Top Auto Insurance websites

IRVINGTON, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 24, 2004--



Today, Change Sciences Group, Inc. released its Q2, 2004 report on the online customer experience provided by leading auto insurance web sites. The report, Online Auto Insurance Customer Acquisition: Customer Experience Benchmarks and Best Practices, ranks the sites according to their support for the goals of first-time buyers, married couples, and senior citizens. These goals include:

- Assisting customers in understanding common coverage types

- Providing product recommendations based on customer needs

- Communicating available discounts

- Providing access to customer service

- Explaining claims processing

- Filling out an online rate quote questionnaire

After four years of rapid increase, auto insurance policy prices are just starting to level off. With the availability of low prices, it has become apparent to auto insurance consumers that now is the time to start shopping for a better premium rate. "In addition to presenting consumers with well-communicated and unique offers, insurers must identify and answer key customer questions up front to distinguish themselves," said Steve Ellis, a Change Sciences partner.

Esurance earns the top spot in the rankings by answering the right questions in the right way and by providing a quick and easy rate quote questionnaire. State Farm and Allstate round out the top three by answering the questions of uninformed consumers and by distinguishing their offerings. AIGDirect places last by burying information in FAQs and not allowing users to accurately specify their coverage amounts in the online rate quote questionnaire.

The overall customer experience rankings are as follows:

1. Esurance

2. State Farm

3. Allstate

4. Nationwide

5. GEICO

6. Liberty Mutual

7. Unitrin Direct

8. Electric Insurance

9. Progressive

10. GMAC

11. MetLife

12. Washington Mutual

13. St Paul Travelers

14. AIGDirect

For more information on this and other Change Sciences research, please visit: http://www.changesciences.com/research.html

Change Sciences Customer Experience Benchmarking Reports are based on our Typifi(tm) benchmarking process. Typifi allows for the empirical comparison of sites across key customer experience metrics. Our benchmarking reports show site managers how their sites compare with those of competitors, in terms of how a customer would use it, thought-by-thought and keystroke-by-keystroke. Sites that provide a compelling customer experience attract and retain more customers. These sites also project a positive brand image. Using Typifi, Change Sciences' analysts identify and document web design best practices, allowing site managers to make changes that matter to the bottom line.

Change Sciences was founded in January 2000 with the idea that companies can optimize key business processes by basing decisions about technological change in how people use technology while they live, work, and play.

More go without health insurance

Friday, August 27, 2004

By Christopher Snowbeck, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



An estimated 15.6 percent of the population, or nearly 45 million people, were without health insurance coverage during 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau said yesterday. The total was up from 2002 when an estimated 43.6 million people lacked coverage.



A greater percentage of the population was uninsured in 2003 than during any year since 1998.

At the same time, the census reported that the number of people below the official poverty thresholds was 35.9 million in 2003, an increase of 1.3 million from 2002.

There were 35.8 million people living in poverty last year, or 12.5 percent of the population. That was 1.3 million more than in 2002.

Children made up more than half the increase -- about 800,000. The child poverty rate rose from 16.7 percent in 2002 to 17.6 percent.

Together the reports delivered a double-dose of bad news for the Bush administration.

The presidential campaign of Democrat John Kerry quickly seized on the findings.

"While George Bush tries to convince America's families that we're turning the corner, slogans and empty rhetoric can't hide the real story," Kerry said in a statement.

The Current Population Survey does not produce local estimates, but information from a separate survey released by the census bureau yesterday suggested the poverty rate actually improved in the region last year.

The American Community Survey data, collected in a different manner and at a different time from the Current Population Survey, estimated Allegheny County's poverty rate at more than two percentage points below the national rate.

Analysts suggest that Western Pennsylvania's relatively high proportion of elderly residents help it maintain a poverty rate below the national average, because Social Security and pensions generally give them enough income to surpass the poverty threshold -- though not necessarily by much.

The erosion of employer-sponsored health insurance has been noted for a few years now, but the persistence of the trend in 2003 -- when the economy started producing more jobs -- is particularly troubling, said Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a foundation that commissions research on health and social issues.

But Donald L. Evans, the secretary of commerce, said in a conference call with reporters that the census survey was conducted just before the jobs returned.

"Our present economic recovery has lifted the prospects of many people whose circumstances were more difficult at this time last year," Evans said.

The uninsured rate in Pennsylvania between 2001-03 was below the national average, according to the report. But the state was one of 20 that saw an increased proportion of people without coverage during 2002-03, compared with 2001-02.

The fact that many of the newly uninsured in 2003 were workers matched a separate finding by the census bureau about the prevalence of employer-sponsored health insurance: The percentage of people covered by these health plans fell from 61.3 percent in 2002 to 60.4 percent last year.

But Tommy Thompson, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, argued that the Bush administration's track record on providing access to health care is strong, including increases in the number of children and low-income adults being covered by public health insurance programs. Bush has many proposals that would help control costs and expand access to insurance -- from medical malpractice reform to tax credits for insurance -- but Congress has blocked the way, Thompson said.

He added: "If the Senate would pass the president's welfare reform proposal, you would also see poverty going down."

The number of people with health insurance coverage during 2003 increased by 1 million, the census bureau said, but that gain was outpaced by the 1.4 million increase in the uninsured. Non-Hispanic whites saw increases in both their uninsured rate and the actual number of uninsured people, but the numbers held steady for Blacks and Asians.

The good news: The proportion of children who were without health insurance during 2003 did not change, holding at 11.4 percent.

"They didn't get hit because enrollment in public programs -- Medicaid and the [Children's Health Insurance Program] -- was steady. So, the programs really did what they're supposed to do," said Catherine Hoffman, associate director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. "But parents didn't do very well."

The drop in coverage among workers is driven by the increasing cost of insurance, said Davis of the Commonwealth Fund. While some companies might be dropping coverage all together, many are stopping short of that, Davis said.

Some employers are making new workers wait longer before their coverage kicks in, Davis said, while others are dropping dependents from company health plans. Many workers are being asked to pay more for their coverage, and either can't or elect not to. Cliff Shannon, president of SMC Business Councils in Pittsburgh, said the national problem with health care costs is hitting hard here, too.

A lot of money is already being spent on health care, he said, and much of it is wasted on the costs of cleaning up after low-quality care. The huge number of preventable hospital infections is one example, he said.

