Homeowners Insurance is Rapidly Rising

Recently, you may have noticed a rise in your homeowners insurance. Maybe you were getting quotes for a new home for your first, second, or just another for your rental empire, or maybe you got your renewal notice and were shocked at the increase.

There has been talk that homeowners insurance prices are a lot higher than they used to be. As a homeowner or future homeowner, you might be wondering why the homeowners insurance costs are so high and continuing to climb.

Why Homeowners Insurance Costs are on the Rise

The costs associated with this type of insurance have been rising at an alarming rate because of an increased number of claims and the severity of the claims. Essentially, there have been a lot more claims made towards a homeowners insurance company and these claims tend to be on the larger scale.

When an insurance company has to pay out for these claims to fix the issue or problem, they lose money – not the optimum scenario for a business trying to sustain itself. 

Hence, due to the rise in these claims and the higher pay out that they have required, it has been costing many insurance companies the big bucks and forcing them to raise their prices for homeowners insurance.

Ways to Combat Rising Homeowners Costs

When it comes to figuring out how to combat such costs, it can be challenging because all companies around the country have been forced to increase their rates. So, what can one family do to help? There are a few ways to approach this challenge.

First of all, when shopping around, always get quotes and compare them with others. Most companies will honor the quote they gave you; if they don’t honor it, then you really should not give them business. Second, insure your house, but not the land. 

Of course, if you plan on doing a whole lot of landscaping and having a pool and such, you might want to make sure those get covered.

Another great and simple ways to help to lower your homeowners insurance is to use the same insurance provider for everything. They will see you as a loyal customer and that really goes a long way.

Finally, you can also improve it by improving your credit score; believe it or not, your credit score affects pretty much everything so it’s a good idea to start paying off those cards. 

Remember to always go with a local and reputable company who is willing to work with you and perhaps even give you discounts for no claims.

The Benefits of Fire Insurance

Nobody is going to want to hear this, but sometimes there is no good news. Recent polls have shown that some areas of Albuquerque are not as protected by the Fire Department as others. 

This isn’t because somehow the honest men working as firefighters aren’t good at their jobs; it is understaffing, pure and simple.

Take one look at the economy and you have already found the answer to ‘why.’ 

The standard response time for a firefighter is 8 minutes to 90% of the calls and ladder trucks need to be staffed with at least four firefighters.

So, even though Albuquerque’s firefighters will always work their fastest and hardest to save you, your family, animals and even belongings, it is always best to be prepared for the worst.

Prevention is the Best Preparation

It’s true that if there is no fire to begin with then it not only makes your own life easier but the firefighter’s as well. So, how can you do this? The answer is that you and your family need to practice fire prevention.

This could include anything from keeping paper products away from the burners on the stove to checking for faulty wiring can help. 

A combination of common sense, a working smoke detector, and the occasional look over of your home can go a long way in fire prevention.

Accidents can happen though and, in the event of a fire, be sure to quickly and calmly get everyone out of your home or small business. 

Do your very best to stay out of the fire department’s way and let them do their job to save your home. Finally, one last forms of protection is to have a fire insurance plan.

The Benefits of Fire Insurance

There are different ways that a fire insurance plan can be written up. The gist of it though is that under the unfortunate circumstance of your home or property burning down in a fire or even just receiving fire damage, you can be covered.

Insurance is a great way to have peace of mind. No one wants this to happen, but sometimes things just happen and it’s always good to be prepared for the worst.

Remember that prevention is the best preparation, but having a little extra protection in the form of a backup plan never hurt anybody. 

For more information on fire insurance and the services we offer, please fill free to contact us at Linton and Associates. 

Six Million May be Taxed through Affordable Health Care Act

Over the summer, the Affordable Health Care Act was found to be constitutional and was passed. While this Act ensures affordable healthcare to the vast majority of Americans, there is a small group that could be adversely affected by it and forced to purchase healthcare or pay a tax. 

This bill left a number of people disgruntled, believing that their rights were being imposed on; overall, however, the bill will help a many number of people.

Some people have been against the bill because of the fact that it mandates health insurance upon the American citizen. Originally, it was estimated that a mere four million people would be affected by this. 

However, recent speculation has that number at or above six million by the time the bill is fully in play in 2016 with many of these people being in the middle class.

The Bill Still Helps Millions of Citizens

Six million is a lot of people, but it is actually only a mere 2% of the country’s population. The other 98% of Americans are expected to not even notice a ripple effect from the Affordable Health Care Act. 

