Sovereign's New Trauma Insurance

Sovereign Insurance, one of New Zealand's foremost insurance providers, is launching a new Trauma Insurance policy called Progressive Care.

It differs from traditional Trauma Insurance policies in that it is introducing a new severity based payout system, intended to mitigate costs and allow the insurance to be offered at a lower cost to customers. With Progressive Care, an impressive number of medical conditions are covered (62 in total), however, based on the severity of the illness suffered the payout can range from between 10% of the agreed sum assured all the way to the full amount.

Sovereign's New Progressive Care is aiming to be a more affordable trauma product.

The Progressive Care product would payout less overall, but would be more accessible to people who cannot afford current Trauma Insurance premiums, which tend to be higher than other forms of insurance such as Life or Total Permanent Disablement. If people don't like the idea of having insurance that could result in only a partial payout, the traditional forms of Trauma and Critical Illness cover will remain available from numerous sources on the marketplace.

Any questions? Contact us for more information.

Visit the official website of Sovereign Insurance.

Kiwisaver Advice

Kiwisaver has been a hot button topic around the internet lately. Here are a collection of articles designed to keep you up to date and give advice on Kiwisaver and how to get the most out of it.

1. What is Kiwisaver? - An A-Z guide. - Sorted

2. Helen Twose answers Kiwisaver Questions - NZ Herald

3. Diane Clement reflects on Poor Kiwisaver Decisions - NZ Herald

4. Buying your first home with Kiwisaver - Housing New Zealand

5. More Kiwisaver Questions Answered - NZ Herald

6. One Third of Kiwisavers Don't Know Balance - NZ Herald

If you feel you need more personalized advice relating to Kiwisaver or other investments, our Authorized Financial Adviser is standing by to help anytime. Give us a call on 09 307 8200 or email at enquiry@sprattfinancial.co.nz.

The Importance of Reviews

The New Year is a time of change and a time for resolutions. Each year, if possible, we like to take a look at our clients' insurance to see if there's anything that can be improved and we urge them to do the same thing. Here's why.

In the insurance business, things are in flux regularly. New products, new conditions and new regulations come and go in the marketplace, meaning that often we can find you are now paying too much for your insurance or can improve your cover. This year for instance, a number of new Southern Cross health insurance plans are in the works and Tower Life and Health Insurance has changed hands, with the Life branch now owned by Fidelity Life and the Health branch now owned by Newcastle Industrial Benefits. (NIB).

People’s lives are in flux as well.  Perhaps you have a new job, are acquiring your first home or are thinking of having children? Your insurance needs will thus change, and there may be better and more effective options out there for you to cover your new needs. We urge you to make sure your cover is up to date, and that you have the best current deals the marketplace has to offer.

Whether you need to expand or simplify your insurance, whether you're an existing client or not, we can review your insurances free of charge with no obligation.

Visit our official website for more information.

Meet our team.

Staying Healthy: The Health Benefits of Honey

One thing that insurance brokers often do not focus on (and perhaps should) is how to keep their clients and their potential clients healthy. The healthier you are, the less loading you will have on your life and medical insurance policies and the cheaper your insurance will be. More importantly, staying healthy is just as important in all your other areas of life; work, play and achieving your goals. So we're putting together a series that will keep you updated on the latest medical discoveries and advice on how to keep yourself in tip top shape.

First off, since everyone usually kicks up up a stink about unrealistic and untasty diets that health professionals sometimes demand, here's something we all like. Honey!

Honey has been around thousands of years, with even ancient cultures apparently aware of its health benefits.

The use of honey in medicine and treatment goes back a long way. Four thousands years plus actually, when honey was used in ayurvedic medicine by early societies to balance material impurities in the body. In Ancient Egypt, honey was applied to treat wounds, there is mention of it in the Quran and in the records of the Ancient Greeks as a food which could improve longevity. Now, modern science is coming to the same conclusion.