"Unless there's a change in the fundamental underlying problems, we're going to see more of the same," he said.

Nationwide Insurance projections of Charley's damage

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.,one of the country's largest property and casualty insurance companies, hasreceived more than 22,000 claims in the past week for damages from HurricaneCharley. Overall, Nationwide estimates it will receive more than 50,000 claimsand losses approaching $400 million. Nationwide policyholders with storm damage should call the Nationwideclaims hotline at 1-800-421-3535 or contact their local agent. "Policyholders have reported almost 800 large loss homeowners claims --losses of $25,000 or more -- and 15,000 homeowners claims thus far," said KenEnscoe, Nationwide's director of catastrophe claims operations. Overall,Nationwide projects almost 40,000 homeowner insurance and 4,600 auto claims. Nationwide is responding to those policyholders and communities hardesthit first. Claims associates and agents are actively supporting policyholdersby providing payment for immediate living expenses and property damages. Todate, more than 8,000 checks have been issued. "Our adjustors are working around the clock, seven days a week and we havemore than 650 employees supporting our efforts," said Enscoe. "In areas wherepower or telephone access is limited, our claims associates are visitingpolicyholders even if they haven't filed a claim." The overwhelming majority of projected losses are in Florida, whereNationwide anticipates more than 50,000 claims and $377 million in losses.Nationwide is the state's third-largest property insurer, according to theFlorida Office of Insurance Regulation Web site. Nationwide insures more than 300,000 homes and nearly 305,000 vehicles in Florida.

Labor Day Travel expected to be record high

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- A summer that brought record-high gas prices and travel approaching pre-9/11 levels will end with potentially record-high Labor Day holiday travel. AAA estimates that 34.1 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home this holiday, a 2.2 percent increase from last year's 33.4 million travelers.



Approximately 28.7 million travelers (84 percent of all holiday travelers) expect to go by motor vehicle, a 2.0 percent increase from the 28.1 million who drove a year ago. Another 3.9 million (11 percent) plan to travel by airplane, up 4.0 percent from the 3.7 million that flew last Labor Day. A projected 1.5 million vacationers (5 percent) will go by train, bus or other mode of transportation, about even with 2003's holiday weekend.

Holiday auto travelers will find gas prices nationwide currently averaging $1.87 for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline -- about 15 cents higher than the then-record levels hit last Labor Day holiday.

"This strong summer travel season appears headed for a strong Labor Day finale," said Dawn Duffy, AAA spokesperson. "American vacationers have taken to the roads in droves this summer, despite gas prices that hit new records at Memorial Day and have run at historic highs all summer long."

The greatest number of Labor Day auto travelers will originate in the West with 7.0 million, followed by the Southeast, 6.8 million; Midwest, 5.5 million; Northeast, 4.9 million; and the Great Lakes, 4.5 million.

The West is expected to produce the largest number of air travelers with 1.5 million, followed by the Southeast with 1.2 million; Northeast, 500,000; Great Lakes, 400,000; and Midwest, 300,000.

Oceans and beaches top the list of preferred destinations this holiday with 26 percent of travel volume. Small towns and rural areas took a close second with 21 percent, followed by cities, 16 percent. Outdoor attractions rate high with lakes, 12 percent; mountains, 10 percent; and state/national parks, 4 percent. Theme/amusement parks, 3 percent, rounded out the list while another 5 percent responded with other, and 3 percent said they didn't know.

Hotel occupancy rates should remain high, as 40 percent of Labor Day travelers expect to stay at a hotel/motel. The other top choice is friends or relatives, 33 percent, followed by camper/trailer/RV/tent, 13 percent; cabin/condo, 7 percent; bed and breakfast, 1 percent; other, 1 percent; no overnight stay, 2 percent, and didn't know, 3 percent.

Research for Labor Day travel is based on a national telephone survey of 1,300 adults by the Travel Industry Association of American, which conducts special research for AAA.

AAA offers automobile insurance, travel, and financial services to more than 45 million members in the United States and Canada. AAA Minnesota/Iowa is part of The Auto Club Group, which has 4.1 million members in eight Midwest states. AAA Minneapolis serves more than 172,000 members in Hennepin County.

HSAs spread quickly, surprise critics

Written By: Laura Trueman

Published In: Health Care News

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

Publisher: The Heartland Institute



Last year, as Congress debated what would become the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, the media and most policymakers focused on the elephant in the room: major changes being made to the Medicare program, affecting more than 40 million senior citizens.

But a "mighty mouse" occupying the same room went largely unnoticed. The law also paved the way for greater consumer acceptance of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) by allowing individuals who purchase high-deductible insurance policies to establish tax-free savings accounts for health care expenses.



New Insurance Option

HSAs became available to consumers on January 1, 2004, and real data on their use is emerging. In the first six months of availability, tens of thousands of Americans purchased HSAs. From January to April of this year, more than 50,000 polices were issued by eHealthinsurance and Assurant alone. Data from other firms is not yet available.

The early data has surprised critics by showing HSAs are encouraging many Americans to obtain health insurance and save for their future health expenses. Most importantly, many of the new HSA owners were formerly uninsured, defying initial prophecies that only the "young, healthy, and wealthy" would utilize the accounts.

With an HSA, the consumer purchases a high-deductible insurance plan, which has significantly more-affordable premiums, allowing those who are unable to purchase a "Cadillac" health care plan to become insured. Consumers then funnel some of their premium savings into an HSA account. Over time, consumers save enough in this way to pay their deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses.



Under a typical HSA arrangement, an individual might have a health insurance policy with a $1,000 deductible and deposit $500 in an HSA. The first $500 of medical expenses is paid from the HSA; the next $500 is paid out of pocket; and above $1,000 the insurer pays the bills with a copayment from the consumer until the annual out-of-pocket cap is reached. HSA funds not spent remain in the account, roll over to following years, and grow by earning tax-free interest.

After a few years, the HSA could have sufficient funds to pay most, if not all, of the health care expenses not covered by the insurance plan. Importantly, the HSA account stays with the individual regardless of job transitions, and he or she can continue to accumulate the savings until retirement.



