Archive for November, 2011
Health insurance and fraud
November 30th, 2011 | 
Author: The world frequently disappoints us. We all hope people will prove honest and good neighbors. Yet we more often find ourselves on the receiving end of dishonesty and selfishness. When this is just one-to-one, we can attempt to arrange our affairs to minimize future losses or opportunities for conflict. But when the dishonesty is on an industrial scale, it ends up costing us all extra dollars, and there’s little or nothing we can do about it. Over the last two or three years, it’s been impossible to pick up a newspaper without seeing a story about rising auto insurance premiums, often caused by the rapidly increasing levels of fraud. That, as they say, is the tip of the iceberg. The wave of gangs crashing their cars and claiming medical expenses is only worth a few billion a year. Unfortunately, a few billion is peanuts. When it comes to Medicaid and Medicare, the FBI estimates the amount fraudulently claimed to be between $60 and 200 billion a year.
When you recover from the shock, you should ask why the range of the estimate is so wide. The answer is depressing. Although the FBI is on the case, it does not begin to have the resources to investigate the full extent of the problem. All it can do is to base the estimate on samples taken from different sets of files. Think of the top and bottom numbers as being the worst and best case scenarios. Your curiosity is piqued. How can the losses be so great? Does Medicare and Medicaid not have anti-fraud systems in place? Now comes the real killer. The administrations of both the entitlement programs have a “pay and chase” approach. This means they unquestioningly pay all claims and only if evidence later emerges of a possible fraud do they then chase for repayment. Needless to say, most fraudsters are rarely in a position to repay in full (or at all depending on how much time has passed). The result is massive fraud. It begins with health professionals billing for work they did not do and for treatment they did not deliver. Pharmacists invoice for drugs supplied even though there are no prescriptions written. And then, of course, come the actual criminals who set up fake clinics to bill insurers and the entitlement agencies. They last for a few months before disappearing.
To help fight the battle, some of the local FBI agencies are buying billboard ads begging us to act as whistleblowers and turn in the doctors we see billing the health insurance companies for tests and treatment we did not receive. Why should we care? Because when you add up all these false items on legitimate bills, these are billions paid out by insurance companies and the federal government. So those of us who pay health insurance premiums are paying way too much. Those of us who pay taxes are seeing billions of our tax dollars paid out to fraudsters instead of legitimate claimants who are ill. So the federal authorities should immediately withdraw the “pay and chase” policies. No suspicious claim should be paid. If this needs more staff, this creates jobs and is good for the economy. If it saves money, the jobs will be self-funding.
Under Obamacare, there’s a new accent on preventative care. The earlier the diagnosis, the more cost-effective the treatment. If access to reproductive care is also classified as preventative, this will have profound implications for the health insurance debate. This will open up a new war of words between the liberal establishment that favors funding women’s healthcare, and the GOP which campaigns aggressively to withdraw funding from any healthcare service that directly or indirectly supports abortion or fails to emphasize abstinence rather than contraception. So, because these health insurance issues should be resolved during 2012, we can expect men to begin debating how much healthcare women should receive.
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Best CFA Level 1 Certification Courses
If you are ready to gain the credibility, recognition, and competitive advantage that come with CFA® certification, there is no better time to begin than now. Earning the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst is one of the well-esteemed accomplishments that an individual attains in the field of finance and investing.
For that you need to Pass the CFA Exam that will certify you as the professional financial advisors whose aim is to help their clients in all the aspects of the business financial plans and procedures. Business organizations and individuals feel secure to leave their business financial planning on the certified financial advisors who have undergone and passed the Chartered Financial Analyst certification exam.
This exam involves an extensive variety of topics such as financial theory, risk and debt management, investment familiarity, taxation and even statistical modeling.
Financial planning done by the CFA professionals guarantees the accomplishment of business financial needs and requirements. Chartered Financial Analyst certification exam contain several exam levels in it, in which the first one is the CFA Level 1 Exam that covers the multiple choice questions related to finance, money, investment, taxation and many more.
There are lots of companies available online that helps you in achieving sure short success in CFA Certification Exam by providing you with the best CFA Level 1 Certification Courses. Online is the nicest way to take knowledge and study out the professional standards of analyzing the financial conditions, inventories, assets, taxes and investments. By learning, proper techniques and strategies, you will initiate yourself capable enough to make suitable investment decisions for your clients.
