Calling Out the lies! Health insurance is available for those with pre-existing conditions

News Flash! If you have a pre-existing condition that precludes you from getting insurance from a private insurer, you are eligible to become part of the Texas Health Insurance Pool. The pool provides affordable health insurance to those who are denied coverage. And it's not some fly by night insurance outfit, it's with BlueCross and BlueShield.

How is it that this little program has been kept a secret from POTUS and his cadre of Dems who keep claiming that it's impossible to get insurance with a pre-existing condition? The state of Texas has been providing this safety net since 1998!

What? you don't live in Texas? Well, just come visit, after 30 days you can have insurance. Seriously, check it out.

How on earth did I discover this? It certainly is not widely known and there is no advertising in any media that I have ever seen. I learned about the pool through a friend who was diagnosed with cancer. He didn't have insurance because he would rather spend his money on a $300,000 house and a boat, a deer lease and a new Ford 4x4, etc ad nauseum. Consequently, he thought he had no choice, but to pay for ala cart cancer treatments which BTW are at a substantial discount when paid for with cash. Because of his limited available funds, he had to make choices as to which treatments were the most cost effective. Eventually, after several treatments, his doctor mentioned that he could be eligible and should apply for the health insurance pool. My friend survived the cancer and the pool has saved him a fortune, plus he kept all his toys.

So, it begs the question, why even buy health insurance when such a pool exists? Why not save your money or spend it on 4x4 trucks, and just wait until you actually might need insurance then apply for the health pool safety net? Think of all the neat stuff you could have with the cash saved from not paying insurance premiums!

Sure, that would be abusing the system, and it is predictable that the corrupting forces of socialism will continue to be a deleterious drag on human character, even in the overly proud state of Texas.

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The story of my roof replacement continues....

It took over a week, but I now have my insurance adjuster’s estimate for replacing my roof that has suffered hail damage. I looked it over line by line and found several errors. The estimate is difficult to read. It’s inconsistent, sometimes material and labor are included for an item and other times it is not. I found that he had missed a couple of items (power wash and re-stain a chimney) and one of the subtotals was incorrect (short) by over $600! But, the most surprising thing was that his estimate to replace my roof was $2500 less than the two contractor bids that I have.

The adjuster had left me with a long distance phone number to call him with any questions. I don’t see why I should need to pay phone charges to talk about an insurance claim, especially when I have a local agent. I called the agent and they said they would contact him and have him call me. Two days later, I still had not heard from him. I called the corporate insurance claims center. They gave me another 1-888 number to reach the adjuster. I left three phone messages over three days before he returned my call. He said he didn’t check that voice mail very often!

His response to the huge difference between his estimate and the two contractors bids, was that I needed to get three bids. That’s interesting as these two contractors must have 20 signs up in my neighborhood. Could they be that overpriced and yet have so much work?

The adjuster assures me that the insurance company wants to make my roof "whole" again. If that is the case then why did he underestimate the cost of the work? Here’s an example: he estimated the cost to power wash the chimney and re-stain it as $48.80. I don’t know anyone who would want to climb my very steep roof with a power washer in tow for less than 50 bucks. I wonder if I could even rent a power washer for that?

When I pointed this out, he offered to add on another $50. Then he throws out that they have decided to send the depreciation check immediately. I should have it in less than a week. I mentioned this to a roofing contractor and he looked at me in disbelief. He had never heard of such a thing and said that the depreciation value is usually sent after the work has been completed. I get the impression that this insurance company wants me to put this cash in my pocket and just go away.

It is frustrating that this adjuster was not as thorough as he needed to be. He mentioned that he had completed over 7 house estimates for that one day. It seems quite possible that because he is paid by the claim, he rushes from one house to the next to cash in and then takes weeks to get the paperwork out.

I am certain that this will all work out in the end after I do a lot more work collecting bids. I plan to get that third magical bid, as well as three bids for the power washing and staining of my chimney and wood decks. But most importantly, I already have an attractive quote for a home insurance policy with another company.

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Hailstones bring out the Roofers and Chicken Little

This past April a hail storm blew through my neighborhood. The hail was marble size, with some being the size of two marbles. In addition to the damage that my 20 yo asphalt shingled roof incurred, numerous holes were blasted through my porch covering and the stain on my 700 sq feet of wood deck was chipped away to bare wood in hundreds of spots. Fortunately, the house roof does not have any leaks and most amazing of all my garden of peas, green beans, peppers and tomatoes survived with minimal carnage.

It didn’t take long for the roofing companies to bear down on the neighborhood. Within one day of the event, I had several calling cards at my door and within weeks roofing company signs were sprouting up in the yards around the area. However, it has taken more than a month for the first new roof to go up. I had intended to wait, check out each roofers work and decide which to call – then a roofer caught me at home.

He explained how prices were escalating weekly, shingles were getting scarce and there was even talk of rationing shingles to certain areas of the country. Heavens to Betsy, the sky is falling. He also explained that with time, hail damage can become obscured, so I needed to act quickly. Furthermore, he stated whether you file a claim or not, your rates will increase, since nearly everyone in the neighborhood is filing. This high pressure approach may work on some, but it was way over the top for me. I asked him for an estimate and politely kept my sarcasm to myself.

After the roofer made some measurements, his initial rough bid nearly doubled. Wow! He noticed my shock and suggested that they could do some things to help me with my deductible. Hmmm. So, the roofer over charges the insurance company and refunds the money to the homeowner to get the roof contract. I despise insurance – the incentives are all misplaced. Does anybody repair roofs anymore? If there was no such thing as insurance, home owners would try to get a lot more mileage out of their roofs and save a lot more landfill space in the process.

I thought it was interesting when the roofing contractor told me that no one replaces their roof unless the insurance company is paying – even in Ross Perot’s neighborhood. This particular roofer did not convince me that the roof was actually damaged and even suggested that he should be there to talk to my insurance adjuster to help seal the deal.

I wanted another opinion – did I really need a new roof? I called my insurance agent who informed me that I had to file a claim to get an adjuster to examine the roof. The agent assured me that the claim would not go against me unless they paid out money. Thanks a lot. So, I called another 1-800 number to get a claim number and was told that a third party contractor would be my adjuster and that he would call to set up an appointment within 3 days. He called me at 9:47 PM on the second day to arrange to view the roof another 4 days later. He gave me a window between 2 and 4 PM and then didn’t show up until 5:15 PM. Darn, I missed work for this.

The adjuster climbed up on the roof, made some measurements and then pronounced the roof “totaled”. I have heard that some adjusters are able to give an estimate of the insurance payout right on the spot, but not this guy. He said he would get back with me via e-mail once he figured up the squares and itemized the costs. Hopefully, I will hear something within the next week before the sky falls in. ;)

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