New Data Rebut Anti-HSA Myths

Two companies have collected and shared demographics about who is purchasing HSAs: Assurant Health (formerly Fortis), one of the largest carriers operating in the individual health insurance and small group health insurance markets; and eHealthInsurance, an online source of health insurance for individuals and small businesses, offering insurance products from a number of carriers nationwide. The data provide a broad-based look at what is happening in the market. They also help separate the myths from the facts.



Myth: HSAs will not help to reduce the numbers of uninsured, because people without insurance coverage will be unable to afford an HSA policy.

Fact: HSAs already have reduced the number of uninsured Americans.

Some 43 percent of HSA applicants reported they did not have prior insurance coverage, according to Assurant.



Nearly one-third (32.8 percent) of all HSA applicants to eHealthInsurance, and about half of those with incomes under $35,000, had not had coverage for at least six months prior to their enrollment in the HSA.



Myth: Only the wealthy will purchase HSAs, because lower-income individuals will not be able to contribute to their accounts.

Fact: HSA purchasers come from many income and vocational backgrounds:

Nearly half (46 percent) of HSA purchasers have family incomes of less than $50,000, according to eHealthInsurance.



Some 38 percent of Asssurant HSA purchasers have only high school or technical school training, Assurant reported.

Many HSA purchasers live in modest homes--38 percent in homes with a market value of less than $125,000--and 27 percent of enrollees have a net worth of less than $25,000, according to Assurant.



Myth: Only the young will purchase HSAs, because older persons need insurance policies with better coverage for their medical conditions.

Fact: HSA purchasers are older than those purchasing traditional insurance:

More than two-thirds (70 percent) of HSA purchasers are over age 40.



HSAs were purchased by people from a broad cross-section of vocations, and less than 57 percent of purchasers were from professional and managerial occupations.

Most HSA purchasers--77 percent--are families with children; 8 percent are single parents; and 45 percent live in households of four or more people.



Myth: Insurers will "cherry pick" the healthiest applicants, who present the least risk to the insurer.

Fact: Virtually all HSA applicants have been offered insurance coverage. Assurant Health was able to offer coverage for 93 percent of the HSA applications it received.



Myth: Insurers will not be able to provide quality, low-cost health insurance to those who purchase HSA-eligible policies.

Fact: Insurers provide comprehensive coverage at a modest cost. Of the policies sold by eHealthInsurance, for example,

More than 70 percent cost less than $100 per person per month, and almost 95 percent of policies cost less than $200 per person per month.

More than 95 percent of policies require beneficiaries to pay no more than 20 percent of the cost of office visits, surgery, and diagnostic tests once enrollees meet their deductible.



Myth: Purchasers of HSAs will defer needed preventive care or avoid taking needed medications that are not covered by high-deductible insurance.

Fact: Data on those who have purchased Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs), a precursor to HSAs, indicate enrollees are more likely to use preventive care and generic prescription drugs than those with conventional health insurance.



According to Assurant Health, prior to 2004, when the less-restrictive HSAs supplanted MSAs,

Purchasers of high-deductible, tax-qualified MSAs made 31 percent more preventive-care office visits than did people with conventional health insurance.

Generic drug usage was consistently higher for MSA purchasers.



Myth: Very few people will purchase HSAs.

Fact: HSAs have gained wide popularity in the short time since their introduction.

Assurant Health received applications representing 56,396 members for Individual HSAs in the first four months of 2004, far more than the number of MSA applications Assurant received in the first four months of 2003.



A survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting found nearly three-quarters of U.S. employers describe themselves as "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to offer HSAs by 2006.



More Growth Likely

Because passage of the Medicare law came too late for most employers to include an HSA plan as part of their 2004 coverage options, the true impact of HSAs in the group market will not be felt until 2005. However, the data from the individual market strongly suggests HSAs are becoming popular across all age and income groups because of the low-cost, high-quality health insurance coverage they provide.

Health Insurance in critical state

Every year for the past three years, the advertising agency where Carrie Klinger works has switched to a new health plan.

Employees at Castle Advertising in downtown San Diego have bounced from Blue Cross to Blue Shield to PacifiCare and back to Blue Shield, each time adjusting to new doctors, new prescription benefits and new paperwork as management tries to keep insurance costs down.

By making these changes, the small company has so far avoided paying the double-digit premium increases that have hit other employers. But it has done so at a price.

Where coverage was once free to all agency employees, those who want anything more than a basic HMO plan must now pay extra for it. Some employees' office-visit co-payments have gone from $10 to $35. Some have had to part with longtime doctors. Others have lost prescription-drug benefits.

"Sometimes the rates stay the same, but the coverage has gone down," said Klinger, the agency's office manager. "Maybe the deductible is higher, or out-of-pocket costs are higher. The premium might not have gone up, but what we are getting for our money is lower."



During the past three years, companies have increasingly been squeezed by the soaring cost of health insurance, with employee health premiums rising more than 10 percent each year since 2001.

The solution for many companies has been to pass along more of the financial burden to employees through one or a combination of practices known as cost-sharing.

Some employers have raised staffers' monthly contributions. Others are capping benefits, setting aside a certain amount to spend per employee and having workers chip in the rest.

A growing number of companies have switched to leaner health plans with higher deductibles, higher co-payments and tiered drug benefits.

Sixty-two percent of employers across the country surveyed last year reported having shopped around for a new health plan within the past year; 33 percent said they have already changed carriers or plan types.

The study – conducted by the Chicago-based Health Research and Educational Trust and the Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park, a research organization not affiliated with the Kaiser HMO – noticed a simultaneous shift toward higher out-of-pocket costs for workers.



"Employees almost everywhere are seeing some kind of change," said Ron Mason, a principal with Towers Perrin, an international human resource and benefits consulting firm. "They see that and think, 'I am getting less than I got last year, but I am paying more for it.' "

Even retirees, according to the Kaiser/HRET survey, are chipping in more for care under their employer-sponsored plans.

Until three years ago, there were few if any changes to the benefit structure of workers' health plans from year to year, said Paul B. Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, D.C., which monitors health care trends.

But since then, as premium rates have skyrocketed, he has observed companies "buying down," an insurance industry term for buying plans with reduced benefits.



"I dread late spring," she said. "It's crunch time. Usually we spend three or four weeks looking at plans side by side. Do we change our plan? Do we go from that to another plan? Every year, we have to look at all the plans and figure out how to rearrange what we planned for and what is reality."

