Buying Life Insurance: What Kind and How Much?
Finding the middle ground between being "insurance poor" and unprotected requires assessing real needs and choosing products that are affordable. This article introduces different types of insurance products and the role that they can play in a personal financial plan.
Buying Life Insurance
Conventional wisdom says that life insurance is sold, not purchased. In other words, some people are reluctant to discuss the importance of owning life insurance, and others are simply unaware of the need to have life insurance. Although many large companies provide life insurance as part of their benefits package, this coverage may be insufficient.
Who needs life insurance? If there are individuals who depend on you for financial support, or if you work at home providing your family with such services as child care, cooking, and cleaning, you need life insurance. Older couples also may need life insurance to protect a surviving spouse against the possibility of the couple's retirement savings being depleted by unexpected medical expenses. And individuals with substantial assets may need life insurance to help reduce the effects of estate taxes or to transfer wealth to future generations.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
A closer look at Secure Short Term Medical Insurance
The brand name "Secure Short Term Medical" is one of the best-known and most highly regarded low cost health insurance plans in the U.S. The brand actually consists of four products that each target a specific group of consumers. The four products are: 1) Secure STM, 2) Secure Lite STM, 3) Secure 12x3 STM and 4) Secure Saver STM.
What makes this product lineup work so well? Probably not any one thing in particular but rather a combination of factors. We could make an analogy to an "all star lineup" in a sports team. First, the plan is administered by Health Plan Administrators, Inc., arguably one of the best service organizations in health care today. Second, The Standard Security Life Insurance Company of New York enjoys a strong reputation among insurance professionals and consumers.
Next is the length of coverage. This is the only insurance product that can adequately span a gap from just one month to 36 months of continuous coverage. With a growing number of consumers looking forward to post-reform insurance within a few years, the Secure 12x3 offers the flexible length of coverage they need del with the uncertainty of the health care reform timetable.
Eligibility for the four insurance plans is liberal so most applicants will qualify for coverage. In fact, in many cases this is one of the few options available to applicants who have been previously declined for health insurance with another company. The exceptions are listed in the "medical eligibility" section of the online product descriptions. It is important to realize that all short term medical insurance plans exclude coverage for pre-existing medical conditions. This is what makes them so affordable and easy to access.
Only one of the four products screens for weight or previous declines in determining eligibility. That is the Secure Saver, as we might expect, since it it the lowest cost plan with the least predictable out-of-pocket expenses.
Finally, we cannot ignore price. Despite all the talk about the quality of insurance the fact is that many consumers buy based primarily on price. The Secure Lite and Secure Saver rank among the least expensive major medical insurance choices in many parts of the country.
A comparison of the four Secure STM products is published at FreedomBenefits.net and a description of coverage and exclusions is available for each product. Although all of these policies come with a standard "10 day free look", generic sample policy certificates are also available online for all four products for those who want to take a closer look at these insurance options.
What makes this product lineup work so well? Probably not any one thing in particular but rather a combination of factors. We could make an analogy to an "all star lineup" in a sports team. First, the plan is administered by Health Plan Administrators, Inc., arguably one of the best service organizations in health care today. Second, The Standard Security Life Insurance Company of New York enjoys a strong reputation among insurance professionals and consumers.
Next is the length of coverage. This is the only insurance product that can adequately span a gap from just one month to 36 months of continuous coverage. With a growing number of consumers looking forward to post-reform insurance within a few years, the Secure 12x3 offers the flexible length of coverage they need del with the uncertainty of the health care reform timetable.
Eligibility for the four insurance plans is liberal so most applicants will qualify for coverage. In fact, in many cases this is one of the few options available to applicants who have been previously declined for health insurance with another company. The exceptions are listed in the "medical eligibility" section of the online product descriptions. It is important to realize that all short term medical insurance plans exclude coverage for pre-existing medical conditions. This is what makes them so affordable and easy to access.
Only one of the four products screens for weight or previous declines in determining eligibility. That is the Secure Saver, as we might expect, since it it the lowest cost plan with the least predictable out-of-pocket expenses.
Finally, we cannot ignore price. Despite all the talk about the quality of insurance the fact is that many consumers buy based primarily on price. The Secure Lite and Secure Saver rank among the least expensive major medical insurance choices in many parts of the country.
A comparison of the four Secure STM products is published at FreedomBenefits.net and a description of coverage and exclusions is available for each product. Although all of these policies come with a standard "10 day free look", generic sample policy certificates are also available online for all four products for those who want to take a closer look at these insurance options.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Celtic Insurance gains customers with low prices
Pricing of short term medical insurance tends to be more stable than managed care plans or other types of health insurance. As a result, pricing trends tend to develop more slowly and it may take longer for advisers and consumers to identify those companies with cost advantages. One such example is Celtic Insurance that has slowly and quietly winning over customers with its low rates and strong customer service. The coverage is priced and issued completely online at the company's secure enrollment site managed by ehealthinsurance.
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