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My client is a truck driver.  He was asked to deliver a load to North Carolina.  When he tried to attach the trailer to his own truck, the trailer would not properly attach.  The company which asked him to deliver the load then provided him with a truck to deliver the load.  Unfortunately, my client was injured when he was hit by another vehicle while in North Carolina. 

He carries full insurance coverage on his own truck, but that policy does not apply to accidents that occur out of state if he is in a vehicle he does not own.  However, the truck he was using to deliver the load was insured with a policy that provided coverage for personal injury protection (PIP), and medical payments coverage (Med Pay).  That insurance company denied all claims regarding the accident.  The insurer claimed there was no PIP because my client carried PIP on his own vehicle (PIP which does not apply to out of state accidents which occur in a non-owned vehicle).  The insurer claimed there was no Med Pay because the Med Pay coverage has an exclusion for any “employees” of the company for which he was working.  

I do not believe that either exclusion applies.  Under Florida Statute Section 627.736, a PIP policy can only have a few “authorized exclusions.”  The exclusion being applied by the insurance company in this case is not one of those authorized exclusions.  I do not believe that the Med Pay exclusion applies because my client is not an “employee” of the delivery company.  He was an independent contractor.  

Because the insurance company has denied coverage, I filed a declaratory judgment action to have a court determine whether the exclusions actually apply.  As with all exclusion in insurance policies, the burden of proof will be on the insurance company to prove that the exclusions apply.  

As with most of my insurance cases, there are no fees or costs to my client.  If I win, the insurance company must pay my attorney’s fees and costs, and if I lose, I’ll work for free.   

Get a Quote »New state and federal laws allow Ohio residents to keep children insured on a parent’s health insurance policy past age 23.  Federal law only requires that coverage is offered to age 26, but state law allows for dependents to be insured up to age 28.

Those who are insured through an employer based group health insurance plan and those who have purchased individual or family insurance can keep their children covered for several more years if necessary.

State and Federal Eligibility Requirements

Under the state of Ohio law, there are eligibility requirements.  The prospective insured must be:

• Unmarried
• A natural child, step-child or legally adopted
• Not yet age 28
• Resident of Ohio or full time student
• Not employed by a company offering eligible health benefits
• Ineligible for Medicare or Medicaid

Under Federal law the child can be married or unmarried but must be:

• A child of the employee as defined under the group policy
• Not yet age 26
• Not have group coverage from their own employer plan

It is important to note that the child does not need to be financially dependent on the parent(s) in order to qualify for coverage under the new state and federal health care reform laws.  Additionally, parents should be able to write off their child’s monthly premiums for income tax purposes as before.

Health Insurance Plans – Adding Dependents

The state law in Ohio takes affect July 1, 2010.  Parents can request to add their children on an existing group or individual plan during the first renewal date of their policy.  All new policies issued after July 1 will automatically allow for the addition of older dependents.

The state law applies to group policies that include coverage for dependents as well as COBRA and state continuation coverage.  It is important to note that not all employer offered group health insurance policies offer coverage to dependents.

Ohio law also offers extended coverage to those who purchase individual and family health insurance on their own if group coverage is unavailable to them.  All plans including basic, standard, open enrollment, and conversion plans will fall under the new state law.

Federal Implementation of Health Care Law

The Federal law will go into affect on September 23, 2010.  It applies to group plans as well as individual health insurance that provides benefits for dependents.  Self insured ERISA plans are also covered.

For Ohio residents, the Federal law only requires health insurance coverage is offered to age 26.  However, the Ohio laws require coverage to age 28 or an extra two years provided the requirements mentioned above are satisfied.  Thus, insurers offering group or family health insurance coverage in Ohio will need to abide by the state law from age 26 to 28 as of July 1.

Requirements for Employer Health Insurance Plans

Employers who do not offer health insurance for dependents will not be required to do so under these two new laws.  Nor will they be required to offer coverage to a spouse of the insured.  These laws only affect group plans currently providing coverage for children of the insured.

You can learn more about the new law at the Ohio Department of Insurance: http://www.insurance.ohio.gov/Consumer/Documents/Dependent%20Age%20FAQs.pdf

Request Information and Quotes

We are an independent agency offering coverage throughout the state of Ohio and beyond.  If you are in need of individual, family or group health insurance quotes, please today.

Get a Quote »You might purchase a health insurance policy that can be coupled with a health savings account simply to obtain lower monthly premiums.  In exchange for covering more of the incidental expenses out of pocket with a HSA qualified plan, you can keep your individual or family health insurance more affordable.

Perhaps of more importance are the tax write-offs that accompany the contributions to your health savings account.  Up to certain individual and family HSA yearly limits, you can write off all contributions.  And of course, your deposits grow tax deferred based on the current internal rate of return or other chosen investment strategy in your account.

Health Savings Account Withdrawals

All withdrawals from a Health Savings Account are tax free so long as they are used for what the I.R.S. refe

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Did you know that, according to VOSA, large vanes are the most likely vehicles out there to fail their MOTs? Many van drivers do not but it undoubtedly puts affordable large van insurance premiums in jeopardy because statistics like this will influence the quotes given to those drivers who have a large van and yet are responsible in taking care of their vehicle. Large vans are perhaps more expensive to maintain than smaller vehicles given the sheer area that they take up. However, failed MOTs can also be more expensive depending on the amount of work that needs to be done to bring the van up to standard.

In short, your large van insurance premiums do depend on the vigilance of others to a certain degree but if you maintain yours effectively then you can reduce the risk of an accident and make sure that you are able to avoid expensive mechanic repair costs as well.

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Home insurance is necessary for all individuals with a house. It is as simple as that. It does not matter whether you have a job or not, you need home insurance to be able to get back on your feet if anything happened to your home. However, if you do happen to be unemployed then you will not be happy with the revelation offered by a recent study – the unemployed are often made to pay more for their home insurance.

Apparently, according to the survey, a number of insurance providers have been factoring in the likelihood of individuals defaulting on their premiums and have been charging more for those that they believe are more likely to skip a few payments.

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