The company was able to fend off 12 percent rate increases over two straight years by increasing employees' co-payments for doctor visits to $10 from $5, going to a three-tiered prescription package and switching to a cheaper dental plan. Employees' monthly contributions were raised to $60 a month from $50.

Even with these changes, PRA was only able to reduce last year's increase to 8 percent. So far employees haven't grumbled, Fitzgerald said, largely because they have at least been able to keep their PacifiCare providers.

This year, the company's managers decided to absorb a 10 percent increase – the lowest they were able to negotiate – rather than switch to another plan or raise the co-payments for prescriptions.

The savings would have been relatively small, and besides, "we don't want our employees to be switching so much," Fitzgerald said. "It is just a really hard thing to do, to make them choose new doctors."

'Doughnut' plansNot wishing to lose business, most insurers are tailoring new health plans for companies and individuals looking to buy cheaper insurance.

One recent innovation is what some insurance experts call "doughnut" plans, which cover enrollees' medical costs up to a certain amount per year. For costs beyond that, the enrollee falls into a steep deductible – the hole – before benefits pick up again.

A group plan introduced last year by Blue Shield, for example, provides $500 or $750 in benefits, depending on the premium. After that, the enrollee picks up the next $3,000, at which point coverage resumes.

Last year federal legislation opened the group market to another cost-sharing idea: health savings accounts that enable people to set aside money tax-free and use it for out-of-pocket medical costs. But these accounts can be used only with health plans that have deductibles of at least $1,000, with most benefits subject to the deductible, even prescriptions. They must also have an out-of-pocket maximum of less than $5,000.

"On the surface it looks really good," said Michelle Doty, a senior analyst for the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund in New York, which studies health care issues. "But it is really a way to pass on costs to employees."

Aside from offering new plans that pass costs along, many insurers have made changes that cost enrollees more out of pocket, even as employers pay higher premiums.

For example, a midrange Kaiser Permanente HMO plan for companies with six or more employees cost $92 per single employee under 30 in 1999. Last year, that plan's premium went up to $146 for the same employee.

During that time, co-payments for office visits doubled, from $10 to $20; emergency co-payments went from $10 to $100; and hospital co-payments went from zero to $100 per day, up to $500 per admission.

Co-payments for prescription drugs, once a flat $7, are now tiered: Generics cost $10, but brand-name drugs now carry a co-payment of $30.

Tiered prescription benefits have become standard as companies switch to more-affordable plans. For employees, this is sometimes the hardest element of cost-sharing to swallow.

Shortly after her employer switched from Blue Shield to PacifiCare in 2002, Klinger went to refill the medication she takes to prevent bone loss from osteoporosis. She was told it wasn't covered under the new plan.

"I had my doctor call the insurance company," said Klinger, 53. "They still said no."

Her doctor, while preferring that she take the drug, told her she could get by without it for a while. So she opted to save her money and go without the drug for a year until the next time the company switched plans.

"That is a big one, with some people having full coverage, yet having to pay for a drug that is not covered," said Klinger, whose current plan now covers her medication. "If it's not covered under a new plan, they have to see a doctor and get on a new drug. Others have had to switch to generics, or different strengths. You'd think there would be some standard."

As employers and employees have been paying more in premiums and out-of-pocket costs, the nation's insurers have been reaping record profits, according to analysts.

The industry generated $10.2 billion in profits last year, according to Weiss Ratings Inc., which rates the strength of financial institutions. That is almost 14 times the $736 million earned in 1999.

The insurance industry defends premium increases, blaming such factors as higher hospital and pharmaceutical prices and citing a need for their companies to maintain strong reserves after a few shaky years in the late 1990s.

The insurers say leaner health plans have been introduced in response to consumers' demand for lower prices, and not as a cost-cutting measure.

"It's a matter of trying to find price points that work for people," said Steven Tough, president of the California Association of Health Plans in Sacramento. "There is a very high degree of sensitivity to the pricing level that employers and individuals are paying. Eventually you reach a price point as a buyer, and you make judgments about what you can afford."

"We've paid our share"Some employees say they can't afford to keep paying more for premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.

In the past year, heated labor disputes have centered on health benefits, including the Southern California grocery workers' strike that ended in March, and the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. strike in San Diego that ended this month.

The San Diego Unified School District, which has moved to reopen contract talks over health coverage, has suggested the possibility of capping health benefits in recent discussions with the teachers union.

Teachers, who have already undergone health-plan changes and given up two years' worth of raises to keep their benefits intact, find the idea offensive.

"We believe we've paid our share," said fourth-grade teacher Terry Pesta, president of the San Diego Education Association. "We are not going to agree to that."

Impediment to hiring For now, few employers have gone so far as to drop benefits altogether, according to last year's Kaiser Family Foundation study.

Almost 2½ million Americans lost their insurance last year, according to census data, but this was largely attributed to job cuts.

The cost of insurance, however, will factor into whether certain job-seekers find work as the economy steadies, according to some analysts.

Hiring has picked up again for large firms, said Robert Mellman, senior economist and vice president at JP Morgan Chase in New York. But insurance costs continue to impede hiring for smaller companies, which typically have to pay more per employee in premiums because an insurers' risk isn't spread over as many workers.

"It is a hindrance," particularly for those with fewer than 25 employees, Mellman said. "When looking at health care, the smaller firms are having a tough time getting affordable insurance, and they are having a tough time increasing their work force."

In San Diego County, where more than a third of workers are employed by firms with fewer than 50 employees, insurance costs have dampened the economic recovery for some companies.

After two years of slow sales as well as layoffs last year, the owners of San Diego Office Interiors saw orders quickly increase. Suddenly profitable again, with a 25 percent smaller staff, co-owners Vincent and Cathy Mudd decided they could afford to go from paying three-quarters of their remaining employees' premiums to paying them in full.

Their timing could not have been worse. Soon after announcing their decision, the Mudds received a notice from their insurer telling them of a 27 percent premium increase. Reneging on additional coverage would have been bad for morale, so they decided their best option would be to curtail hiring.

The design firm is now busier than ever, but despite a few recent hires, it has three fewer employees than in 2001. Health premiums add so much to overhead, Vincent Mudd said, that he has had to let some positions remain unfilled.

