When you’re working as a freelancer, you’re not only thinking about the orders you have to manage y to do. There’s a question hitting your mind day by day: how in the world can I get health coverage?

Of course, it will take some time and you will have to do some research in order to get yourself health coverage policy. As any other big decision, you will have to explore your options thoroughly, choosing the plan that fits best your and your family’s needs.

However, freelancers may take one of several ways when trying to get insurance coverage for their health.

1. Refer to Independent Agents

Seek and acquire health coverage quotes with the help of independent agents. You might wish to begin with agents from your local area, so that you might be sure of their abilities and probably even get answers to all of your questions in one meeting.

You can use the Internet alternatively. Rate quotes are easily obtainable on the Internet. This option permits you to research lots of plans all together. One of the most comprehensive places to start your searches with for a provider is The National Association of Health Underwriters.

2. Consider Joining a Group

If you join a writers’ guild or union, or an association of independent contractors, it will reveal some group insurance opportunities to you.

For example, The National Writers Union proffers certain options (in Canada it’s The Writers Union of Canada).

Another alternative is the National Association for the Self Employed that proffers free quotes to their members. Some also advise joining AvantGuild at Media Bistro. You can also consider the Author’s Guild – it offers reduced insurance for issued authors in chosen states.

3. Take a Look Inside High Risk Pools

Lots of states are offering high risk health insurance policy pools for people not suitable for coverage via an employer, or can’t get their selves insurance anywhere else. This could also be an alternative for people that can’t acquire insurance because of their pre-existing conditions or other risks. In case you were acceptable for CONRA advantages via an employer, you might need to discharge that policy before you’re acceptable for state high risk pools. You can get more information about high risk insurances at the Health Insurance Resource Center.

4. Take your COBRA coverage in account

COBRA is a federal warrant that demands your boss to proffer you supplementary coverage of the health, vision and dental care, which you acquired while hired with them at the collective rate that the boss obtained for you. COBRA coverage’s time period is 18 to 36 months depending on several factors. Though it’s sometimes costly, sometimes it might turn out a good deal and cost not as much as some other insurance plans. If you want to become a freelancer and are leaving your full-time position, it can be a good opportunity, so talk to your employer about this.

By the way, as the American nation pays that great attention to health insurance coverage, there are some new and absolutely awesome developments for Independent Contractors and freelancers that look for insurance. So be certain to get yourself familiar with the new developments in COBRA coverage and group insurance coverage.

When you possess and maintain a car you undergo many expenses, but it doesn’t mean you have to submit to this. You can reduce your expenses and here are some tips on how you can do this.

Lower coverage on older cars

In case you paid for your car and it’s old, think about removing the clash coverage. It pays for damages you cause to your car. Moreover, it makes up a huge part of your insurance expenditure.

Deal with only one insurance provider

Collect all policies you have to one insurer and you’ll consequently get a multi-line reduction – up to 10% down from your complete premium.

Increase your deductible

Cut your car premium significantly by increasing the deductible (what you’re paying out-of-pocket, when making a claim). The $250 and $500 deductibles disparity is normally very essential and if it’s even more substantial when it’s between $250 and $1,000 deductibles difference. Consider how much you can spend out-of-pocket before changing your deductible correspondingly.

Acquire a quote before buying

Before you buy a new car, contact your insurer to learn how much you’ll have to spend for car insurance. Premiums can significantly change, depending on the model, year and the make of a car.

You should drive cautiously

Safe drivers get a better premium on their insurances. Elude speed violation and don’t get involved into accidents to save 5% or even more on your premium. Most insurers will lower your rate inn future each time you drive three years without violations.

Consider driving less

Are you driving oddly? If so, let your insurer know of this. The less time you spend driving, the less accident probability you have. This frequently results in a cheap car insurance premium. Also, tell your insurer if you’re a carpooler. There are many ways of getting a discount for low-mileage.

Look for teen driver’s discounts

You can spend a pretty penny when trying to insure a teen driver, but you can do things to reduce the costs. Find out if they provide a good-student discount in case your teen has a B-average. Find out if a safe driving course attendance might cause a second reduction. Completing these two can save you from 5% to 25% of your premium.

Secure your car from being stolen

Cars kept in garages and supplied with alarms are less probable to be thieved, and consequently not as costly to insure. Be certain to inquire your insurer in case your vehicle can get a theft-prevented discount.

By the way, did you know that some car insurance providers will grant you a reduction if you scribe your auto’s VIN on the windows? You should inquire about this discount as well.

