While group health insurance is ideal, there are several ways to obtain affordable health insurance in Michigan if you are unable to obtain it through an employer-sponsored group health insurance plan.

If you have recently become unemployed, you may be eligible for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, or COBRA, which allows you to continue your health insurance after becoming unemployed. You may also be eligible for the services offered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. Other possible affordable health insurance options in Michigan include insurance conversion, Medicaid, Medicare, and state-sponsored health care plans which focus on low-income individuals, children, and families, or those who can not otherwise afford a health insurance policy.

Yet, if none of these options are available to you, you may have to purchase an individual health insurance plan. However, in Michigan, you can set out to purchase an affordable individual health insurance plan without having to worry about being turned down due to pre-existing health conditions you may have. The only stipulation to this is that you must purchase your individual health insurance plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Why is this stipulation worth accepting? Because it is hard for people with pre-existing health conditions to purchase individual health insurance policies. Health insurance companies sometimes refuse to sell individual health insurance policies to the people because the companies feel they are too “high-risk,” meaning, they are going to be spending a lot of money on them. This is a sad, but true, occurrence.

Do not let the prices of individual health insurance policies keep you from purchasing one, especially if you have a health condition that requires regular care, treatment, and medication. In Michigan, you can obtain affordable health insurance. Contact the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Services for more information about purchasing an affordable individual health insurance plan through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

How can I get affordable health insurance if I’m unemployed?

There are many ways you can obtain affordable health insurance, even after you’ve become unemployed. Check into COBRA, converting your former group health insurance plan into an individual health insurance plan, or a state continuation plan in which you can continue being covered under your previous group health insurance plan for a certain period of time.

What if my last job didn’t offer health insurance?

There are a few reasons why some employers don’t offer health care benefits. Since employers aren’t legally required to offer health insurance, not all do. Plus, if you work part-time, you usually aren’t eligible for your employer’s health benefits package.

If your last job did not offer health insurance benefits, you most likely won’t be eligible for assistance such as COBRA, conversion, or state continuation. You can, however, contact your state’s department of insurance to find information about any affordable health insurance plans they offer for unemployed individuals. You may also want to ask about your eligibility for state-sponsored health care, as well as Medicaid.

Are there options for unemployed people to get help with prescription medications?

Yes. Many companies that make and distribute prescription medications have special programs to assist those people who need prescription medicine but can not afford it otherwise. If you know your particular prescription medication company, contact them for more information. If you don’t know, contact your state’s department of insurance for help.

How can I find affordable health coverage for my children?

It is important your children keep continuous health insurance coverage. If you’re able to take advantage of COBRA, conversion, or state continuation, be sure to do so. If not, make sure you ask your state’s department of insurance specifically about state health care programs for your children. Depending on your income and assets, you may be eligible for free, or very low-cost, health insurance for you children.

Pets are considered a part of the lives of their owners, who treat them as companions and best friends. Like humans, pets too are susceptible to illness and diseases that demand expert medical attention. Therefore, it is advisable for the pet owners to update themselves about the ailments that their pet can come across and the expenses related to the treatment involved. A pet can come into harm's way by various ways, including bee stings, allergic reactions, swallowing a foreign object, and breaking a bone. These situations require expert veterinary attention and may cost the owners more than their estimated cost. Pet health insurance takes care of all such unexpected medical expenses related to the pet and provides the pet owner peace of mind.

Pet health insurance covers unexpected illnesses and accidents as well as routine care expenses. There are many different pet health insurance plans available in the market that can be designed to provide complete or minimum coverage. A complete coverage plan will typically cover accidental injuries, emergencies, and illnesses along with office visits, prescriptions, diagnostic tests, x-rays, and lab fees. It is also possible for pet owners to choose options to cover vaccination and routine care.

Most of the pet health insurance providers allow the pet owners to take their pets to any licensed veterinarian or specialist worldwide. They require the pet owners to agree to a deductible that pet owners have to pay from their end when they file for a claim. The insurance company also considers a pre-existing condition, which means any illness, accident or injury that has been contracted or appeared prior to the effective date of the policy. In such a case, the pet health insurance provider requires a copy medical history of the pet, including all lab reports. However, ordinarily pet health insurance providers do not require the pet owner to submit a medical history of their pets prior to enrollment.

