coverage. In order to exhaust COBRA continuation coverage, you or your dependent must receive the maximum period of continuation coverage available without early termination. You must request special enrollment within 30 days of the loss of continuation coverage.
Another option may be to buy an individual health insurance policy. HIPAA gives individuals who are losing group health coverage and who have at least 18 months of creditable coverage without a break in coverage of 63 days or more the right to buy individual health insurance coverage that does not impose a preexisting condition exclusion period. For this purpose, most health coverage, including COBRA continuation coverage, is creditable coverage. These special rights may not be available to you if you do not elect and receive continuation coverage. For more information on your right to buy individual health insurance coverage, contact your state department of insurance.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011 by Toolib · 0 komentar

How to File a Claim for Health or Disability Benefits

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Becoming disabled is one of the most difficult life changing experiences. Understanding how to claim benefits is very important to0 ensure your health or disability payments are made.
If you participate in a health plan or a plan that provides disability benefits, you will want to know how to file a claim for your benefits. The steps outlined below describe some of your plan’s obligations and briefly explain the procedures and timelines for filing a health or disability benefits claim.
Before you file, however, be aware of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), a law that protects your health and disability benefits and sets standards for those who administer your plan. Among other things, the law and rules issued by the Department of Labor include requirements for the processing of benefit claims, the timeline for a decision when you file a claim, and your rights when a claim is denied.
You should know that ERISA does not cover some employee benefit plans (such as those sponsored by government entities and most churches). If, however, you are one of the millions of participants and beneficiaries who depend on health or disability benefits from a private-sector employment-based plan, take a few minutes and read on to learn more.

Reviewing The Summary Plan Description

A key document related to your plan is the summary plan description (SPD). The SPD provides a detailed overview of the plan – how it works, what benefits it provides, and how to file a claim for benefits. It also describes your rights as well as your responsibilities under ERISA and your plan. For some single-employer collectively bargained plans, you should also check the collective bargaining agreement’s claim filing, grievance, and appeal procedures as they may apply to claims for health and disability benefits.
Before you apply for health or disability benefits, review the SPD to make sure you meet the plan’s requirements and understand the procedures for filing a claim. Sometimes claims procedures are contained in a separate booklet that is handed out with your SPD. If you do not have a copy of your plan’s SPD or claims procedures, make a written request for one or both to your plan’s administrator. Your plan administrator is required to provide you with a copy.

Filing A Claim

An important first step is to check your SPD to make sure you meet your plan’s requirements to receive benefits. Your plan might say, for example, that a waiting period must pass before you can enroll and receive benefits or that a dependent is not covered after a certain age. Also, be aware of what your plan requires to file a claim. The SPD or claims procedure booklet must including information on where to file, what to file, and whom to contact if you have questions about your plan, such as the process for providing a required pre-approval for health benefits. Plans cannot charge any filing fees or costs for filing claims and appeals.
If, for any reason, that information is not in the SPD or claims procedure booklet, write your plan administrator, your employer’s human resource department (or the office that normally handles claims), or your employer to notify them that you have a claim. Keep a copy of the letter for your records. You may also want to send the letter by certified mail, return receipt requested, so you will have a record that the letter was received and by whom.
If it is not you, but an authorized representative who is filing the claim, that person should refer to the SPD and follow your plan’s claims procedure. Your plan may require you to complete a form to name the representative. If it is an emergency situation, the treating physician can automatically become your authorized representative without you having to complete a form
When a claim is filed, be sure to keep a copy for your records.

Types Of Claims

All health and disability benefit claims must be decided within a specific time limit, depending on the type of claim filed.
Group health claims are divided into three types: urgent care, pre-service and post-service claims, with the type of claim determining how quickly a decision must be made. The plan must decide what type of claim it is except when a physician determines that the urgent care is needed.
Urgent care claims are a special kind of pre-service claim that requires a quicker decision because your health would be threatened if the plan took the normal time permitted to decide a pre-service claim. If a physician with knowledge of your medical condition tells the plan that a pre-service claim is urgent, the plan must treat it as an urgent care claim.
Pre-service claims are requests for approval that the plan requires you to obtain before you get medical care, such as preauthorization or a decision on whether a treatment or procedure is medically necessary.
Post-service claims are all other claims for benefits under your group health plan, including claims after medical services have been provided, such as requests for reimbursement or payment of the costs of the services provided. Most claims for group health benefits are post-service claims.
Disability claims are requests for benefits where the plan must make a determination of disability to decide the claim.