Don’t touch upon auto rental and roadside coverage

Probably, your auto insurance is packaged with many extras you don’t actually need – roadside help and auto rental insurance can be two of these. Review your policy thoroughly and inquire about withdrawing any unnecessary coverage.

Improve your credit score

Lots of insurers are now employing your credit score as element of the requirements defining your insurance premium expense. To make sure you get the best probable deal, be certain to cover your bills opportunely, and to dispute any credit recording mistakes you locate on the report.

1. Driving less can save your money

Driving less than 7,500 in the course of the year makes you eligible for a low-mileage discount with your insurance carrier. You can save even more money with discounts if using public transportation on a regular basis during the weekdays.

2. Use your auto only for personal purposes

Most insurance carriers will increase your premium or add additional coverage (and price, respectively) for driving more due to business purposes. But if there’s no way to avoid the business use of your auto, you should inform your agent or broker about it, to make sure your vehicle is properly covered in all cases.

3. Raise the deductible

Deductibles and insurance rates are inversely related – the higher is your deductible, the lower is your annual rate. And by raising your deductible from $250 to $500 you will be able to save up to 15% on your rates. On the flip side, you will have to pay more from your pocket if an accident takes place.

4. Monitor your credit rating

Your credit rating is one of the key factors influencing the premium you will have to pay, as insurance companies use it to determine how risky you are as customer. The better your credit score, and the cleaner your record is of due credits and unpaid bills, the “safer” you are considered and the lower your rates will be.

5. Safe driving helps

Having no tickets or car accidents in your driving record for a period between three or five years (depends on the insurance company), will give you really good insurance discount. Getting even one minor speeding ticket can boost your insurance rates up to 10% higher.

6. Buy a less risky auto

Auto insurance companies all have different ratings for evaluating the risk factor of a vehicle, However, most insurance carriers agree in defining sports, muscle cars, flashy and exotic vehicles as being high risk objects, because they are most common targets for theft and vandalism, and also because the owners of such vehicles tend to drive aggressively and risky in general.

7. Move to another place

Living in an urban area is definitely comfortable and convenient for most of us. But living in an urban area will make insuring your car a lot more expensive than in rural areas. Heavy traffic, high theft rates, accident risks – these are what cities are known for, and that’s exactly what makes insurance rates considerably higher in much more populated places across the country.

8. Have a garage

Storing your auto in a garage means that it’s less likely to be hit by another car, stolen or vandalized. Some insurance companies will offer a small discount if you keep your car in a garage.

9. Increase the safety of your vehicle

Most insurance companies tend to offer special discounts to drivers, who install security devices on their cars such as automatic seat belts, anti-lock brakes, airbags and anti-theft systems. The more secured your car is against theft or vandalism, the more likely you will get a discount.

10. Do some comparison shopping

If you are looking for a new policy or already have one, there’s no better way to get cheap auto insurance than shopping around. Make sure to get as many quotes from different companies as possible and compare not only the prices but the amounts and types of coverage too.

If you look back over the last ten years, this has been a real boom and bust period of time. For the first years, banks and finance companies let us borrow more money than we needed. Fortunately, there was a property bubble forming so buying a new more expensive home was a big winner. The housing equity grew real fast and provided ever more security for more loans. Changing homes after four or five years let us cash in and keep on building up our net worth. Except, all we were doing was going ever deeper into debt so that, when the property bubble burst and the recession hit, there was nowhere left to run. All our debts came home to roost.

Well, we have had just over a year to start sorting out our problems. Hopefully, you are one of the lucky ones who have managed to stay in work and keep up the instalment payments on your home. Although you may have negative housing equity, this is not all doom and gloom. Let’s start with how you have managed to survive. You stopped all the wild spending and began paying down the most expensive debts on your store and credit cards. You are still some way away from paying off all your debts. Very few people have managed to switch over to building up their cash savings. But you are better off than you were a year ago. Now look around. Interest rates have been at rock bottom for months. The Fed cut the headline rates to the bone and, slowly, this has filtered through the banking system. There is more cheap money around today. Except we still have the credit crunch. Banks are still reluctant to lend.

There are hundreds of neighborhoods around the country where repossessed homes are standing empty with resale values dragging along the bottom. While this persists, you only have one strategy. As soon as the value of your home rises above the amount outstanding on your current mortgage, you should consider refinancing. If you can switch from the existing more expensive home loan to one at current interest rates, you will shave thousands of dollars off the total you will pay over the lifetime of the mortgage. But there is a further possibility to consider.

