Subject:Insurance Benefits News Date:Thu, 13 Jul 2006 16:47:00 -0500 From:VERNON BELL <info@vernbellagency.com> To:<vern@vernbellagency.com> You are receiving this email from Vern Bell Agency because you purchased a product/service or subscribed on our website. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, add vern@vernbellagency.com to your address book today. If you haven't done so already, click to confirm http://visitor.constantcontact.com/c.jsp?t=1101212371037.preview.3623708.2&m=1101166970373&wl=F your interest in receiving email campaigns from us. To no longer receive our emails, click to unsubscribe http://ui.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?p=un&m=1101166970373&ea=vern%40vernbellagency.com&se=&t=1101212371037&lang=en&reason=F&id=preview.1101166970373. ------------------------------------------------------------ Insurance News & Advice How long can healthcare costs continue rising?February 2006 Actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services calculate that national health expenditures grew from 7.0 percent of GDP in 1970 to 15.3 percent in 2003. And, they forecast that medical expenditures will reach 18.7 percent of GDP by 2013. It's no longer possible for our government, or for individuals, to ignore these rising costs. Insurance companies only want to insure healthy people. And, they are becoming increasingly selective in their definition of healthy. Rising premiums and frequent declines are just a reflection of the precipitous rise in healthcare costs. My lead article this month, Health Savings Accounts, discusses new legislation designed to move the cost and control of medical expenses closer to the consumer. This legislation reflects our government's concern for rising healthcare costs, and presents an interesting financial alternative for many. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in this issue What is Long Term Care Insurance? Who needs Long Term Care Insurance? Top Ten Life Insurance Blunders New Contact Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Health Savings Accounts. During 2004 legislation was passed which allowed for a special class of Health Savings Account, the HSA, which could be set up in conjunction with the purchase of a qualified High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). The goal was to put consumers back in control of Medical expenses while providing insurance products that would cover high unexpected bills. The HSA + HDHP is a good way to go for individual and family plan purchasers, especially if you're overall health is relatively good. Essentially, you purchase a plan with a high deductible and deposit the premium you save in a qualified savings account. The beauty of the HSA is that it's tax deferred when you put money in, and tax exempt if you use the money for qualified purposes. I repeat: When you use the money you save for qualified medical purposes you never have to pay taxes on the money or on any earnings the money may have accumulated - this is huge! HSA Bank has set up an excellent web site to explain the intricacies of HSA's and HDHP's in the simplest possible terms. Click on the link below to go this educational web site. More HSA Information.. - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=6cs5vsbab.0.0.fqbvkrbab.0&ts=S0157&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hsabank.com%2Fhsainfo%2F ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * What is Long Term Care Insurance? We Americans are living longer than ever before. This fact brings with it financial challenges previous generations have never known. New insurance and financial products are coming to market every day to meet the needs of aging America. Long Term Care Insurance is a special class of insurance product that has been developed to provide for aging and disabled persons who cannot perform several basic activities of daily living. While Long Term Care Insurance is usually thought of as a product for seniors, anyone can find himself or herself in need of such protection at any time because of illness or injury. * Who needs Long Term Care Insurance? Long Term Care Insurance makes sense for those with a net worth of greater than $100,000 and less than $2,000,000. People with net worth less than $100,000 will soon exhaust their resources and qualify for Medicaid, those with greater than $2,000,000 net worth can afford to self-insure. With over 100 Long Term Care Insurance products on the market it's important to seek guidance from someone who has studied these products and is qualified to make recommendations. I have developed a presentation designed to help you determine if you need Long Term Care Insurance; and, if so, how to go about identifying the right product. I can present this information to you in as little as 20 minutes right in your own office or home. Just email or call me at (214)227-8735 to schedule an appointment or phone consultation. Contact us.. - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=6cs5vsbab.0.0.fqbvkrbab.0&ts=S0157&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vernbellagency.com%2FContact_Us.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Top Ten Life Insurance Blunders This article was also in my January news letter. It's being repeated by popular demand. If you're considering buying, increasing or replacing your life insurance there are many pitfalls to consider. I've composed a list of the Top Ten blunders I see clients make over and over. Click on the web link to see all ten. Then call or email for a free no-obligation quote. Link to Top Ten Blunders.. - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=6cs5vsbab.0.0.fqbvkrbab.0&ts=S0157&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vernbellagency.com%2FTop_Ten_1.html * New Contact Info Please note that my contact information recently changed. My new address and phone number are on my web site. The email address remains the same. Link to new contact info... - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=6cs5vsbab.0.0.fqbvkrbab.0&ts=S0157&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vernbellagency.com%2FContact_Us.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ :: vern@vernbellagency.com :: http://www.vernbellagency.com :: 214.227.8735 Forward email http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1101166970373&ea=vern%40vernbellagency.com&a=1101212371037&id=preview This email was sent to vern@vernbellagency.com, by info@vernbellagency.com Update Profile/Email Address http://ui.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?p=oo&m=1101166970373&ea=vern%40vernbellagency.com&se=&t=1101212371037&lang=en&reason=F&id=preview.1101166970373 Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe(TM) http://ui.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?p=un&m=1101166970373&ea=vern%40vernbellagency.com&se=&t=1101212371037&lang=en&reason=F&id=preview.1101166970373 Privacy Policy: http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp Powered by Constant Contact(R) www.constantcontact.com Vern Bell Agency | 4000 Parkside Center Blvd. #3306 | Farmers Branch | TX | 75244