Waiting For A Decision On Your Claim

As noted, ERISA sets specific periods of time for plans to evaluate your claim and inform you of the decision. The time limits are counted in calendar days, so weekends and holidays are included. These limits do not govern when the benefits must be paid or provided. If you are entitled to benefits, check your SPD for how and when benefits are paid. Plans are required to pay or provide benefits within a reasonable time after a claim is approved. Urgent care claims must be decided as soon as possible, taking into account the medical needs of the patient, but no later than 72 hours after the plan receives the claim. The plan must tell you within 24 hours if more information is needed; you will have no less than 48 hours to respond. Then the plan must decide the claim within 48 hours after the missing information is supplied or the time to supply it has elapsed. The plan cannot extend the time to make the initial decision without your consent. The plan must give you notice that your claim has been granted or denied before the end of the time allotted for the decision. The plan can notify you orally of the benefit determination so long as a written notification is furnished to you no later than three days after the oral notification.
Pre-service claims must be decided within a reasonable period of time appropriate to the medical circumstances, but no later than 15 days after the plan has received the claim. The plan may extend the time period up to an additional 15 days if, for reasons beyond the plan’s control, the decision cannot be made within the first 15 days. The plan administrator must notify you prior to the expiration of the first 15-day period, explaining the reason for the delay, requesting any additional information, and advising you when the plan expects to make the decision. If more information is requested, you have at least 45 days to supply it. The plan then must decide the claim no later than 15 days after you supply the additional information or after the period of time allowed to supply it ends, whichever comes first. If the plan wants more time, the plan needs your consent. The plan must give you written notice that your claim has been granted or denied before the end of the time allotted for the decision.
Post-service health claims must be decided within a reasonable period of time, but not later than 30 days after the plan has received the claim. If, because of reasons beyond the plan’s control, more time is needed to review your request, the plan may extend the time period up to an additional 15 days. However, the plan administrator has to let you know before the end of the first 30-day period, explaining the reason for the delay, requesting any additional information needed, and advising you when a final decision is expected. If more information is requested, you have at least 45 days to supply it. The claim then must be decided no later than 15 days after you supply the additional information or the period of time given by the plan to do so ends, whichever comes first. The plan needs your consent if it wants more time after its first extension. The plan must give you notice that your claim has been denied in whole or in part (paying less than 100% of the claim) before the end of the time allotted for the decision.
Disability claims must be decided within a reasonable period of time, but not later than 45 days after the plan has received the claim. If, because of reasons beyond the plan’s control, more time is needed to review your request, the plan can extend the timeframe up to 30 days. The plan must tell you prior to the end of the first 45-day period that additional time is needed, explaining why, any unresolved issues and additional information needed, and when the plan expects to render a final decision. If more information is requested during either extension period, you will have at least 45 days to supply it. The claim then must be decided no later than 30 days after you supply the additional information or the period of time given by the plan to do so ends, whichever comes first. The plan administrator may extend the time period for up to another 30 days as long as it notifies you before the first extension expires. For any additional extensions, the plan needs your consent. The plan must give you notice whether your claim has been denied before the end of the time allotted for the decision.
If your claim is denied, the plan administrator must send you a notice, either in writing or electronically, with a detailed explanation of why your claim was denied and a description of the appeal process. In addition, the plan must include the plan rules, guidelines, protocols, or exclusions (such as medical necessity or experimental treatment) used in the decision or provide you with instructions on how you can request a copy from the plan. The notice may also include a specific request for you to provide the plan with additional information in case you wish to appeal your denial.

Appealing A Denied Claim

Claims are denied for various reasons. Perhaps the services you received are not covered by your plan. Or, perhaps the plan simply needs more information about your claim. Whatever the reason, you have at least 180 days to file an appeal (check your SPD or claims procedure to see if your plan provides a longer period).
Use the information in your claim denial notice in preparing your appeal. You should also be aware that the plan must provide claimants, on request and free of charge, copies of documents, records, and other information relevant to the claim for benefits. The plan also must identify, on your request, any medical or vocational expert whose advice was obtained by the plan. Be sure to include in your appeal all information related to your claim, particularly any additional information or evidence that you want the plan to consider, and get it to the person specified in the denial notice before the end of the 180-day period.

