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Orlando, Florida
The Real Reason For Insurance Rate Hikes - Saturday, September 30, 2006
The so-called insurance crises, such as the medical malpractice crisis, have been blamed on continually rising premiums due to runaway jury verdicts and awards to the injured. But the American Medical Association (AMA) surveys of self-employed physicians from 1970 to 2000 indicate that insurance premiums rose until 1986, then declined until 1996, rose thereafter, but were lower in 2000 than in 1986. There is no evidence that links the rise in premiums to an increase in payment of medical malpractice claims.There is, however, evidence that supports a link between investment results by the insurance companies and the premiums they charge their physician customers. A report of this comprehensive survey may be found at 25 Health Affairs 750 (2006).
For more information from this journal visit the website at http://www.healthaffairs.org/. Additional information may also be found at www.AMA-assn.org.
The same must be true for automobile insurance rates, homeowners insurance rates, etc. Insurance companies increase their rates primarily to make up for investment losses. Not to make up for casualty losses that they predict before they ever set their premium price or sell a policy. After all, insurance companies are in the business of accurately calculating their worst potential losses, and they do this based on decades of industry and national statistics. Before they ever issue a policy, they know where to set the premium price to assure a profit. What they don't know, is how their investments of those premium dollars are going to perform.
So don't buy the insurance companies' cries of "wolf!" that always translate into taking away more of your legal rights.
Motorcycle Fatalities Soar - Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Motorcycle fatalities have soared according to the Orlando Sentinel. In the nearly six (6) years since Governor Jeb Bush repealed Florida's helmet law, fatalities involving motorcyclists have risen from 22 deaths in 1998 and 1999 to 250 deaths in 2004! By comparison, there were 270 deaths of motorcyclists without helmets in the 1990's when it was a violation of the law to ride motorcycles without a helmet. Deaths of motorcyclists overall in Florida increased 67% from 2000 to 2004, i.e from 259 deaths to 432 deaths.If you ride a motorcycle, wear your helmet!
Choosing The Right Nursing Home -
In 1987 a federal law (OBRA) was passed to improve the quality of care in nursing homes and prevent neglect and abuse of residents, particularly frail senior citizens. According to Consumer Reports bad care persists and it's still difficult to find good nursing homes two decades later.Choosing a humane, well-run nursing home can be one of the most important decisions you will ever have to make. It can also be a decision that must be made under time contstraints. This is especially true where a hospital says your relative must be out in 24 hours. While the hospital will often suggest a particular nursing home in the area, your family may not know whether the nursing home is a good one or provides high quality care.
You can't just rely on federal or state websites to assure you make the right choice. Making the right choice of a nursing home for a loved one requires far more diligence than relying upon governmental agencies which are often understaffed and misinformed by industry professionals operating these facilities. Long term care facilities are sophisticated big businesses skilled at skirting federal and state requirements and competent at clouding government quality care inspectors' prying eyes.
Instead, family members must follow more aggressive steps in selecting the right nursing home:
Identify area facilities. This can be done by searching your state's website information, such as the Florida Nursing Home Guide found at the Agency for Health Care Administration Website in Florida. Or, you can contact your local council on aging for a list of nursing homes. Consumer Reports also suggests you consult their Nursing Home Quailty Monitor to help you cross potentially bad homes off your list.
Visit the homes. Make unannounced visits. Watch, listen, and smell. Visit randomly at different times of the day and night and observe whether the facility has adequate staff to care for the residents, whether the staff are responsive to residents' needs, etc.
Read Facility's Inspection Reports. Ask for and read the home's Form 2567, the facility's state inspection survey, which should be "readily accessible." If you have difficulty obtaining the survery, that's a warning that the facility may be hiding damaging information. A lengthy survey with numerous violations also indicates problems.
Meet the Administration. Meet with the facility's administrator and director of nursing. Get a feel for their philosophy of caring for residents and whether they are compassionate professionals. Ask how long they've been employed at the nursing home and about the level of staff turnover.
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