Here is a typical honey profile, according to BeeSource:

• Fructose: 38.2%
• Glucose: 31.3%
• Maltose: 7.1%
• Sucrose: 1.3%
• Water: 17.2%
• Higher sugars: 1.5%
• Ash: 0.2%
• Other/undetermined: 3.2%

The slightly acidic pH level of honey (between 3.2 and 4.5) is what helps prevent the growth of bacteria, while its antioxidants get rid of free radicals.

So how can honey help?

- There is anecdotal evidence of its efficacy in treating burns and wounds.

- Alleviating allergies - one conducted study showed that it was significantly more effective than a placebo at alleviating ocular allergy.

- A study published in the journal Microbiology revealed that Manuka honey is effective at treating chronic wound infections and may even prevent them from developing in the first place.

- A study published in the journal Pediatrics, which compared honey to placebo in helping children with cough during night time, found that honey was superior.

- Honey is great for your skin and can be used to smooth and remove skin impurities.

- Honey is all natural and a healthier dietary option than synthesised, artificial spreads.

Other articles in our Staying Healthy series:

How to lose that troublesome belly fat.

Can chocolate help prevent obesity and diabetes?

Weight loss tips from the experts.

Health Insurance Top Claims 2013

In the past week, Southern Cross has released the statistics for the top five claim areas for men and women in each age band between 20 and 70.

Southern Cross Chief Executive Peter Tynan explains that the results show that people who are taking out health insurance need to check to ensure their policies cover what they need. Each age band was highly different in the type of surgeries or medical procedures that were most common, and knowing this information should inform your health insurance decisions.

Males between the ages of 20-30, whom Peter remarked often felt invincible and in our experience are the group that neglects health cover the most, nonetheless required claims most often for hernia repair, colonoscopy and excision of skin lesions. Women of the same age range claimed most often for freeing abdominal adhesions or ovarian cyst surgeries. These costly procedures required by people so young demonstrate the costs of being un-insured or underinsured, and we urge everyone to bear this in mind. I myself thank my lucky stars I got health insurance when I was young (or more accurately, my conscientious mother insisted on signing me up) because I've actually had to claim for a colonoscopy and a surgery, as well as many specialist visits after the age of 20 which I could never have foreseen.

It is also crucial that you think about medical insurance while you're healthy, as the presence of pre-existing conditions makes things very awkward, complicated and expensive, whilst it is clear sailing if you don't have any at the time of taking out your insurance.

Top 5 procedures, 20-29 age band

Women: Removal of teeth, endometriosis surgery, freeing abdominal adhesions, ovarian cystectomy, excision skin lesion.

Men: Removal of teeth, excision skin lesion, septoplasty, hernia repair, colonoscopy.

Top 5 procedures, 30-39

Women: Endometriosis surgery, hysterectomy, excision skin lesion, cholecystectomy, removal of teeth.

Men: Removal of teeth, colonoscopy, excision skin lesion, hernia repair, septoplasty.

Top 5 procedures, 40-49

Women: Hysterectomy, hysteroscopy, excision skin lesion, colonoscopy, endometriosis surgery.

Men: Colonoscopy, excision skin lesion, hip replacement, hernia repair, coronary angioplasty.

Top 5 procedures, 50-59

Women: Colonoscopy, hysterectomy, hip replacement, excision skin lesion, knee replacement.

Men: Hip replacement, colonoscopy, excision skin lesion, coronary angioplasty, hernia repair.

Top 5 procedures, 60-69

Women: Knee replacement, hip replacement, colonoscopy, cataract, excision skin lesion.

Men: Knee replacement, hip replacement, excision skin lesion, coronary angioplasty, colonoscopy.

Top 5 procedures, 70 plus

Women: Cataract, hip replacement, knee replacement, excision skin lesion, colonoscopy.

Men: Knee replacement, cataract, hip replacement, excision skin lesion, coronary angioplasty.

Contact us for information and the best deals on your health insurance.

Visit our official website for more information.

Read how health insurance helped me out when diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.

Trauma Insurance Part Two: Add Ons

Following on from our earlier post dealing with what you need to know about Trauma Insurance in the wake of its growing popularity among New Zealanders, this post will deal with the different types of Trauma Cover, and the optional add-ons to your cover that can help you get the most out of your insurance.

