Simply Junior

For auto owners, one of the most common problems to deal has everything to do with a damaged windshield. Windshields have a tendency to crack, chip, or even bust as a result of small things or large-scale trauma. Most people know that it is best to get auto glass repair as soon as possible, but what if a driver hasn’t done this? What if he or she has waited around for too long and it now seems as if the problem is too big to fix? There are options available no matter how bad your windshield looks.

Fixing small cracks and chips

The easiest way to handle the problem is right at the beginning. Smart individuals will jump on their cracks and chips before they turn into something bigger. If you have a chipped windshield as the result of a rock hitting your window or perhaps some other small debris, then most solid repair companies can fix it without having to replace the entire windshield. There is an easy process to make this happen, and good companies can have it done in a matter of hours. Ultimately this will be dependent upon how large the chip is, but drivers who handle things quickly can save lots of time and cost.

What happens when it starts to crack?

There is a very thin line between the type of crack that can be repaired and the type that will require full windshield replacement. This will usually depend upon how long and how deep the crack is. Most auto glass repair companies would rather just fix the glass, since this is the easiest answer for all parties involved. At some point, the job will become so big that windshield replacement is the better option.

What if a driver waits “too” long?

So what happens to those drivers who go around with their windshields beat up for months or years on end? The biggest question that these people need to ask has to do with insurance coverage. The vast majority of insurance providers have great auto glass repair policies. They will often replace all glass free of charge. At the very least, they will pay for one windshield replacement per year. Though some companies might put a time limit on claims, the vast majority do not. Windshield damage is often an accumulated thing, so they understand that there may be a long time between the actual injury and the claim. Drivers will want to ask their insurance company specifically before making plans for their windshields, though.

Sooner is better

Even though insurance companies will cover claims for an extended period of time, it pays to get things fixed sooner rather than later. As a windshield continues to splinter, it becomes much more dangerous. There is always the chance that it can complete shatter and that is a huge problem for drivers. It also becomes very dangerous to drive with a damaged windshield and many states have laws against it. Taking care of the problem right away will save cost for the insurance provider or driver, time for everyone involved, and the risk associated with driving a poorly equipped car.

After what seems like forever, Congress has finally passed a health care reform bill. President Obama’s major goal for the early part of his term seems within reach. The question is, though, what is in this bill? What real changes will people experience as a result of all this wrangling? Or are these all political games with little real impact? Read on for a summary of the actual changes to health care from the new health reform bill.

The most important thing to realize about the reform is that it’s phased in – most of the changes don’t come into play when President Obama signs the bill into law (which is expected to be Tuesday, March 23, 2009). The changes activate over the next decade. Here are the major changes and their impacts.

Health Reform Bill Contents

Before 2011:

* Small businesses get a tax credit to contribute to new health insurance for employees.

* Children cannot be excluded from receiving health insurance from providers due to pre-existing conditions.

* Until the new health insurance exchanges come online in 2014, current uninsured adults with pre-existing conditions will be able to buy subsidized health care coverage.

* Companies can use a temporary health “reinsurance program” to provide benefits for 55-64 year old retirees.

* Being diagnosed with a new illness is no longer grounds for losing your health insurance coverage. Additionally, insurance providers will no longer be able to cap your lifetime health benefits, and their ability to limit annual coverage will be restricted.

* There is currently a Medicare prescription drug loophole between roughly $2700 and $6200 worth of medicine. The reform bill both provides a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries that fall into this loophole and provides for the gap’s closing.

* The age up to which children will be able to use their parents health coverage is raised to 26 up from the previous 19 or college graduation.

* Indoor tanning services with ultraviolet lights will see a 10% tax on their services starting July 1st, 2009

In 2011:

* Large pharmaceutical firms will be taxed additionally based on market share.

* General surgeons and primary care physicians will see a 10% raise in bonus payments.

* Medicare advantage payments are frozen at 2010 levels and will eventually come more into line with traditional Medicare payments.

* States will have a new program to offer in-home care to poor patients who would otherwise require a hospital visit.

* Employees will be able to see the value of their health benefits on their W-2 forms.

* An annual free wellness visit and customized prevention plan analysis will be offered free to all Medicare beneficiaries. Any additional new health care plans will be required to offer such services and their resulting preventive care at little or no cost to Medicare patients.