"The employers have become the bad guys as we make these decisions," he said. "But our health care costs are going to go up $30,000 next year. That is the same price as one of our hourlies. Our costs are going to go up by the cost of a person."

Geico back in New Jersey

Auto insurer Geico is back in New Jersey, but consumer advocates say that may not make much difference to some state residents.They contend that since the state will allow Geico to consider customers' credit scores when it sets rates, that could close out people with low incomes or bad credit ratings.Those are the people who already have trouble getting car insurance.Maryland-based Geico re-entered the New Jersey market last week, nearly 30 years after leaving the state because of restrictive policies.Those policies were eased by legislation signed by Governor McGreevey last year.

Progressive using new technology to study driver habits

The Washington Post Posted August 23 2004



WASHINGTON · One of the long-running complaints among people who buy automobile insurance is the way carriers lump drivers together based on general characteristics -- age, sex, where they live and so on -- in setting prices.These categories are insurers' attempts to predict the riskiness of the drivers they insure. Since they can't evaluate everyone individually, they employ generalizations. Carriers' experience tells them that these generalizations are broadly valid, but they acknowledge that they aren't perfect, and as a result some good drivers pay more than they should and some bad drivers pay less.Some insurers have turned to other factors, such as credit scores, in an attempt to refine their ratings, triggering even more complaints.But for about the past 10 years, one large carrier, Ohio-based Progressive Insurance, has been trying out technology-based systems that carry risk analysis right down to the actual driver, or at least to the actual car. In the late 1990s in Texas, the company experimented with global positioning devices and cellular telephones mounted onboard consenting customers' cars to monitor when they drove, where they drove and how far they drove.Now, Progressive is beginning a second round of experimentation. It is offering to provide 5,000 Minnesota drivers with gizmos that plug into their cars' onboard diagnostic ports -- which most newer cars have -- and capture data on how far the cars are driven, at what speed and at what time of day. The device also gathers information about rapid acceleration and hard braking, but, lacking a GPS component, it does not record where a car goes.The goal, as it was in Texas, is to get an exact reading of the driver's behavior. Based on that, Progressive is offering discounts to those who appear to be driving more safely than average. The discounts are based on mileage, speed and time of day, but not on braking and acceleration, which Progressive plans to analyze for "predictive value."The experiments are "based on our belief that we can use technology in innovative ways to help people save money on their car insurance," said Mark Connally, online marketing manager at Progressive.And if participants feel inhibited by the fact that their behavior is being recorded -- feeling forced in a way to become safer drivers -- both they and Progressive will benefit, he added.The Texas experiment, known as Autograph and concluded in 2001, showed that "it is technically feasible to do something around usage-based insurance, and to get real data about the driver and the vehicle from the vehicle itself," Connally said. It also showed that "consumers are pretty enthusiastic about the concept," he said.But Autograph used expensive technology, for which Progressive charged a fee, and because it sent data automatically to Progressive, it raised some questions about privacy.The Minnesota round, dubbed TripSense, uses an inexpensive plug-in device that is free to the customer. The customer can remove this matchbox-size TripSensor and download its readings into a personal computer using software provided by the company. The software shows the driver his or her record and what insurance discounts he or she may have qualified for. The customer can choose to send the information along to Progressive via the Internet, or keep it private.Progressive officials say they are learning a lot about what makes for safe driving.

Fighting for dental insurance reform

The Paris News

Published July 30, 2004

Barbara Whitmire is trying to change the way dental insurance companies operate.The Paris resident has collected more than 300 signatures that she said she will eventually submit to State Rep. Mark Homer in an attempt “to get insurance companies to combine health insurance and dental insurance into one base price,” she said in her petition.Whitmire said she has most recently been left with a bill of nearly $4,000 for reconstructive surgeries to her mouth and nasal passages due to a bone infection she suffered in 1996. Her insurance only paid for $145 of the surgery, she said. Dental insurance companies won’t pay for most serious operations, according to Whitmire. The coverage mostly covers teeth cleaning and fillings, she said.“It’s not like it used to be. It’s getting worse and worse. They pay less and less,” she said of insurance companies.Whitmire also needs dental implants. Due to loss of her palate, dentures are impossible to wear, however, she said, no insurance company will cover the cost of implants.“It seems like the working class people are being punished because they work,” Whitmire said of how difficult she has found it to get payment from dental insurance companies.She said she hopes lawmakers will force insurance companies to combine both medical and dental insurance under one premium so no person will have to fight with insurance companies like she has.Several people have called her since hearing about her petition to tell her how they have also fought with insurance companies.“I’m doing this petition because I want to help the working people get better benefits. I just want people to know it’s something to help them not something to hurt them,” she said of the petition.Whitmire said she didn’t know how many more signatures she would collect before sending in the petition, but she encouraged people to contact her if they have had trouble getting insurance to pay for dental costs.

Unicare Health Insurance Offers immediate coverage....

(PRWEB) August 20, 2004 -- Unicare Life & Health Insurance Company is a subsidiary of WellPoint Health Networks, Inc. which is one of America's largest health care holding companies, with subsidiaries serving nearly 13 million people for medical coverage nationwide. WellPoint is ranked as America's leading health care firm in Fortune magazine's annual list of Most Admired Companies. You can decide how long you need the length of coverage with your UNICARE Short-Term health insurance. Your plan is non-renewable and is designed to meet your temporary health plan needs while you are waiting for your permanent coverage. After your Short-Term Plan expires, you can complete a new application and reapply for a NEW Short-Term Plan with a new deductibles to be satisfied, but after two coverage periods of a Short-Term Plan with less than six months lapse in between you have to wait six months to be eligible to apply for another Short-Term Plan.Your prices are based on a per member per day rate, and you will remit your check for the entire premium with your application. You have the option of paying with a credit card too. Once UNICARE approves your application your coverage will begin. This is a perfect way to cover your adopted child or a child whom your are in the process of legally adopting. Your unmarried grandchild or grandchildren between the ages of 15 days and 25 years if they are your dependents for federal income tax purposes at the time of application. NOTE though that no dependents or newborns can be added once the plan is issued.The plan covers $2,000,000,000 per person per lifetime benefit, emergency care, ambulance($750.max), hospitalization services, outpatient services, access to any doctor you choose, professional services including x-ray, lab, and office visits, and last but not least Prescription drugs.

