• 28
  Jul
  2009

• Emergency medical evacuation

  
  Filed Under: Health Insurance
  0 comments, add yours

So, you have gone skiing and met with an accident? Or there has been a hurricane and you are stranded? An earthquake, maybe. Not trying to scare you, but sometimes the unexpected and the unthinkable happens. Obviously, no one can prevent these, but to be prepared is something we can do. Question is – are you prepared?

Maybe you are in a place where medical help is not that great. Maybe you prefer to be treated at home. Or have your spouse and children flown over to where you are. Absolute worst case scenario, your remains have to be flown over to your home.

Emergency medical evacuation comes to your help. In sports accidents (including extreme sports), in natural disasters, in personal accidents in remote locations, in emergencies anywhere in the world. A yearly scheme that covers many emergencies, and responds quickly. This is a kind of arrangement that might cost you a fortune if not done the right way. It might be very difficult to arrange after the event has already occurred.

Plan it now, breathe easy if you end up needing it. Before traveling abroad, know about our Emergency Medical Evac options in your travel insurance coverage.

• 27
  Jul
  2009

• Mexico City govt to offer free Tourist Insurance

  
  Filed Under: Health Insurance
  0 comments, add yours

Planning a trip to Mexico City? Here is some good news. Mexico City government is offering free medical insurance to visitors, and this offer will be available through December 2009. This move is targeted at all tourists traveling to the city during this period.

The mayor has made an announcement to this regard on July 29, 2009. The move, according to sources, was proposed and hotly debated during April, and a final decision has been arrived at now.

On an average, around 7 million tourists flock the city annually. But things have changed a bit now. This number had fallen to less than 5 percent in recent times. Following the swine flu outbreak, tourism in Mexico City (which is a major revenue generator here) has taken a back foot. With less and less tourists visiting due to fears of the endemic nature of the flu, Mexico City has made this decision to woo more tourists. Government officials have stressed that this medical insurance will cover Swine Flu along with other health emergencies. The $30 cost will be borne by the city.

But, before you pack your bags and start learning “¿Habla usted inglés?” or “Buenos días”, be sure to do a bit of research on this and understand how it all works. Travel insurance to any other place is simple to get too.

• 11
  Jul
  2009

• Obama’s Student Loan Plan Wins Support in House

  
  Filed Under:
  0 comments, add yours

The New York Times reports that the chairman of the House Education Committee has dismissed a last-ditch plea from the private student loan industry and is throwing his support behind President Obama’s plan to end the role of private banks in the federal education lending systems.
Mr. Obama’s plan remains deeply contentious in Congress, and still faces strong opposition from private banks that for decades have earned big profits for handling federal student loans.
But after mulling the issue for months, Representative George Miller, the California Democrat who is chairman of the Education Committee, now plans to introduce legislation next week that would rely on direct government lending to replace the federally subsidized loans made by private banks. Administration officials who have reviewed drafts of the legislation said that it substantially adopts Mr. Obama’s proposal.
In a conference call with reporters this week, a number of private-loan industry officials, as well as leaders of some private nonprofit lenders, warned that Mr. Obama’s plan would eliminate competition and create chaos for colleges and students that now use private lenders as they are forced to switch to a fully government-run system.
The industry had urged Congress and the White House to consider its own alternative.
But Congressional Democrats, the White House and officials at the federal Education Department have now rejected that plan, contending that it was based on accounting tricks and would pour $15 billion into the banks’ coffers that Mr. Obama would direct to the Pell grant program for low-income students.
“It’s unfortunate that a small number of lenders are using legislative gimmicks to mask the fact that their proposal would divert $15 billion into their own pockets at the expense of students,” Mr. Miller said in a statement. “This cynical stunt is another reminder that our federal student loan programs need major reforms to ensure they operate in the best interests of students and taxpayers.”
The president’s proposal, first outlined in his initial budget in February, would save the government roughly $87 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office — money that the White House says should be used to aid impoverished students.
The federal government already makes some loans directly to students, but most federal student loans are handled by private firms even though there is virtually no private capital available for financing the loans. The industry argues that it provides competition and better marketing and servicing of loans.
The administration’s view, shared by a number of Democratic lawmakers, is that the private lenders should no longer be paid by taxpayers to operate a virtually risk-free business in which they essentially use taxpayer dollars to originate loans, with repayment guaranteed, and then resell those loans to the Treasury.