So, this begs the question:  Does the outcry of 2% of the American population matter when in the big picture so many will be helped?

In the military, there are acceptable casualties, so should this be treated the same? Is it not our civic duty to support this country? We all have different answers to these questions and it’s our own opinions so that is okay.

Remember though, in the end, the bill is constitutional and will help millions. After all, many Americans are already covered under employer health insurance programs, which have been made out to be more enticing to said employers through tax benefits.

Our children will be included on our insurance until the age of 26 to help them along until they can find employment that will help them cover their health costs. 

Medicaid and Medicare are also being revamped in order to make things better for the people of America. Many changes are coming to health care, and these are changes with regular people in mind.

What We Do

At Linton and Associates, we specialize in insurance and we strive to help families and employers. We do this by providing affordable insurance and standing by our word and promise to treat the customer like family. 

Here you will never be just a number; instead, you are a person with specific needs and unique requirements, and we understand and respect that. 

A Summary of the Affordable Care Act

Since its earliest beginnings and before the very first draft was drawn up, there had been controversy over the Affordable Care Act. It was a bill that, if passed, would make health care readily available to the masses, but, of course, to some this wasn’t viewed as a good thing.

There had been speculation over the tax increases this would cause -- after all, someone’s got to pay for the free healthcare, right?

Nothing is Free 
We will go on ahead and start with that. The bill isn’t called the ‘Free Health Care Act’ so where people are getting the idea that certain individuals will just be getting free health care thanks to a tax increase is just crazy and unwarranted.

Sure, Medicare will still exist and there have been alterations made towards it, but Medicare is there for everyone; after all, that is why we pay into social security. Then, of course, we have Medicaid for our elderly, which, thanks to the health care bill, have been heavily altered, making things better for everyone.

Nothing is free -- the health care bill doesn’t just give everyone free healthcare. In fact, it just makes healthcare more readily available to the general public. It does this mainly by creating insurance exchanges all over the country and then enforcing the companies involved in them so as to prevent underhanded and shady tactics that some insurance companies practice.

For example, denying a diabetic health care because they know it will cost them is not going to happen anymore if the bill is properly enforced.

What the Bill Does Well
Since we just covered what it doesn’t do (hand out freebies), we can now talk about what it does do. In every way, this bill makes getting health care easier for the average Joe, who may be working at a fast food joint while in college.

 It does this through the previously mentioned exchanges which basically allow Joe to buy insurance coverage at a rather modest price.

Next, the bill greatly helps to promote businesses (small businesses, in particular) to offer health insurance to their employees. The bill does this by offering the discounted insurance prices and the more lucrative tax benefits, thus encouraging employers to do the right thing.

Not to mention the fact that health insurance does help to promote good health among employees and basically anyone who has insurance.

Simply put, the health care bill has brought a more affordable insurance option to the American public and, in doing so, has greatly helped to promote public well-being. For more information on the health care act, you can read the law here.

Affordable Care Act and How it Helps Women

Over the past weeks, we, at Linton and Associates, have done our best to break down the Affordable Health Care Bill that was passed by President Obama. We have explained various parts of it, including what we found to be important and things that many have told us they want to know more about.

Now though we are trying to break down this complex health care bill even further, including some new benefits for women. 

There are some important new benefits that you should all be sure to take advantage of, such as eight free health services available by healthcare providers as of August 1^st 2012.

Taking Advantage of Proactive Health Care Features

These health care services are provided by medical professionals all over are now available to you the people free of charge as a way to be more proactive about one’s health and minimize or even stop the risk of certain diseases or conditions:

·         Well-Woman: Think of this as your free annual health check. Doctors will check you over for signs of ill health, consult and talk with you, and even offer advice. Not to mention that if it looks like you should visit multiple times a year, which can be arranged at the doctor’s discretion.

·         Gestational Diabetes Screening: This is an important one as it concerns pregnant women. Essentially, the testing will be to determine if you are at risk of developing gestational diabetes. You and your child are at extreme risks of developing a type of diabetes, but this test can help those risks be identified early on.

·         HPV Screenings: Women over 30 will have access to these screenings every three years. Even if your pap smear comes back clean, you will still have access to the screenings; which could potentially save you from cervical cancer.

·         STI Counseling: Basically, for the more sexually active women out there, it’s not a bad thing. Scientifically, the sexually active live healthier and happier lives and, with the help of STI counseling, women can be made aware of newly discovered sexually transmitted infections.

·         HIV Screening and Counseling: You can get tested for HIV and, if you do have it, counseling can be made available to help with coping.