Tags: Small business insurance and sexual harassment issues
Although it’s a slightly different issue, you are probably following the failure of Penn State to deal with the allegations of sexual assaults made against the football team’s former defensive coordinator. With two senior University officials resigning and facing felony charges alongside the alleged molester, the reputation of the football team and the University has taken a major hit. If we translate this into slightly less extreme situations in the workplace, there are always opportunities for employees to “abuse” each other, using the word in its widest form. It can be a boss bullying staff in the hope it will encourage them to work harder, or one employee finding it offensive to work alongside someone thought to be gay. Once there’s a sexual element, the seriousness of the matter grows rapidly. Offering better working conditions or other rewards for sexual favors can quickly become sexual assaults. There are two quite different issues that arise.
The first is the need for all businesses to have a formal workplace policy defining the different forms of harassment and discrimination, backed up by mandatory training programs to raise awareness and produce a better atmosphere. There’s some evidence to suggest many abusers are unaware of the effect they have on others. By alerting them to the problem, some respond constructively. If the others fail to respond, this can trigger the first step along the disciplinary process to terminate their employment. From a legal point of view the aim should be to implement a zero-tolerance policy. While this will not prevent litigation against the business, it will certainly reduce the level of damages awarded against it. The second issue is to avoid any retaliation against the accuser. When a relatively new recruit into the business accuses a senior manager of sexual harassment, there’s a tendency to defend the reputation of the manager. After all, he or she may be a colleague or friend. This can result in pressure being put on the accuser to withdraw the allegations and, if this is refused, penalties being imposed. All forms of retaliation aggravate awards of damages against the business. If this employee makes a formal complaint, liability issues may bankrupt the business.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported more than 11,000 allegations of sexual harassment in 2010. Remember there’s no limit on the amount of compensation an employee can claim for sexual harassment. Even if you are fortunate and the award is low rather than in the millions, the loss of reputation and the legal costs can be enough to finish the business. So, as you are reviewing your own workplace policies, you should also be talking with your small business insurance advisor about the cover provided by the Employment Practices Liability Insurance Policy. Why should you insure? As a small business owner, you have a multitude of everyday tasks to keep the business on track. You have to delegate the operational side of the business to managers and rely on them to implement your strategies. The first you may know about a sexual harassment claim is when the law suit arrives. Small business insurances can protect you from financial disaster but this does not absolve you from responsibility. You should enforce a zero-tolerance policy in any event.
Roadmap For Debt Reduction With Debt Settlement And Debt Negotiation
Debt settlement and debt negotiation programs typically offer a plan or roadmap to help you get out of debt and settle your debt by establishing a new schedule of payment at a lower rate or by making a lump sum payment that is significantly lower than the total balance. While paying down a smaller balance and getting out of debt quicker are positive aspects of settlement, there are a few negatives. While participating in a debt settlement program, consumers will find their credit scores are negatively impacted, primarily due to continual past due remarks. This is because the debt negotiating company may guide you to stop payments to your creditors and deposit a certain amount of money in the settlement account opened with them until the agent negotiates. Once the creditors are convinced that their debtor can’t pay in full they will agree to accept certain amount which will be issued from the settlement account. Till then your creditor will be showing a past due remark on your credit report. Thankfully, any damage to one’s credit report is temporary and fixable.
There is also a small risk of being sued. While most credit card companies will not attempt to file a suit against any settlement participant, a few small, unscrupulous firms may take advantage of the opportunity. As a result, looking for a reliable and reputed company is essential. The role of a debt settlement company is to act and work on behalf of you as a client to negotiate with your creditors to solve your debt issues. This company is responsible to assist you to obtain the best deals from your creditors and solve your outstanding debt in a professional way. As such it becomes necessary to search for a reliable and reputed debt settlement company because they will be fully responsible in administering your monthly payments.
Once you have acquired the most appropriate options for a debt negotiation service package, you should then compare the service packages offered by the providers between each other. With such comparisons, you should keep in mind that cost of services should be the next aspect for you to consider. As debt negotiation is a process it may be important to involve expert negotiators. A reliable debt settlement or negotiating company will not just try to negotiate and lower your payments but will also see that they give you a recovery plan and that the credit report is not adversely affected.
LIC Housing Finance
Since its inception in the year 1989, LIC Housing Finance has been one of the premier home loan lenders. Due to its vast network of distributers across India, and reputed brand name in the market, it has become a top most housing financier. The dreams of many a people have been fulfilled by lic housing finance.
