Insurance for Peace of Mind – Whose?

Nassau County just announced they caught many individuals who defrauded Medicaid out of hundreds of thousands of dollars! The money will have to be covered by those of us who have not broken the law since the bills must be paid.

In discussing the case County Department of Social Services Commissioner John Imhof stated that “It’s unconscionable that individuals try to cheat the system and try to jeopardize benefits intended for the truly needy.”

He’s right, that’s purview of big business and large corporations!

In this case the people who committed the crimes were caught and will hopefully be prosecuted to recoup the agency’s losses. At that time the County may be paid back although I am not going to hold my breath.

But this brings up an interesting issue.

When an insurance company sells a policy to a customer they do so with the understanding that they may have to pay a claim at some time in the future.

Naturally they are in the business of making profits so they try to only insure customers against nearly impossible happenings.
Occasionally they screw up and lose.

Or do they?

Whether the payments are for legitimate claims or for fraudulent ones the companies will increase their premiums across the board to cover them, thus ensuring them an equal if not larger profit year after year.

In America we have the free enterprise system.  Companies are allowed to do business any way they see fit as long as they don’t break the law. So it is up to the individual to decide with whom they wish to deal when it comes to insurance.

But much insurance is utility-like in nature while some are even mandated such as auto insurance.

When the government declares that you must have insurance they also must regulate the companies that offer that insurance lest greed take over and the captive customer be fleeced.

But the truth is no matter how large a profit these companies report if they are hit with a claim they will raise their rates in order to recoup those losses.
And if those companies are defrauded out of money by a falsified claim they will raise the rates on all of their customers so as to not lose one dime!

Do not get me wrong, I am against those who knowingly break the law to defraud any individual or company, even insurance companies.
But I do not condone spreading the pain among the innocent bystanders!

If an insurance company writes a policy with a customer they are essentially making a bet that they will not have to pay out any claims. It behooves them to turn down any claims or at the very least fight them and demand more and more proof of validity in the hopes the customer will give up and go away.

In the event the insurance company loses the fight and must pay they should be forced to do so out of their own pocket and not the pockets of the people who had absolutely nothing to do with the entire process in the first place.

We the people do not receive gifts or bonuses from big insurance companies who report obscene large yearly profits.
We do not reap the benefits of all those claims they deny.
So why do we receive a bill when those profits don’t meet their desired number?

Auto insurance companies are not the only ones who spend fortunes on ad campaigns aimed at brainwashing the public into believing that insurance fraud must be paid for by the innocent among us.

You pays your money
And you takes your chances

If I gamble in a casino and lose from whom may I claim that money back?

If an insurance company is defrauded they should go after the person or persons who committed the crime. It is not only their right it is their duty.

I would even offer to help them, for a price. But I am not nor should I be held accountable for their losses!

Insurance - Part 1 - Auto

There is a funny e-mail circulating these days about illegal aliens and the benefits they receive. When I say funny I do not mean hah hah funny but rather sad funny. It is actually a real letter sent to Senator Harkin by one of his constituents. If you have not received it as yet you may link here: http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/taxes/becoming-illegal-tax-purposes-86139.html

Many parts will ring true and some of us may really get angry at parts of it but, hey this is America - Love it or leave it.

One part I enjoyed was about the insurance industry as that has always been a bugaboo for me.

Auto insurance is a mandated form of payment to large corporations so that they may send you a form letter at some time in the future stating that whatever it is you are claiming is no longer covered and if you continue to bother them they will drop you.

You naturally respond with the question, "Then why should I even have insurance?" And the trained response is "For peace of mind.”
And why not take a piece of this while you're at it?

My son does not like to drive and does not have a car of his own. However he is back from college now and since he has a license I have the obligation to tell the crooks, I mean insurance comapny that he has the opportunity to get behind the wheel of his mom’s car. When I added him to my auto insurance policy the lovely people at Geico informed me that even though he does not have a car and may never drive he still can. So they insisted on my placing a percentage against his name as to how much he might drive. I repeated that he is not a percentage anywhere but they insisted that they had to put a number against his name or the policy could not written, or rather re-written. I gave in, naturally and offered a 10% maximum figure and placed him on the oldest car we have, a 2000 Honda Accord. Geico sent me my new policy and it lists my “may never drive” son as a possible driver and increased the six-month policy by $450. To put that in perspective my wife is on the policy at $440.00 and she drives every day.

According to our government you must have insurance or you are breaking the law. Once again the laws are in place to protect the corporations against loss of money and to keep the rest of in line so as to not bother them. If you are making me buy insurance by law shouldn’t the insurance I buy be regulated? Wouldn’t it be logical to keep an eye on the insurance companies a little, JUST A LITTLE?
How naïve I am. Of course our government is keeping an eye on them. How else can they see the kick-backs when they receive them?