People buy life insurance to ensure the financial security of their dependents in case of their untimely death. This means that the risk of death of the policy owner is transferred to the insurance company or the insurer. Insurance agents are representatives of these insurance companies, who assess the needs of the people and help them choose the best insurance plan. Life insurance agents specialize in selling life insurance policies and therefore, posses all the expertise and knowledge to assist their customers in choosing the right policy. These agents have to find such customers for their business and they do so by, generating leads. Leads are nothing but lists of names and contact details of potential customers. There are many companies that specialize in generating and selling these lists to insurance agents as well as brokers.

To find life insurance leads insurance agents and brokers follow various courses of action. They can opt to generate their own leads by following the local resources or they can buy them. There are several companies that claim to provide fresh and unused leads for a price. These leads are usually generated though the list of people who may have requested for a quote online. These leads are considered the best, as such customers, are already looking for life insurance and are more likely to buy a policy. These web-based lead providing companies offer many packages to the insurance professionals. These packages generally include monthly or yearly accounts, pay-per-lead accounts, and customized leads account. Usually the information provided for every prospect is limited to contact details and requirement from the policy. However, more detailed information can also be purchased for a higher price.

Popular ways of generating leads include putting up advertisements on billboards or in newspapers and or having ads aired on local radio stations. People responding to these advertisements will be the leads and potential customers. It is now up to the life insurance agent to convert these leads into policies. Life insurance leads are pivotal for establishing a thriving insurance-based business.

Taking out Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) should protect your ability to maintain loan repayments, in case of sickness, involuntary unemployment or an accident, and so help you avoid falling into debt. It can provide cover and peace of mind against any unexpected changes in your personal circumstances, when taking out a loan or mortgage. It is important, however, to realise that it is optional, and that the wrong PPI can cost you a lot more money than it should.

Many of us are not aware that you don't have to take insurance cover from the lender who is providing your loan. There is a huge variation in the cost of PPI policies and independent 'stand alone' insurance companies can often be much more competitive. The insurance coverage the independent insurance companies offer is not linked with the loan. Some lenders describe the loan they offer as 'protected', so it is important when taking out a loan to not only check the interest rate, but whether the total repayment figure quoted includes insurance cover. Some PPI policies can add as much as £1,500 to a loan of £5,000.

Unfortunately, there are people who sign up for PPI without realising that the policy won't pay out if anything goes wrong with their payment ability, for instance, the self-employed are often excluded from claiming. Some companies do not assess the customer's suitability adequately. You need to check that you fit the criteria to be eligible to make a future claim, or that you do not already have protection that means you do not really need this insurance. If you decide to take out Payment Protection Insurance carefully check all the exclusions, especially if you have an existing medical condition or you have been off work recently, it is important to check the small print. Some policies provide only very limited cover. You also need to be aware of any cancellation penalties should you decide to cancel the policy early.

You can save yourself money by just taking the time to compare insurance policies available. Don't be tempted to take the first one available - checking online can take only a matter of minutes and it's as easy to get free quote as you do for a Loan. It pays to shop around - don't pay the price of apathy, it's your hard-earned cash!

Like many businesses, life insurance has gone online and this change is very welcome by potential investors. These online sites are very convenient since they save both time and money of the investors as well as the insurance companies. Progressive.com, Insurance.com, Esurance.com, Insweb.com, and NetQuote.com, are just a few to name. Most of these sites act as brokers, though they represent insurance companies. Once the prospective insurer feeds in the data, he obtains quotes from various insurance companies. The name of the company is divulged only once the quotes are obtained.

These sites provide all the information needed by the policy taker. Some sites seek more personal information from the policy taker than others. It is advisable that the people who are searching online for policies to read the privacy policy of the site. This will inform the buyer about the protection of his personal information. It is seen that various companies have different privacy policies. It is important to know about the after sale service provided by the companies, as it is at times necessary to recheck certain parameters.

