Commercial Health Insurance - Understanding the Basics

Commercial health insurance provides two main benefits. These are medical expense benefits that often cover a wide variety of medical procedures, tests, and hospitalization and disability income for those that are disabled. There are huge variations in the different types of coverage that are offered, but there are basic criteria that remain fairly standard and easy to comprehend.

The medical expense coverage can be pretty comprehensive. It often includes operating room visits, doctor and surgeon fees, prescription fees, prosthetic limbs, laboratory tests, therapy and ambulatory patient transport among many others.

Mass Mutual

Some forms of health coverage however may offer a more extensive list of services that are covered by the policy than others. A lot of this is dependent on what company you work for or what health insurance plan you purchase. For instance gastric bypass surgery may be covered under one company's plan but not another. Most people do not realize this fact.

The disability income benefits provide monetary benefits to those individuals that are either full or even partially disabled. These benefits are subject to time restrictions and there is also a set maximum dollar amount that is assured. Once the allotted duration has passed, or the maximum dollar amount dispensed, this section of coverage will discontinue throughout the policy duration.

For individuals with recurrent disabilities, often each recurrence will be deemed a new disability. However, in order for the subject to return to disability income as provided under the terms of the health insurance, there are certain stipulations that must be met. One such standard one is that the employee must have returned to work for a minimum of six consecutive months in between occurrences.

Also one other thing to understand about commercial health coverage is that the renewal provisions change from year to year. The renewals determine the way each type of insurance will work from year to year, and often, the health coverage is changed slightly to meets the needs of the insurers and the companies that offer the policies. So it is important to read the policy each year and know what is covered. For example, do you know what is your "lifetime maximum"?

More can be learned about commercial health insurance online. Ratings and reviews offered by consumers can provide insight into who the most cost-effective and reputable providers are. Finding the right commercial health insurance can also be done by enlisting the aid of a seasoned and professional agent or broker who can help you shop for the best deals.

Commercial Health Insurance - Understanding the Basics

Global Life Insurance - an Established Company With a Quality Reputation

There are more insurance companies in America today than ever before. This is great news for the consumer because competition drives prices down, making good insurance coverage more and more affordable all the time. But it also presents the difficult of choosing the right policy. With so many options available, many people find it daunting to have to research so many different policies and options in order to find one that suits their individual situation and needs. But one way to make sure that you are getting a quality policy is to go with an established company with a reputation for great customer service. Global Life Insurance certainly fits that description.

Global Life Insurance was established in Oklahoma in 1951. It was originally called Globe Life and Accident Insurance. Liberty National Life Insurance Company acquired Globe Life and Accident in the late 1970s, the first step to forming Torch Mark Corporation as a holding company. Torch Mark is an industry leader and provides insurance to millions of people. Consumers have great confidence in the brand, and even investor extraordinaire Warren Buffet owns stock in the company. There are few insurance companies that are trusted as widely as Global Life.

Mass Mutual

If it is options you are looking for, then Global Life Insurance is a great place to start. They offer different policies for all kinds of people. You can find coverage for yourself, your spouse, and even your children at affordable prices. And the more insurance you purchase, the better the deal you will get. You can find policies with as much or as little coverage as you want, depending on how high a risk you present and how much you are willing to pay for better coverage. Whether you choose to get a bare minimum of coverage or get as much coverage as you can afford, at least you have options.

And even if you cannot find exactly what you are looking for under the Global Life Insurance brand, you are sure to find it under one of the Torch Mark Corporations many subsidiaries. With six different insurance providers under its name, Torch Mark provides unparalleled variety and options to the savvy consumer. And you are sure to find an insurance broker near you who can help you to find just the right policy to fit your unique needs. The Torch Mark name is so widely known and trusted, that insurance brokers are happy to sell their policies. They can have confidence in that product, which means that you can, too.

Global Life Insurance - an Established Company With a Quality Reputation

A New Federal Estate Tax Law - What Does It Mean?

As you know, Congress passed a bill, which was signed by President Obama, which increased the lifetime federal estate tax exemption amount to million dollars. In addition, Congress added a portability provision, which meant that if the spouse died first and did not use the entire amount at his or her death, that the balance of that amount could be used by the surviving spouse at his or her death. This portability provision does not work in the event that the surviving spouse remarries. That surviving spouse only receives the remainder of the second spouse's exemption.