Insurance cliams moving quicly in florida

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) - Major insurance company heads and Florida Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher toured Charlotte County on Thursday to assess the county hardest hit by Hurricane Charley, offering optimism that insurance providers would help residents repair their lives.

The visit came as thousands of insurance adjusters spread across the 25 counties affected by the storm. Charley has caused an estimated $7.4 billion in damage to homes, businesses and personal possessions, more than any other hurricane in Florida since Andrew, which ravaged South Florida in 1992.



Gallagher recalled that it took years for many insurance claims to be paid following Andrew, and ``six to eight months before we got a handle on it.'' But this time, technology is helping speed along the claims process, even as some Charlotte residents lack phone service and electricity.

Still, most owners of property damaged by Charley will have to pay more out of their pockets than Andrew's victims did. Instead of set dollar deductibles, which were the standard before Andrew, policies now have deductibles based on a percentage of the insured property, which generally require the insured to pay a larger portion of the damage.

Hours before Gallagher's arrival, Roy and Jean Serrentino were trying to figure out how to begin the claim process on the mobile home where the retired couple has wintered for the last 12 years. They had just finished the 1,544 mile drive from Wellfleet, Mass., and weren't sure how to find a local Allstate agent.

But while driving through downtown, they spotted one of five mobile offices that Allstate had set up in the area. They pulled in, an adjuster immediately verified their policy, gave them a claim number and they were on their way out to the house to do an initial assessment.



They are concerns and questions that follow any major disaster. But what is new, however, is the speed at which insurance companies can begin addressing claims. The satellite-equipped units quickly set up by Allstate and other companies after Charley blew through Friday provide all the resources of a regular office.



Charley has killed 22 people in Florida and state officials said more than 335,000 customers were without power Thursday. Residents in Charlotte were expected to have their electricity fully restored by Aug. 29.

As the massive clean up continued, Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson issued subpoenas Thursday to a Bradenton Exxon station and the Davie energy company that supplies its fuel to address complaints of price-gouging. His office said it had received 510 complaints of price-gouging.



Secretary of State Glenda Hood, meanwhile, said Charley would not delay voting in the upcoming Aug. 31 primary, addressing concerns of delays in the affected counties.

With many victims beginning to file insurance claims, Doug Robinett, president of Nationwide, who joined Gallagher on the tour, said he expected 95 percent of their claims to be paid out within three months.



Several tables were set up outside the insurance companies' mobile offices in a parking lot near a local Allstate agent. Many victims have been given checks of $2,000 to $3,000 on the spot to help with a food, a place to stay and other needs while claims are processed.



Kirby, who has worked several disasters, compared what he has seen to Hurricane Hugo, which slammed into South Carolina in 1989 causing $7 billion in damage. He has been called to homes with a wide range of damage here, the worst being a house a few miles from downtown.

My Car Insurance Costs Too Much!!

From Kiplinger.com



Those TV commercials featuring ecstatic customers who saved money on their car insurance aren't just hype. After four years of stiff rate hikes, premiums are leveling off and, in some cases, falling. But insurers are choosy about who gets a break. Start with your current insurer to make sure you're paying as little as possible. Then get additional quotes from the biggest auto-insurance carriers, including State Farm, Allstate, Progressive and Geico.

Combine auto and homeowners insurance. Shop for both as a package, and you typically save up to 15% on each. Adding umbrella liability, or a life or health policy, increases the price break.

Pile on the discounts. A 10% to 15% multicar discount may be automatic, but other price breaks aren't always as obvious. Driving fewer than 7,500 miles a year usually qualifies you for a 5% to 10% discount. Premiums are lower if your cars have anti-theft devices, and you may pay less if you have safety features such as anti-lock brakes and daytime running lights.

Turning age 50 or 55 can trigger another break. Even your occupation can make a difference. For example, in California, educators, engineers, scientists and mathematicians get a 10% discount at esurance.com

For the budget-busting teen driver, a B average usually earns 10% off; attending a driver's-ed course can mean another discount. You may also save by making your teen the principal driver of a lower-cost car -- especially a clunker that doesn't carry collision (see "Kids, Cars & Cash").

Drop collision and comprehensive on an older car. That can reduce your premium by one-third. Raising your deductible from $200 to $1,000 on any car can save you as much as 40%.

Buy a safer car. Premiums for collision and comprehensive coverage depend on accident and theft claims for cars like yours, plus the cost of repairing the vehicle. The more expensive the car, the more you pay.

You can reduce liability premiums, and payments for medical and personal-injury coverage, by driving a car that offers more protection for passengers and other vehicles. Clean up your driving record. Three years without a ticket or accident are usually enough to qualify you for the lowest premiums available.

Polish your credit score. The better your credit, the higher your "insurance score" -- a slightly modified version of your credit score that insurers use to help set rates.

Can HSAs cure Health Insurance Blues?

By Kyung M. Song,

Seattle Times staff reporter



Dr. William Portuese, a Seattle facial plastic surgeon, recently trimmed thousands from his family's health-insurance premiums by switching to a plan with a $3,400 deductible.

But the payoff doesn't stop there. He also can shelter an amount equal to his deductible in a tax-free health savings account (HSA) to cover those expenses his insurance doesn't, reaping an additional $1,000 or more annually in tax savings.

Portuese is one of the Puget Sound area's earliest converts to a new type of health-care plan created by Congress last year, one proponents say could reduce the ranks of the uninsured and help drive down health-care costs by putting consumers in charge of their medical spending.

Health savings accounts are part of the landmark Medicare prescription-drug coverage bill President Bush signed in December. They are enticing employers and individuals with the most generous tax breaks yet for a variety of health-care purchases, from visits to a doctor to laser eye surgery to drugstore medicines.



And, because the savings accounts must be coupled with a high-deductible insurance plan, you pay a lot less in medical premiums each year. The idea is to tap the health savings account for routine health expenses and deductibles, while relying on insurance for major medical bills.

Today, Seattle's Regence BlueShield will begin selling health savings account-qualified insurance plans, which by law must have deductibles of at least $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for family coverage. Premera Blue Cross, Washington's largest health insurer, and its for-profit subsidiary, LifeWise Health Plan, already offer the plans to individuals and employers.