Some online sites work with a group of insurance agents to whom they forward the information of the policy taker. These agents contact the prospective buyer. These sites are set up to assist agents in getting customers. The advantage in this case, is that the buyer gets quotes from various agents. A few online sites also give comparative quotes about various companies and are user friendly. They do not waste too much time on personal information. There is also some useful information on the sites about how to assess the amount of insurance the buyer needs.

Hence, a prospective buyer needs to and must assess all the information available on the sites very carefully and then select one offering the best rates and suitable for his needs.

Life insurance agents are the representatives of a life insurance company who contact people and make them aware about the various insurance options available. They help the customers decide the insurance policy that would suit their needs as well as budgets. However, life insurance agents need to find and filter potential customers out of the huge population that provides the customer base. As there are many types of policies, there are also many types of life insurance leads.

Today the Internet is one of the biggest and possibly most reliable source of generating life insurance leads. Customers who are looking for life insurance quotes submit their details for assessment. This information is collected and stored as a lead. The life insurance agent, who receives this lead, will then contact the potential customer and offer more details. Usually, people do not submit their request on only one website. This means that multiple insurance agents will have the same lead and will contact that prospect. This is advantageous to the customers, as they will now get competitive rates. Customers usually inform the insurance agents, that they are getting better rates elsewhere, which might result in the agents revising the quote to a lower rate.

Life insurance agents also keep a tap on other markets that require life insurance. For instance, people purchasing a mortgage are required to have a life insurance policy in certain cases. Life insurance agents then contact such customers and approach them to fulfill their life insurance requirement. Such leads are known as mortgage life insurance leads.

Health insurance leads are also generated in a similar way. Life insurance agents procure the list of customers who have either purchased or enquired about a health benefit policy. Such prospective customers are also more likely to buy a life insurance policy if a policy is customized in their budget and offers required benefits.

There are many companies in the market that specialize in generating and then selling these lists to insurance agents as well as brokers. These companies can also be approached for various types of life insurance leads.

Health insurance is designed to protect policyholders from paying too much money to cover the cost of their medical expenses. Before choosing any health insurance plan, customers must decide upon the type of policy that will best suit their needs. Short-term health insurance is exclusively designed to provide health care coverage for people who fill a brief gap in their standard health coverage. These policies are usually available for terms of one to twelve months, though six-month term is the most popular choice. Short-term health insurance policies offer the same benefits to the policyholders as the standard ones. However, there might be some key differences among short-term and standard policies.

Short-term health insurance policies are usually non-renewable, which is why, in order to extend the coverage, policyholders have to re-apply for a policy. It is not recommended to use short-term policies as a substitute for standard policies, as they are appropriate only for people who are in transition between two policies. These policies are ideal for people who are in middle of switching jobs, on strike, recently graduated, or simply waiting on a new health plan to take effect. In all of these scenarios, short-term health insurance policies can provide individuals and their families with essential financial security from unexpected expenses.

Short-term health insurance policies are indemnity plans, which means preventative and routine health check-ups are not covered under the policy. Additionally, many short-term health insurance policies do not cover dental or optical care as well. Health insurance companies providing these short-term policies stringently deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. Typically, short-term policies can be designed to cover emergency care, prescription drugs, intensive care, lab and x-ray, ambulance, and some home and hospital care, which will vary from policy to policy. Most of the short-term policies have the option of adapting them to extend coverage to the spouse and dependents of the policyholder. A short-term health insurance is considered good when it carries a reasonable pay out along with providing an appropriate upper limit to out-of-pockets expenses.

Health insurance is an agreement between the policyholders and the health insurance company where the latter covers the medical expenses of the policyholder in exchange for periodic fixed payments. International health insurance is designed for individuals, overseas travelers, expatriates, and US citizens residing abroad. Many health insurance companies offer worldwide coverage that allows the customers to get the best medical care internationally.