In the past, with a much lower exemption amount, estate planners prepared separate trusts for each spouse, with the trust of the first spouse to die splitting into two trusts at death: the marital trust and the family trust. The traditional language used in dividing the assets into the two trusts is that the family trust is funded first with the maximum amount that could pass free of tax. The balance after funding the family trust is placed into the marital trust.

Mass Mutual

Now that the maximum amount that can pass free of tax is .0 million for federal purposes, for estates that are smaller than the .0 million, the entire amount of that person's estate will go into the family trust, with nothing to go into the marital trust. This may mean that the surviving spouse's unfettered access to the assets in the trust will be somewhat limited. In many cases, there is a trustee other than the spouse who handles the principal distributions from the family trust, so the surviving spouse has to ask another trustee for principal distributions. This may or may not be the optimal solution for the estate plan for this size estate.

As a result, the estate plans that have been drafted in the past need to be reviewed to determine the goals of the family and determine if they are met under the circumstances. For a smaller estate, where the husband and wife each have full control of the assets, it may be simpler to do one joint trust, rather than separate trusts for the husband and wife. This is simple to understand and easy to use.

In addition to the lifetime federal estate tax exemption amount increasing to .0 million, the lifetime gift tax exemption and the lifetime generation skipping tax exemption also increases to .0 million. This means that gifts that are in excess of the annual limit of ,000 can be made without tax. This is true on gifts to the grandchildren, as well. This creates many more opportunities to give money or other assets to your children or grandchildren without creating a tax.

With all of these opportunities, the one potential problem is that this new law is a two year law. By the end of that time, Congress needs to do something such as to abolish the federal estate tax, or to set it at the current number more permanently. If it fails to do so, we may end up back at the .0 million lifetime exemption amount.

A New Federal Estate Tax Law - What Does It Mean?

Unemployment Cover Is It Just A Big Rip Off Or A Life Saver

Depending on where you purchase it from, unemployment cover could be considered nothing but a big rip off especially if you purchase it alongside your loan or mortgage from the high street lender. The cover when sold alongside a loan or mortgage is the dearest way of taking what could be essential and lifesaving protection in case you should lose your income due to accident, sickness or unemployment.

Unemployment cover can be taken to ensure that you would have enough money each month to meet the essential outgoings such as your mortgage repayments, loan repayments or other outgoings usually after you have been out of work for 30 days or more and will continue for up to 12 months and in some cases for up to 24 months.

Mass Mutual

However all unemployment cover policies have exclusions and while it can be a safety net, when not purchased correctly it can be a waste of money. If you buy it from the high street lender then it can cost you hundreds of pounds more that it would had you gone with a standalone provider. A standalone provider can not only save you a lot of money but they will also be able to give you the advice needed when it comes to the exclusions. Some of the most common exclusions include being self-employed, retired, suffering from a pre-existing medical condition.

Unemployment cover when taken out as mortgage payment protection will safeguard your mortgage and ensure that you are able to keep the roof over your head and don't risk losing your home to repossession. If you want to safeguard your loan repayments every month then loan payment protection will give you enough money to repay your loan repayments and income protection will replace a lost income up to a certain amount each month.

Unemployment Cover Is It Just A Big Rip Off Or A Life Saver

Scholarships Available For Hispanic Students

A college or university education is becoming increasingly important - not only in terms of finding a job that pays, but in finding work at all. While tuition might seem prohibitive, students of Latino heritage particularly have a wide variety of resources to help pay for studies toward a college or university degree. Much of this assistance comes in the form of scholarships that don't have to be repaid. Scholarships for Latino students include:

The Hispanic Scholarship Fund partners with large organizations to offer scholarships exclusively for students of Latino heritage. Some of these scholarships are designed for high school seniors, while others are for community college transfer students and students at varied age and education levels. Students must have a minimum 3.0 grade point average to qualify. Partners include organizations such as Budweiser, Shell, Telemundo, GOYA, Nissan North America, Toyota, Procter & Gamble and MassMutual.

