Thursday, 22 April 2010

Frequently Asked Questions - Georgia Auto Insurance

Auto insurance full coverage state requirment?
I currently reside in NC & all new drivers have to have full coverage insurance on their vehicles for the first 3 years of obtaining their drivers license. I was wondering what was the requirement for Georgia since I will be relocating there soon. Do all states have this requirement? If anyone has any links to websites relating to this it would help. Thanks.

Here you go:
http://www.dmv.org/ga-georgia/auto-insurance-state.php#Georgia_Liability_Insurance_Requirements_for_Private_Passenger_Vehicles

The requirements are liability:
$25k bodily injury per person
$50k bodily injury per accident
$25k property damage per accident

Why are Americans against Health Care?
I cant understand the debate about health care in America.
I have lived in Britain, America, and now live in Canada. I never paid a penny in Britain or Canada for a doctor's services or a hospital stay for myself and family. I was happy to pay for it out of my taxes, which were about the same as I paid in America. When I lived in the US I paid thousands for health care even though I had 'insurance'.

Americans are not against health care. We're against state-run health care. Sure, you may love your Canadian and British health systems ... but you've never been denied by them or seen them fail, which they will. Socialized medical coverage is a numbers game. The pot of money is finite, but the demands are not. The tax base only brings in so much money, and the medical needs of the citizenry change over time. Right now, Canada and the UK are trying to figure out how to maintain their health systems, as both are broke. They are underfunded and overextended, and the only ways to solve this problem in a socialized medical system is to either raise taxes or cut care, which both systems do every year.

Look back, year-over-year, at the lists of procedures, diseases, and pharmaceuticals both of those systems have removed from their network of "coverage" in the last 15 years. Every year they take another need off the table because they can't afford it. Plus, they raise taxes dedicated to revenue generation for health care costs every year. Don't give me that bull that you paid the same amount in taxes in the UK that you did in the US, that's a lie. Income tax rates in the UK top 50% of gross income, while only the highest earning Americans pay tax rates like that. So you didn't pay the same in income tax in both places.

As government takes over the health care system another casualty is research and development. While a private sector health systems allow companies to pursue research by where they think there is money to be made, government-run systems only fund research and development in line with the political/health interests as perceived the controlling party. Doubt me? Look at where the research and development dollars for both patient care and pharmaceuticals in the UK and Canada. They largely rely on American pharmaceutical development and medical research for new standards of care. As much as you belittle American health care interests, you don't complain much about how your own health care depends on our system the way it is.

You think you don't pay a penny for health care, but you don't understand how money works. You pay for it every year whether you use it or not. You pay your taxes, and that funds the system. I pay my premiums every month, but only pay additional moneys as I use the system. It's not perfect, but it does work for 80% of the citizenry.

What America needs is not a complete frame-off restoration on our health care system. The care we get is the best in the world. What we need is to remove the many hands of government strangling the delivery system and making care more expensive than it needs to be. Electronic records are going to make care more efficient? How? Ask any nurse (I have, I'm married to one) and they'll tell you that once an electronic charting system goes online, they have less time to spend with patients not more. HIPAA creates waste and interferes with the delivery of health care in every hospital in the country (thanks Bill and Hillary). Health insurance cannot compete the way auto insurance can. There are 50 states in the US, a dozen large insurance conglomerates, and 11,000 independent insurance agencies ... because Blue Cross Blue Shield (one of the largest) cannot sell the same policies in Florida that it can in Georgia for the same price due to local (state) restrictions. These boundaries must fall. That alone will bring prices down as increased competition opens new markets and increases the options available for coverage. Trial lawyers have also played an enormous hand in increasing the cost of health care. Overly litigious citizens and happily obliging trial lawyers have made the system punitive for every doctor for the smallest of issues. This drives up the cost of malpractice insurance, in turn driving up the cost for services. Award caps and punitive measures for fraudulent lawsuits are a must, and the behavior fostered by the Trial Lawyer's Association and other ambulance chasing advocacy groups must be interrupted.

Here's an axiom that holds true in every instance: Government has never taken on a project and made it cheaper or more efficient. Everything the government lays its hands on turns to crap and costs 3 times more than it would have if it were left to the private sector. I challenge you to find me an example that shows otherwise.