Americans traveling abroad prefer to have an international health insurance in place because most of the standard health insurance plans do not cover medical expenses incurred while abroad. There are certain health insurance companies that cover their policyholders even outside the United States. Still a travel insurance policy provides few important coverage extensions, which may come in handy abroad. Many travel health insurance polices even cover medical treatment incurred on domestic trips. Reputed good insurance companies offer their clients health and security information about their travel destinations and medical translation assistance available there. They even provide policyholders with access to a global network of reliable physicians.

Common international health insurance policies comprise of emergency and non-emergency medical expenses, medical evacuation, prescription drug coverage, and some death benefits. If the policyholders wish to include emergency dental coverage as well, the policy will be a little more expensive. International health insurance policies begin from the date the applicants have requested on the form, or from the date the health insurance company receives the application. However, this is possible only in the case where the applicants do not have any medical history to declare. For applicants who have declared a medical history, the application is forwarded to the underwriters to make a decision about offering the medical plan, which takes between two to three business days. Typically, in such a scenario health insurance companies request for a full medical examiners report to be completed by the applicants with the help of their doctors. After receiving all the relevant information, the exclusions, load premiums, or rejection of the application is intimated to the applicants.

Health insurance has become a necessity owing to the increase in people living up to ripe old age, which has significantly contributed to number of people facing age related health problems. The customers are required to purchase health insurance plan with the help of regular periodic payments submitted to the insurance company. These payments are known as the insurance premium and are determined based on several factors. The insurance company in turn promises to compensate the policy owners their medical expenses in case of hospitalization. Health insurance can be purchased by individuals and by organizations for their employees. For self-employed people, there are specially designed policies available with all major health insurance providers.

Health insurance for self-employed individuals is comparatively more expensive than other health insurance plans. The reason due to which a higher price tag is attached to self-employed health insurance is that health insurance rates are inexpensive when the risk is pooled and distributed among a large group of people. Even distribution of the risk is the chief contributing factor for the affordability of group health insurance plans, which is not possible with self-employed health insurance plans. However, since 2002, self-employed health insurance costs have become tax deductible at a rate of up to seventy percent. This decision of providing tax benefits is bound to provide much-awaited relief to self-employed people.

Self employed health insurance plans offer policies that bring together the benefits of indemnity and managed care health insurance. This allows the self-employed people to obtain a health insurance policy without compromising good cost and good care. It is possible to get competitive rates for self-employed health insurance policies online, as the process of application is both fast and easy. To have an accurate estimate, applicants must make sure that they complete the application process entirely. However, applicants are under no obligation to buy the policy after receiving the health insurance quotes.

Bonded life insurance settlements are settlement for insurance policies that are provided by bonding companies. For a premium, these companies promise to buy out the purchaser's interest in the policy at face value, in case the policy does not mature by a particular date.

Bonded policies typically have a low return on investment, as a part of the purchase funds is dedicated towards, paying a lump sum performance bond premium. Bonded viatical life settlements, also known as bonded viaticals, are termed as secondary market life insurance policy contracts. Viatical investment contracts have the option of, emergency or stop loss insurance on the life expectancy, which is called a wrapper.

The insurance company that issues the wrapper offers, an insurance policy or financial guarantee, according to the performance of the underlying life expectancy. This kind of financial guarantee ensures more security and safety to policy owners, who might be interested in purchasing viatical investment contracts. This transfer of the life extension risk from the purchasers to an insurance company increases, the chances of a return on the funds that are invested.

However, there is one major risk associated with viatical purchase contracts or viatical investment. The risk is that the insured, which is also known as the viator, will live beyond their originally anticipated life expectancy. To combat the life extension risk, some viatical companies escrow additional funds to cover for it. In case these funds are exhausted prior to the maturity of the policy, its responsibility lies with the purchaser. It means that the purchaser of the viatical investment contract may have to maintain the account by paying the premiums, until the maturity of the contract. The maturity of the contract in this case is the death of insured.

There is also a possibility that, an escrow agent or trust department, is concerned with making payments for premiums on the life insurance policy. The status of this escrow agent or trust company status must also be looked upon during the determination of the value of the investment.