There are many services that lic housing finance provides individuals can take loan for purchase of various types of dwellings like flats, apartments and houses. Not only has that, but lic housing finance also disbursed loans to renovate people’s existing homes. The process of approving loans is very simple and it has one of the most easy eligibility criteria.
To take a home loan from lic housing finance, one has to fulfil the following:
The minimum annual income of the applicant should be Rs 1.5 lakhs
If the applicant is self-employed then their age should be between 21 and 70 years however for salaried individuals the range is from 25-58 years.
It also provides many benefits to NRI applicants the only condition being that they hold valid Indian passports.
The lic home loan interest rate is always one of the best in the market and is optimised for the customer’s benefit. If somebody dreams to buy a home, and fulfils the eligibility criteria, they can just walk into the many offices of lic housing finance and forget their worries.
There are also different types of loan options that lic housing finance provides depending on the need and repayment capacity of individuals.
Some of these options or plans as they are generally called are listed below:
For amounts ranging upto Rs 1 Crore, lic housing finance has two plans namely LIC Griha Prakash and Griha Laxmi. The loans covers 85% or 1 Crore of the expenditure right from the date of signing up for the property depending on whichever is less. The lic home loan interest rate is adjusted according to the buyer’s repayment capacity.
The second type of loan is the Griha Sudhar LIC housing loans, which and individual can take from lic housing finance to renovate or repair the existing homes. The loan amount is upto 25% of the home cost or 85% of the repair cost, and doesn’t exceed 10 lakh Rs.
For people looking to extend the existing properties, lic housing finance offers Griha Prakash loans. The amount can vary from a measly Rs 25,000 to upwards of Rs 1 Crores. Again the lic home loan interest rate is set according to the amount and tenure of the loan which can at max be 20 years.
For non-professional loan seekers too lic housing finance has plenty of options that can be found out by either visiting their official website or on any of the numerous offices across India. The most competitive interest rate in the market is the lic home loan interest rate and many individuals have benefited from it.
Get Your Business Online
The world of business today can be a tricky one and as always you have to keep ahead to keep making money. Making sure you are always on top of you game helps you deal with competition better and prepares you for the future. If you don’t seek to be keep on top then you will run the risk of running behind and maybe even disappearing due to business competition.
Today the main thing about business is making sure you are on the web. The internet is huge and can reach people across the global. The idea of opening your business up to the world wide web should be a natural step for any company out there.
Getting your business online is no easy task either. Many other people have already seen the potential for this and the competition is fierce. Making sure your site is right for you and your client base is vital and the promotion or your site online is a whole new ball game.
There are a few things you need to do to be successful online and they are;
Firstly you need to understand who you are aiming for and what you are exactly offering people. You want to make sure your message and business know how comes across on your site. There is nothing worse then a site that baffles people with words and mega fancy logos. Also you have to make sure your web site is easily accessible for the users. Not everyone out there has been using the internet for a long time so some will prepare easy to use and easy to understand sites, if a site is to complex or fancy it can put people off. If your business is just starting off or not been around for long it is usually best to aim locally. Yes the web is global but not to stand a chance you need to aim locally and then slowly grow.
Once you have your site and you are happy with it then its about promotion of your site. There are two ways you could do this, online and offline.
Offline is pretty straight forward to explain, anything that is done outside of the web is offline. If you have a business card then put your site on there, any advertising you have put it on there. If they like what they see on a leaflet or ad then if they wanted to know more they could go online and read all about you.
Online is slightly more complex and can take some time. Now if you after a quick boast with little effort you could go for the pay per click or search engine ad-words. this method can be pricey and won’t give you any lasting foundations for internet presence. Now this method can be very competitive but will get you on the first page for the right price but only for as long as you pay for it.
The other way is through SEO. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of getting your site ready for the search engines and promoting it online. Making sure the search engines can read and pick up your site easily is very important. The words int eh right place is what it is all about. The other side is about going out there and promoting the site that creates back-links which is needed to push your site higher in the rankings. submitting it to directories and writing articles are a great way to start this. These create back-links to your site and the search engines pick this up and therefore rank your higher.
As I have explained its important to keep on top of things and the newest things with getting your business online is social networks. Word of mouth and friend recommendations are vital now a days and as everyone seems to be on the social networks sites it can be very handy to have your business on there.
So if you haven’t got your business online, now is the time to do it. If your site isn’t ranking high on the search engines or want more traffic then why not get a bit of SEO.