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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Health insurance premiums for employer-sponsored plans have increased an average of 41 percent nationwide between 2003 and 2009, according to a new study.

The report, by the health care advocacy group Commonwealth Fund, states that while premiums spiked, individuals’ insurance plans bought less coverage.

The report also found that deductibles rose an average of 77 percent per person during the same time frame. These higher premiums and deductibles are stressing families’ already strained budgets.

If premiums continue at the rate they are rising, the Commonwealth Fund estimates the average family would pay about $23,342 by 2020.

The Commonwealth Fund supports health care overhaul legislation pushed by the Obama administration that passed Congress in 2010 – the Affordable Care Act. The organization says if reforms contained in the bill slow premium increases by 1 percentage point a year, annual family premiums would be $2,323 lower by 2020.

Slowing premium growth by 1.5 percent would save families more than $3,000 a year, according to the report.

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The state’s medical society and attorney general as well as a member of the Obama administration voice disapproval of a WellPoint subsidiary’s 47% increase.

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – The federal government of Canada will announce on Thursday that it will lift the freeze on Employment Insurance premiums. The freeze was part of the economic stimulus package offered by Ottawa to battle the recession.

The lifting of the freeze was originally scheduled Jan. 1, 2010, but the federal government listened to the warning from business leaders, labor representatives and the political opposition that the move would stymie Canada’s recovery.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Ottawa is still reviewing how much the EI rates would go up, but he hinted it would be less than the amount recommended by a rate setting board established by the federal government.

The current rate is $2.42 for employers and $1.73 for employees for every $100 income of the worker. The board recommended a 21 cents hike for employers and 15 cents increase for employees.

On Wednesday, Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff withdrew his support for a bill that would improve EI benefits. Ignatieff explained his change of stand to the enhancements being too expensive and no longer needed because it was a product of the recession.

Ignatieff used the EI reforms last year to push for a federal election. His withdraw of support for the bill filed by Bloc Quebecois MP Yves Lessard is a personal stand, not a party stand, Ignatieff clarified.

Lessard’s bill proposed reducing the qualifying period for EI from the present 420 hours minimum to 360 hours, hiking the weekly earnings from 55 percent to 60 percent of past earnings and increasing the length of time benefits could be collected.

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Q: What is a private investor and how do they differ from a hard money lender or a subprime lender?

A: A private investor is an individual who lends out their own funds to borrowers who are unable to obtain a loan from a traditional lender such as a bank. It is also possible for private investors to pool their money into a fund that lends out money on a larger scale. Private investors are often wealthy or retired individuals who want a better return on their investments than they could expect to make in the stock market or other investment vehicles.

A private investor is essentially the same thing as a hard money lender. A private lender differs from a subprime lender in that the latter still funds loan through a lending institution such as a bank, although the interest rate is higher than a traditional conforming loan.

Q: Why would a bad credit lender fund my loan when traditional banks would not?

A: Hard money lenders, sub prime and bad credit lenders are often referred to as “high risk lenders.” These lenders have a unique understanding of specific types of real estate situations and markets. As long as the lending situation fits into the lenders comfort zone, they will usually make the loan. It isn’t that a bad credit lender gravitates towards overly risky loans or situations. Rather, there are additional safeguards in place for a bad credit lender. Namely, a borrower must have a 20% or higher equity stake in a property to qualify for a bad credit loan — the loan is therefore secured by a larger property ownership portion than many traditional loans. Read more of this >>

While shopping for auto insurance, an individual always aims for lower cost of insurance. In that case a good credit score may help to lower the cost. Credit score is a statistical method of evaluating an applicant’s credit worthiness. Companies are always trying to pool that part of the consumers which will provide the maximum profit with minimum loss. So they try to judge the rate of an insurance policy against the actual amount of claim. It has been found that almost all auto insurers use the credit information to decide whether to issue a policy. They even set the premium level on the basis of the credit score.

The companies generally do not look at the actual credit report. They just look out for the credit score. In fact they receive the credit score from any of the three major national credit depositories – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Credit scoring is a method to determine the likelihood that credit users will pay their bills.

Credit scores are prepared by analyzing a borrower’s credit history. The factors considered while calculating a credit score are:

• The duration for which credit is used.
• The amount of credit used versus the amount of credit available. Read more of this >>