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Monthly Archives: September 2011
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) covers against medical expenses and some of the losses that inevitably follow a traffic accident where drivers and their passengers are injured or killed. So, for example, you can claim loss of earnings and the equivalent of damages for pain and suffering. Where the driver dies, funeral expenses are also recoverable. Such policies are standard in the no-fault states. It’s expected claims will be settled without having to prove negligence, so you claim all your losses from your own insurer. Even in the at-fault states, holding a version of PIP, e.g. Auto Medical Payment cover, gives peace of mind, leaving it to the insurance company to sue in your name if the driver at-fault refuses to reimburse your insurer. Note that PIP cover is mandatory in 14 states, but the terms differ in their detail between those states. You should check through the small print before making a final decision on which policy to buy.
More or less wherever you look, you will find the GOP propaganda machine churning out articles warning you that rationing is coming if the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented. The latest scare stories surround the entirely reasonable proposal to appoint an Independent Payment Advisory Board to recommend cost-saving changes to the reform program. This is a return to the death panel debate where a panel was going to sit to decide who should get treatment and who should be allowed to die. The GOP point to the British who have a panel called the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) which often rejects expensive drugs, e.g. for the treatment of cancer including leukemia. In fact, NICE does quite often reject drugs, but only when there are cheaper alternates and there’s no evidence to show the more expensive drugs produce better results. Inevitably, some of these decisions are considered controversial by the British themselves but, so far, NICE has done a good job in keeping British healthcare service reasonably affordable to the taxpayers. For those of you who’ve forgotten, Britain has socialized medicine funded by the state.
The Brits sometimes have a quaint way of saying things but, when you understand what they mean, it make a lot of sense. They say, “Never buy a pig in a poke”. In the good old days of selling in markets, some farmers used to offer animals in a sack or poke. This was a sight-unseen sale. Buyers were supposed to trust the farmers to put healthy animals into the sack. Needless to say, only the unwise agreed to this strange offer. Moving back home, the insurance industry seems to think you should buy an insurance policy in a poke. A majority of policies are now sold through sites like this with quotes sent out automatically. If you want, you can buy the policy on the basis of the quote without ever seeing the policy. Many people only read their copy of the policy when the need for a claim arises. It came through the mail and sat in its envelope awaiting the day of need. Except, many then find their expectations dashed as it turns out may of the expected headings of damage have been excluded. This has come as very hard news to all those people who have recently suffered in Hurricanes Irene and Lee.
The year 2011 has been one for record natural disasters. The Texas wildfires currently raging are already causing never-before-seen damage in the state to forests, animal habitats, and human homes. This damage continues hurting even after the fires are done. The only thing protecting homeowners in the 25 thousand scorched acres is insurance.
Big disasters can be huge tests of the viability of an insurance company. Make sure your insurer is up to the test.
Damage from Wildfires