In 2012:

* At each level, hospital, physician, and Medicare, programs and controls are implemented that reduce readmission rates, improve quality outcomes for patients, and encourage more accountability among healthcare professionals.

In 2013:

* Higher income tax payers (>$200,000 for singles, >$250,000 for joint filings) will have their payroll tax increase from 1.45% to 2.35% as well as pay a 3.8% investment income tax.

* Tax payers can claim medical expenses on itemized tax returns at a 10% rate instead of 7.5%. Elderly tax payers can continue this till 2017.

* Non-public medical device taxes will be additionally taxed at 2.9%.

* The programs begun in 2012 are continued and extended.

In 2014:

* Employers with >50 employees will be fined $2000 for every employee after number 30 if they do not provide employer health insurance.

* Most people will be fined if they do not have health insurance, either through an employer or privately. Tax credits for purchasing health care through an exchange will be offered to those with incomes up to 400% of poverty levels.

* Similar to the 2011 pharmaceutical taxes, in 2014 health insurance companies will be taxed by market share.

* It will no longer be legal to exclude someone from receiving health insurance for having a pre-existing medical condition.

* State-level health insurance exchanges will open, allowing individuals and organizations to shop around for cheaper health insurance.

In 2015:

* Medicare shifts to rewarding quality of care rather than amount of services.

In 2018:

* Higher cost employer health insurance plans (“Cadillac” health insurance) is taxed, with exemptions for the first $27,000 for families and $10000 for individuals.

There’s much debate around the healthcare system reform proposed by President Barack Obama. And while there are many people who protest against it, and those who support it, it is important to know what it is all about in the first place. Here is a short overview of the reform, which is comprised of three essential parts:

1. Assure all American citizens with access to comprehensive and affordable health coverage

The main features of this part are:

• New Public National Health Plan, which will be very close to the current health coverage provided to federal employees. The main difference is that the new plans will be available to all US citizens for a reasonable price no matter of their financial situation. Deductibles and co-payments will be reduced to minimum, while low-income persons will have the possibility to use additional subsidies.
• National Health Insurance Exchange, which will allow US citizens to look for private health plans. It will set regulations on private insurance providers in order to make sure that private plans are not too different form public ones.
• New business mandate requiring national enterprises to pay for the Public National Health Plan.
• Individual mandate aimed specifically at children.
• More support provided to existing programs like Medicaid and SCHIP.

2. Improve the quality of healthcare services and lower their costs

This initiative presumes federal financial assistance for improving the quality of the services and lowering the costs, with additional assistance to enterprises that cover high-risk employees.

To President’s belief the following actions may also contribute to lowering cost and improving services:

• Special disease management programs for improving chronic care.
• Improving transparency in what concerns quality and costs of healthcare offered by providers.
• Lowering the rates of medical errors.
• Introducing financial incentives to stimulate substantial improvements.
• Providing support for researching new and alternative healthcare technologies.
• Eliminating ethnic disparities in access and quality of healthcare services.
• Popularizing health IT.
• Stronger regulation of insurance and drug markets in order to lower medication costs and allow cheap health insurance.
• Preventing Medicare private plan participants from overpaying.

3. Wellness and healthy lifestyle promotion

This initiative is to be supported through the following actions:

• Special wellness programs at working places.
• Eliminating child obesity with school activities.
• Better education for present and future healthcare workers.
• Promotion of healthy lifestyle in communities.

Saving possibilities with the new initiatives

President Obama estimates that in average a typical American family will be able to save about $2,500 on an early basis after the plan will be implemented. These are the possible sources for such savings:

• Health IT introduction and implementation.
• Improved quality of services.
• Limitations on health insurance provider profits.
• Federal funding of catastrophic coverage that will lead to cheap health insurance.
• Universal coverage availability.

As you can see the Plan requires significant federal funding and that is one of the major points of those who are against it. Other arguments include direct implication to health insurance market, which of course is not quite welcome by the insurance companies. But is the idea of cheap health insurance for everyone that bad?

When you take the opportunity to insure your life you will have to go through a thorough medical examination. The main reason for insurance providers to require a thorough medical check from their customers is to determine how much to charge for their services. If you have a high risk of death at an earlier stage then the company will charge a higher premium in order to collect more money for the service while you are still around. If the risk is low they will put a lower premium because you will be considered a lower risk that isn’t likely to require death benefit payout anytime soon.

