SINGLE

FINANCE

Insurance Tips
For Singles

FRANKLIN ELLIAS

Special to The Jewish News

D

The Jewish News
20300 Civic Center Dr., Suite 240
Southfield, Mich. 48076

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90

Friday, October 24, 1986

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

oes a single person
need insurance? Be-
fore one can answer
that question, one needs to
know more about the indi-
vidual asking the question.
In today's society, there are
single persons who have
never married and single in-
dividuals who have been
married and carry the finan-
cial obligations from that
previous marriage. Insurance
needs may vary for these two
types of singles.
First, one must define what
is meant by insurance. When
talking about insurance, the
two categories to be consid-
ered are life insurance and
health insurance. Health in-
surance is divided into disa-
bility and medical insurance.
The most important insur-
ance policy that a single per-
son can own is disability in-
surance. The chance of a per-
son in the age group of mid-
dle 20s to late 40s becoming
disabled for a period of 90
days or longer is 16 times
greater than him/her dying.
The single person must
realize the financial tragedy
that long term disability
brings. When one loses the
ability to earn, he/she falls
back on either family or pub-
lic doles. In either case, the
person has lost his/her inde-
pendence.
A non-cancelable indi-
vidual disability policy writ-
ten by a quality insurance
company provides security
and peace of mind. If a
tragedy happens, the insured
will have enough funds corn-
ing in to maintain the lifes-
tyle he/she desires.
Non-cancelable is specified
because it is the best contract
written. Until the insured
reaches age 65, the insurance
company does not have the
right to modify or change the
provisions or premium of the
contract without the consent
of the insured.
When shopping for disabil-
ity insurance, it must be re-
membered that contract defi-
nitions are the best determi-
nants of a policy's quality.
Agents may make many
promises at the point of sale.
However, if a provision is not
written in the contract, it
will not be included in cover-

Franklin J. Ellias is
president of Franklin J.
Ellias and Associates in
Southfield.

age. Sometimes there are ex-
ceptions to this rule. How-
ever, in those cases, an officer
of the company will obligate
the company in writing to the (
exception.
Hospital insurance is
equally as important as disa-
bility insurance. A person
may have adequate disability
insurance, but as a result of
the disability, 'owes the hospi-
tal thousands of dollars. A
disabled person may drain
his/her savings account and
end up using the disability
payments to satisfy the hos-
pital bill.
People tend to assume that
I
if they are seriously ill they
(\
will be hospitalized and that
their basic hospital insurance
will cover expenses. In fact,
illnesses or accidents which
cause long term disability
also involve long term health
care.
Therefore, basic hospitali-
zation is not enough. A —\
"major medical catastrophic"
health care policy is impor-
tant to have. If a person
owned a major medical policy
with a $250 deductible and a _/
co-payment that stops at
$500 of out-of-pocket ex-
penses, the maximum obliga-
tion for the year would be
$750 for covered medical ex-
penses. On the other hand, if
the same person only had a
hospitalization contract, over
the average period of a -long-
term disability, the out-of-
pocket expenses could cost
thousands of dollars a year.
Major medical policies
cover items like wheelchairs,
hospital beds, office visits,
medications, at-home nursing
care, physical therapists, re-
spirators and other medical
supplies. Major medical con-
tracts are available either on
a group or individual basis.
Again, one must be cautious
and look at the non-covered
(excluded) benefits as well as
the covered benefits. If there
are any questions, be sure
the answers are in writing by
a home office official (officer
of the company).
Life insurance for the
single person is the subject of
many debates. For a single
parent, there is a moral
and/or legal obligation to own
life insurance in order to
meet the responsibilities of
providing for the children.
The divorce decree does not
terminate these respon-

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