Insurance Discrimination Against Victims of Abuse

The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) is
a data bank of medical and nonmedical
information on nearly 15 million Americans,
collected from the MIB’s 800 insurance
company members.
The companies send the MIB information
you have written on applications, enrollment
forms, and requests for upgrading coverage
for health, life or disability insurance. The MIB
also records information from medical exams,
blood and lab tests, and hospital reports,
when such information is legally obtainable.

Kinds of Annuities

There are several ways to categorize
annuities, and any one annuity may fit into
several categories.
Immediate Annuities
With an immediate annuity, you pay a single
premium and immediately start receiving
payments at the end of each payment period,
which is usually monthly or annually.
Deferred Annuities
With a deferred annuity, you pay one or
more premiums over what is often called the
accumulation period. The premiums you pay
and the interest credited to the premiums goes
into a fund called an accumulation fund. There
may be a minimum guaranteed interest rate at
which your money will accumulate during the
accumulation period.
The annuity payments you will receive begin at
a future point in time called the maturity date.
You will receive payments during a time period
called the payout period or annuitization phase.
You do not pay income taxes on the interest
earned during the accumulation period unless
you draw on its cash value. These taxes are
deferred until the payout period.
Fixed Annuities
A fixed annuity provides fixed-dollar income
payments backed by the guarantees in the
contract. You cannot lose your investment
once your income payments begin. The
amount of those payments will not change.
With fixed annuities, the company bears the
investment risk.
Equity Indexed Annuities
These are a form of annuity, either immediate
or deferred, that earns interest or provides
benefits that are linked to an external equity
index, such as Standard and Poor’s 500
Composite Stock Price Index. When you
purchase an equity-indexed annuity, you own
an insurance contract—not shares of any stock
or index.

Traditional Life Insurance

You have a choice of two traditional types of
life insurance: Term or Whole Life.
Term Insurance
A “term policy” involves coverage purchased
for a specific time period and pays a death
benefit only if the policyholder dies during
the time for which the policy is written and
premiums are paid.
A term policy:
Provides more life i XX nsurance coverage for
your premium dollar in the early years.
XX Pays benefits only if the insured dies
during the coverage period.
XX Does not usually accumulate cash value.
XX Is suitable for large amounts of coverage
for specific periods (i.e., one, five, 10 or 20
years, etc.) or to age 60 or 65.
Useful for:
XX Parents of young children
XX People with large financial obligations and
home buyers
With term insurance, coverage ends after
the specified term in your policy is reached,
unless it includes a provision allowing you to
renew your policy without providing evidence
of insurability, such as passing a physical
exam. However, your premiums will increase
as you age.
A term insurance policy may be convertible.
This means you can exchange the policy for
a whole life policy without providing evidence
of good health. Although the premium for the
whole life policy will be higher initially, it will
remain the same for the rest of your life.
Whole Life
Whole life insurance, a “whole life policy,” or
“permanent insurance” involves coverage
effective for the entire life of the policyholder.
A whole life policy pays a death benefit when
the policyholder dies, regardless of his or
her age.
Key Characteristics:
XX Provides a fixed amount of life insurance
coverage and a fixed premium amount.
XX Benefits are payable upon the death of the
insured or on the maturity date—often the
policyholder’s 100th birthday.
XX Coverage can increase only with the
purchase of an additional policy, or, if
available, through additional riders
or dividends.
XX Policy coverage is provided for life.
XX Premiums are paid at a fixed rate
throughout your lifetime, if the policy
remains active.
Life

Life Insurance

A life insurance policy allows you to set aside money now to provide a measure of
financial security for your family upon your death. It can help your family meet the
financial needs previously covered by your income.
If you decide to buy a life insurance policy, you should decide how much
protection you need and can afford, and what kind of insurance policy to buy.
The main purpose of a life insurance policy is to provide survivor benefits
for beneficiaries.