R&R Insurance Blog

Surveys tell us that half of all American households have no life insurance other than a group policy at work. Most people say they know they need more life insurance protection for their loved ones, but haven’t done anything about it. Here are the leading reasons people give for not having life insurance. Does this sound familiar?

1. Don’t know what I need to buy.
   There are no dumb questions when it comes to providing protection for your loved ones. R&R Insurance offers free advice, no obligation.
2. Don’t think I can afford it.
   High price is a common misconception about life insurance. As average life span continues to get longer, life insurance rates continue to decline. A 25-year-old male can get $250,000 of term life insurance for as little as $17 per month. Term life for a healthy 45-year-old would cost about $31 per month. A 65-year-old male could get $10,000 of final expense coverage for $49 per month. Female rates are generally even lower.
3. Haven’t gotten around to checking into it.
   Time will cost you money. Every birthday that you have without putting a policy in place will raise your rates. Basically, the younger you are, the more affordable your policies will be.
4. I am immortal!
   Really! We hear it all the time - but reality is that none of us are. Our staff hears startling examples of totally unexpected and untimely deaths all too frequently. The best time to buy life insurance is when you are healthy, while coverage is affordable.

Some of our companies, like Auto-Owners Insurance Company, offer substantial multi-policy discounts on your homeowners and auto policy when you have your life insurance with the same company. These savings can go a long way toward paying the cost of your life insurance.

Remember, life insurance is for the ones you love. Wisconsin residents contact knowledgebroker, Dan Wolfgram today for more information or a quick life insurance quote!

Mary Baer of Waukesha, WI explains that "giving back to the community" is just one of the many reasons why she has her personal insurance with R&R Insurance.

To learn more about how R&R gives back to the community or to ask us about personal lines insurance for Wisconsin residents, contact Jeff Wolfgram. He'll take care of you just like Mary says! Learn more about Jeff!

Volunteerism is alive and well in our communities. We are fortunate to have so many volunteer organizations which are made up of excellent people giving of themselves to help and protect others. Volunteers, whether it be as a coach, 4-H advisor, chamber of commerce committee member, church board member, or even if you helped raise contributions for the last United Way campaign in your community, do have some liability exposure.

Have you ever thought about how your existing insurance policies might respond if legal action was brought against you while conducting volunteer activities? If someone is injured during a project that you are overseeing, are you covered? If you serve as a board member and are sued for breach of duty, imprudent investments, discrimination in hiring or wrongful termination, are you covered? To answer these questions, there are two places to check: your personal liability insurance and the organization's insurance. Here's a look at both of them:

Your Homeowners or Personal Liability insurance policy gives you liability protection for bodily injury and property damage to others while participating in non-business activities, i.e. if you are sued for injuries to a child who is unintentionally hurt while you are the volunteer football coach or 4-H advisor. Your existing homeowners policy would also be an excellent place to endorse coverage for your personal property if using it in a volunteer capacity, for example, if you were using your video camera to cover the organization’s summer camp and the camera fell in the lake.

It’s important to remember that no liability protection is provided if your volunteer activity is related to a business (i.e. trade or professional association representative) or if you receive any compensation. Most homeowners policies also specifically exclude coverage for any act or omission while serving on the board of an organization. While your policy will outline additional specific exclusions, common ones include intentional acts, legal action taken against you other than for bodily injury and property damage, and lawsuits related to personal injury (i.e. libel, slander or false imprisonment).

It’s also important to check for coverage under the organization's liability policy. Ask the organization’s leadership for proof of insurance for general liability, directors and officers liability, and employment practices liability. Also check to see if volunteers are covered (named as additional insureds) under those policies and whether or not the organization is carrying sufficient liability limits for potential loss situations, including:

• Failure to examine documents signed
• Silence with respect to improper conduct of fellow officials
• Improper rejection of bids
• Failure to exercise diligence in management
• Incurring unnecessary expenses

One solution to some of these exclusions may be to purchase a Personal Umbrella, which is designed to provide coverage for personal injury and would be an important investment on the part of anyone looking to volunteer. The best news: a $1,000,000 Personal Umbrella can be purchased for as little as $15.00/month!

This article is not meant to discourage any present or prospective volunteers. If you do volunteer, or have ever considered donating your time to a cause that is close to your heart, our intent is to help you be well-informed, comfortable and adequately protected when it comes to volunteering. Let us help you make compassionate judgements as you evaluate how you will serve your community. Feel free to discuss your activities with knowlegebroker, Brandy Enger to help put your mind at ease!

