Bupa, nueva línea de productos.

El día de ayer tuvimos la oportunidad de asistir al seminario de la nueva linea de productos de Bupa. Entre las características novedosas podemos mencionar:
1.- Los productos no tienen coaseguro.
2.- Opción de deducible $00.00 en el país de origen.
3.- Máximo de 2 deducibles por año, por familia.
4.- Los deducibles incurridos en los últimos 3 meses (año póliza), aplican para el próximo año.
5.- En lo que respecta a la suscripción de negocios, existen 3 posibilidades; extraprimar, copago únicamente para la condición en cuestión o excluir la condición. Todo con el ánimo de acpetar al prospecto.
6.- Deportes peligrosos estan cubiertos. En el plan complete, incluso para quienes los practican profesionalmente.
7.- Maternidad no aplica deducible (10 meses de período de espera)
8.- Los rangos de cambio de primas son cada 5 años, y de los 70 a los 75 años es anual y de los 75 años en adelante ya no hay cambio de rango.

Estas son algunas de las características de la nueva linea de productos.

50 Ways I Can Improve Myself

Traducir al Español
Physically
1. Simple food, quality, quantity.
2. Regularity in eating and sleep.
3. Masticate (means chew your food); leave table hungry.
4. We are a part of all we have eaten.
5. Exercise, five minutes, three times daily.
6. Air — most important.
7. Sunlight, artificial light.
8. Water inside and outside.
9. Loose clothing.
10. Early to sleep; get plenty.

Mentally
1. Think sanely.
2. Learn from mental superiors.
3. Learn to listen attentively.
4. Read best newspapers and books.
5. Improve the memory.
6. Concentrate.
7. Don’t worry unnecessarily.
8. Be systematic.
9. Weigh both sides.
10. Avoid inferior minds.

Morally
1. Right is right, wrong is wrong.
2. Be truthful.
3. Ignore precedent if wrong.
4. Seek elevating recreation.
5. Don’t deceive yourself.
6. Learn to say “no.”
7. Live up to your principles.
8. Avoid temptation.
9. Form good habits.
10. Have a constitution.

Financially
1. Increase my earnings.
2. Decrease unnecessary expense.
3. Save money, U.S. Postal Bank.
4. Money makes money.
5. Invest — don’t gamble.
6. Make family budget.
7. Hard work.
8. Study the business.
9. Pay cash for everything.
10. Increase credit balance.

Socially
1. Avoid bad associates.
2. Select helpful friends.
3. Think alone.
4. Learn to be happy alone.
5. Family best company.
6. Work out, alone, my problems.
7. Avoid so-called society.
8. Entertain economically.
9. Stand well with neighbors.
10. Do some welfare work.

Napoleon Hill

Traducir al Español
Napoleon Hill’s Six Ways to Turn Desire Into Gold:

1. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. it is not sufficient merely to say “I want plenty of money.” Be definite as to the amount. (There is a psychological reason for definiteness.)

2. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as “something for nothing.”)

3. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.

4. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put his plan into action.

5. Write out a clear, concise statement of th eamount of money you ntend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.

6. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. As you read—seeand feel and believe yourself already in possession of the money.

All the steps are necessary. What’s cool about this method is that it can be used for accomplishing anything, not just the attainment of money. I could see this applied to goals like losing weight, training for a marathon, getting a degree, etc.

Nueva linea de Productos

En este link pueden encontrar los folletos de la nueva linea de productos de Bupa.

Gift Cards, can cover Insurance and Medical Fees

Traducir al español
Well Wishes: Highmark's Gift Cards Can Cover Insurance, Medical Fees
by Kris Maher
Monday, November 12, 2007

Wondering what to give your aunt this Christmas? How about paying for her next trip to the chiropractor?

Pittsburgh health insurer Highmark Inc. is selling a Healthcare Visa Gift Card from $25 to $5,000 to cover prescription co-payments, elective surgery, contact lenses and gym membership.

