Insurance and Law

Friday, April 30, 2010

Fla. House Dems halt legislative action over abortion bill dispute

Fla. House Dems halt legislative action over abortion bill dispute
An anti-abortion bill that emerged in the final days of the lawmaking session has derailed the Florida Legislature -- prompting House Democrats to temporarily shut down their chamber and block bills from being heard.

Read more on Sun-Sentinel

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Advantages of Whole Term Life Insurance

As is obvious from the name, whole life insurance is a permanent life insurance covering the whole life of the policy holder with timely premium payments, as long as the policy holder is alive. Whole life insurance is apt for those who plan on long term goals.

Though term life insurance has gained popularity due to various reasons, whole life insurance cannot be set aside entirely as it has a lot of advantages to its credit. Primarily whole life insurance guarantees the death benefits that never decrease and nonfederal income taxes are charged upon death and lasts an entire lifetime which is a good advantage.

Premiums are generally a little higher than a term life insurance and as the age progresses, the annual premium tends to lessen. As against term life insurance which has no cash value, whole life insurance has some money stored as cash value. If the policy is terminated, accumulated guaranteed cash would be paid. It is also feasible to take loans against the whole life insurance policy. The guaranteed cash values can be used for emergencies and temporary needs. The cash value increases as the premiums are paid.

When a policy holder has a participation in whole life insurance, he or she is eligible for earning dividends which would be paid in cash. This cash can be either used to keep within the policy to generate interest or used to minimize the premiums. All the cash that are accumulated or borrowed are on a tax free basis except when it is withdrawn.

Whole life insurance policies can never be struck off by the insurance company. As the whole life insurance policy gets older, the surrender value becomes more or less the amount that has been paid and thus, the cash value along with the dividend far exceeds the premium that have been paid.

The dividend from a whole life insurance can also be used to purchase paid up additions that are small, fully paid up whole life policies. Whole life insurance quotes are available online which give the convenience of getting the policies instantly and urgently. The encouraging factor is that almost all reputed companies are offering whole life insurance quotes online and it becomes easier to compare the various offers and choose the best suited.

Whole life insurance is not only a tool to protect the dependents after the demise of the policy holder; it is also a way of saving for the future and has an emotional attachment to it. Hence, sufficient thought and time have to be spared to get the best quote and option available and decide accordingly, to ensure a secure future and a comfortable present life.

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What is the average car insurance price for a new driver?

I have my driver licence almost eight months ago in NH. Now I moved to Mas and I pay about $ 210 per month for car insurance. I want to know if I can find cheaper or this not too bad for a new driver. I own a 2000 ford Taurus since two months. What do you think guys?

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Getting cheaper car insurance

Getting cheaper car insurance
Find ways to obtain cheaper car insurance.

Read more on Bankrate.com via Yahoo! Finance

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What You Should Know About International Travel Medical Insurance

International travel medical insurance goes a long way to insure that you have a trip without fear of encountering medical problems along the way. International travel for both business and pleasure keeps growing at a very fast pace and is not going to change in the near future. Some domestic health insurance plans will cover you away from home but many don't cover you and especially for major medical expenses.

Domestic travel insurance plans are not designed at all to work well with hospitals and doctors overseas, which can add to your frustration if you have any medical problems while traveling. Generally, in the travel insurance market there are two kinds of insurance products: travel medical insurance (or travel health insurance) which is obviously more heavily weighted to cover you for any health-related problems that might occur while traveling outside of your home country and has a smaller amount of trip cancellation coverage included; the other type is trip cancellation insurance.

Getting a few low cost or cheap international travel medical insurance quotes online from several companies is very easy to do. If you're looking for a group plan there are a few group insurance plans that are relatively cheap, and if you're with a tour group or visiting business delegation you could save a lot of money with group travel medical insurance. Whatever compromise in the plan you choose to make between the risks and costs, shop around not only for cheap international travel medical insurance plans, but also for a reputable company that gives you total information, has open view functioning and is not evasive about any of your questions.

Yes you can get cheap international travel medical insurance. The time frame on the insurance policy needs to be restricted to the actual time you're out of the country; the shorter duration will obviously reduce the cost. Some international travel medical insurance plans don't accept any travel that may involve hazardous activity such as mountain climbing or skating.

Make sure that the coverage of health and accident insurance covers hospitalization, doctor bills and medications. There are travel medical insurance plans readily available with a wide range of costs and benefits, and with different conditions available through different insurance companies. And some insurance policies don't cover any pre-existing illnesses, and will ask for your history of medical problems.

You want to keep handy the addresses and phone numbers of the persons who are to be notified in the event you need to make a claim when you're traveling. Get your international travel health insurance early because many plans have a waiting period after the premium has been paid. One way of lowering your insurance costs is to agree to pay a small initial medical cost of any treatment needed and make a claim from the insurance company only when the amount exceeds that amount; for example, you could agree to pay the first 250 dollars of any medical expenses and make a claim only when the cost of treatment goes above it.