Health savings accounts represent the federal government's most ambitious push so far for consumer-driven health care, a move toward giving individuals more financial control over — and responsibility for — their medical spending. The thinking is that consumers will try to stay healthier and seek medical care more judiciously when the money they spend is their own.

But skeptics warn that health savings accounts potentially could cleave the pool of insured people into two camps: the affluent who can afford to sock away pre-tax dollars and healthy people who can risk reduced coverage in one camp, and poorer and sicker people in the other.

Most benefits experts think consumers inevitably will be forced to assume more responsibility for their health-care spending as employers embrace ways to share the growing financial pinch.

In a survey of nearly 1,000 employers nationwide by Mercer Human Resource Consulting released in April, 19 percent of the companies said they very likely will offer high-deductible health plans by 2006. An additional 54 percent said they were somewhat likely to do so.

Not all workers who switch from a traditional low-deductible plan (typically $200 or $500 a year) to a high-deductible plan will be doing it out of choice. Insurers, in an attempt to prevent adverse selection, are forcing small employers that want to offer a health savings account-qualified plan to make that the sole insurance option. Premera, for instance, is limiting businesses with fewer than 20 workers to one health plan, while Regence is mulling a similar cap for groups with fewer than 25 people.

The city of Kent, which has 750 employees, is considering whether to offer health savings accounts and high-deductible plans. Sue Viseth, Kent's employee-services director, said the health-care budget for the city, which is self-insured, has jumped 75 percent in the past six years. Last year, five city employees filed medical claims exceeding $100,000 each.

Kent employees pay no deductibles and modest copayments for physician visits and prescription drugs. The city could save money by enrolling some its workers in the cheaper, high-deductible plans. Viseth said the city then may need to reduce benefits for those remaining under the zero-deductible plans to equalize benefits for all employees.

Granted, Kent instead could even out the plans by boosting benefits to the high-deductible group, such as contributing to their health savings accounts. But Viseth argued that would defeat the purpose of offering the accounts in the first place: to rein in the city's health-care costs.

Jerry Flanagan, consumer advocate with The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, Calif., thinks health savings accounts and their accompanying high-deductible plans could erode, not enhance, benefits for some workers. "I don't think this will encourage employers who don't offer coverage to start offering coverage," Flanagan said. "But it will make companies that offer coverage to switch to catastrophic coverage."

Still, insurance executives say health savings accounts are drawing big interest, particularly from higher-income professionals such as physicians, accountants, business owners and technology workers.

The Washington Alliance for Healthcare Insurance Trust, which brokers group insurance on behalf of more than 1,700 small businesses throughout the state, will offer health savings accounts to member firms starting Oct. 1. And WSA, formerly the Washington Software Alliance, is considering doing the same early next year.



The individual contributions and the investment earnings are exempt from federal income tax. And if an employee adds to an account through payroll deduction, she or he can also save on withholding for Social Security and Medicare.

For many middle-class couples, putting $2,500 into a health savings account would shave $816 off their tax bill. That's the equivalent of getting 33 percent off everything they buy with the $2,500.

Account holders can withdraw money for most medical-related expenses. The unemployed can tap the account to buy their own health insurance, and seniors can use it to pay Medicare premiums.

Perhaps most importantly, health savings accounts do not have a use-it-or-lose-it rule, allowing people to roll over any unused balances from year to year.

Portuese pays $330 a month for his high-deductible plan from LifeWise, a big drop from the $800 he used to pay. He says he can afford the hefty deductible and likes the control and tax breaks he gets from managing his health-care spending.

Innovation auto insurance discount plan

ROSEVILLE, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 9, 2004--Drive less, pay less--that's the simple concept behind TripSense(SM), a first of its kind usage-based auto insurance discount pilot program to be offered to 5,000 drivers in Minnesota beginning August 16 by the Progressive group of insurance companies, the third largest provider of auto insurance in the U.S. Program participants are eligible to receive a discount of up to 25 percent depending on how much, how fast and when they drive. Drivers interested in the program can contact the company at tripsense.progressive.com.



Customers who register a vehicle in the TripSense pilot program plug a data-logging device into a port in their car. The device, called TripSensor(TM), collects information about the vehicle's use, including how much, how fast and when they drive. Participants in the TripSense program will receive a five percent discount on the six-month premium for each registered vehicle. In subsequent policy periods, TripSense customers earn a five percent discount if they choose to upload their driving data to Progressive. Customers can also receive up to 20 percent more in discounts based on how much, how fast and when they drive. Sharing driving data with Progressive is always optional, but necessary to earn a discount in future policy terms.



Progressive tested this usage-based insurance discount program in Minnesota in early 2004 when it offered 250 drivers $25 to plug a data logging device into their vehicles to collect information for 30 days, upload their data to Progressive and complete a survey about the experience. In the test, a discount on future policy periods was not offered, but had it been, the average member of the test group would have been eligible for a 7.5 percent discount on the registered vehicle in the next policy period.

Insurers not to penalize soldiers for lapse in coverage

Atlanta (Aug. 9) - Insurance Commissioner John W. Oxendine has issued a directive urging Georgia auto insurance companies to reinstate active duty soldiers who may have let their coverage lapse while they were serving their country. As a result of the War on Terror, many Georgia citizens have been called to active duty, Oxendine said. Often Armed Services personnel are deployed on short notice with little time to address personal business affairs. I strongly encourage insurers writing private passenger automobile coverage in Georgia to support our troops by not penalizing them for a lapse in coverage upon completion of a tour of active duty. Oxendine said the insurers should reinstate any soldiers lapsed policies without penalty, and any new business from soldiers should be treated as if no lapse occurred. The directive, 04-EX-1, further asks insurers to respond to Oxendine's office to describe their procedures for implementing the directive.

HSA factsheet

August 9, 2004

Expanding Access and Increasing the Affordability of Health Insurance

Through Health Savings Accounts

Millions of Americans will get help with their out-of-pocket medical expenses through President Bush's support of health savings accounts (HSAs). The Medicare bill that President Bush signed into law establishes new tax-free savings accounts for individuals and groups who purchase affordable high-deductible health plans. Businesses and individuals who take advantage of these accounts will save substantial sums on health insurance premiums and gain more control over health care expenditures. The tax-free, portable accounts will help families pay their routine medical expenses and provide a tax-preferred means of saving for future health care needs.