Reviewing An Appeal

On appeal, your claim must be reviewed by someone new who looks at all of the information submitted and consults with qualified medical professionals if a medical judgment is involved. This reviewer cannot be a subordinate of the person who made the initial decision and must give no consideration to that decision.
Plans have specific periods of time within which to review your appeal, depending on the type of claim.
Urgent care claims must be reviewed as soon as possible, taking into account the medical needs of the patient, but not later than 72 hours after the plan receives your request to review a denied claim.
Pre-service claims must be reviewed within a reasonable period of time appropriate to the medical circumstances, but not later than 30 days after the plan receives your request to review a denied claim.
Post-service claims must be reviewed within a reasonable period of time, but not later than 60 days after the plan receives your request to review a denied claim.
If a group health plan needs more time, the plan must get your consent. If you do not agree to more time, the plan must complete the review within the permitted time limit.
Disability claims must be reviewed within a reasonable period of time, but not later than 45 days after the plan receives your request to review a denied claim. If the plan determines special circumstances exist and an extension is needed, the plan may take up to an additional 45 days to decide the appeal. However, before taking the extension, the plan must notify you in writing during the first 45-day period explaining the special circumstances, and the date by which the plan expects to make the decision.
There are two exceptions to these time limits. In general, single-employer collectively bargained plans may use a collectively bargained grievance process for their claims appeal procedure if it has provisions on filing, determination, and review of benefit claims. Multi-employer collectively bargained plans are given special timeframes to allow them to schedule reviews on appeal of post-service claims and disability claims for the regular quarterly meetings of their boards of trustees. If you are a participant in one of those plans and you have questions about your plan’s procedures, you can consult your plan’s SPD or contact the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) at the phone number below.
Plans can require you to go through two levels of review of a denied health or disability claim to finish the plan’s claims process. If two levels of review are required, the maximum time for each review generally is half of the time limit permitted for one review. For example, in the case of a group health plan with one appeal level, as noted above, the review of a pre-service claim must be completed within a reasonable period of time appropriate to the medical circumstances but no later than 30 days after the plan gets your appeal. If the plan requires two appeals, each review must be completed within 15 days for pre-service claims. If your claim on appeal is still denied after the first review, the plan has to allow you a reasonable period of time (but not a full 180 days) to file for the second review.
Once the final decision on your claim is made, the plan must send you a written explanation of the decision. The notice must be in plain language that can be understood by participants in the plan. It must include all the specific reasons for the denial of your claim on appeal, refer you to the plan provisions on which the decision is based, tell you if the plan has any additional voluntary levels of appeal, explain your right to receive documents that are relevant to your benefit claim free of charge, and describe your rights to seek judicial review of the plan’s decision.

If Your Appeal Is Denied

If the plan’s final decision denies your claim, you may want to seek legal advice regarding your rights to bring an action in court to challenge the denial. Normally, you must complete your plan’s claim process before filing an action in court to challenge the denial of a claim for benefits. However, if you believe your plan failed to establish or follow a claims procedure consistent with the Department’s rules described in this booklet, you may want to seek legal advice regarding your right to ask a court to review your benefit claim without waiting for a decision from the plan. You also may want to contact the nearest EBSA office about your rights if you believe the plan failed to follow any of ERISA’s requirements in handling your benefit claim.

Filing a Claim – Summary

• Check your plan’s benefits and claims procedure before filing a claim. Read your SPD and contact your plan administrator if you have questions.
• Once you claim is filed, the maximum allowable waiting period for a decision varies by the type of claim, ranging from 72 hours to 45 days. However, your plan can extend certain time periods but must notify you before doing so. Usually, you will receive a decision within this timeframe.
• If your claim is denied, you must receive a written notice, including specific information about why your claim was denied and how to file an appeal.
• You have at least 180 days to request a full and fair review of your denied claim. Use your plan’s appeals procedure and be aware that you may need to gather and submit new evidence or information to help the plan in reviewing the claim.
• Reviewing your appeal can take between 72 hours and 60 days depending on the type of claim. The law and the Department’s rules allow a disability plan additional time if the plan’s administrator has notified you beforehand of the need for an extension. For an appeal of a health claim, the plan needs your permission for an extension. The plan must send you a written notice, telling you whether the appeal was granted or denied.
• If the appeal is denied, the written notice must tell you the reason it was denied, describe any additional appeal levels or voluntary appeal procedures offered by the plan, and contain a statement regarding your rights to seek judicial review of the plan’s decision.
• You may decide to seek legal advice if your claim’s appeal is denied or if the plan failed to establish or follow reasonable claims procedures. If you believe the plan failed to follow ERISA’s requirements, you also may want to contact the nearest EBSA office concerning your rights under ERISA.

