May 2013

When you dig through the records of a deceased parent or older relative, you might uncover photos of yourself sporting an unfortunate hair or clothing style –or a Life insurance policy in your name.

Some parents bought Life insurance for their children to kick-start a savings plan. Many families purchased Juvenile Life policies that built up a substantial “cash value” over an extended period. So, it’s probably worth asking your aging parents or relatives whether if they ever took out a policy on your Life.

Even if nothing turn up in the records of a departed loved one, there could still be a Life policy out there in your name. It’s smart to look periodically on the website of your state’s unclaimed property department, where financial institutions send money when they can’t find the rightful owner after a specific period (often five years). You can also check these databases in every state where you and your family members have lived.

To benefit from an unclaimed Life policy in your name, you’ll have to file a claim. A Social Security number and address is often all the proof you’ll need. However, claims with a high-dollar amount might require more documentation.

If you find a policy insuring you, and the owner is deceased, you can maintain coverage or surrender it for its cash value, depending on your financial situation. Redeeming the policy will mean losing the death benefit – and could have tax consequences. If the policy has built up enough cash value to pay the premiums, you might be able to keep the coverage at no cost.

We’d be glad to offer our advice.

Although searching for the prices of health care has traditionally been an exercise in frustration, it’s getting easier and easier to find this information.

With health care costs rising and consumers on the hook for a growing share of their medical bills, doctors, hospitals, and health insurers are feeling the pressure to bring make their prices more readily available.

Most health plans give policyholders the average cost for procedures in a geographic area or ZIP Code; some even show cost by specific healthcare providers.

If you get Health insurance at work, chances are that your employer can provide pricing information.

You can also access such online healthcare cost estimating services as:

FairHealthConsumer.org offers a comprehensive medical cost estimator. Enter your ZIP code, indicate whether you have insurance find your procedure on a drop-down list – and up pops the estimated price, together with the amount your insurer will probably cover (and how much you would pay).
Pricing sites such as HealthBlueBook.com and NewChoiceHealth.com provide the average amount that insurance companies pay for many inpatient and outpatient procedures in your area.

Use SaveOnMedical.com to compare prices and quality ratings for services such as MRIs, X-rays and CT scans listed by cost, based on your ZIP Code or city.
When using any of these cost estimation tools, remember that hospitals, doctors, anesthesiologists and labs might all bill separately and to get a handle on your likely costs, consider the full picture. Also, be sure to do your pricing homework before you seek non-urgent care.

To learn more about health-care pricing resources, please feel free to get in touch with us at any time.

What if your insurance company kicks the bucket before you do?

The odds of this occurring are very slim.

During the past four decades, only 426 Life and Health carriers have failed (an average of 10 a year). Despite the recession, only eight insurers went under between 2008 and 2012.

Since the Great Depression, policyholders of bankrupt insurance companies have recovered an average of 95 cents on the dollar.

Under federal bankruptcy law, failing Life and Health insurers go into a tightly regulated three-tiered resolution program run by their home state’s guaranty association (GA). This guaranty association is an insolvency “safety net” financed by insurance companies that operates in much the same way that the FDIC guarantees banking accounts. (Separate GAs also protect Homeowners and Auto insurance customers.)

What’s more, because Life benefits are not payable upon demand in the same way as bank deposits, policyholders don’t have to worry about a “run” on their insurance company.

Individual Life policies are usually guaranteed up to $300,000 (cash values to $100,000) and annuities up to $250,000, although the amounts vary.

If your Life insurance company does go under, we offer these recommendations:

• Keep paying your premiums to avoid the risk of terminating coverage or (for Whole Life) reducing its cash value.
• Don’t surrender a Whole Life policy for quick cash at the cost of giving up its full value to your beneficiary(ies).
• Ask us for help in requesting a “hardship disbursement” from the insurance company (we have detailed information on your policy and can help you draft a letter that should help you get a positive and prompt response.
• As always, our agency stands ready to serve you.