Mass Mutual

The Hispanic College Fund offers scholarships for business, health care, hospitality and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) majors as well as for students of all other majors and those of Puerto Rican descent. Hispanic College Fund scholarships are awarded based on financial need and academic merit, and students are required to have a minimum 3.0 grade point average. These scholarships are offered through partnerships with groups such as the Darden Foundation, Google, Ford Motor Company, the Marriott Scholars Program and CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield. The Hispanic College Fund, as part of a consortium with other groups, also manages National Aeronautics and Space Administration MUST Project scholarships for students planning to study STEM subjects.

The Gates Millennium Scholar Program offers scholarships to Pell grant eligible students with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.3 or a general equivalency diploma. These scholarships are available to Latino students as well as those from African American, American Indian/Alaska Native and Asian Pacific Islander American backgrounds. They're intended for undergraduate students in any discipline and graduate students studying public health, science, math, engineering, computer science, education or library science.

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities manages scholarships of ,000 to ,100. The scholarships are awarded based in part on financial needs, and they're available to students attending its member institutions. In addition to a scholarship awarded by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities in partnership with Walmart, the association manages scholarships offered by Office Depot, Lockheed Martin, NASCAR, Aetna and Deloitte.

The National Council of LaRaza-Best Buy Emerging Latino Leaders Scholarship Program offers ,500 to ,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors of Hispanic descent. The essay-based contest is available to students with a minimum 2.0 grade point average. It's offered by the Best Buy Children's Foundation and the National Council of La Raza, a civil rights and advocacy organization that works to enhance opportunities for Hispanic Americans.

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists, through partnerships and contributions to its Rubén Salazar Scholarship Fund, provides tuition assistance to aspiring journalists. The Salazar scholarship is named for a Los Angeles print and broadcast journalist who was killed in a bar by a sheriff's deputy's tear gas projectile after he covered an anti-Vietnam War demonstration. In 2010, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists awarded ,000 in ,000 to ,000 scholarships.

Scholarships Available For Hispanic Students

Mutual Life Insurance - Benefits of the Policy Holders

A mutual life insurance company refers to that insurance company that has no private shareholders. Rather, such insurance company is altogether owned completely by its policy holders. There are a number of companies offering different add-on facilities such as life insurance coverage, accident insurance, critical insurance covers for the convenience of the policy holders. The policy holders, however, seem to remain quiet unconvinced about the value of the mutual coverage plans. Here, in this article, we aim at helping the policy holders develop a comprehensive idea about the insurance policy, the pros and cons and benefits associated with it.

Pros and cons:

Mass Mutual

When it comes to profit sharing, the funds are equally distributed amongst its policyholders. Although the inception of insurance companies basically started with mutual structure, it struggles with one disadvantage of raising fresh funds during times of its needs. This reason has been the prime cause of demutualization of many such companies that have been struggling to gather funds whenever their needs have demanded.

The unique kind of ownership rights binding the individual policy holders makes the mutual life insurance policy truly beneficial. The policy holders of a mutual company enjoy many conventional rights ranging from selecting the board of directors of the company to assessing the company's yearly turnover. These companies maintain reasonable rates of their premium as compared to stock-based insurance companies. The reason of the maintenance of their low premium is their unconcern attitude towards financial profits and returns. In the contemporary times, several mutual life insurance companies are coming to the fore with their clear ideology of wealth management, financial protection and income management. They skillfully work towards acquisition of their goals by market campaigning, earning clients' trust and building their immunity towards economic turbulence and financial recession.

Benefits:

Amongst many, one advantage of mutual life insurance is to make their policy holders, alias customers, feel confident about their significant choices. The insurance providers interact with their customers in an effective way so as to tender them some tangible methods of securing their financial stability tomorrow. By hinting about their financial sturdiness, the companies offering diverse range of financial products, mutual structure of ownership, cater to the preferences of their client's needs as their foremost priority. They offer mostly financial products, services and programs such as life insurance plans, annuity plans, disability-income insurance, long-term care insurance, retirement insurance products, income organization etc.

To summarize some of the benefits that lifeinsurance brings are:

Zero clash of interests between shareholders and policyholders Immunity from drudgery of mergers & takeovers Attractive dividend for policyholders Sometimes, mutual life insurance companies opt for their demutualization. This term refers to conversion of mutually managed insurance companies into stock-based enterprises. The main reason behind the trend of demutualization is to gain strong foothold in the market by being able to raise capital whenever required. The dividends payments to both the policy holders as well as the share holders have proved to be immensely beneficial.