Where should I go to Law School?
I am not concerned with the arbitrary US News and World Report rankings. I would like to attend a smaller law school with a high quality education. Where should I go?

Mercer University!

The Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law is a great, small, southern law school located in Macon, Georgia. The law school’s total enrollment is around 450 and the school really is a charmer. Mercer is a top tier school with a great placement rate for graduates and a great bar passage rate. One huge advantage is that if you can make in the mid 160s on the LSAT you can probably get a full scholarship and go to school for free. Truth be know, the education at Mercer is equal to or better than the education you can get at “higher ranked” schools. With the low student/professor ratio professors are always available for students. It is your choice, but Mercer has a great reputation for graduating top quality lawyers.

Wallace Miller who wrote the book on Auto Insurance Law in Georgia graduated from Mercer. John Oxendine, the Insurance Commissioner of Georgia, graduated from Mercer. Charles Adams who wrote the book on torts in Georgia also graduated from Mercer. Perhaps the most famous, or infamous, graduate is Nancy Grace.

Check out these websites for more information:

http://www.law.mercer.edu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_F._George_School_of_Law

Good Luck with Law School!



Georgia Auto Insurance

Wednesday, 14 April 2010

The Latest Business News 14.04

Wealth Matters: Protect Your Art With More Than a Handshake
Collectors of fine art may put their property at risk of theft through haphazard agreements with galleries, but the peril of damage through neglect and carelessness is more likely.


Financial Tuneup: Apps and Twitter Tools to Track Cash Purchases
A handful of budgeting services are using iPhone and BlackBerry apps, or Twitter messages, to help users track their spending to the penny.



Minting Bank Lobbyists on Capitol Hill
Migration has grown from Congress to financial firms that are trying to stave off greater federal regulation.


Imports Rose in February, Adding to Hope for Recovery
In another sign of economic recovery, exports rose to the highest level in 16 months but the gain was offset by a jump in imports.



Greece clears key financial test
Greece raises 1.56bn euros in an over-subscribed bond issue that was being seen as a key test of investor confidence.

Abercrombie & Fitch boss paid $4m to curb plane use
The chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch is being paid $4m (£2.6m) to curb his personal use of the company plane.


Renters Insurance - Ways to Find A Better Deal | Senior Citizens And Inexpensive Auto Insurance | Car Insurance For High Risk Drivers

What States and Cities Do to Help Small Businesses
Local governments have tried a variety of approaches, like wage subsidies and grants, to help small businesses start or stay alive.


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Conversations: Q.&A. With Jeremy Stoppelman, C.E.O. of Yelp
Jeremy Stoppelman, a Yelp co-founder and its chief executive, denies that sales representatives from the company pressure businesses to advertise.


 read more

Tuesday, 13 April 2010

Insurance News 13.04

Louisiana has the highest average auto insurance rates in the United States, while Maine has the lowest, according to new data from Insure.com that ranks the states according to their average insurance rates (see the full ranking below).

The data, which Insure.com released Monday, comes from a study Quadrant Information Services performed for Insure.com to find the most and least expensive vehicle to insure nationwide, which we covered in this March Bucks post. The data, which determined average insurance premiums rates for more than 2,400 vehicles from the 2010 model year from six large carriers across 10 ZIP codes in each state, also enabled a comparison of auto insurance rates in general across the states.

Poizner's report on the company - which includes Mercury Insurance Co., Mercury Casualty Co. and California Automobile Insurance Co. - comes two months after state insurance officials made similar allegations against the firm.

Antagonists may counter that banks require collision coverage. But the banks aren't government. Banks are lien holders with vested interests in the collateral. Thus borrowers are required to protect their vehicles. Once loans are repaid banks have no interest in the vehicles and the insurance requirement disappears.

Renters Insurance - Five Tips To Pay Less | Inexpensive Car Insurance For Older Citizens

Whether liability or collision, the government healthcare advocate still argues that auto insurance is government mandated. This is a half truth. States require drivers to carry liability insurance as a condition of using the public roads. However, there is no actual demand on anyone to buy auto insurance. If a person chooses not to drive a motorized vehicle on the public roadways the auto insurance requirement is inapplicable.

source