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“U.S. taxpayers and Medicare patients could have saved almost $15 billion in 2007 if private health insurers had cut expenses for prescription drug coverage and negotiated bigger discounts,” according to a newly released (Democratic) government report. [Reuters]
We’ve received a follow-up email from Chuck, who has spent the better part of the week trying to determine why Progressive’s Roadside Assistance service—for which he pays an additional monthly fee on top of his normal insurance premium—sucks so badly that they’d leave a motorist stranded for 45 minutes on a busy Interstate on a weekend morning.
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Medicare’s prescription drug plan finder was updated with 2008 information today. [Medicare]
When we wrote about the glories of subletting your apartment while on vacation, we mused that renter’s insurance might cover it if your guest damages or steals stuff. While talking to USAA today about our renter’s insurance policy we asked them about this and they said nope, it doesn’t. You’re still protected from all the normal things, like fire, flood, and falling space probes, but not by the actions of someone you’ve invited into your home. So, we’ll just continue to beware and use our best judgment and not sublet to sketchy people. Other people with lower risk tolerances will disagree, and we’re okay with that.
The decreased caloric intake and increase in non-motorized modes of transportation following Cuba’s economic crisis from 1989-2000 lead to a decrease in heart disease and diabetes, a University of Michigan study finds.
According to a reader, Progressive—the insurance company that sends private detectives to secretly tape-record church support group meetings—took 45 minutes this past weekend to put a live person in contact with a woman who was stranded on a busy Interstate in Nashville after a tire blew out on her car. Eventually, a Tennessee Department of Transportation officer stopped and helped her.
A federal audit of Medicare coverage by brand-name insurance companies found a pattern of wrongly denied claims and deceptive marketing practices, NYT reports. In some cases, salesmen would show up at elderly folk’s doors and say the President sent them, or that they’re from Medicare. In others, telemarketers call and say they’re from Medicare and the person will lose their benefits if they don’t enroll in the telemarketer’s plan. Our country’s healthcare system is on life support and we’re not sure what will fix it. Perhaps an appetite for more oversight, audits and fines for misbehaving companies would do the trick.
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Even though they’re 50% more likely to be burglarized, only 43% of renters have renter’s insurance, compared to 98% of homeowners with homeowner’s insurance. [NYT]
Predatory Tow trucks are prowling about Florida, looking to gin up extra cash by hauling perfectly good cars to salvage yards. The tow truck operators make up to $100,000 each year by preying on seemingly abandoned cars. By the time the rightful owners start asking questions, their cars are already cubes.
Investigators say salvage yards aren’t held responsible as long as they get the proper paperwork.
For a decade now, all the major auto insurers have used a customer’s credit rating to some degree in determining premiums. They claim that it results in lower rates for “most” customers, and that the data prove that people with lower credit scores make more claims and for higher amounts. The FTC released a report this summer that validated the practice—but also confirmed an unpleasant truth critics have been saying for years: because a higher percentage of Hispanics and African-Americans have low credit scores, there’s a good chance they’re disproportionately affected.
NetBank is the first federally regulated bank to fail thanks to the ongoing subprime meltdown. The failure spotlights the importance of FDIC insurance, which guarantees deposits of up to $100,000. Customers who abided by the FDIC limits and deposited less than $100,000 with the internet bank will become ING customers, and will have immediate access to their funds. The 1,500 customers who collectively deposited $109 million above the FDIC limits stand to lose half of their funds.
The ways that credit cards can make you unhappy are legion. Fees, balances, crazy interest rates, universal default, the list goes on. But, even though we just saw Bank of America digging a pit in your backyard, and word has it the zoo is missing 3 tigers and a crocodile, there are a few ways that a credit card can make you happy. (Not all of these tips are unique to credit cards, so check to see which benefits your debit card has.)
Score another round—sort of—for alternative medicine. In what may be the funniest medical study fake-out so far, German scientists report that patients who received fake acupuncture in their lower back reported relief at almost-but-not-quite the same rate as those who received legit acupuncture: 44% of patients improved, versus 47% of those who received real acupuncture and 25% of those who received conventional treatment reported improvements.
After going without any healthcare coverage for 3 years, (husband’s employer didn’t not offer it and husband and child have preexisting conditions that make self paid insurance imposable to afford) was ecstatic to find out my husband’s new employer did offer insurance! Even though it is at a very high premium and a $2000 deductible, it’s better than nothing, right? At least that’s what I thought, till I tried to use Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City…
Is a toad hiding in your engine? Here’s 10 little car insurance dirty secrets from SmartMoney:
Here’s two sites which will help you find cheaper generic alternatives to brand-name prescriptions:
Bankrate has a good example letter you can use if your health insurance company denies your claim for based on a specific medical procedure. It’s in “Madlibs” style, so you’ll need to replace all the items in red with your personal information. The argument is based on the premise that the insurance company must not been properly informed with the full information, and requires getting additional specialist letter(s) testifying to its necessity, as well as including articles about the procedure. There’s no guarantee of its success, but it can at least serve as an initial salvo before escalating your issue elsewhere.
Wal-Mart’s rehabilitation continues, possibly: beginning in January, it will offer its employees a revamped insurance package designed to cut costs, expand coverage, and reduce the price of prescription drugs. Even past critics of Wal-Mart, such as health care advocacy group Families USA, are hopeful: “On face value, this looks like a very significant change and improvement.” Some of the plan’s details: a $100-500 grant to defray costs, premiums as low as $5/month, the “elimination” of expensive hospital deductibles, and an increase in the number of $4 prescription drugs to 2,400.
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