In a nutshell, mutual insurance companies cater to all those investors who believe in mutual financial bonding rather than going after meaningless quest of profiteering and fortune building.

Mutual Life Insurance - Benefits of the Policy Holders

Advantages and Disadvantages of Association Group Insurance Plans

As we mentioned in previous article, many corporations offer competitive packages, and that's even a strategy in hiring and retaining employees. These competitive packages include group insurance to plans that provide individual retirement accounts or traditional registered pension plans, etc. In this article, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of association group insurance plan.

Association group is the group of individuals or companies with similar occupations such as dentists, lawyers, medical doctors etc. The association arranges group insurance for its member and individual member pays all the premiums. The master contract exists between the association and the insurer and individual member receives a certificate detailing coverage.

Mass Mutual

I. Advantages

a) Provide more economical coverage because of mass purchase and group discounting.
b) Group insurance is arranged by the Association and only requires payment to enroll.
c) Provide for larger amounts of life insurance and the right to convert life insurance for each member in the association within 60 days of termination.
d) Certificate is issued showing coverage.
e ) Coverage may be more comprehensive and premium is lower than individual insurance.

II. Disadvantages

a) Coverage reduces in later years and premiums can be increased without notice.
b) The group insurance plan amendments, restrictions or termination can be effected without input of member.
c) Most contracts contain restrictive clauses and a two-year suicide clause.
d) The master policy is held by the association therefore some member may consider to opt out with an individual policy if they consider that is the best solution.
e) Contract and coverages are negotiated between association and insurance company. Member of association has to no say to it.

I hope this information will help.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Association Group Insurance Plans

Annuities - Did My Annuity Agent Rip Me Off?

Did you get ripped off when you bought your annuity? Maybe.

I often get called from people who own annuities and the first question they ask goes something like this: 'I own a (insert annuity name here). Did I get ripped off? It's not an easy question to answer but let's take a look at that.

Mass Mutual

Lets assume being ripped off means one of three things:

1) That you didn't exactly get what you paid for (i.e. invested in).

2) You got something completely different than what you paid for.

3) You got something you weren't expecting.

The bottom line is that, many people who buy annuities fall into one of these categories. You might think that's a bold statement but it certainly is not untrue. I know. I have interviewed a substantial amount of annuity owners and many (if not most) do not know what they own.

Does this mean they got ripped off? Well, maybe and maybe not. Let's take a look. An insurance agent has a duty and responsibility to inform the consumer of all the details of the product they are purchasing. Do they do that? Not usually. Sometimes the omission is important and other times it is not. However, if you have something that falls into one of the 3 categories above, then you may have been ripped off.

Where do the agent omissions come from? How can they fail to tell you everything? Well, omissions happen sometimes knowingly and sometimes unknowingly. So, in the agent's defense, sometimes, something is not mentioned because they feel it is not important OR because you didn't mention it was important. Does that make it right??? No. Other times, however, an omission happens due to the ignorance of the agent. This is definitely not excusable. Unfortunately, many annuity agents do not know exactly what they are selling.

Agents and insurance companies are to blame for this. Agents often take the insurance company's word for what a product is without doing their due diligence. Shame on them but often you pay for it.

Insurance companies often paint the sales story for the insurance agent so they can sell their products. Shame on them but you pay for it.

Don't get ripped off when it comes to your annuities. There are a few things you can do to avoid being ripped off:

1) Know what you want in an annuity

2) Know what features are important to you

3) Know what is important for your annuities not to have

4) Tell your agent EXACTLY what you want and don't want and document it for future purposes

4) Be well educated PRIOR to making a purchase

5) Assume you are going to be ripped off so you will act more carefully.

So, most importantly if you got something that falls in the three categories above, you may have been ripped off. If you feel like you have been cheated, there are appropriate measures you can take. If you are buying an annuity, there are things you can do to avoid being ripped off. I always say do your homework. Ignorance is not bliss.

Annuities - Did My Annuity Agent Rip Me Off?