Whenever you find you have some positive housing equity, you can negotiate a debt consolidation loan, i.e. instead of paying individual instalments to store and credit card carriers, you roll up all your debts into a single mortgage. This gives you a single monthly instalment to pay. With the right deal in place, you will find you save thousands of dollars a year in interest payments. You will pay off your debts at a significantly lower cost and soon be able to start saving. So the watchwords are patience and forward planning. You need to keep on paying down your existing debts. Show yourself as a responsible borrower and keep your credit score as strong as possible. Monitor the local housing market and see what is happening to resale values. You need to be ready to move when values start to pick up. You also need detailed accounts and a financial proposal ready to present to a mortgage or home loan broker. Be prepared with your own long-term rescue plan.

The car you own determines to a large extent the premiums you will have to pay for insuring it. Of course, your claims history, driving and credit records, your age, sex and location will also influence the rates, but not to the extent of your actual vehicle. You can make everything you can to improve the other factors but if your car is expensive to insure on its own, don’t expect to have low rates on it.

Each car make and model is assigned with a certain rating according to its overall safety, repair costs, theft rates, clams history and possible damage to infrastructure. When a new car comes out it is rated like other similar cars before having a decent claims history on its own. The moment there’s enough information to be analyzed, the particular make and model can either be rated higher or lower, which directly affects the insurance rates.

If you’re thinking about insuring your fast sports car or a big SUV be ready to meet a hefty price tag in your insurance policy. These two groups of vehicles are quite expensive to insure due to various reasons. Sports cars are powerful and fast enough to provoke the driver for pushing the limits and violating traffic rules, which means that sports cars are generally dangerous and pose greater insurance risks to be covered. SUVs on the other hand tend to be safe for the driver and passengers inside it, which is good in terms of insurance, but they have increased potential to devastate the other vehicle or infrastructure during the accident. Luxury cars are also quite expensive to insure because they have high repair costs and often fall prey to theft.

In case you are looking for cheap auto insurance and haven’t bought a car yet, experts suggest looking in the middle section of the car model and making class. Small cheap cars often have good gas mileage but due to low mass they aren’t quite as safe as their bigger mid-class peers. What you need is a reliable car with good controls, good crash test results, increased safety and low repair costs. Most car manufacturers (except for luxury car brands) have such models and different variations to satisfy the needs of everyday drivers.

If your car is equipped with such safety features as airbags, additional seat belts, anti-lock brakes and anti-theft devices it is a good chance that you will get cheap auto insurance you’ve been looking for. If your auto doesn’t carry these features, no one restricts you from installing them on your own. But make sure to inform your insurance agent about these modifications to get the discount you deserve. Otherwise your insurance rates will remain the same.

In case you own an old car, it is likely that you will have lower insurance rates compared to the same car but new. However, you should ask your agent about the necessary coverage types, because some older vehicles can safely drop certain types of insurance coverage making your policy even cheaper.

Everybody knows that there’s a holywar between sexes on who are better drivers, men or women? And as men are claiming to be far better at the wheel the statistics are actually on the opposite side. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Report dated 2004 notes men being involved in 27,000 more fatal accidents, 432,000 more injury accidents and 1,369,000 more incidents with damaged property, resulting in total 1,828,000 more insurance claims filed by men in 2004 only. And since then the trend hasn’t changed.

And it’s hard to tell that the most risky drivers – men younger than 25 years old – are contributing to these statistics. These are actually men of all age groups.

As an insurance agent from Iowa, Brad Vermillion has stated: “Men are much more aggressive and risky in their very nature. You see a man not wearing a seat belt, speeding and driving under influence far more often than a woman. The amount of miles driven throughout the lifetime is also quite higher with men than with women, which of course means a greater risk of being involved in a traffic accident and filing an insurance claim. It may sound strange, but the less you drive the safer you are.”

A righteous question rises consequently, whether do insurance companies take into account the statistics provided by the NHTSA and other organizations? “Of course insurers know about such statistics very well and they are reflected in their pricing guidelines,” stated Vermillion. “A man will always pay a higher auto insurance premium than a woman, even if he lives in a safe area and has a perfect driving and credit record.”

But the overall trend has started to shift in recent years, making the gap between men and women smaller in what concerns car insurance premiums. “The last couple of years have shown more and more women driving at longer distances and for more extended periods of time. This results from a wider access to cars among women and more intense and active lifestyle attitudes, forcing women to move around a lot more than in previous years,” states Dave Roush, CEO of Insurance.com. “Women spend more time behind the wheel and raise the stress levels, which inevitably results in more aggressive attitude from women on the road. This trend is only starting to take shape and it’s a matter of time to judge whether it will minimize the gap between men and women in what concerns auto insurance rates. But for now men are well ahead in this competition.”

