Errors in hospital care are very, very common. In fact, it’s estimated that one of every seven hospitalized patients suffers due to an error—usually prescription drug-related.

In extreme cases, these errors can lead to deaths.

Not surprisingly, the notoriously poor handwriting skills of most doctors is to blame. The answer? Technology. Doctors who use computers to write prescriptions rather than pen and paper can reduce the frequency of mistakes by 60 percent.

Read more by checking out the post at NPR’s Health Blog.

Interestingly, new research shows that people are less honest when communicating through text messages.

The study from Wichita State University included 170 students participating in mock stock trading game. Transactions were performed face-to-face, by video, audio-only and text messaging.

Participants were most deceptive when communicating through text messages. They were most honest when being videotaped, probably due to the “spotlight” effect when a person feels he or she is being watched very closely.

The lesson here, I think, is simple: Don’t believe anything you read in a text message, because it’s probably baloney.

It’s a good thing life insurance policies aren’t sold via text messaging–not yet, anyhow.

It’s official: The SOPA blackout is upon us. Wikipedia, Craigslist, Reddit and a number of other websites have gone dark in protest of two anti-piracy laws—SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) currently being debated in Congress.

Google has also blacked out its logo as an act of opposition, but users can still use the company’s search engine.

Screenshot of Google's homepage today

Without the option to surf many of your favorite websites, what’s an internet user to do?

Here’s a silver lining: WholesaleInsurance.net is still up and running. That’s right—you can still get a quote for life insurance by visiting our life insurance quote form.

Today’s SOPA blackout is a bummer, but you can use this opportunity to do something you’ve been putting off for far too long: protecting your loved ones with life insurance.

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NEW YORK, May 24, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — MetLife announced today a new life insurance needs assessment tool and simple tips that mark the beginning of a major initiative to change the way Americans think about and purchase life insurance. MetLife’s new online tool — the Life Insurance Needs Calculator — provides clear guidance for how much life insurance consumers really need and, importantly, how much it will cost. Ten Simple Life Insurance Tips will make it easier for them get started. By removing purchase barriers and simplifying the life insurance purchase process, Americans will be better able to easily and affordably protect their families.

Nearly six in ten middle class households (59%)(1) — defined as Americans ages 25-44 with household incomes under $100,000 — recognize the need for more life insurance protection and half of these households intend to buy coverage in the next year.

“Buying life insurance is challenging for even the most motivated,” said Beth Hirschhorn, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for MetLife, the largest U.S. life insurer. “Of those people who say they will buy life insurance, research shows that more than 80% will fail in their attempt.”

Consumers who are motivated to purchase life insurance often don’t succeed for several reasons, among others:

– They turn to the Internet for information and grow confused because they get widely varying recommendations regarding how much and what kind of life insurance they need.

– They often assume coverage will cost too much for their budgets and the lack of easy-to-find cost information drives many out of the buying process early on.

– Those who actually do apply for coverage often confront a complicated and cumbersome process that can be more time-consuming and complex than expected.

Life Insurance: How Much and How Much ($$)

To help overcome these barriers no matter where individuals end up buying, MetLife has introduced a new online tool to provide clear guidance about life insurance.

MetLife’s new Life Insurance Needs Calculator (www.metlife.com/straightstory) makes it easy for individuals to learn about the right amount of life insurance for their family’s needs based on their personal situations. To design the new tool, MetLife worked with hundreds of consumers and incorporated learnings from months and months of research. With this tool, MetLife had one goal in mind: providing consumers with a unique user experience that’s intuitive, relevant and groundbreaking in its simplicity. The new tool poses a handful of questions that are easy to understand and easy to answer. What’s more, the tool deconstructs the recommended coverage amounts so that consumers understand how the recommendation was calculated and what it will cover.

MetLife’s online Life Insurance Instant Quote Tool, which complements the new Life Insurance Needs tool, makes it easy for individuals to get a no obligation quote without having to enter personal information (and without any sales pressure). The “Click to Call” and “Click to Chat” features embedded in the tools help consumers get immediate answers to questions that might pop up along the way, in whatever way they are most comfortable.

“What’s good for the consumer is good for MetLife. By spending months ‘walking in our customers’ shoes,’ we recognized the buying process was less than ideal. That’s why we are changing the customer experience now with more improvements to be introduced in the near future,” added Hirschhorn.