Understanding how to file a claim for health or disability is important to understand before something occurs.

by Toolib · 0 komentar

Health Benefit Options with Life Changes

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There are many life changes which may affect your health benefits. During these changes, you should understand how your life change will affect your benefit plans.

Marriage

What You Need to Know – Get all the details on your spouse’s plan, and be sure you understand how it works. You’ll want to know the amounts of any deductibles or copays you will be required to pay, and what you will pay for premiums.
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), you may be entitled to add yourself, a new spouse and children to your employer’s plan or to your spouse’s employer’s plan under a special enrollment period.

What You Need to Do – To qualify for the special enrollment period, you must notify the plan and request special enrollment for everyone enrolling within 30 days of your marriage. Your plan may require that the notice be in writing and that is usually the safest course of action anyway.
If your spouse has health coverage available, compare the health benefits, cost and options under both plans, and decide which one works best for you.

Pregnancy, Childbirth And Adoption

What You Need to Know – HIPAA places limits on the amount of time a pre-existing condition exclusion period may apply. In addition, health care plans cannot consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition, even if the woman did not have previous coverage.
Birth and adoption (including placement for adoption) may trigger a special enrollment period during which you, your spouse and new dependents can enroll in your employer’s plan. Additionally, newborns and adopted children are not subject to pre-existing condition exclusions if they enroll within 30 days of the birth or adoption.

Under the Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act, plans that provide maternity or newborn benefits generally must provide coverage for mothers and newborns to stay in the hospital at least 48 hours following a vaginal delivery or 96 hours following a cesarean section, unless the doctor or other attending provider in consultation with the mother discharges earlier.

What You Need to Do – You must notify your plan and request special enrollment within 30 days of your child’s birth, adoption, or placement for adoption. The child’s enrollment will be treated as occurring on the date of the birth, adoption, or placement for adoption. Your plan may require that the notice be in writing.
Find out if your plan covers well-baby care. If not, you may need to figure extra money into your budget to cover vaccinations and appointments the baby will need during the first few months of life.

When Your Child Is No Longer A Dependent

What You Need to Know – Most health care plans will provide coverage to dependent children until they reach the age of 19 or the age of 25 if they are full-time students. Once your child loses dependent child status under your health care plan’s rules, the child may be eligible to purchase temporary extended health care coverage for up to 36 months under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). Generally, COBRA covers group health plans maintained by employers with 20 or more employees.

What You Need to Do – Once your covered child is no longer a dependent, notify your employer in writing within 60 days. In turn, your plan should notify your child of his or her right to extend health care benefits under COBRA. Your child will have 60 days from the date the notice was sent to elect COBRA coverage. The cost will be higher, since the employer will no longer pay a portion, but it is usually less than the cost of individual coverage.

Death, Legal Separation And Divorce

What You Need to Know – When an employee covered under an employer-sponsored health plan dies, legally separates or divorces, the covered spouse and dependent children may be eligible to purchase temporary extended health coverage for up to 36 months. The cost will be higher, since the employer will no longer pay a portion, but it is usually less than the cost of coverage they might obtain on their own.
If the spouse losing coverage under the plan has a health plan available through his or her employer, the spouse and any dependents may be eligible to obtain coverage through special enrollment.
If the covered employee dies or in the event of a legal separation or divorce, the plan should notify the covered spouse and dependent children of their right to purchase extended health care coverage under COBRA. Most plans require eligible individuals to make their COBRA election of coverage within 60 days of the plan’s notice.

What You Need to Do – Should the employee who is covered by the health care plan die, the employer must notify the plan within 30 days. If there is a divorce or legal separation, the covered employee, spouse or dependent children must notify the plan in writing within 60 days. In case of death of the covered employee, divorce or legal separation, the plan should notify the eligible spouse and dependent children who would lose coverage under the plan of their right to purchase temporary extended health care coverage. Most plans require eligible individuals to make their COBRA election within 60 days of the plan’s notice.
If the spouse losing coverage under the plan has a health plan available through his or her employer, the spouse and dependent children may be eligible for a special enrollment under that plan. To qualify, the spouse must notify that plan and request special enrollment within 30 days of the loss of coverage.
Knowing how a life change is effective with your health benefits is important to ensure your family continues receiving the proper coverage you require.

by Toolib · 0 komentar

Term Life vs Whole Life Insurance

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Life insurance is a complex topic and one which you are well served to become educated about before visiting with a well intentioned and commission-motivated insurance salesperson. Insurance salesmen are trained to sell you insurance. They may have good intentions to teach you about insurance, but in the end, they get paid a commission if they sell you insurance, so they are going to do everything they can to sell you insurance which makes them the highest commission.

