How important is an insurance? by Claudia Sonea

The origins of insurance policies are different from one country to the other. Limited policies, especially those referring to house protection against damage, can be traced to the 17th and 18th centuries, although establishment of newer policies (such as health insurance and car insurance) did not appear until the 20th century. US regulation of insurance companies is almost exclusively conducted by the insurance departments of each state and the most predominant is the Department of Insurance, while the regulator is called the Insurance Commissioner - although there are numerous variations. Luckily for the insurers, the federal government will not s! ubmit them to federal regulation. Nowadays, many countries control the activity of the insurance companies through laws and guidelines, while independent commissions and regulatory bodies ensure that there are no political implications in the insurance process. The laws and statutes mentioned previously ensure that the policy beneficiary is protected against bad faith claims on the insurer's part, that premiums are not overwhelmingly high (or fixed), and that contracts and policies released meet the minimum required standard. The debate over health care reform in the United States centers on questions about the fundamental right to health care, who should have access to it and under what circumstances. On Tuesday both the Democrats and Republicans were trying to convince the Senate Finance Committee to change the insurance options. The federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act underline the great need of hospitals and ambulance serv! ices in order to provide emergency care, the fact that it is t! ime to t ake some actions. It is very good that the politicians are interested for the health of the people and the insurance they must have but they are debating too much, too many words and no action; it should be a fundamental right to health care and everyone should have access to health care no matter of the circumstances or the family income. They must do something for us, for the sake of the people, not fight between themselves.

related story (sgx15504): http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090929/ap_on_go_co/us_health_ca...

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the l! atest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.