Most providers trauma insurance comes in two distinct types; Comprehensive and Essential (these names will sometimes vary between insurance companies). Comprehensive provides you with insurance cover for a large number of defined medical conditions, with the full payment of your sum assured if you suffer any of these conditions. Essential provides you with insurance cover for the same amount of conditions, however, you will only get paid out the full sum assured for small group of those conditions. For the others, you will only receive a partial payment. Think of 'comprehensive' as exactly what it says. It covers almost everything, but it comes with a higher cost. Think of 'essential' like 'the bare essentials', less cover but at a lower cost.

Cheaper with partial payments? Or more comprehensive with higher premiums? The choice is yours.

Now let's explore the add-ons to your insurance that can be arranged for either comprehensive or essential trauma insurance.

Specialist and Diagnostic Testing

This add-on benefit is designed to pay for your consultations and appointments with a specialist, which gives you the freedom to avoid the public health wait, get immediate treatment and have it paid for by your insurance. With a Sovereign policy for instance, each person covered by the policy get your specialists and diagnostics covered by $3,000 per policy year.

Children or Maternity Benefit

If you have children and you would like them to be protected under your trauma insurance policy, this is the option for you. If you purchase this add-on and your child suffers one of the defined conditions, it will provide a financial buffer to support you, which generally means that if you have to stop work or your child required specialised care, you are financially covered.

Buyback Benefit

This benefit allows your policy to be reinstated once again after you have claimed on it for one of the defined medical conditions. This is an option for those who wish their policy to continue or if there is more than one person covered to ensure that the others still have protection after one member has to make a claim.

Business Safeguard

This is an option that you can purchase if you are attempting to insure a growing business. Basically, it allows you to increase your sum assured as your business grows or your own personal value to your business increases.

Waiver of Premium Benefit

Perhaps one of the most important add-ons and the one that we certainly recommend the most. Waiver of Premium means that if you are injured or ill, but not with one of the conditions that will trigger your insurance claim, waiver of premium will pay your trauma insurance premiums for you, so that you can keep your insurance cover going.

Total and Permanent Disablement Benefit

If you suffer an illness or an accident that is not covered by your policy, but is serious enough to render you unable to work ever again, then this benefit will kick in and you will receive a full payment of your trauma cover.

That covers most of the add-ons that are offered in the NZ insurance market for your Trauma Insurance. If you have any further questions about trauma or any other forms of insurance cover, don't hesitate to ask.

Visit our official website for more information.

Read part one of our article about Trauma Insurance.

Defining Insurance Terminology.

Fidelity Acquires Tower Life Insurance - What You Should Know

Recently, Fidelity Life has acquired Tower Life, which means that all of the risk policies currently under Tower (Life Insurance, Total Permanent Disability, Trauma Insurance and Income Protection) will now be managed by Fidelity and be dealt with under the Fidelity name. If you have Health Insurance with Tower however, these policies will now be provided by NIB Health Cover.

The good news is that for clients with existing Tower policies, not a great deal is going to change. All of the terms and conditions on your current policies will remain the same and nothing will be renegotiated or changed. Sums assured will remain, as will any exemptions, add-ons to your policy, and no existing premiums will be altered in any way.

The changes will really only affect clients looking to take out policies in the future. With the change, the range of Tower insurance products will no longer be sold and will be replaced by the Fidelity range. If your Tower policy was acquired through us, we will remain on hand to help manage your insurance in the same ways as before and nothing will change.

For more information about the changeover or if you have any questions, feel free to call us anytime on (09) 307 8200 or by email at enquiry@sprattfinancial.co.nz.

The official announcement of the acquisition from Fidelity.

More information about our services here.

Trauma Insurance - What You Need To Know

A recent article on Good Returns details recent changes by Insurance provider OnePath to their trauma cover.

The article also makes the statement that Trauma Insurance is becoming more popular among New Zealand consumers as a knowledge spreads through the populace that it is more likely to be claimed upon than life insurance.