There are basically two competing types of life insurance on the market: term life and whole life (also called permanent insurance). Term insurance is sold for a term, generally 20 years, while whole life insurance is sold as an investment product allowing you to “invest” money, borrow against it while you’re living, and still have value left when you die. Generally, term life insurance is the best life insurance option available for the masses. Let’s do the math:
For a 30 year old male in good health, 20 year term life for $500,000 of life insurance coverage is $22 per month. A whole life (universal life) insurance policy for $500,000 of coverage is $213. That’s a difference of $191 per month!
But wait, the whole life is an investment. According to Fortune magazine, the average whole life rate of return is 2.6%, for universal life 4.2%, and for variable life (invests in mutual funds), 7.4%. Let’s do some quick calculations:
Whole life: $213 per month at 2.6% for 35 years = $146,817.19
Universal life: $213 per month at 4.2% for 35 years = $204,225.88
Variable life: $213 per month at 7.4% for 35 years = $414,222.09
Investing: invest the difference, $191 per month at 10% for 35 years = $683,306.64
Investing: invest the difference, $191 per month at 12% for 35 years = $1,108,097.46

Save the Difference

If you take out a term life insurance policy, you can invest the difference in a high growth mutual fund and be a millionaire at age 65. One of the quick arguments against this back of the envelope calculation is that most people do not have enough will power to invest the difference that entire time. You can solve this problem by creating an automatic withdrawal each month into a money market account. Have the insurance paid from the money market account and have a monthly sweeping take the rest to invest in your choices of mutual funds or in a Roth IRA.

Choose Term Life

Unless you have complex estate planning issues, term life is the best deal for life insurance. It is far cheaper and the investing power you have outside of it will make you “self insured” before your death – you won’t have to rely on the insurance policy to fund your estate.

by Toolib · 0 komentar

Do You Really Need Life Insurance?

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Life insurance is one of those taboo subjects for normal, casual, or friendly conversation. Whenever people, however, develop a life threatening illness, have a close encounter with another vehicle on the highway or otherwise find themselves in a situation where they are likely to be rated or declined by an insurance company they suddenly develop a desire for a good life insurance policy. To give credit where credit is due, there are some thoughtfully disciplined people who give their portfolios regular review and make certain they have adequate coverage at all times.

I want so much for all people to think like the disciplined ones. In my career as a life insurance agent I often did bend backwards to persuade such people to keep their life policies up to date. I have seen the difference between an adequately insured breadwinner at death and one who barely had enough life coverage to bury himself. The latter situation is quite painful to observe.
I therefore think it is imperative that everyone take the time to evaluate and understand thoroughly what life insurance really can do. Ask yourself this question "do I need life insurance and why do I need it?"
If someone, be it your wife, your children or your business partner, depend on you in any way that can be seen as a financial dependency, then you do need life insurance. In the case of premature death your family will need money to pay your last expenses, like outstanding bills, funeral expenses, attorney's fees, medical bills and estate taxes. The businessman will need life insurance to fund a buy-sell agreement, to pay off outstanding debt or may be to keep the company afloat while they find a replacement for a deceased valuable employee.

I implore you to look at the following situations which will help you decide whether or not you need life coverage. So just try to relax and, objectively as you can, evaluate the situation for yourself.

• One Parent Only WorkingThe most devastating situation occurs when one parent works and the other stays at home. Should the working parent die at a time when there are insufficient funds for the survivors to continue living in the manner to which they have become accustomed...then they may have to sell the house. The comforts which they had enjoyed for years could totally evaporate. The minimal requirement is sufficient funds which would allow the survivors to adjust their lifestyle.
  The ideal situation is to have sufficient funds which would allow the surviving parent not to work at all during the formative years of the children. They can live in the same house, they can continue in the same school and when the time comes to enter college they go to the college of their choice.
  A good life insurance policy is an excellent tool that you can use to take care of these things.
• Both Parents WorkingIn today's world, in most families, both parents work and share the expenses. If one parent should prematurely die would the income earned by the surviving parent be sufficient for the family to live on? Probably not. In anticipation of that possibility a fund could be set up, through an Insurance policy, to replace totally or in part the deceased parents income.
• Single ParentIn the case of a single parent, all the financial responsibilities for the family may lay on his or her shoulders. If that parents died while the children are still in school how will the children survive?
• Partnership Or Corporation Let us look at the situation where you own your own business. You have one partner or several partners. One partner dies. Is it not fair that the surviving partners should own the business and the deceased partners family receive full value for his or her stock? Adequate Insurance coverage can take care of this eventuality also. You would want the right life insurance policy for this, wouldn't you?
  It may be desirable by all parties concerned that the beneficiary of the deceased partner become a full and active partner. If this is the situation then the funds can be used as a cushion while the new partner or shareholder learns the business and adjusts to his or her new role.
• Key Employee Some employees are difficult to replace. It may take some time to get a replacement up to the production level of your long time, well seasoned and highly efficient employee. If your business depends a great deal on a particular key employee would it not be wise to insure that employee in case he or she should die suddenly? Wouldn't a good life insurance policy come in handy in this situation? The company would receive the death benefit in this case and the money would be used to keep the company afloat while a replacement is found and trained.