Here are 10 tips you should think twice about before you leave your home or let a business person in!

1. Hey, thanks for letting me use the bathroom while I was working in your yard last week. While I was in there, I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier.
2. Yes, I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway. And I might leave a pizza flyer in your front door to see how long it takes you to remove it.
3. Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your carpets.
4. I always knock first. If you answer, I’ll ask for directions to somewhere, or offer to clean your gutters.
5. Sometimes I carry a clipboard. Sometimes I dress like a lawn guy and carry a rake. I do my best to never ever look like a crook.
6. I’m not complaining, but why would you pay all that money for a fancy alarm system and leave your house without setting it?
7. I love when you announce your vacation plans on Facebook. It’s easier than you think to look up your address.
8. If you don’t answer when I knock, I’ll try the door anyway. Sometimes I hit the jackpot and walk in.
9. I’ll break a window to get in if necessary, even if it makes a little noise. If your neighbor hears one loud sound, he’ll stop what he is doing and wait to hear it again. If he doesn’t hear it again, he’ll just go back to doing what he was doing. It is human nature.
10. A loud TV or radio is a better deterrent to me than an alarm system. Sometimes people out-smart me by buying a $35 device that simulates the flickering glow of a real TV.

In 2009, medicare reclaimed $2.51 billion from physicians and other health-care providers which is a 29% increase over the prior year. Over $441 million in federal medicare money was returned in 2009 which was a 29% increase over 2008.

R&R Insurance offers protection for your practice and reputation with FFActs Regulatory Compliance Insurance. Coverage Includes:

• Protection from Alleged Medicare/Medicaid Overpayment and Commercial Payor Audits (including RAC)
• Alleged Violations of HIPAA (Patient Privacy), STARK (Patient Referral) and EMTALA (Emergency Room Treatment)
• For Medicare Commercial Payor audits, Regulatory Insurance covers penalties, fines, defense and consulting work up to $1 million for a single claim
• provides experience legal experts and consultants
• Offers protection from six year Medicare look back period
• Board of Medical Examiners review coverage included

For more information about Regulatory Compliance Insurance, contact a knowledgebroker.

In preparation for a recent seminar I presented, I came across this great article regarding corporate data breaches and the costly ramifications by Tim Wilson of Dark Reading. Everything's more expensive these days -- and experiencing a major corporate data breach is no exception.

2010 Annual Study: U.S. Cost of a Data Breach reveals that the average organizational cost of a data breach increased to $7.2 million and cost companies an average of $214 per compromised record. The sixth annual Ponemon Cost of a Data Breach report is based on the actual data breach experiences of 51 U.S. companies from 15 different industry sectors.

Interestingly, companies who responded quickly to data breaches ended up paying 54% more per record than companies that moved more slowly, according to the study. 43% of companies notified victims within one month of discovering the breach, up seven points from 2009. In 2010, these quick responders had a per-record cost of $268, up 22% from 2009; companies that took longer paid $174 per record, down 11%.

Malicious or criminal attacks are the most expensive breaches, the study says, and are on the rise. In this year’s study, 31% of all cases involved a malicious or criminal act -- up seven points from 2009 --and the cost of these compromises averaged $318 per record, up 43% from 2009.

While external breaches are on the increase, negligence remains the most common threat, Ponemon says. The number of breaches caused by negligence edged up one point to 41% and averaged $196 per record, up 27% from 2009.

System failure dropped nine points to 27% in 2010. "This trend indicates organizations may be more conscientious in ensuring their systems can prevent and mitigate breaches through new security technologies and compliance with security policies and regulations," Ponemon says.

Encryption and other technologies are gaining ground as post-breach remedies, but training and awareness programs remain the most popular, the study says. 63% of respondents use training and awareness programs after data breaches, down four points from 2009. Encryption is the second-most implemented preventive measure as a result of a data breach, with 61%. Both encryption and data loss prevention (DLP) solutions have increased 17% since 2008.

The study takes into account a wide range of business costs, including expense outlays for detection, escalation, notification, and after-the-fact (ex-post) response. The study also analyzes the economic impact of lost or diminished customer trust and confidence as measured by customer churn or turnover rates.

"Churn is still the highest cost that we see," Ponemon said. "There's an attitude out there that users no longer care about their privacy as much, but our data shows that they really do."

The U.S. Cost of a Data Breach Study was derived from a detailed analysis of 51 data breach cases with a range of nearly 4,200 to 105,000 affected records. The study found there is a positive correlation between the number of records lost and the cost of an incident. Companies analyzed were from 15 different industries.