·         Contraception and Contraceptive Counseling: This is also available to women, but abortion drugs will not be made available for free.

·         Support for Breast Feeding Women: This service includes supplies and counseling. This helps to make the lives of new parents a little easier while keeping them better informed on important matters related to this type of care for newborns.

·         Domestic Violence Counseling: This counseling will be made available to women who might be at risk or have endured domestic or interpersonal violence.

Thanks to the Affordable Health Care Act, these eight services are now available to women everywhere, helping make their lives a little easier. It is not just women though; many great services that were previously unattainable to some are now available to all. 

Linton and Associates proudly endorses the Affordable Care Act and hopes that women, seniors, and everyone else will take advantage of these free, proactive health screenings, counseling, and services.

ACA Benefits the Elderly: How the Health Care Reform Act is Helping Our Senior Citizens

In the past 200 years, life expectancy in America has pretty much doubled. People used to live to 50 if they were lucky and now we have 100 year old men. 

The fact that we can grow old enough to see our grandkids all grown up now is often contributed to science and health advances. Another thing that adds to this is great healthcare America has to offer in social security and of course prescription drugs and nursing homes.

Of course, not everything is all and well for our seniors. Before the Affordable Care Act was passed, many retirees would struggle to receive proper health care and prescriptions not to mention that not all nursing homes are created equal. With grandpa working everyday for 60 years, he very much deserves better.

There is good news though. With the Affordable Care Act, things only seem to be looking up for the elderly. This can be seen with the two common types of health insurance used by senior citizens – Medicare and Medicaid.

Medicare is essentially a private, more upscale insurance provider, and Medicaid is essentially a government assistance program. 

With the Affordable Care Act in play, both of these programs will see vast improvements. In addition, the overall health and living of our senior citizens is also expected to improve thanks to a few specific features of the bill. 

Improvements to Their Lives

We all care about grandma and grandpa and with recent polls suggesting that one if not both of a married elderly couple is 50% expected to make it to the age 95, it is quite a relief to know they will be here awhile. 

However, with age comes new responsibilities and as the old get older it tends to be harder for them to take care of themselves let alone the big house they live in.

Thankfully, there are a few options, including such solutions as live-in care providers. Like their title suggests, they provide care to the elderly at their home. 

Another option is nursing style homes and retirement centers -- something many insurance companies have covered in the past, but with the new health care b ill they now are required to provide more information amongst other things to help you be sure that grandpa gets the care he deserves.

Other benefits to our elderly are the drastic decreases in price for prescription medication -- something that we believe to be long overdue. It is a relief to know that they can get the medication they need at a reasonable price. All this and more can be attributed t the Affordable Health Care Act, which is long overdue in this country.

Helping Protect Our Kids: How the Affordable Health Care Act Looks Out for Our Future

In the month of August, we offered a series of blogs explaining some of the more ‘need to know’ features of the Affordable Health Care Act. 

This month, we are going to continue on by further explaining certain topics and shedding some light on some of the newer topics concerning the bill. So, without further ado Linton and Associates proudly presents to you the Affordable Health Care Act unveiled.

There have been naysayers and supporters from its conception -- some complaining that the Government has their noses in places it doesn’t belong.  Others feel that it is for the common good that healthcare is made available to everyone and not just those with a good career or masses of money.

One thing though that those against and those in support can agree on is that having our children on our healthcare plans until they turn 26 is good for everyone.

Our Youth are Our Future

It’s been said so many times that it is almost cliché, but it is true. Their beliefs and what they support or do not support is this country’s inevitable future. And, with the Affordable Health Care Act allowing children to stay on their parent’s insurance until the age of 26.

The country as a whole is supporting them in a great way. Many of our children are still in college (hopefully finishing) at 26 and would not have the money for healthcare or a job that offers it. So, when our insurance used to stop covering them prior to this new requirement, it was challenging for this age group to get proper health care. 

However, with this mandate in the bill, it will allow our children, our future; to be better prepared to fight the good fight.

Whether you supported the bill or found it to be an invasion of privacy, one thing is for sure. If you have kids, you are going to see the benefits of the bill. Many people have kids, and it is great that they can stay healthy longer.

With the bill in play, they will have a better chance at finding a career where their employer includes medical coverage in their benefits package. This is because the new tax credits offer discounts to employers that provide medical insurance.

As such, it is expected that there will be a spike in the number of companies that have medical benefits so that graduates can migrate from their parent’s health insurance to the one provided by their employer.