Sunday, February 13, 2011 by Toolib · 0 komentar

Life Insurance Settlement Option

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When you think about it, the life insurance settlement option chosen by you is vital when it comes to what you really want your policies to do. Most life insurance agents don't discuss any life insurance settlement option with their clients in detail. The online life insurance salesmen give this matter even less consideration.

You should give special consideration as to whether or not this policy is intended for family protection or for another specific need. Is this policy intended to provide an income for your family or business...or is the need only for a lump sum. Is there a need for a retirement income...whether through an annuity or a permanent life insurance policy. Is the policy intended to pay estate taxes...in which case a lump sum would probably be an exact fit. What of business life insurance, is this policy intended to fund a buy-sell agreement or is it for key employee insurance ?

Regardless of the purpose the life insurance settlement option you decide on is an important decision and is worth deep thought and consideration.
You will need to choose a life insurance settlement option from one of the following.
You can have the proceeds paid out in One Lump Sum. This is an advantage if the need is a lump sum need...like for last expenses etc. This can be wrong option if the intent is to secure the family until the children finish school. It is better to use an income option to fulfill this need.

• Income Options The proceeds of the life insurance policy can be paid in the form of a Life Income. Let us take a situation where your desire is to have sufficient income paid to your spouse for the rest of her life...the Life Income Option is ideal. Incidentally, there are several Life Income Options.
  When setting up your pension you can arrange with the insurance company to pay out the income until the last person named dies. This is referred to as the Joint And Last Survivor Settlement Option. Usually...this is used for married couples.
  Another life insurance settlement option is the Interest Income Option. You say to the insurance company, pay me the interest each month and keep my principal intact. I like this option especially when the principal is sufficient to provide a decent monthly income.
  Another option is the Fixed Period Income Option. You say to the life insurance company, pay me whatever income the lump sum will provide over the next seven years, for example. The insurance company will do exactly that. Let us say you have a youngster about to enter medical school and you want to use this income to guarantee that the funds are available to take care of these costs. this would be a good life insurance settlement option to use for this purpose
  The Fixed Amount Option is similar to the Fixed Period Option as far as the end result is concerned. In this case, however, you decide on the amount of income you desire each month and the insurance company will calculate how long this income will last.
  This is how each life insurance settlement option will work.

by Toolib · 0 komentar

Let Us Take A Look At Some Of The Advantages Of Whole Life Insurance

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When you consider the advantages of whole life insurance policies I hope you will conclude that this is life insurance worth owning. I have no objection to term life insurance and even own some. It is an important part of my life insurance portfolio. Each type of policy has it's place and it's own function. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why some people never have appreciated this. I refer to the term advocates who seem to hate the thought of anyone buying a whole life policy.

• The First Advantage Of Owning Whole Life Insurance Is The Death Benefit The whole life insurance policy assures you a guaranteed death benefit that never decreases and upon death is usually free of federal income taxes. If you choose you may take the death benefit in the form of a monthly income instead of a lump sum.
• The Premiums Remain Level...Another Advantage Of Owning Whole Life Insurance Policies When you buy a whole life policy the premium you start out with is the premium you will always pay. It never increases. If you, however, decide to use your dividends to reduce premiums you will pay a much lower premium than you contracted for.
• Whole Life Insurance Policies Have Cash Values Another of the advantages of whole life insurance are the cash values. They can be borrowed by the policy owner for whatever reason he or she should choose. If you should decide to surrender your policy at any time you receive your cash values. These cash values accumulate tax deferred.
• Participating Whole life Insurance Policies Earn Dividends If you own a participating whole life insurance policy you automatically become eligible to earn dividends on your cash values if the company performs well...which they usually do. Dividends, however, are not guaranteed.
  These dividends can be paid to you in cash, can be used to purchase paid up additions, to reduce premiums or they can be left to accumulate at interest.

by Toolib · 0 komentar

Dont Buy Term Life Insurance

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Dont buy term life insurance if you have a lot of money. You simply should not buy any life insurance at all.