For more information on how to protect your company against the cost of a data breach or anything regarding cyber liability, contact a knowledgebroker.

A four-physician cardiology group in Mississippi was targeted by the Center for Medicare Services (CMS). After an initial review of 159 claims, CMS determined that 30 were improperly paid. Based on the error rate, CMS demanded more than $2.4 million be repaid to the Medicare program within 30 days.

Fortunately, the group had purchased the Regulatory Compliance Insurance coverage and immediately reported the audit. The response to CMS resulted in the overpayment amount being reduced to less than $3,000. The cost of the expert defense work was significant, but was fully covered by the insurance policy minus a small deductible. The cost of the insurance was less than $7,000 for the group.

Rules governing the restricted use of patient information create an additional liability exposure for the healthcare industry. The final HIPAA regulations establish the first ever national standards for privacy of health information. Enforcement activity for non-compliance may become an additional challenge for hospitals that are governed by these regulations in the near future.

R&R Insurance offers coverage that provides defense and indemnity protection for fines and penalties levied by Federal or State enforcement agencies as a result of government allegations of HIPAA regulatory violations.

For more information about Regulatory Compliance Insurance, contact a knowledgebroker.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Recovery Audit Contractor (RACs) conduct automated reviews of Medicare payments to health care providers—using computer software to detect improper payments. RACs also conduct complex reviews of provider payments—using human review of medical records and other medical documentation to identify improper payments to providers. Improper payments include:

• incorrect payment amounts;
• incorrectly coded services (including Medicare Severity diagnosis-related group (MS-DRG) miscoding;
• non-covered services (including services that are not reasonable and necessary);
• duplicate services.

AHA created RACTrac—a free, web-based survey—in response to a lack of data provided by CMS on the impact of the RAC program on America's hospitals. Hospitals use AHA’s online survey application, RACTrac, to submit their data regarding the impact of the RAC program. Survey questions are designed to collect cumulative RAC experience data, from the inception of a hospital’s RAC activity through the 4th quarter of 2010. Survey registration information and RACTrac support can be accessed at ractracsupport@providercs.com 1-888-722-8712.

For more information about Recovery Audit Contractor, contact a knowledgebroker.

Your credit report not only has an impact on your financing options for your home and car, it also affects your insurance score, which ultimately affects your homeowners insurance premiums. Insurance companies only consider those items from credit reports that are relevant to insurance loss potential. Both an insurance score and a credit score are derived from the same thing – a credit report, but they are distinctly different. Insurance scores are calculated using the following types of information:

• Payment history: Have you made late payments or missed a payment?
• Length of credit history: How long have you been using credit?
• Current balance on each account compared to your highest balance: For example, if you had high credit card balances before are they lower now?
• Number of credit accounts: How many accounts do you have? This may include credit card accounts or installment loans.
• Credit inquiries: How often have lenders made inquiries into your credit report? This does not include “soft inquiries,” such as when a company reviews your credit report to make a promotional offer. (Credit inquiries are not used in all states.)
• Bankruptcies, foreclosures and other collection activity (Bankruptcy information is not used in all states.)

An insurance score does not take into account income, race, gender, religion, marital status, national origin, geographic location.

Why do insurance companies use insurance scores?
Insurance scores provide an objective tool that insurers use along with other applicant information to better predict the likelihood of a consumer to file a claim. Insurance scores also help to streamline the decision making process, so that policies can be issued more efficiently. By accurately predicting the likelihood of future claims, insurers can control their risk, enabling them to offer insurance coverage at a fair cost.

How do I get a copy of my credit report?
Because information obtained from a credit report is used to determine an individual’s insurance score, customers should periodically obtain a copy of their credit report to confirm its accuracy. Your credit report can be obtained from the three major credit bureaus.

• Equifax: 800-997-2493
• Experian: 888-397-3742
• Trans Union: 800-888-4213

What can I do to improve my insurance score?
Here are a few things you can do to improve your credit report and insurance score:

• Apply for and open new credit accounts only as needed. Although it is generally good to have established credit accounts, too many credit card accounts may have a negative effect on your score. Over time, responsible use of credit can increase a customer’s insurance score.
• Keep balances low on unsecured revolving debt like credit cards. High outstanding debt can affect an insurance score.
• Pay bills on time. Delinquent payments and collections can have a major negative impact on an insurance score.

If you are a Wisconsin resident and would like more information on improving your insurance score, contact knowledgebroker, Dan Wolfgram.