The cards can be used only at providers or merchants that Visa categorizes as health related, including physician's offices, pharmacies and health clubs.

The cards aren't available at grocery or retail stores -- they can only be purchased online or by calling a toll-free number.

Highmark believes that the card fills a need for many people who want to help others -- from college students to baby boomers -- with various expensive health-related needs, but feel uncomfortable about offering cash.

"There's something about a gift card," said Kim Bellard, vice president of e-marketing and customer relations at the insurer, which is marketing the card as a stocking stuffer or as a year-round gift. "They view it as a present, not as charity."

In the case of college students, an added appeal is that students would have to use the card for health expenses, rather than using the funds to buy clothes or an iPod, for instance. "You would give this card if you want to make sure that they have funds for health-related purchases," Mr. Bellard said.

The popularity of gift cards has soared in recent years, as restaurants and specialty stores have begun selling them at supermarkets and other high- traffic retail outlets.

During last year's holiday shopping season, gift-card sales rose by 32% to $25 billion, according to the National Retail Federation, an industry group located in Washington.

Some health-care experts expect the card to have only limited appeal.

"I assume there will be a demand for it, but it's a niche product," said William Custer, director of the Center for Health Services Research at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

Highmark expects to sell "several hundred thousand" gift cards, mostly between $75 and $100, during the next year, Mr. Bellard said.

The company is initially marketing the product in Pennsylvania, but expects to expand nationwide at some point in the future.

Highmark administers health plans that cover 4.6 million people.

The Highmark gift card, which contains the Visa logo, is issued by Meta Financial Group Inc.'s MetaBank, a bank and prepaid-card issuer in Sioux Falls, S.D., through a licensing agreement with Visa Inc.'s Visa USA Inc.

Each card has a fee of $4.95, plus shipping and handling.
Copyrighted, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

Target Date Indices

Traducir al Español
Business Wire - Press Release
Zacks Launches Lifecycle Indices
10.01.07, 12:25 PM ET

Zacks Investment Research, Inc. is pleased to announce the launch of industry's first lifecycle index series. In a lifecycle program, investors simply select the fund whose target date best matches the year they plan to access their money and the rest is on autopilot. At inception, lifecycle balances have a relatively aggressive equities tilt. Then, as the pre-set target date approaches, assets gradually move along a risk "glidepath" towards more conservative fixed income positions. At all points along the glidepath, assets are prudently diversified by sector, capitalization, duration, and country.

The following are the Zacks target date indices: -0- *T Zacks 2040 Lifecycle Index Zacks 2030 Lifecycle Index Zacks 2020 Lifecycle Index Zacks 2010 Lifecycle Index Zacks At Target Lifecycle Index *T

Lifecycle funds have grown in popularity among retirement plan participants, goal-based planners, and more recently, federal regulators, because they remove investor emotions from key reallocation and asset selection decisions. While Zacks agrees that such control of human behavior improves investment outcomes, the firm notes that: -0- *T 1) Most managers assume their lifecycle funds will be used only for retirement planning. Since these glidepaths target actuarial life expectancies, they carry very high levels of risk as stated maturity dates approach. 2) In 401(k) and other qualified retirement plan markets, there is growing demand for lifecycle vehicles that are free of conflicts of interest. *T

Retirement and More: According to Michael Case Smith of the Zacks Index and Allocation Group, "The industry average allocation to equities in 2010 funds is 52%. That may be the right answer for a Monte Carlo simulation but the wrong one for investors with three years to go before they fund a retirement annuity, a vacation home, education, a wedding, or long-term medical care." As target dates near, people care more about return of capital than return on capital, regardless of what computer models say." To solve the problem, Zacks applies proprietary risk utility methodologies to traditional computer simulations for allocations that "work" for the majority of investors at each segment of the reallocation glidepath.

Conflict Free Investing: The Zacks indices are unique because they will be the basis of the industry's first securities-based lifecycle program. With no conflicts of interest or fee layering from sub-sector ETFs or proprietary mutual funds, this securities-based lifecycle program is well suited for 401(k) investing. A securities-based lifecycle program reduces plan sponsor exposure to lawsuits because it complies with the new Pension Protection Act regulations at the highest levels.