"General manger of adviser distribution Jeremy Nicoll said it was a product that advisers should be discussing with their clients. “It does provide a good amount of money to help customers when they do have one of these conditions… Customers understand they are more likely to claim. Everyone has a friend who has contracted some form of cancer.”"

In short, for those who don't know, trauma insurance is a form of cover that pays out a lump sum to you if you suffer a critical illness. With the advances in medical technology, it is now highly likely that you will survive these conditions but will then be forced to undergo a period of recovery and rehabilitation where you will be unable to continue work and earn a living. Trauma insurance is thus designed to help you cope with illness and its effects on your family and your lifestyle.

Most providers will give you a full list of the conditions covered. Sovereign for instance, has 44 conditions that are covered, from the most common such as cancers, heart attacks or strokes to more rare conditions such as liver failure, lung disease, paralysis and neurological disorders. For a full list of Sovereign's covered illnesses and the conditions upon each, check out their Living Assurance PDF here.

There is a long list of conditions covered by trauma insurance. Make sure you know which ones are covered before you start and read all policy documents given thoroughly.

Trauma insurance is becoming more popular as the knowledge begins to sink in through first and second hand experience that in this day and age a quick death due to a sudden illness is more and more unlikely. The more likely scenario is a long period of recovery, but if you only have life insurance it will not pay out, leaving you in the lurch at your most stressful time.

With the statistics on critical illness in New Zealand the way they are, it's heartening to see Trauma cover becoming more popular, as it is important, perhaps these days equally as important as life cover (once considered the crucial form of insurance to have). Stay tuned for a future post on extra add on benefits you can add to your trauma cover to get even more out of it, and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions!

Visit our official website for more information.

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Notes from the Southern Cross Road Show 2013 (Part Two)

Recently one of our team attended the Southern Cross Health Insurance Roadshow. Here is part two of her experience from the event, and what the experts are saying about the current state of Southern Cross, health insurance in New Zealand, the private health care system and several forthcoming changes. For Part One, click here.

Southern Cross are going to try and implement an open contract strategy (currently being successfully practiced in the UK), which is open referral whereby members ring Southern Cross and they give a list of health care providers, this way there can be some restriction on the overpriced providers mentioned in part one as a drag on the New Zealand health insurance industry. The problem is that currently, the GP refers the patient to a specialist of their choice for whatever reason they choose. It could be that the GP thinks they are the best choice what they do, but it could also be that your GP plays golf with the neurosurgeon and he thinks he’s a great golf player. There is nothing in place in the current system to stop this from happening,. Southern Cross mentioned that unfortunately some of us can be passive and just go with what our GP says, no questions asked. How many of us actually research the specialist or ask for a portfolio? How many of us ring around for a second opinion? Also, as mentioned in Part One, people tend not to care about prohibitive costs when it is 100% covered by the insurer. They are somewhat unaware in this regard that if this problem of overcharging could be addressed, the insurance companies would have more room to lower premiums or offer more competitive rates, which would benefit them directly.

Southern Cross are implementing initiatives to counter overcharging and pass the savings on to the consumer.

In another forthcoming initiative, Southern Cross wants to gather patient information so that a Portfolio on specialists/surgeons can be available for members to actually read about the impending procedure from real people and real cases. This portfolio will divulge success and failure rates, return visits to hospital because procedures haven’t worked, infections caught whilst in hospital and all the relevant information that patients should have access to. This could save money, preventing procedures having to be repeated at Southern Cross' expense. When repeat procesures occur, it was detailed to us that getting the money returned to them involves the insurer battling ACC for medical misadventure as ACC doesn’t willingly pay over the money. Last year, Southern Cross got $6 million recuperated but this was not enough to cover the extra expenditures and costs associated with repeats of procedures.

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We were informed in the presentation by Lars Bojsen-Moller that Skin Claims have risen 33% from last year, totalling 47,000 skin claims and $40 million paid out. One of the reasons for this is that GPs aren’t doing what they could be doing.  They are sending the patients to a skin specialist at a cost of $1500 when in some cases the doctors are very capable and more than qualified to carry out the same procedure for $400. When this happens many times it leads to a huge increase in costs which Southern Cross has to pay in claims.