Choosing the right plan obviously involves taking some risks, but people who do are rewarded because the cost of their travel insurance also becomes cheaper. Medical costs all around the world are skyrocketing, due mostly to the advances in specialized equipment and the cost of advanced medicines and training specialists in a number of fields. Make sure that emergency evacuation is fully covered in any insurance policy that you buy. Evacuation can be very expensive.

Remember your utmost greatest financial risk while traveling outside of your home country is if you encounter any major health or medical problem; you want to avoid this risk with the proper coverage. If you already have travel insurance, check to make sure that it covers major medical expenses; many policies don't.

International travel medical insurance is an important travel necessity for individuals and families when they live or travel outside their home country. Make sure that evacuation coverage is included in your plan, because that can be a major expense; getting you out of a difficult location such as a cruise ship, mountain top or safari can be costly. Make sure you know exactly what is covered in your travel insurance policy.

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Abortion measure divides Senate, halts the House

Abortion measure divides Senate, halts the House
TALLAHASSEE With the clock ticking Thursday, an explosive bill to require women to get an ultrasound before an abortion gripped the state Senate and led Democrats to halt action in the House .

Read more on St. Petersburg Times

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Low Cost Life Insurance in 5 Easy Steps

1. Understand the purpose of life insurance.

The purpose of life insurance is to replace your income if you die before being able to build up sufficient financial assets. So, if you have someone depending on you to earn a certain amount of income during a period of time, life insurance is the way to go. Let's say you are a young, 30-year-old husband and your wife is a stay-at-home mom. You have little or no savings, small children, a mortgage, and some bills as a result of buying furniture and appliances to establish a household. If you were to die, your family would be financially devastated. You are a prime candidate for life insurance. So, instead of buying a whole life policy, you take out a less expensive 30-year term policy. You invest the difference between what a whole life policy would have cost, and what your premium is for the term policy. Let us fast forward. You are now 60 years old. The children have grown up and have finished school, the mortgage and other bills have been paid off. For the past 30 years you have been making regular investments, which have grown to a substantial nest egg. At this point, there is no further need for life insurance. The insurance policy that you took out 30 years ago has enabled you to buy time by protecting your family while you were accumulating the nest egg.

On the other hand, if you are single with no dependents or retired and living on investments or retirement income, you probably do not need life insurance.

2. Keep insurance separate from investments.

One reason for consumer's confusion about life insurance is that some companies combine investments with life insurance. In order to do a proper comparison, it makes sense to keep the two separate, since they are designed to meet two distinct needs. When we purchase most items we consider the cost per unit. For example, when we purchase ground beef we look at the cost per pound, when we purchase gasoline we look at the price per gallon. When we are considering term life insurance, we should look at the cost per unit. The way to evaluate term life insurance is to determine the cost per $1000 of coverage.

In order to do that, you divide the annual premium you are quoted by the amount of coverage you have determined that you need. For example, if you decide that you need $700,000 in coverage and the premium you are quoted is $3700, the cost per $1000 of coverage would be $5.28 ($3700 ÷ $700).

Using this method, you are now ready to compare prices without getting into the "mumbo jumbo" about projected rate of return on your investment and building cash value and other terms that tend to distort what you are really trying to do - protect your family in case you die before you accumulate adequate assets.

3. Buy term insurance.

There are two kinds of policies: Term and whole life (or permanent or cash value). Term is pure insurance for a set number of years, 10, 15, 20, or 30 and it only pays a death benefit. Whole life, on the other hand, may provide interest and dividends. Since there are no dividends or interest involved, term insurance is generally less expensive than whole life.

So, the husband in Tip # 1 would be better served to buy the appropriate amount of term insurance to protect his family during their most vulnerable period. He could invest the savings he realized by not buying whole life insurance and into something like a stock mutual fund that will enable him to be financially secure later in life.

4. Ask for a change in rating class.

Let's say you took out a policy four years ago right after you learned that you had high blood pressure. The company did a physical examination and, because of your high blood pressure, they placed you in a rating class with a higher premium than you would have been charged had you not had high blood pressure. Let's further say that during the last four years you have taken control of your health, lost weight, exercised, taken your medication and now your blood pressure is normal. Under those circumstances, you can go back and ask them to review your medical status and put you in a rating class with a lower premium.

5. Get free life insurance quotes from top life insurance companies.

There are over 1500 life insurance companies. Premiums vary by hundreds of dollars for the same amount of coverage. For example, for $100,000 worth of term life insurance for a 35- year-old male, I recently found annual premiums that ranged from $886 to $2194.

Get instant life insurance quotes at http://www.howtocutexpenses.com

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