Much has been written and said about the future role of the agent in the Health Care scheme of things. The internet and exchanges are going to replace the value and expertise brought by the agent in navigating the maze of company offerings. The health insurance agent has been likened to the travel agent who is now a dinosaur of sorts for the same reason, the internet. Well I respectfully disagree with those that say the agent is done. Obviously I have a biased point of view, but even so I ask you to hear me out.

Using the travel agent as the example, I do not engage one on a regular basis for my airfare and car rental needs. I don’t even use them for hotels. Most of my trips are one destination trips where I need to stay a night or two, conduct my business or enjoy my leisure and then head home. These simple one shot deals are a no brainer on the internet and I can arrange them myself.

But 3 years ago, my wife and I traveled on vacation to Europe. We knew we would be staying for 5 days in a house in the Tuscany area of Italy but other than that we had no set plans. We thought we wanted to spend some time in Paris, Venice, and Rome. We did searches on the best hotels in our price range, trying to figure out if they were centrally located to what we wanted to see, distance from the airport and subway (or gondola) and finally felt overwhelmed with information and choices.

We then sought the advice of a travel agent. One with experience in where we were going and knowledge based on our needs of what would suit us best. In Paris, we stayed in a lovely hotel that was central to the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, and one block from the Seine River. In Rome, we were several blocks from the Coliseum and had a lovely neighborhood restaurant right around the corner.

We could not have done that without the help of an experienced agent who knew the ropes and could help us navigate the course.  Health care is even more complicated and certainly more expensive than a trip to Europe. Folks often tell me they feel overwhelmed and don’t know how we can know all that we do but are thankful that they have someone who can explain to them what the various clauses mean. Having an experienced and well trained agent to help you navigate the course based on you individual needs, will assure you have the best care at the best facility when you need it.

I’m just saying…

I use to believe that you should have 3-6 months cash in savings for the just in case never be out of money “emergency fund.”  Mechanical things are made to break; accidents happen; Murphy’s law states that they will all happen at the same time.  Money does not buy you love, but it can sure give you choices.

With the recent economic times and unemployment statistics, many people have been out of work for over 27 months.  Those numbers may not count the under employed; those who took a lesser paying job to put food on the table.  You guessed it, 3-6 months savings is probably not nearly enough.  If you Google how to start an emergency fund, you can find many articles that may be useful to you.

Visit the Arvak Financial Services website to see methods and tools on saving and creating an emergency fund to protect your family’s future.

Much of the current debate around the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been focused on the insurance side. Minimum loss ratio requirements, elimination of pre-existing conditions, elimination of lifetime maximums and mandated coverage are all in the news and being expounded upon ad nauseam.

But what about the real driver of the cost of healthcare, which is the actual cost of the medical services and supplies that one receives. In a presentation recently at the National Conference on Health Insurance Reform, Uwe Reinhardt, Professor of Political Economy at Princeton explained how the U.S’s. inability to implement reforms to the health-care system is a failure to understand basic math. His basic theory is that we want to decrease the overall cost of healthcare while not decreasing the cost drivers that directly affect the cost of health-care. In other words, if a = b+c, in order to reduce a you must reduce either b or c and in our debate we are not able or willing to reduce either as it impinges on our “right”, thought to be inalienable , by some to access quality healthcare when we want it, where we want it.

So we go after the big bad insurance companies who are profiting from others misfortune. However those same big bad insurance companies are on the hook for very large losses should the health of the population turn south and claims come in higher than predicted in their rating structure. How could this happen? The insurance companies set the rate for the services provided by the doctors and hospitals. The potential for large losses occurs because while the insurance companies negotiate the rates for those services they do not control the supply of those services. A few more tests here and a better (more expensive) drug there and it begins to add up. In addition, points our Professor Reinhardt, the insurance companies are at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating with providers as consumers “demand broad provider access” thwarting the companies bargaining power.

What lies ahead is not an easy path and until we are willing to address the 80% side of the equation, meaningful reform in healthcare costs is no more than a pipe dream.

We listen to people every week and most of them tell us they do not have any savings or they do not have very much in savings.  It is very simple – having savings (money),  gives you options; if you don’t have savings, when something happens, a refrigerator breaks, a medical situation occurs, or even a simple flat or ruined tire, can give you a financial emergency; someone or something will not get paid this week or this month.

Saving money can be hard work; it can also be a life changing event.  It means things like paying yourself first; changing habits; making tough decisions; and living on less than you make.  The problem is, no one else can do it for you.  Sure, someone can give you some money, a grandparent for instance, but they can’t make the decisions you need to make to save it.

Here are some ways that may help, once you have made the decision to quit living in the “tyranny of the moment.”

• If you do online banking, set up a savings account and automatically transfer from your checking account to your savings account; start small and get use to it; then increase the amount;
• If your employer has a 401k or savings plan, have deductions or deferrals taken before you get paid; it may help you tax wise as well as savings wise;
• Bank your tax refund into savings; don’t count on it for your next bill payment or your next purchase;
• Before you buy, ask if it is really necessary;
• Pay off your debt; once the debts are paid, keep paying yourself;
• Do whatever works for you; listen to a radio or TV financial guru like a Dave Ramsey or Suze Orman; call a financial advisor; find a mentor; Google “how to save money” or “budget basics;”

Give us a call to talk to one of our experts at (361) 855-2500.

Start today and change your habits and your life!

I ate Chinese food today and my fortune was “a fine is a tax for doing wrong; a tax is a fine for doing well.” It reminded me that I have wanted to write on “choices” for some time now. We begin making choices at a very early age; most of those early choices aren’t life changing; but they can be. I thought I was smarter than the school crossing guard and if she would not have shoved me back into the sidewalk, had I survived, at the very least I would have had bumper and tire marks from the oncoming car. Most of our decision making processes are learned from our surroundings and our environment; including if you touch that hot fire you will get burned or if you act macho back at your teacher your friends will respect you.

In recent years, I have been volunteering to help people understand that they may have different options or choices than the ones they have been making. We just graduated 7 people in Corpus Christi, in our Bridges to Financial Dignity, Getting Ahead Workshop Series. The 15 week workshop and continuing mentoring is a process using Dr. Ruby Payne’s concepts of people in poverty, hidden rules and community sustainability, whereby participants create their own future life story to transition from poverty to financial dignity. Facilitators and participants use mental models and mentoring to build bridges involving new choices, new relationships and new resources. Participants can evaluate themselves, choose behaviors, and make plans to climb out of poverty and have the mentoring partnerships to sustain their new choices and new way of life.

“Bridges” and “Getting Ahead” initiatives are in over 150 communities.
For more information please feel free to visit the aha! Process website or the Getting Ahead Network website.

For information in the Corpus Christi and Coastal Bend area, Tony Reyes through the Corpus Christi Mission 911 website or give us a call at (361) 855-2500.

For further reading we suggest:
Bridges Out of Poverty, Ruby K. Payne, PHD, Philip DeVol, Terie Dreusie Smith, aha!process; 2009.
Getting Ahead in a Just Gettin By World, Philip DeVol, aha!process; 2006.

February has been designated as Life Insurance Awareness Month; honoring your loved ones and Valentine’s Day in a different way than we normally connect them.  Life insurance can assure that your family may be taken care of financially, even after you are gone. 

It isn’t much fun to think about being gone, or losing another loved one, but I have seen it happen many times in my years, and you probably have too.  It happens.  It happens to all families.  It happens to business partners.  When it does happen, it is even more traumatic when you don’t have a pool of money to pay for final expenses and future living expenses.  If you would like more information please visit www.lifehappens.org or www.arvakfinancialservices.com.