Life Insurance: 10 Simple Tips to Get Started

For those who are interested in purchasing life insurance but don’t know how to begin, below are ten simple tips to get started:

1. If you have children or people who depend on the money you earn, you need life insurance. Its primary purpose is to protect your income. Life insurance helps those you care about keep on living as they would if you were still earning a paycheck.

2. Basically, life insurance replaces your paycheck if you aren’t there to earn it. 60% of annual income times years to retirement is a quick way to estimate how much money that means over your working life.

3. Some life insurance is better than no life insurance. A good starting place is coverage equal to outstanding debt + 5 years of salary. Outstanding debt could include mortgage, car payments and student loans.

4. Life insurance is less expensive than you think. A healthy 35-year-old can pay as little as $30 a month for $500,000 of term coverage. Since life insurance does get more expensive as you get older, it may make sense to buy as much coverage you need while you’re young and healthy.

5. Life insurance is a smart financial move. Spending 1% of your annual salary protects years of income. To get the amount of coverage MetLife recommends, you can expect to pay about 1% of your annual salary on the annual cost of term life insurance.

6. Make sure you know how much life insurance you get at work. Buy additional coverage — through work or with a personal policy — to meet your unique needs.

7. Life insurance needs change over time because of life events such as a new family member, a new job, a move or even a pay raise at work. Review your coverage annually.

8. If you don’t have life insurance, term insurance is an easy and inexpensive way to get started. Because term life insurance runs out at the end of the term, use it to protect needs that you can anticipate such as paying off a mortgage or funding college for your children. Permanent life insurance may also be an appropriate component of your lifetime financial plan.

9. Life insurance is a guarantee. The financial strength and reputation of the company you buy it from matters. Ask around and do some research before you buy.

10. There is no substitute for good advice. The more you know about life insurance basics, the more control you have over deciding what’s right for you. To find out how much life insurance is right for you if you want death benefit protection and living benefits, or to leave a financial legacy, you need to talk to a professional.

(1) Strategic Research Insights Macromonitor Consumer Study

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6302137&lang=en

SOURCE: MetLife, Inc.

By: Angela

Just as individuals purchase life insurance to protect their loved ones, should they depart, this same concept can also be applied to businesses in the form of key man life insurance. Such coverage will insure the contributions of that MVP on your team.

A key employee is someone who has the skills, knowledge, or contacts, which would land an employer in financial straits if the employee were to pass away. Key employees are vital and near irreplaceable.

Think about the expenses that go with the loss of a key employee: recruiting, training, and establishing new business relationships. These tasks are both time consuming and expensive.  There is also the chance that the company may have to restructure in order to counteract the loss of a key employee.  The benefits of a key man insurance policy can provide resources for recruiting and training or restructuring.

Finding affordable key employee rates

For key man insurance, you get your pick of life insurance products.  Because of this freedom, the least expensive option would be term life insurance.

Term life insurance coverage lasts for a fixed period and pays a benefit if the insured person passes away during the period of coverage.  This works because most businesses rely on their key employees for “x” amount of years. Term life insurance awards the largest death benefit per dollar put in.

Key man insurance as an employee benefit

Aiming for cheap key man life insurance may not be the most cost efficient strategy when other expenditures are taken into account.  If you are planning to provide your key employees with retirement funds, purchasing a pricier key man life insurance policy and using it as a way to fund their retirement plan will reduce expenses and satisfy both obligations.

Cash value life insurance policies are more expensive than term insurance, but they have the ability to fund a retirement plan.  Unlike term life insurance, cash value life insurance policies can be continued beyond a pre-determined date, and as long as they are maintained, they will accumulate equity.

When you decide you are ready to receive the equity, you simply cash in the life insurance policy and use the value to fund a retirement plan.  This action is called “surrender.”

There are two types of life insurance products that can fulfill cash value needs, whole life insurance and universal life insurance.  They both have their differences in both product features and pricing.

It Pays Off

An added benefit of a cash value policy is, what if you key employee quits? You now have a term life policy, no employee, and the same restructuring costs you sought to protect yourself from. If you have a cash value policy, you are able to cash out the policy (as long as it had time to build equity) and use it to resolve your costly issues due to the loss of your employee: recruiting, training and or restructuring.

About the Author

Angela Rosas is a writer/blogger in the life insurance industry. Her life insurance journey can be found at www.myinsurancelife.com

(ArticlesBase SC #2182635)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Protect Your Business With Affordable Key Employee Life Insurance Options

This post is to announce that The Insurance News Center will soon be found on Technorati.  Hurray and Happy New Year!

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