Lars concluded his presentation with a point aiming to make us aware that some health insurance companies don’t word their policies correctly. You can think that you are covered for something but end up not being covered. This is something that clients who go it alone with their insurance have to be aware of and practise extra diligence, or use a broker such as ourselves who have the knowledge to avoid these possible pitfalls and get you just what you need. Wrapping up his presentation, Lars reminded us that Southern Cross have a lot of changes coming up, which hopefully should benefit their ability to give clients better deals on their health insurance and better care. We will keep you informed when these changes come into effect and how they might benefit your personal insurance. As always, if you have an enquiry or you want more information, send us a question at enquiry@sprattfinancial.co.nz or by phone at (09) 307 8200.

Visit our official website for more information.

Visit the official Southern Cross website.

Notes from the Southern Cross Road Show 2013 (Part One)

Recently one of our team attended the Southern Cross Health Insurance Roadshow. Here is her experience from the event, and what the experts are saying about the current state of Southern Cross, health insurance in New Zealand, the private health care system and several forthcoming changes.

Lars Bojsen-Moller (Chief Operating Officer - Marketing and Distribution) took to the floor first up, a really interesting, knowledgeable man, who has been around the world several times comparing the world's public health and health insurance systems. I have broken down as best as I can his hour long presentation.

·         Southern Cross has 61% of the NZ market share.

·         Grew by only .08% last year.

·         Processing 2000 claims a day at $2.8 million.

·          Southern Cross has had an A+ Claim rate for 9 years in a row.

·         Southern Cross had 12% fewer cancellations last year.

·         They have the biggest Adviser Group and were happy to report that Group Schemes were on the rise.

However, on the negative side:

Unfortunately, NZ Health Insurance overall is in decline and has been for the past 3-4 years. This is a direct result of people’s disposable income being increasingly under pressure and the amount of redundancy increases. Also, confidence in Insurance Companies is at an all time low across the board.

Lack of disposable income among Kiwis is hurting the Health Insurance Industry.

Lars spoke with much passion and at great length about a significant problem we are having with specialists/surgeons overcharging and the perception from members and the public that the more the surgeons/specialists charge, the more it must mean they are “the best”. From the statistics, this is not entirely the case. Private practitioners have made sure they have greater demand than supply and have been able to apply this for a long time, by setting their price structure high, and this is not about to change in the foreseeable future. I guess what this means for Southern Cross and the Health Insurance industry is they are being effectively caught in the middle of paying too much and keeping up with meeting member expectations. This will take a long time to remedy, the surgeons and specialists are happy, very happy actually, and the members don’t care about cost as long as they can claim 100% of their procedure, Southern Cross unfortunately are left paying as necessary for procedures that are boosted in price by surgeons and private health care providers. You can understand Southern Cross’s frustration.

The cost being charged by private surgeons is doing damage to the health insurance business, according to Lars Bojsen-Moller.

A recent survey showed most Aucklanders refused to receive private treatment outside of Auckland. North Shore people refused to even receive treatment over the Harbour Bridge. Auckland is by far the most expensive city in NZ for any private procedure and that’s because quite simply, they just can be. For example:  A knee replacement would cost $17,990 in Marlborough and a whooping $26,029 for the exact same procedure in Auckland. The interesting fact is that if anything was to go wrong in Private Surgery/Hospital you end up in the Public hospital!

A lot of Auckland Private surgeons/specialist aren’t willing to contract with Southern Cross, they are price setting and getting away with it. However Southern Cross has contracts with some affiliated providers and this is when you swipe your card and the specialist involved sorts out your prior approval etc which has been the case for quite sometime and which they are hoping to spread further throughout the health care system. If this goes the way Southern Cross wants it to, they believe it will end up helping the public and make a positive impact on mitigating the stresses involved with health insurance prior approvals.

In the next part: We'll see what other initiatives and changes Southern Cross are looking at implementing, some statistics on claims, and how these changes will affect you as insurance clients.

Visit our official website for more information.

Visit the official Southern Cross website.