DONOVAN INSURANCE SOLUTIONS

se U n a C u o Y ws e N e c n a r Insu
Volume 3 Issue 9 September 1, 2013

just Thinking

by Paul Donovan

Inside this issue:

Whens the last time you put on your thinking cap? For many people the idea of thinking harkens to memories of being a student. Rest assured, if youre alive and reading this, you are a thinker. How many types of thinking can you think of?
Just Thinking? New Strategy for dealing with the Police Healthcare Update Encouragement Chronicles Riddles 1 2

Big Picture Thinking - thinking beyond yourself in order to process ideas Focused Thinking - thinking with clarity on issues by removing distractions Creative Thinking - breaking out of your box of limitations to explore options

2 3 3

Realistic Thinking - ability to build solid foundation on facts to think with certainty Possibility Thinking - unleashing your enthusiasm to find solutions for the seemingly impossible Strategic Thinking - ability to implement plans that direct today for potential tomorrow Reflective Thinking - revisiting the past in order to gain perspective and understanding Shared thinking - including others to help you achieve compounded results Questioning Popular Thinking - rejecting the common limitations to accomplish uncommon results Bottom Line Thinking - focusing on results and maximum return to reap full potential Stinkin Thinkin - focusing on the cant, the negative or discouraging all new and different ideas

Breaking Insurance 4 News Flood Ins. Reform You Need 2 Know 4

Naturally, there are many more ways to think. Most of us rely on our God given talents, and have strengths in one or more of these areas of thinking. The older I get the more I realize that my way of thinking is not the ONLY way to achieve the results Im looking for. One of the problems is that once a systematic approach is established, nobody wants to buck the system for fear of failure, rejection or ridicule. However, without the fortitude to try something new, many of our best inventions and advancements would not have occurred. Do the names Bell, Edison, Einstein, Ford, Franklin the Wright Brothers or Bill Gates come to mind? So, what motivates you to be creative? When was the last time you discovered a way to deliver a new application to a hard-to-satisfy client or a thought of additional ways to generate fresh revenues? Whether its cutting costs, saving time or making new alliances, encouraging an atmosphere of thinking can drive significant change for your business and your life. Try having a contest in your company for the best suggestions to, fix, accomplish or avoid the company objectives, then reward those ideas. You may just end up worrying about more profits.

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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INSURANCE NEWS YOU CAN USE

If youve ever been pulled over by the police, they will typically request to see a copy of your drivers license, registration and insurance identification cards. If you have been the unlucky person not able to find one of those cards, the officer will gladly hand you at a minimum, an administrative ticket and perhaps an additional one for the infraction you were stopped for. Have no fear, those days are slowly coming to an end thanks to camera technology on your smart phone device.

New Strategy for dealing with the Law

Try taking a picture of your pertinent vehicle and drivers information and store them in a file on your phone. If the officer asks you for the info, just hand him the phone as proof of coverage. The only thing you should be careful of is keeping your cell phone information safe from cyber thieves. There are multiple ways of doing this (especially in free wi-fi areas). Finally, a potential way of eliminating those administrative tickets. Please drive safe and secure, we hate rate increases.

The Average American is busy buying things he doesnt want with money he doesnt have to impress people he doesnt like. O. Donald Olson Why businesses might dump healthcare coverage for your spouse.
Companies have a new solution to the rising costs of healthcarebreakup their employees marriage. The United Parcel Service (UPS) has announced they will no longer cover employee spouses on the company health plan. By not offering or denying coverage to spouses, employers save annual premiums and the fees that went into effect as part of Obamacare (Healthcare Reform). The fees this year are $1 to $2 per covered life and those same fees jump to $65 in 2014. The Healthcare Reform law has established guidelines to mandate coverage of dependent children to age 26, however, the spouse is optional. justify their

The end results is that businesses reduce company expenses by not providing for spouses. Businesses position pointing towards two major offerings:

Government exchanges set up to provide for individuals & Spouses being encouraged to move to their own companys insurance plan allowing their employer to make contributions

While couples generally prefer to be on their spouses health plans, companies often find spouses to be more expensive. For decades, the consensus was that younger females experienced a majority of health expenses during child-bearing ages. While men experienced the majority of their health related expenses after the age of 45. Traditionally there was a majority of men in the workforce that insured their spouses. Those spouses (mostly women) had a higher percentage of costs toward employer sponsored health plans. However, a recent milestone has at recently been cleared: More women than men were on payrolls in January 2010, according to US Labor Department statistics for the month. That month, there were 64.2 million women receiving a paycheck compared with 63.4 million men. Thats 800,000 more women than men on the payrolls. Some of that is due to the recent recession and part time opportunities but the point is clear. Women are trending toward employment at a faster pace than their male counterparts. The question remains, what will that spell out for healthcare costs as more and more male spouses remain unemployed? In 2012 approximately 4% of businesses excluded spousal coverage offerings. Statistics for 2013 assume that 12% of companies will do the same next year. As of today, the following provisions of Obamacare are still effective 1. Effective October 1 2013 individuals will be able to log onto the Healthcare Exchanges, for more information please go to http://obamacarefacts.com/insurance-exchange. Failure to have individual coverage (confirmed by your 2015 tax returns) will result in a $95 penalty or 1% of your income (whichever is greater). These penalties will jump to $325 or 2% in 2015 and $695 or 2.5% of your income in 2016. If you have additional questions about individual or employee benefits, please contact us.