There’s an old saying that says, “the number don’t lie”. The assumption is that numbers are facts and facts are always true. So if someone counts the number of times something happens, this gives you a basis from which to estimate the probability of the same thing happening across a population. This is the basis of underwriting for insurance purposes. Teams of highly trained people called actuaries count how many traffic accidents there are every year, season and month. They break it down into the age, make and model of car, the age, gender and profession of the driver, the time of day, the weather conditions, and so on. We happily accept information that, in the first half of 2009, only 16,626 people were killed in crashes, a 7% drop as against the same period last year.

When we apply the same approach to health insurance, some people get upset. Maybe it’s more appropriate to be writing this at Halloween but the same people have been counting the number of people who die from various diseases. For the purposes of this article, one of the main areas of interest has been the question of obesity. There are detailed numbers available across the country showing that people who have a high Body Mass Index (BMI) are more likely than thin people to die of heart disease. The medical evidence proves what are called “comorbidities”, i.e. the presence of two or more conditions which, more often than not, suggests a cause and effect at work, or that there’s an underlying vulnerability to both conditions. We are not so unhappy to accept a link between drug abuse and mental illness, but mention a possible link between body weight and disease and, suddenly, people are upset. People do not want to hear a link between their lifestyles and the probability of early death.

The reality is that adults with a BMI of 30 and above are either being turned down for medical insurance or charged a higher premium. No matter how politically correct it may be to talk about obesity, insurance companies protect themselves by classifying obesity as a pre-existing condition justifying refusal or a premium loading. So welcome to baby Alex, a newcomer to Grand Junction. He’s four months old and breast-feeding. He’s a happy, bouncing baby weighing in at seventeen pounds. With a length of 25 inches, this puts him in the 99th percentile for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s height and weight charts for babies of the same age. So the health insurance company refused coverage. Their cut-off point is the 95 percentile. When you think about it, this seems very dramatic. It seems you are never too young to be overweight. This is not something to be dealt with through an increase in health insurance rates. This is a blank refusal of coverage. At four months, the actuaries have already decided this baby is too big a risk to insure. The parents are naturally upset. Even though their pediatrician has no health concerns, they are talking about putting the baby on the Atkins diet. They may joke but this may be a real sign of change in the health insurance industry. There is no sentimentality here. After all, the numbers don’t lie, except the insurers changed their mind when the publicity hit. Alex is now insured. Some good news to end on.

Dream the perfect drive!

Your car is not that lovable to you when you see a huge bill coming your way. It is all understandable but also very … reasonable. Yes, insurance companies do put something at steak before they set up a deal with you but you have to understand that mainly that is what you pay your bucks for. They promise you safety and safety is precious. Most drivers will try to combine safety and reasonable payment. But of the time they do succeed. It is possible to find a good insurance deal that you won’t regret later on.

Usually, when we think of a discount – we start looking for reasons people might be offering it for. When you come to an insurer begging for a price reduction you give the impression of being ready to put your life at risks for a couple of dollars. Bargains are not acceptable here. It is not wise to pay double but don’t expect to pay nothing and stay safe either. But don’t get too many dollars out of your pocket just yet – there are certain possibilities to economize on your auto insurance without getting into trouble.

It is not true that insurance companies want to trap people with their lies. But being informed really helps the case. It is important for you personally to know what you are looking for. Of course, if you are fixated on discounts it is difficult to manage anything else. But hey, we are happy to inform you that due to all the competition going on companies are will to negotiate just to have you on their team. One of the most well-known reasons for offering a discount is when a driver has gone through formal training. The driver receives a document that allows him to receive a discount because it means he is more capable of driving good than any other person that has not done the training.

Cheap car insurance can be obtained by those who are well experienced in driving. If you driving record is perfect your premiums will be high and your discount may be even bigger as the insurance company doesn’t risk almost anything with you.

Please remember to point out the most important aspects before you go to visit an insurer. You have to remember the major reason for getting one of those. Some people think that changing the insurance company every now and then is not harmful. But we say – why do you have to do it when you can stay happy with one and the same? Going for a wider coverage and thinking it is the best decision is not that good. The situation may change with time. So if your car gets old in a few years it means that you will require less coverage as the car is not that pricey anymore. So consider everything even if it doesn’t seem to bother you now. Cheap car insurance can be found without a pray. You only have to open your eyes and be smart about it.