Insurance providers use two main factors for defining how it is likely that their client will cease to exist: longevity charts and medical examinations (including history as well).

Longevity charts represent a statistical interpretation of mortality rates across different demographical groups. In other words, by using these charts the insurance company is able to learn how it is likely that a person will die at a certain stage of life and in a certain region. This is crucial for determining how much of a risk a person is when they come to the insurance company’s office. For example, the longevity chart shows that a man of 50 years old is much likely to decease than a woman of the very same age and living in the same area. Taking this into account, the insurance company will charge a man with a higher rate than a woman because the higher is the risk, the higher is the premium paid. That’s why older people always have higher life insurance rates than children, because they represent a higher risk to the company.

Medical examination and medical history give a more personalized and in-depth understanding of the customer’s risk potential to the company. In most cases the examination is undertaken directly at the office or at your home, unless your life insurance provider requires a more thorough examination of any particular system or condition. The following are the most common things you will be asked about when getting your life insurance quotes:

1. Personal medical history
2. Family medical history
3. Your primary physician’s contact information
4. Lifestyle factors (drinking, smoking, substance abuse)
5. The amount of insurance coverage you want to get

The following procedures are very common for the medical exam held by your insurance provider:

1. Height and weight measurement
2. Blood pressure and pulse measurement
3. Blood and blood vessel condition (lipids, glucose, hormones, viruses)
4. Urinalysis

After you pass the medical exam the insurance provider will analyze the results and set a corresponding premium according to the state of your health. Sometimes it takes up to a couple of months to analyze this information. In case you feel that there was something wrong or the company refused you, it’s better to ask the insurance to send you a copy of their final conclusion to you and your doctor. This might be very important especially if you want to get cheap health insurance from another company.

Doesn’t it feel sometimes that when it comes to auto insurance it’s like playing the game no one tells you how to play it right and where the rules are written without your consent? Well, to ease the situation, here are some auto insurance rules most insurance companies won’t tell you about.

1. If your credit rating is good you will have better rates.

Most of the insurance providers, whether big or small, use credit information to determine the rates you will be charged with. That’s because numerous studies have shown that there’s a direct link between a person’s credit rating and the probability that the very same person would file an insurance claim. Those who have poor credit scores tend to file claims more often than drivers with good credit reports. And we know how insurance companies don’t like insurance claims.

Tip: If your credit report is not that good, don’t haste with buying auto insurance. First, make sure you have settled all your debts and closed unused credit lines. After doing this wait for a month and your rates will be much lower than you would expect.

2. The model of your car affects your premiums.

Insurance companies don’t disclose the exact methods they use to calculate their rates, but your car make and model certainly plays an important part in the equation. All insurance providers have charts on all car models and their respective insurance cost based on theft rates, repair costs and overall safety.

Tip: Try purchasing a car with reasonable repair costs, good safety scores and low theft rates in your area in the first place. This will always give you the chance of having cheap car insurance.

3. Bad driving means higher rates.

Most insurance companies will raise your rates up to 40% of the initial premium you’ve paid if you have a single at fault accident. However, not all companies follow this rule.

Tip: There are insurance providers that have higher tolerance for first-time accident drivers. So when you purchase your cheap auto insurance policy or ask the provider if they have such incentives and what are their rules.

4. If your friend borrows your car and ends up in an accident you will still have to pay higher premiums.

It doesn’t matter who was driving the car if it was with your own consent. It will be you who will file the claim and this will eventually lead to increase in your premiums.

Tip: In case you didn’t give consent on using your vehicle your friend will be liable for the accident. However, if he or she doesn’t have own insurance or the damage resulted exceeds the amount of coverage contained with his or her policy the other party may come to you in order to settle additional medical and repair costs.

5. Official cancellation is required when switching providers.

You are free to cancel your policy any time you feel the need to. All that is required is to inform your current provider in written form.

Tip: After you have searched for cheap auto insurance and chosen another provider you can simply contact your insurance agent and inform him that you want to cancel your current policy from a certain day. In most cases the company will send you a filled out form where only your signature will be required.