Potential index constituents include U.S. equities, international equities, and domestic bonds. The index constituent selection methodology utilizes proprietary selection rules to identify stocks and bonds with risk/return profiles consistent with general market benchmarks. The indexes are adjusted quarterly, or as required, to assure timely constituent selections. The Zacks Lifecycle Indices are published by the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbols TDAXTN, TDAXTW, TDAXTH, TDAXFO, TDAXIT.

About Zacks

The Zacks Lifecycle Indices(TM) complement the firm's alpha-generating quantitative indices used in yield, growth & income, sector rotation, international, style box and market-cap specific products.

Founded in 1978, Zacks Investment Research has more than 25 years of experience in providing institutional and individual investors with the analytical tools and financial information necessary to the success of their investment process. Zacks created the first earnings estimate revision model and originated the concept of the Earnings Surprise. Today, Zacks' models process over 25,000 earnings estimate revisions and changes in broker recommendations weekly from over 200 brokerage firms, produced by more than 3,500 analysts. As one of the top market data and proprietary investment model providers, Zacks clients include some of the most widely known institutions in the financial industry.

$12,106.00 prima promedio de un plan médico familiar

Traducir al español

Health Insurance Costs Rise Again
By Michelle Andrews
Posted September 14, 2007

Health insurance premiums rose more slowly in 2007 than at any other time since 1999, but the 6.1 percent increase still outstripped the rises in workers' wages (3.7 percent) and inflation (2.6 percent), according to a study released this week. There's no relief in sight for workers, who paid almost $3,300 on average for family coverage this year. Forty-five percent of employers polled say they're likely to increase employee premiums next year, with a significant number reporting they plan to increase employee deductibles, copayments, and drug contributions as well.

The annual survey of employer-sponsored plans, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, has charted the upward trend in healthcare costs for years. "There's no tipping point at which health insurance becomes scientifically unaffordable," Kaiser President Drew Altman said at a press conference announcing the survey results. "But we have reached a point where it's become more unaffordable for more employers and workers."

This year's survey found that the average family policy cost $12,106, a 78 percent increase since 2001. (The typical single policy cost $4,479 in 2007.) In the past six years, the amount that families pay out of pocket in premiums has increased by about $1,500. One of the consequences of higher health insurance costs, Altman noted, has been the rise in the number of uninsured, which reached 47 million in 2006, a 5 percent increase over the previous year.

Although premium costs are widely used to gauge health plan affordability, other expenses can also take big bites out of workers' wallets. In 2007, the average family-plan deductible ranged from $759 in health maintenance organization plans to $3,596 in high-deductible health plans with a savings account option. Copayments for office visits with doctors in the health plan's network ranged from $18 to $30 on average, depending on the type of plan and doctor.

These other costs are likely to rise next year, too, according to the survey. Forty-four percent of employers said they're likely to increase how much employees pay for prescription drugs. An additional 37 percent said they planned to increase deductibles, and 42 percent said they plan to increase copayments for office visits. The good news, such as it is: Only 3 percent of companies said they were very or somewhat likely to drop coverage altogether.

About 158 million people receive health coverage through their employer. The 2007 Kaiser/HRET study surveyed more than 3,000 randomly selected companies with more than three workers.

The Bush administration has touted health savings accounts, which it says could help bring healthcare costs under control. But employers don't seem to have bought that argument. This year, just 10 percent of companies offered high-deductible health plans with a savings option, which covered about 5 percent of workers. Twenty-four percent of companies said they're at least somewhat likely to offer this type of plan next year. "The [moderate rise] in premiums hasn't pushed employers to make changes as quickly as they might have otherwise," said study coauthor Gary Claxton, a vice president at Kaiser. "But insurers are still trying to sell these. It's really their only new thing. Over the next few years we'll see if it picks up."