Cavalcade of Risk #83

It is my privilege to host this week's Cavalcade of Risk. It is over 113 degrees here in Phoenix by noon on any given day, so in keeping with the weather, I have picked only the hottest posts about risk, both personal and private, and a few important blogs about the upcoming health care transition this country may expect in the coming years.

One note: my blog platform is tricky and will take you out of this blog when you click a hyperlink, so be sure to hit the "back" button to return!

Personal Risk and One Slightly Gross Dog Topic

First, I want to post a powerful post about personal risk and persevering even after adversity blows in. Toni Graybill presents tonig.net: Welcome to My World of Wealth posted at Maximize Health and Wealth.

ID Theft blogger Robert Siciliano, writing at the Blogger News Network, warns about increased risk of identity theft when using an ATM, and offers some helpful tips to mitigate it.

Since I am currently "house poor," here's a post I liked. Rohit presents 5 personal finance lessons we all should re-learn from the present financial crisis posted at eMoneyLog.

As long as we are on personal risk, I am going to include a post about dog health. Who hasn't rushed their dog into the vet and been bitten by a several hundred dollar vet bill? This post gives some general guidelines. Now, I am going to give you a tip that can literally save you hundreds of dollars. This post mentions taking your dog to the vet if diarrhea lasts more than one day. Au contraire mon frere. I have saved literally thousands of dollars during my dog-owning decades with this simple trick: a can of pumpkin.

I own German or Czech shepherds. I am a big promoter of the German shepherd dog and believe in buying imports or dogs bred here from recent European lines. Because breeding standards in Germany and the Czech Republic are much stronger than they are in the US, the health and temperament of imports is generally excellent.

From time to time, my dog Romy will open the refrigerator door and have a feast or I will succumb to human sympathies and feed the pups people food, which doesn't always agree with their digestion. When my dogs get diarrhea, I simply open a can of plain pumpkin and take them off solid food, feeding them pumpkin for a day. The second day I mix in pumpkin and a little kibble or rice, and voila, in almost every case, symptoms solved. Most dogs love the taste, so don't worry about that. If the symptom doesn't resolve in two days, I would consider trotting them off (excuse the pun) to the vet, but I can't recall a time I have had to do so in the past decade and a half since I've been using this trick. For a laugh, visit the "unindicted co-conspirators" at my website.

I believe the high costs of vet care in the US precludes families from adopting dogs, so anything I can do to keep a dog out of the vet I hope keeps more dogs out of shelters.

Risk Management

If you have been following the swirl surrounding the "United Breaks Guitars" video, my post this week reminds us of what can happen when a mega corporation forgets about the power of today's media. If you haven't seen the video, I highly recommend you watch it. It is available at the link offered above.

The folks at Workers Comp Insider looks at cost and compensability issues related to sports injuries at college and at the gym.

Finally, Tim Norris of National RE Insurance Group offers some advice on workers' compensation exposure for the real estate investor at this link.

Health Care

Okay, now that I have probably grossed you out but saved you lots of money, let's move on to health care issues. I ponder why every industrialized nation in the world has some type of universal health care and we have been unable to do so. I know we are moving forward, but I cannot help but worry that what we Americans will end up with will resemble sausage more than filet.

Of concern to many Americans is the need for long-term health care coverage and this post by Jeff Rose at Good Financial Cents offers some tips on when and what type of coverage you should buy.

John Leppard offers Congress Can't Run the Risk of Ignoring Risk posted at Healthcare Manumission.

Wenchypoo is always interesting and doesn't fail this week. We present Wenchypoo's Health Care Proposal posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.

Jason Shafrin presents Public Plan enrollment freeze posted at Healthcare Economist.

Tyler King presents You can't solve a problem that you haven't defined posted at Clarifying Health. Tyler, I couldn't have said it better myself.

Next, Henry Stern, LUTCF, CBC presents Throwing Grandma Under the Train posted at InsureBlog.

Finally, the immodest Jaan Sidorov of the Disease Management Care Blog disagrees with Paul Krugman on the viability of markets for health insurance. He provides theory and evidence that suggest that the market can work and urges Dr. Krugman to get out of the way.

Our roundup of risk is complete. Have a safe and quality week.

Your RFP response is a critical factor in winning that account

More and more, large organizations seeking professional services like adjusting services, prescription benefits programs or agent / broker services turn to Requests for Proposal (RFP) to choose the best provider. For many service providers, responding to RFPs the first few times can be intimidating. A professional writer can help.

Case Study

A life and health agent in a small town of about 30,000 wanted to compete for a local organization's group health benefits coverage. The organization had gone out with an RFP for broker services the previous year and the brokerage, although submitting a proposal, failed to win the business. The hospital went out for services again last month and the brokerage turned to Insurance Writer for help in preparing the RFP.

As a former risk manager who both wrote and, as a consultant, responded to RFPs, I am in a unique position to help service providers craft excellent responses. I know what purchasing officers look for reviewing RFP responses. Today’s purchasing officer reviews, normally with a team of experienced personnel, many RFPs when attempting to procure services. Your response must stand out from the crowd.

The process we used allowed the agent to answer as many questions as he could in writing in the format of the RFP response. Then in a short series of interviews we determined his hidden strengths and where these assets could flesh out the RFP response. With our help, this agent stands a much better chance to win this bid. As an additional benefit, he can use this same RFP response and its format for future responses since so many RFPs ask for the same information again and again.

Here is the best part. The agent paid less than one percent of his potential commission in this matter to give him the edge he needs to win this important bid. Are you willing to invest a little to win? You will be surprised at how affordable our services are. Call us at 602.870.3230 if we can help.

This week's Cavalcade of Risk is now posted

For a great overview of the healthcare system reforms and other risk-related matters, visit the Cav.