It isn't all over; everything has not been invented; the human adventure is just beginning. Gene Roddenberry

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 9

PAGE 3
By Paul Donovan

En courag em en t Chroni cl es

According to The Life of Francis dAssisi, Francis once invited a young monk to join him on a trip to a local village to preach. Honored to be asked and excited to learn from the master, the monk readily accepted. All day long, he and Francis walked the streets and alleys of the village caring for the needs of the poor and helpless along the way. They rubbed shoulders with hundreds of people and headed home at the end of a long day. Not once had Francis addressed the crowds nor did he talk to anyone about the gospel. Greatly disappointed, his young companion said, I thought we were going into town to preach? Francis responded, My son, we did preach. We were preaching while we were walking. We were closely observed while we were walking and tending to the needs of others. Its no use to walk anywhere to preach unless we preach everywhere we walk. Like it or not, were preachers everyday. People will believe what we do long before the message we preach. Preach the gospel all the time and if necessary use words.

When you enter a room, you have to kiss his ring. I don't mind, but he has it in his back pocket. Don Rickles talking about his good friend Frank Sinatra Riddles you may or may not know
by Paul Donovan

Try to answer all of these before you check the answers. If you get more than 5, Brilliant! 1. It is greater than God and more evil than the devil. The poor have it, the rich need it and if you eat it you'll die. What is it? 2. I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I? 3. What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats? 4. I never was, am always to be. No one ever saw me, nor ever will. And yet I am the confidence of all, To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. What am I? 5. At night they come without being fetched. By day they are lost without being stolen. What are they? 6. The more you have of it, the less you see. What is it? 7. What English word has three consecutive double letters? 8. What's black when you get it, red when you use it, and white when you're all through with it? 9. You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What did you eat? 10. What starts with a T, ends with a T, and has "T" in it? 11. Say my name and I disappear. What am I? 12. The more you take, the more you leave behind. 13. What lives in the corner but travels the world? 14. What goes up but never comes down?

I'm not really a heavy smoker any more. I only go through two lighters a day. Bill Hicks

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Breaking Insurance News

1. A sinkhole in Orlando swallowed a hotel near Walt Disney World resort August 12th. Nobody was injured and 36 guests were evacuated. 2. Coincidentally, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced that the Florida Geological Survey and the states emergency department just received a $1.08 million federal grant to study Sinkhole Vulnerability on August 14th. 3. According to new studies, claims-related opioid abuse is at epidemic proportions (up 300% since 1999) and growing. Because pain is a fact of injuries (workers compensation) misuse and abuse has become more prevalent. In healthcare, between 2004 and 2009, abuse of prescription painkillers resulted in a doubling of emergency room visits, to 475,000 annually. 4. The Defense Research Institute conference on Bad-Faith and Extra Contractual Liability named three states as having the toughest pro-plaintiff/policyholder claims processes. Attorneys view Florida, California, and Washington as the most exacting. A bad faith claim stems from insurance carriers promoting stringent claims payments processes. A purely hypothetical example would be a claims manual stating, Our mission in claims is to preserve the companys financial health and settle for the lowest possible amount. 5. The National Interagency Fire Center http://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo shows 2013 is shaping into one of the worst years for wildfires across the Western U.S. A combined 51 wildfires in Utah, Washington, California, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming and Nevada have scorched more than 3,400,000 acres! Total costs will exceed the $1 billion dollar firefighting budget.

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. - Rush, Freewill Flood Insurance Reform what you Need To Know
Effective October 1 2013, the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW12) goes into effect. The BW-12 legislation requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to change the way they run the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Many of the required changes are designed to increase the financial stability of NFIP and ensure that flood insurance rates more accurately reflect the real risk of flooding. Changes include:
Raising policy rates to more accurately reflect a property's true flood risk = rates are going to increase for those near or in flood zones with history of flooding.

Phasing out subsidized flood insurance rates for some policies (over time). Current rates are subsidized by the governmentcheck your wallet, I mean invoice. Not everyone with subsidized rates will be affected immediately by the new law. Policyholders paying subsidized rates for non-primary residences, businesses, and severe repetitive loss properties may see 25% increases in annual rates. If your currently receive subsidized flood insurance rates, you'll need to have answers to FEMA questions.

You will also need specific documentation for some policy renewals, including:

An elevation certificate for flood insurance Clear exterior photographs of the front and back of the insured building A renewal application completed and signed The annual premium determined, with full-risk premium rates or tentative premium rates.
We can be reached at 10 N. Pinellas Ave Tarpon Springs, FL 34689 727-935-4858 (Office) 877-226-9304 (Fax) 727-656-5371 (cell) www.DonovanInsuranceSolutions.com E-mail: Donovan.solutions@gmail.

Please contact us if you any additional questions concerning the new flood insurance rules and regulations.
Trivia Answers from Page 3:

1. Nothing. Nothing is greater than God, nothing is more evil than the devil, the poor have nothing, the rich need nothing and if you eat nothing you'll die, 2. The letter e. End, timE, spacE, Every place, 3. A river, 4. Tomorrow or the future, 5. The stars, 6. Darkness, 7. Bookkeeper, 8. Charcoal, 9. An ear of corn, 10. A teapot, 11. Silence, 12. Footsteps, 13. A Stamp, 14. Your Age.