In 2006, the figures released by the Census Bureau suggested that almost nine million children in the US were uninsured. This is despite the fact that about 28 million children were allowed access to Medicaid and a further seven million received help from the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Put another way, almost 12% of children were uninsured. In a society that claims to protect the interests of children, this makes for depressing reading.

In recent years, the majority of children have been covered by health plans paid for by their parents’ employers. Unfortunately, the cost of family plans has been rising more steeply than for individual coverage. With employee contributions rising faster than inflation, many parents have been forced to drop out of group cover. This has left Medicaid with the increasing task of providing cover for low-income families. Where parents earn more than the maximum allowed for Medicaid eligibility, SCHIP targets families who cannot afford private coverage. Unfortunately, two factors have combined to increase the number of uninsured children.

As the recession hit in 2008, unemployment rose and the amount of tax collected fell. This meant the individual US states responsible for supporting SCHIP began to run severe budget deficits. Since the idea of tax increases is politically impossible, this has forced states to cut back on all discretionary spending. Consequently, many have redefined the level at which they intervene to provide health coverage for children. As if this was not bad enough, there has been a reduction in the publicity given to the SCHIP plans. Parents are no longer prompted to apply for coverage even when their income would make their children eligible for support. Put the two together and the Congressional Budget Office confirms the number of uninsured children has been rising steadily.

This is a difficult time for healthcare in the US. Almost everyone agrees the current system should be reformed, but there’s no real sign of agreement between the political parties on what should be done. While Washington struggles to enact legislation, more children should be brought within the existing schemes – SCHIP was reauthorized for a further 10 year term in 2007 with bipartisan support. Almost all the children currently uninsured would be eligible under either or both Medicaid or SCHIP. All it needs is a properly run advertizing campaign to alert families to their entitlements and the political will to make funds available. So long as private health insurance policies remain unaffordable for the majority of families and employer-provided group plans are imposing sharply increased premiums, the number of uninsured children will rise steadily. This trend will accelerate as unemployment rises during the recession. It’s a national scandal that the health of children is being put at risk by denying adequate health insurance coverage. If no co-ordinated federal plan is put in place, families should protect themselves by applying to both Medicaid and their local SCHIP for help. It’s important to remember that the Congressional Budget Office confirms almost all the children currently uninsured would be entitled to access Medicaid or SCHIP. This is your right and it protects the future of the country. Everyone loses if children die or suffer inadequate health care because health insurance is denied.

There’s a darker side to America. It boasts it’s the land of the free. It claims it’s a level playing field and everyone can make it if they try hard enough. This myth of hard work always being rewarded with big bucks is dangerously misleading to the many who hope to improve their lot. Now add in the tenet that everyone should take responsibility for their own lives. This is the land of the individual, they claim. People should keep what they earn. Everything else is socialism and evil. Society should never help the weak and disadvantaged because it only encourages freeloading. As an example, you only have to look at the campaign against reform of the healthcare industry. Raise taxes on the rich to pay for healthcare for the poor is dragging the US into the same pit as Russia and all those other communist states.

So looking around the newspapers recently, there have been a number of editorials and articles attacking the loans offered to the low paid. If you think this was meant in defense of the low paid, think again. The general tone was to judge the disadvantaged members of society as feckless and inept. Apparently, it’s their fault they fall prey to the short-term loan industry charging extortionate rates of interest. If they were only more responsible and managed their resources better, they would be able to avoid falling into debt.

Well, these newspapers are edited by people who are well-paid and never have a financial emergency. Although the story always used to be that everyone was only ever one pay check from losing their homes, all this is forgotten when it comes to the unlucky and the low paid. Now, no-one responsible ever gets into trouble. All the best people are prudent and wise in the management of their affairs. This is the new myth. It’s a myth because it ignores the fact that the unlucky and the low paid are denied access to the usual banking system. Instead of banks and the conventional finance companies being prepared to hold out a helping hand to those in trouble, they turn away everyone with a low credit score. There are loans and overdrafts available but they are reserved for the people who, for the most part, already have enough. That’s why the low paid are driven into the arms of the payday loan companies. If they were treated with some respect, as being just as capable of repaying a loan as anyone else, there would be no need for them to be sucked dry by the high interest rates charged for payday loans.

This is an opinion piece. It’s quite angry because too many people are denied respect and laid open to exploitation by others. Society should not wash its hands of these people. It’s not socialism to care about what happens to people when they are victimized. In this world, it’s there but for the grace of God that we all go. It only takes one real emergency and our own financial security is gone. Our one pay check is not enough and we find ourselves knocking on the door of a payday loan company.