• Let Us Look At The Young Married CoupleYou have met the partner of your dreams and have decided to get married. You have no children yet even though you plan to. You both work. You save every dollar you can save for the baby you plan on having. You should not buy term life insurance because you are positive you wont die before you see your dreams fulfilled. Dont buy term life insurance. Why on earth should you anyway.
  You are planning to buy a house so that the family can enjoy it. The children, which you plan to have, will be able to run around their own house. You will be able to toss a baseball at your son's glove in your own backyard. You have all the money to buy this house...so you will need no mortgage. So you have no need to buy any term life insurance.
  You are in good health now and you know that 20 years from now you will be there to pay those college expenses. You are going to be there to see your daughter walk up on that podium. May be she will be valedictorian. So don't buy that extra $150,000 of life insurance that will help pay for her college costs. Don't buy term life insurance.
  Possibly you will have no children. As a couple you enjoy a truly loving and happy relationship. You know you won't develop a life threatening illness that may put you six feet under within the next year...so you shouldn't buy any life insurance at all. Make certain you don't buy term life insurance.
• Single Mother With 2 Children To SupportYour husband died. He made some provision for the family and you have readjusted pretty well. You still have a small mortgage on the house, your first born will soon be ready for college and the second will follow in a couple of years. You are quite proud of the job you did with them. Don't buy that extra $250,000 of term life insurance that would guarantee that both children will finish college. I am sure you wouldn't want the balance of the mortgage to be paid off if you should suddenly die.
  May be you have been fortunate with your investments and you have a couple million dollars that will be theirs. Estate taxes have been repealed. So dont buy term life insurance that would cover your estate taxes while the gradual adjustment takes effect. Let the children pay it. Leave them penniless. You won't be here to see it anyway.
• Mr. BusinessmanYou and your partners have big plans. You feel pretty certain that these plans will be successfully come to fruition. After all you have all the best talent in your type of business. Each partner specializes in a certain area. The future looks great.
  Dont buy term life insurance on each partner that would help the company adjust in case of a partners death. You should not buy that life insurance policy that you could use to buy out the deceased partners shares from his heirs. Remember that buy-sell agreement ...may be you have enough funds in the company to fund it. If you do have enough funds I would say dont buy term life insurance or any life insurance at all.

All the smart people that I know of ignore the above advice and go right ahead and buy the life insurance they need. "Dont buy term life insurance". What an utterly stupid suggestion.

by Toolib · 0 komentar

Life Insurance Settlements

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When I first heard of viatical settlements or life insurance settlements I shuddered at the thought of such an idea. I even put into words my deep feelings. You see I spent many years in the life insurance business and have seen the product work for the betterment of so many. I could not conceive of a pleasant result when one deprives the beneficiaries of what was due them. I guess I had not given the idea much thought...thus my extreme response.

Although I still do not feel it right to deprive beneficiaries of their life insurance proceeds so that an insured can get his or her hands on the proceeds of policies during their lifetime through life insurance settlements with investors, after much study and deep thought I can only conclude that there are situations where this is, not only justified, but is absolutely necessary.
If you bring into the picture the unfortunate person who is HIV positive or has developed full blown AIDS and are desperately doing everything they can just to stay alive with these extremely expensive drugs then you will, like I have, learn to appreciate the need for life insurance settlements.
Some people have no cash value life insurance they can borrow from; no nest egg they can draw on. All these people have is their life insurance policy. They therefore sell their policies to the highest bidder. They get 50% to 60% of the face amount of the policy which they use to pay for treatment and for the drugs they need to keep themselves alive.
Let us not elude ourselves that it is only people with aids who need life insurance settlements. There are certain cancers, heart, liver and kidney conditions that can devastate our lives and put us in a financial quandary. I am sure there are many more illnesses that I have not even thought about. I therefore conclude, because I am now more informed, that life insurance settlements can truly be necessary and that when people take this path it must be with great reluctance and heartbreak.

by Toolib · 0 komentar

Life Insurance Buying Tips

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Life Insurance buying tips. If life insurance buying is approached in the proper manner it can be very beneficial to yourself and your family. You need to take the time to give some thought to a subject that can be very unpleasant. I guess that is why most people don't think about it, or at best think about it only after they have had a brush with death, or when a life insurance professional brings up the subject.

