How to get flood insurance

What you should know about flood insurance

Here's some basic information about flood insurance provided by Mike Howard, a spokesman for the Bothell office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Q: How do I get flood insurance?

A: It's available only from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But numerous insurance agencies can help owners of homes and businesses obtain it.

Q: How much does flood insurance typically cost?

A: The average annual cost for a residential policy in Washington state is $580. In King County, the average annual cost is $590.

Q: Is everyone eligible to buy flood insurance?

A: Anyone is eligible who lives in a community participating in the national flood insurance program. That program ensures communities are passing ordinances that protect their citizens against flooding. Virtually every community in Washington state participates in the program.

Q: If I sustained flood damage once and made a claim, can I still get insurance now?

A: Yes. That is the virtue of the national flood insurance program. But your degree of flood risk may affect your policy's cost.

Q: If my property floods repeatedly, can I still be insured?

A: Again, yes, if you've paid the premiums. No matter how often an area floods, properties there can be protected by insurance, so long as the properties comply with flood plain ordinances.

But FEMA may work with your community to reduce the incidence of flooding by encouraging a buyout or facilitating the elevation of your property.

Q: How can I learn more?

A: Visit www.fema.gov/hazard/flood/index.shtm or call 1-800- 621-3362.

Insurance scams charged in New Jersey

New Jersey authorities have charged seven people in an alleged workers' compensation scam that they say left many people without insurance.

Those charged are accused of operating companies that linked workers' compensation insurance carriers and clients.

The companies are charged with submitting false information and claims to the insurers and pocketing the benefit payments. The owners of the companies also kept money submitted by clients to pay insurance premiums, the state alleges.

The scam netted about $1.5 million for those who owned the companies or operated as insurance brokers.

Indicted on charges of conspiracy, racketeering and related charges were: Justin Sciarra, 59, of Medford; Paul Brown, 43, of Bellmawr; Michael Magee, 34, of Berlin; James Maconaghy, 41, of Mount Laurel; William Griffith, 53, of Reading, Pa.; Paul Hopkins, 58, and his wife Adrienne, 48, both of Marlton.

10.9 million Americans Have Individual Health Insurance Policies

About 10.9 million Americans under age 65 purchased individual health insurance policies at some point in 2006, but only 7 million were covered by these policies for the full year, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The 3.9 million individuals who had individual health insurance policies for part of the year were covered for about six months on average. 

AHRQ's analysis also shows that of Americans who bought individual policies for part of the year, nearly 44 percent were able to obtain coverage for the full year because they or their spouse got a job that offered health insurance or they had incomes low enough to quality for Medicaid or other public insurance. Most of this coverage came from employers.

Forty percent obtained employer-sponsored health insurance. 

Three percent enrolled in Medicaid or other public insurance. 

Less than 1 percent obtained both employment-based insurance and public insurance. 

People buy individual health insurance generally because they can't get insurance from their employers, have lost a job that offers insurance, or do not qualify for Medicaid or other public programs.

AHRQ, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, works to enhance the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care in the United States. The data in this AHRQ News and Numbers summary are taken from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a detailed source of information on the health services used by Americans, the frequency with which they are used, the cost of those services, and how they are paid. For more information, go to Length of Coverage in the Individual Health Insurance Market for the Non-Elderly U.S. Population, 2006, MEPS Statistical Brief 227.

Blue Shield of California Reinstates Insurance for Patients it Dropped

Karen Vincis insurer - Blue Shield

In a bid to put to rest legal troubles over a practice of canceling patients’ health insurance policies after they got sick, Blue Shield of California has agreed to grant coverage again to nearly 700 such patients.

The company will also reimburse them for medical bills they’d paid when they didn’t have coverage. The state of California, in return, dropped its case against the company and stopped its pursuit of $12.6 million in proposed fines, the Los Angeles Times reported this morning.

A number of big California health insurers got into public relations and legal messes over the cancellation of plans after patients get sick, a practice that goes by the medical sounding term “recission.” The insurers claimed the patients weren’t upfront about their medical histories and preexisting conditions when they applied for coverage.

Other companies that have agreed to reinstate patients’ policies include Health Net, WellPoint’s Anthem Blue Cross and Kaiser Permanente.

Blue Shield didn’t admit wrongdoing and, in a prepared statement, said, “With this settlement, we can put these matters to rest and enter 2009 with new procedures in place to clarify the responsibilities of insurers and our customers in the future,” according to LAT.

Some consumer advocates weren’t satisfied. Jerry Flanagan of the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, told the Times, that the settlement “does not adequately protect against future rescissions — no admission of wrongdoing, no mandatory fines, no clarification of the legal standard” for rescissions

Florida Task Force Set to Vote on Citizens Insurance Reforms Today

1.4 million? An 11-member task force charged with making recommendations on how to depopulate Florida's high risk property insurer and return it to its original purpose as a market of last resort is voting today in Tampa today.

The Citizens Property Insurance Corporation Mission Review Task Force has been asked to develop a report on changes -- statutory and operational-- needed to return Citizens "to its former role as a state-created, noncompetitive residual market mechanism that provides property insurance coverage to risks that are otherwise entitled but unable to obtain such coverage in the private insurance market."

Citizens has become the largest home insurer in the state. It now has about 1.1 million policies, which is down from a high of 1.4 million due to depopulation efforts undertaken in 2008.

But critics, including private market competitors, want to see Citizens shrink even more. The recommendations before the task force would block more homeowners from accepting policies from Citizens if they have reasonably priced options in the private marketplace.

The task force is being asked whether the so-called "15 percent" rule should be retained. This rule provides that a homeowner with a private market offer can still get Citizens coverage if the premium quote from the private carrier is more than 15 percent higher than the Citizens premium. The adoption of this rule several years ago has meant some homeowners are now in Citizens because it is cheaper, not because there is a lack of private insurance available.

The task force is also being asked to vote whether to eliminate the current freeze on Citizens' rates that has been in place since 2007.

Today's meeting is the last for the task force, which must submit its recommendations to the Florida Legislature by Jan. 31.

Members of the task force include representatives of the Legislature, Gov. Charlie Crist, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the Office of Insurance Regulation and Citizens.