15 employees, 1 buisness van, 7 operating machines, various equipment and furnishings, plus fabric inventory.

Call an insurance agent. He or she will do it for you and give you a quote on the whole shebang.

What’s at the heart of the SCHIP debate.

Congress faces a critical question this week: Will U.S. health care be government-run, or will Americans be given the freedom to obtain their insurance plans and medical care from private firms? The next U.S. president will likely answer this question, but the resolution to the current debate about SCHIP — the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, a state and federal government partnership for insuring poor children — that is roiling Washington, D.C., will preview the answer.

Although health care is a crucial issue for the electorate; traditionally, presidential candidates have avoided any but the blandest generalities. Health care is the third rail of politics. Its complexity, size, and multiple, committed stakeholders scare away most would-be saviors.

Yet, the underlying debate is simple: It is all about who will manage and control the health-care sector that comprises one-seventh of our economy. Will individual Americans have the freedom to make their own choices? Or, will we trust government bureaucrats, lawyers, and politicians to make those decisions for them? Our future health-care system will be shaped by how we answer these simple questions.

Let’s be clear: The SCHIP battle is not about whether to insure poor children. The debate is about how to insure them: Via the government or private insurers? This debate has not only pitted Democrats against Republicans but has also sundered the Republican coalition. Some Democrats wanted SCHIP expanded by $50 billion dollars so that even families earning about $81,000 a year who have eligible children were included. (The 2005 U.S. median household income was $46,000.) A resolution with the Republicans who hold minority leadership roles led to a compromise, costing only $35 billion, which allowed coverage for those earning up to $60,000.

A fundamental problem with this compromise is that the same amount of coverage for children within SCHIP costs $1,000 more per child than under private insurance. A group of forward-thinking Republicans led by U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R., N.C.) and others has an entirely different idea of how to provide insurance: they want to cash out eligible people and enable them to use this money to buy health insurance from private insurers in a tax-protected way. Count the president in too. He has pledged to veto legislation that permits expansion of the present program.

None of the combatants’ are supported by an unblemished array of evidence. The Democrats support the expansion of SCHIP by lauding the universal coverage and substantially lower costs of single-payer, government-run systems, like the U.K.’s and Canada’s. Yes; but costs are controlled by rationing health care to the sick. More than 20,000 Brits would not have died from cancer in the U.S. Onerous waiting lists have caused illegal, for-profit health-service centers to proliferate in Canada. These rogue establishments are so well-accepted that the head of one became the president of the Canadian Medical Association. Nor do single-payer systems achieve equality of access or health status — the powerful, assertive, litigious, and connected go to the head of the line.

In the U.S., the government-controlled Medicaid program has achieved its low costs per person by stringent limits on provider prices. As many as 40 percent of doctors refuse to see Medicaid enrollees, leading to reduced health care quality. Physicians who accept Medicaid often shift their un-reimbursed costs to the privately insured. A system totally paid by the government would shut down this escape hatch, exacerbating the current shortage of primary care doctors.

But the group of Republicans who support private insurance acknowledge that they cannot laud health insurance as a model industry. The massive bureaucracies patients all-too-often encounter when they attempt to obtain the medical services they paid for are not merely frustrating, they sometimes kill. Free-market Republicans claim that the problem with the U.S. insurance firms arises from their lack of accountability. Agents, such as governments and employers, use our money to buy health plans. The agents’ incentives — simplicity and cost control — are not well aligned with our needs for responsiveness.

Senators Richard Burr (R., N.C.), Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) and others want to refigure the tax code so that we could buy health insurance with tax-sheltered money, a right currently reserved solely for our employers. If we purchased our own health insurance with tax-protected funds, we could keep these arrogant behemoths in check, just as we do in the other sectors of the American economy. The Swiss universal-coverage, consumer-driven system requires people, not employers or governments, to buy health insurance. (The poor primarily receive funds to purchase insurance just like everybody else.) This consumer control enables the Swiss to enjoy an excellent quality of care without the social inequality of single-payer countries at costs that are a third lower than ours.

SCHIP is not merely a debate about yet another mystifying government program. It is all about free-market principles versus government mandates. Giving taxpayers the freedom to choose and buy their own health care would unleash powerful market forces that have been subdued by third-party bureaucracies for the last 60 years. In every area of our economy, market forces have transformed rare, costly products and services like cars and computers into common products and services. We can make health care cheaper, better, and more widely available, if Congress can muster the vision and courage to act.

That is the longest question ever…lol

The debate is about :

1. whos responsibility is it to provide for an individual?
(personal accountability)

2. Who is poor? (who is deserving/who is undeserving)

3. Who is a child? (>18,>24…what is it?)

Why does Congress continue to want to tweek things that are not broken?

this is for home insurance in New York

Most companies offer an endorsement for extended replacment cost which will cover for replacment up to a certain percentage above the stated amount for the dwelling. Erie offers a "Guaranteed" replacement cost. The key to any of these policies is to make sure your stated amount on the policy is a close estimate to current replacement cost (it changes with inflation, labor and materials cost). Most policies include a co-insurance clause which states they will only pay full replacement if the policy holder has insured their home within a certain percentage (80 or 90%) of the actual replacement cost. Remember too that replacement cost does not include the value of your land. If something happens to your home, the land will still be there.

Already have pretty good coverage on auto (multiple cars), and home (one). Do not own commercial property/business, etc.
Under what scenario does umbrella coverage really kick in, and in the relatively straightforward case such as mine, it is worth it?

Thanks for your advice.

Consider this scenario. You cause an accident which puts someone out of work for the rest of their life and causes very high medical bills. The courts can take everything except one car, basic household furnishings, the value of your house over $150,000 (which means if your house is valued higher you might have to sell), and up to 30% of your wages for the rest of your life.

Do the math. Figure the amount of your assets and estimate 30% of your future earnings. That is what is at risk. Now figure if the premium for an unbrella is worth it.

I was reading CNN money and it states that, “Insurers provide discounts to reward behavior that reduces risk. However, Americans waste some $300 billion a year because they forget to ask for them!”

I was wondering if people could share the insurance breaks they receive from their auto loan providers.

i guess they could share – like in my case i usually get a reward up to 100 every six months — now who should i share it with!!

It's a car insurance commercial with a guy riding a little bike on the highway in his suit.
it says "car insurance slowing you down?" or something.
i want to find the commercial online or at least what insurance company it is.

Help!

GEO Car insurance

i.e. recovered theft, rebuild-able, flood damaged, etc

I don’t know about the “Best” website but there are hundreds of auction sites. Just google “insurance salvage” or salvage and find one closest to you. The cost of transporting a vehicle can be four figures so you want to search close to home!

You may be able to do this, depending on your current insurer's web presence.

some have account access capabilities for current customers.

If your insurer has this….it could be pretty easy.

insurance companies,breast reductions,& breast lifts

Most insurance's will cover this procedure but you have to meet the criteria. Your doctor will have to contact your insurance company and give your measurements, weight and sometimes a picture.
You will need evidence of visits to your doctor complaining of chronic back and shoulder pain.
Your insurance company will always want you to lose some weight, like 10 to 20 pounds depending on your size.
They wil not pay for a lift for cosmetic reasons but reductions are lifts.

Does anyone know of any insurance companies that will let you pay your homeowner’s insurance in installments? We’ve owned the home for 5 years now and we missed the deadline on our last policy.

Most insurance companies do! You just need to call around to some local agents.

HOWEVER, if your house has been uninsured for more than a month or so, or you’ve got a really low credit score, you’ll most likely have to pay up front.