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!

We're Number Two! We're Number Two!

Nassau County Long Island won the Silver Medal!
Westchester took the Gold!
So what was the competition?
Could it have been a Jeopardy style game?
Was it a kind of real estate Olympics?
No, it was a list of the highest ranking neighborhoods in the country in terms of property taxes!
That's right, Nassau Country taxes it's residents an average of just under $9,000 per year for the pleasure of owning property there.
But for that money residents get, uh, wait a moment, hmmm.
Well we get lots of things.
Let's see, there are plenty of potholes to keep drivers on their toes!  That's actually a good thing because it makes it necessary to keep one's eyes on the road rather than texting or putting on make-up.
Critics will argue that we on the Island have very good schools and for the most part they would be correct.  But the argument has no place in this story wince School Tax is separate from and added to Town tax.
For years there have been politicians arguing that the 'downstate' area should secede from NY State and form the 51st star on the flag.  They even came up with a name, The Empire State.  After all the cool building is in Manhattan not Albany.
If the five boroughs of New York City were to team up with the two Island Counties we would actually have a very populated state.  Empire State would finally have two dedicated Senators and several new Representatives for lobbyists to grease.
And perhaps two stories that appeared in the news on the same day would have different endings.  Those stories were about the sky high and quite unfair property tax and the fact that while Long Island's poverty numbers remain constant they are still terribly high.
Jobs have left Long Island as the politicians continue to make stupid choices in their efforts to grab a personal spotlight.  One need only look at the woman in charge of Hempstead who must think her name includes her title to see the self-serving mind at work.
Supervisor Kate Murray has continued to block 'The Lighthouse Project.'  That development would keep a professional hockey team here (I use the term loosely.)
In fact any development of the ugly blighted area in and around the Nassau Coliseum has stalled while Murray claims she wants to be sure it will be good for the county.
But when it came to her well-off retired dad she never gave the county a second thought hiring him to a cushy high-paying do-little job that could have gone to any number of more qualified unemployed available tax paying Long Islanders!
Daddy Murray quit after the nepotism became known but the intent was evident and the pig's motive was out in the open.
Then there was Mangano voiding his predecessor's cap on severance for top cops by gifting them hundreds of thousand of our tax dollars to retire early!  Those of us who were laid off and forced into a sort of early retirement without as much as a penny truly appreciated that gesture!
The Long Island Railroad has been mis-managed for so long that we don't ever expect it to work!  If the weather forecast has rain in it the trains will be late! And the rain doesn't even have to be in New York!  Ever notice the trains are considered to be on time until they are over 6 minutes late?
I could go on all day with the idiocy of our so-called leaders in government but most if this is known.
The loss of tax revenue from the stalled Lighthouse Project; the gifts of bribe money to and probably from local governments; and the increased cost to ride the rails on Long Island taken together with the high property taxes and shameful poverty level are turning Long Island into a terrible place to live.
And as soon as housing prices stabilize and move higher watch the middle class jump ship and move to more friendly climes.  At that time there'll be plenty of open jobs for daddy Murray!
The county may not win another Silver medal but when it comes to poor value for the money they sure take the cake.