A life insurance settlement refers to selling a life insurance policy to a third party buyer in exchange for a lump sum amount. After the settlement of the policy, the original owners are no longer responsible for paying the premiums. On maturity of the policy, they will not receive any amount as maturity benefit. However, if the policy owners need to raise money for any financial requirement, there is no need to sell the policy. Policy owners can obtain a life insurance settlement loan against the policy.

To apply for a life insurance settlement loan, the borrower needs to state the reason for the financial requirement in detail. This is where life insurance settlement loan differs from settlement, as there is no need to answer questions about the use of money. The life insurance settlement loan is required to be repaid over a certain period of time. The installments for repayment are monthly as in case of any other loan. The main advantage of such a loan is that, the policy owners get to keep the policy and also receive all the maturity benefits.

Policy owners need to approach the insurance company, which has written the policy for borrowing the loan. They need to fill an application form, mentioning all necessary personal details as well as details of the policy. It is up to the insurance company, to determine the amount of the loan sanctioned. This approved amount depends on the face value of the policy, and is usually calculated, based on the percentage of the policy value. The insurance company also determines, the period or term of the loan along with the installments. The insurance company applies a rate of interest on the loan during repayment. The policy papers are withheld with the insurance company till the loan is repaid. The policy is considered locked during this period. Policy owners are required to continue paying their premiums for the policy, in addition to the installment on the loan.

Life insurance is protection against financial loss because of the death of an earning member. It is the promise an insurance company keeps, to pay the beneficiary a specific amount of money on the policyholder?s death. This is given in exchange for the timely payment of premiums.

There are many insurance companies that carry out aggressive marketing of their policies. It is important for a prospective buyer to study the market before deciding on a policy. It is important to keep in mind the financial stability of the insurance firm before taking a policy. There are also new private sector companies entering the fray. They are promoting their policies as an investment option, apart from the life insurance.

The insurance companies generally promote whole life insurance with exorbitant premiums as they get more commission on them. It is however worth knowing that term benefits with affordable premiums give cover for the term without any major frills.

Term life insurance provides death protection for a definite time period and is perhaps the simplest form of life insurance. It is basically designed to provide temporary life insurance protection on a restricted budget. It can be bought in large amounts for small premiums and hence it is suited for short-range goals.

Term life insurance policies also have the advantage of having adjustable premiums. Depending on the financial state of the policy buyer, premiums can be altered. The premiums may, however, be never raised above the maximum number of premiums stated in the policy. There is also a provision for renewing the policy when the original term ends.

All the companies promoting low cost life insurance have similar policies with a few additional benefits added or removed. Choosing the right policy and the right firm depends on the research done by the policy buyer.

Canada is the second largest country in the world closely resembling today its neighbor United States with its affluent, high-tech industrial society, market oriented economy, pattern of production, and high living standards. Since 1989 the trade and economic integration of Canada with the United States have strongly increased after approving the U.S. – Canada Free Trade Agreement and 1994 North America Free Trade agreements. Since then Canada enjoys stable economic development due to its great natural resources, skilled labor-force, and modern capital plants. The Canadian insurance industry is a major part of the social and economic activity of Canada.

The Canadian insurance market is represented by about 230 activity competing private property and casualty insurers, along with 27 providers of sickness, life and accident. The compulsory auto insurance is provided exclusively by government owned auto insurers in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. The bodily injury part of automobile insurance in Quebec is also provided by government-owned insurers.

Automobile insurance is the largest single class of general insurance in Canada. Total premiums for auto insurance exceed all other classes combined, next ranks property insurance, followed by liability insurance.

The federal or provincial governments supervise general insurance companies operating in Canada. More then 100.000 people are employed by private property and casualty insurers in Canada, including independent brokers, actuaries and adjusters. Many others get income from the payment of insurance claims, such as car repair, construction, law, medicine and accounting.

As example of successful, nation-wide insurance company in Canada let us note The Co-operators Group Ltd created in 1975 after the agreement of co-ordination between the Co-operative Insurance Services (CIS) and Co-operators Insurance Association (CIA) companies resulting in the creation of new holding company.