Sometimes these people wait until it is too late to do something about such a critical matter. They find themselves not insurable when they discover they have some critical illness. People should give serious thought at least once per year as ones situation may change and you find that your need for life insurance may change as a result. One of the best life insurance buying tips is therefore to review your life insurance needs at least once per year.
These are the questions any good life insurance agent would ask. Your answers would help him or her come up with an accurate amount that would be a perfect fit for you. Here are the questions you should ask.

• Should I buy life insurance to pay for funeral expenses when I die or do I prefer to have this taken from accumulated cash?
• Do I need a policy to pay estate taxes? This is for people with an estate in excess of $1,500,000. Estate taxes may be repealed in the near future. The congress is looking at this matter at the present time.
• Do I want to leave a lump sum for my family and how much? If the beneficiaries are well practiced in handling large sums of money then this may be a good idea, otherwise, it may be wise to provide an income.
• What about an income? Should I set up an income for the lifetime of the beneficiary, or should the income derived from the proceeds of the life insurance policy be paid out for a limited number of years? Should I let the insurance company hold the principal and pay out an income to the beneficiary?
• How about life insurance on my spouse? Would that be a good thing? What about the children, is there a need for life insurance?
• If you have a business, is there an employee that you could consider a key employee? Should you have some life insurance on him or her? If your business partner died, what would happen to his shares? What would happen to his family?

These are your life insurance buying tips. Ask yourself these questions when doing your life insurance buying and you will know whether or not you need life insurance, and if you do, how much you should buy. Go ahead and buy your life insurance with these life insurance buying tips in mind.

by Toolib · 0 komentar

Term Life Insurance Vs Permanent

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Ever since the idea of term life insurance came to the mind of man term life insurance vs permanent has been the center of active and thought provoking debate. Term insurance is without question cheaper than permanent life insurance but when compared with the value built into the latter people have varying ideas as to which is best. What about the cash values and dividends you get from permanent policies? Do you just ignore these? How can cash values and dividends be used to offset cost? Questions worth answering aren't they?The ever constant innovation of life insurance policies make it more and more difficult to come to a consensus. Term life insurance vs permanent will continue to provoke the thoughts of anyone considering a life insurance purchase. Because term is simplest I will discuss that one first then I will get to the complexities of permanent life insurance and it's varying alternatives.

• The Advantages Of Term Life Insurance What life insurance companies have attempted to do with term life insurance, and have been fairly successful at doing it, is to strip the life insurance policy of as much of the front end load as possible. They have been more successful in doing this with some policies than with others. You may think that because of this success term life insurance vs permanent would no longer a debate of interest...but you would not be correct. Let us take the increasing premium term policy for example. This is a good policy to dissect when discussing term life insurance vs permanent. The lower premiums in the younger years result from the fact that the applicant is less likely to die within a given period, the term period, than an older person. Term life insurance is life insurance in it's simplest form taking into consideration mortality based on actual experience.
  If we were to examine a decreasing term life insurance policy the decreasing annual premium reflects the decrease in the death benefit each year, also bearing in mind the fact that the insured is getting older each year. People like the way this is done because they believe that at no time they are paying more than for the term life insurance they actually want.
• Advantages Of Whole Life Insurance Comparing term life insurance vs permanent we notice that the whole life insurance premium is loaded up front. The life insurance company take most of the cost to issue a whole life policy in the first few years. There are clerical costs, medical costs if the policy is large enough or if they are dealing with an impaired risk, and of course agents commissions etc. Whole life costs more. Term life insurance vs permanent...should we continue? As you will see we should. If the costs are less than anticipated, and they usually are, they return that portion of unused premium. This is called a cash value. This cash value earn dividends which, if left with the company, accumulate interest. There are alternate dividend options that you may elect.
  If you were to deduct the cash value of a life insurance policy plus the dividend after 20 years from the amount you paid in premiums you would see that the policy cost nothing over that period. But, hold on. We have to consider what those dollars, over and above the cost of term life insurance, would have been doing had they not been in the whole life policy. What rate of interest would be available. We should also bear in mind that dividends are not guaranteed.
  The advocates of buying term when examining term life insurance vs permanent contend that the money would be earning the maximum over that 20 year period. On the other hand, the advocates for permanent life insurance assume that the extra premium would not be saved or invested. There is truth in both arguments but, because each person is different, we cannot come to a definite conclusion as to which is best. If you can afford to buy any policy you choose, do your comparisons for yourself and go with your gut. Term life insurance vs permanent...you decide.

by Toolib · 0 komentar