New health insurance deductions will make coverage more affordable to millions of Americans whose employers don't provide health benefits. The President's proposal will allow individuals who establish HSAs to deduct the premiums they pay for their low-premium, high-deductible health insurance policies. This new deduction will be available to taxpayers whether or not they itemize. It will reduce the net cost of these policies and encourage the use of HSAs for saving for health care needs and making wise, cost-effective health care choices.

o HSAs are open to individuals covered by a high deductible health insurance plan. The annual deductible must be at least $1,000 for individual coverage, and at least $2,000 for family coverage. HSAs are a significant improvement over previous savings vehicles, which were limited to employees of small businesses and the self-employed and required health insurance policies with much higher deductibles. Individuals with existing medical savings accounts (MSAs) can either retain them or roll the amounts over into a new HSA. o Contributions to HSAs by individuals are deductible, even if the taxpayer does not itemize. Contributions by an employer are not included in the individual's taxable income. Individuals, their employers, or both can contribute tax-deductible funds each year up to the amount of the policy's annual deductible, subject to a cap of $2,600 for individuals and $5,150 for families. In addition, individuals over age 55 can make extra contributions to their accounts ($500 in 2004, increasing to $1000 by 2009) and still enjoy the same tax advantages. o The interest and investment earnings generated by the account are also not taxable while in the HSA.

Tens of thousands of individuals already are saving on their health care costs through HSAs. These accounts can save families thousands of dollars on their health insurance premiums. Individuals can deposit some or all of these savings into their tax-free accounts and use the money for current health care needs and to save for future medical expenses. Employers also can contribute to these accounts, which the employee controls. Instead of sending more money off to insurance companies in the form of higher premiums, families can keep their savings in an account that belongs to them, not to their employer or to an insurance company.

Americans from all income levels are taking advantage of HSAs. eHealthInsurance, an Internet-based insurance brokerage that offers coverage in the individuals and small firms throughout the country, last week published an analysis of people who had purchased HSAs through its internet portal over the first six months of this year. Key findings of small sample include:

o The majority of HSA purchasers (52 percent) were 40 years of age or older. o Nearly half of HSA purchasers (49 percent) were families with children. o Two-fifths of HSA purchasers (41 percent) had incomes of $50,000 or less. o Three of ten HSA purchasers (30 percent) had previously been uninsured

HSAs provide a much more affordable, consumer-friendly product for businesses to offer their employees.

o The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) says that "some small businesses have saved up to 42 percent" on their health care costs through these products. NFIB also says that HSAs "will help reduce the number of uninsured Americans by allowing small businesses and their employees more choice in the current small group market." o Testifying at a Congressional hearing last March, Kate Sullivan of the US Chamber of Commerce said, "Enactment last year of HSAs came at a critical time for America's employers and working families, due to the increasing difficulties of affordable family health coverage. HSAs offer a great deal, not only to small business, but to workers at any point in their lives."

More people now buy individual health insurance policies

Results of a new study show that the country's three-year-old recession has not only stripped away jobs, but employees' ability to access to employer-sponsored health insurance coverage as well.



Due to mounting job losses and the increased cost of insurance premiums, 9 million fewer Americans received health insurance coverage through their employers in 2003 than in 2001, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Studying Health System Change. The study's results indicate that Americans are being forced to turn from their employers to the government to help subsidize their health insurance needs.



In total, the center surveyed 25,400 families and found that the ratio of Americans under the age of 65 that receive their coverage from their employers dropped 4 percent -- from 67 to 63 percent -- over the three years studied. The principal cause: a drop from 84.2 percent to 81.4 percent in the number of families with at least one employed worker, the study said.

The study also found that the ability to access employer-sponsored coverage through one's own or a family member's job dropped from 80.4 percent to 78.2 percent, as the soaring insurance premiums has caused employers to restrict access to or even eliminate health insurance programs altogether.

On the flip side, the study found than more Americans are finding relief through public programs like Medicaid and state-sponsored insurance programs for children.

EZlynx web portal now delivers real-time auto insuruance quotes

Independent insurance distributors in seven western states now can get accurate Safeco Auto and Home quotes without leaving their EZLynx Web portal (www.ezlynx.com).

In insurance industry parlance, this is "real-time" quoting - an elusive, but much-desired capability for independent distributors. Without real-time quoting, agents type customer information into comparative rating systems and then bridge to each carrier Web site to complete questions unique to each company's application process. EZLynx, the real-time rating system created by Webcetera, removes the bridging step, cutting independent distributors' work time by as much as half.



EZLynx is available in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Washington. More states are expected to launch by year end.

Massachusetts Auto Insurance plan splits coalition

Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly's proposal to modify the plan for assigning high-risk drivers among Massachusetts automobile insurers has split the once-united front for auto insurance reform. The plan before Insurance Commissioner Julianne M. Bowler would assign drivers no company wants to insure voluntarily to companies on a random basis based on market share. Reilly backs the plan but has proposed limiting the discretion of companies in making assignments, requiring that drivers with a clean driving record for three years be excluded. An estimated 70 percent of the Massachusetts drivers would qualify. Reilly's proposal has the support of two critics of the overall plan -- consumer advocates and Commerce Insurance of Webster, the state's largest auto insurer. But a coalition representing nearly every other auto insurer has come out against Reilly's amendment, urging Bowler to approve the overall plan as is while continuing to study Reilly's proposal. Bowler is expected to rule this month.

New Statistics on Individual Health Insurance Market

The Kaiser Family Foundation held a briefing with eHealthInsurance on the individual market on August 2. An important new report, "Update on Individual Health Insurance," was issued in conjunction with the briefing. This report provides some baseline information on the individual market so policy makers can have a point of reference instead of just relying on impressions and anecdotes when discussing individual coverage. The data in the report is based on actual sales made through eHealthInsurance, and includes information on age of the buyers, premiums paid by age and region, retention, and cost-sharing provisions. It finds, for instance, that nearly half of purchasers keep their policies in force for two years or more, with older buyers likely to keep it longer than younger ones. It also finds that premiums are quite affordable. The average is $147/mo for individuals, ranging from $87/mo for someone under 18 in the North Central region to $299/mo for someone over age 45 in New England. For families the average is $278/mo, ranging from $101/mo for an under-18 head of household to $542/mo for someone over age 45, both in the New England/Mid-Atlantic region.