The prime mission of the new company was to maintain and develop user controlled institutions operating on the co-operative principles with the aim to provide insurance, finance and other services. Actually The Co-operators Group was carrying out a management and service organization assisting The Group’s companies in their management allowing them the advice, tools and mechanisms to succeed. Among The Group’s companies let us note, first of all, Co-operators Life Insurance Company created in 1982 as a single national life company for the Co-operators after the amalgamation of Co-operative Life Insurance Company and Co-operators Life Insurance Association both belonging to The Co-operators Group.

Most of us are good citizens and purchase liability insurance to cover us in case we cause an accident. Some people purchase minimum liability coverage and some people purchase more.

When you buy this insurance you are doing it to not only comply with the law, but to protect you and your assets in case you cause a car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle accident.

Now let’s say that you get into an accident that is your fault; you report the accident to your insurance carrier; you think that your insurance company will cover you pursuant to your insurance policy right? WRONG!

If you read the fine print in your insurance policy you will notice a bunch of language that most non-lawyers would not understand. The gist of the language in plain English is that by accepting the insurance policy, you agree to cooperate with the insurance company if they decide to litigate, and the insurance company is the one who decides whether a case will be settled, not you.

The insurance companies are all about making tons of money and paying as little as possible. Since the advent of legally mandatory insurance coverage (Proposition 213 in California) the insurance companies have become very cavalier because their coffers are full of your money.

Instead of settling meritorious claims, they are forcing claims to be litigated in Court in an attempt to stop personal injury lawyers from obtaining a just recovery for their clients. They know full well that personal injury lawyers do not have as much money to litigate as they do, so their ploy is to starve out the personal injury lawyers and ultimately make it harder for people who are injured in accidents to obtain a recovery. In the end it is the consumer and persons injured in accidents who are hurt, while big business makes more profit at your expense.

Even people who cause accidents and have proper liability insurance to cover the claim are being victimized by the insurance companies.

The insurance companies are experts at deception. With your money, insurance companies contribute money to politicians, and run media ads which blame the personal injury attorneys for making insurance rates so high. What they don’t say is that the backlog in Court is due to the insurance companies not settling claims like they should in the first place.

Now let’s go back to the example of you causing an accident. If the insurance company is unreasonable and refuses to settle a case at or below policy limits, you will then be dragged through the legal system. You may have to answer discovery, appear for depositions, and even take time off to go to trial. This is a long and arduous process that you did not think that would have to deal with when you purchased liability insurance. Surprise!

If you lose at trial, the insurance company will in most cases pay the judgment, but guess what; YOU WILL HAVE A JUDGMENT AGAINST YOU ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT, and in the Court file! Thanks to your insurance company your credit has just been dinged due to no fault of your own.

Is this fair? I submit to you that it is not. You paid for insurance; the insurance company could have settled the case for you within your policy limits; instead, they decided to litigate in an attempt to minimize what they have to pay out so that their profits remain high. They did so without any regard for your credit report, or having your name appear in the public record as having a judgment against you.

Many insurance companies have in-house lawyers; some use outside lawyers. These lawyers are supposed to have a duty to you to do what is in your best interest. The reality is that they do what is in the insurance company’s best interest. This is the ultimate conflict of interest. Ethically the attorney that the insurance company uses to represent you has a duty to you, not the insurance company. The reality is the attorney gets his marching orders from the insurance companies.

A worst case example is the recent Hurricane Katrina disaster. Have you read about all of the poor people who are getting screwed because they are not being covered by their insurance companies for insurance that they paid for?

It’s time for America and consumers to wake up and smell the roses. It is not the trial attorneys that are the problem; its big business wanting to screw the little guy so they can obtain more profit at your expense. Some have made this a political issue. I have even heard President Bush talking about Tort reform, and blaming the trial attorneys for the nation’s health care woes.

Anytime you here tort reform remember one thing; you are about to be screwed! Anytime your right to recover for damages in a Court of law is infringed upon, you will be the victim, while big business rakes in the mula!