Your State Can Help With Balky Insurers
Many families with medical insurance are shocked when an illness or accident strikes and their insurer leaves them with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills.
In most cases that’s because they’re underinsured. Their policies have such strict limits on how much the insurer will pay, that they’re left holding the bag for most of the cost.
It’s a major reason why 62% of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills even though three out of every four of those being pushed into bankruptcy by health care costs have some type of health insurance.
But insurers also reject 10% to 15% of what appears to be legitimate claims. That’s where your state insurance commission comes in. MORE
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Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union is First to Add Free FICO Credit Scores to Online Banking
In what I hope is the beginning of a trend, Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (PSECU) is offering free FICO credit scores to its online banking customers. The CU says more than 200,000 members are eligible to receive free scores.
Although, Wamu and HSBC (note 1) both offer free scores for their respective credit card customers, PSECU is the first financial institution to offer scores to checking account customers within the online banking area.
There is no charge for the service, but members must enroll to participate. A new score will be posted online each month in the online banking area. Members also have the option to receive alerts when their scores are updated.
The service is powered by Fair Isaac’s MyFICO service. According its press released today, the company is talking with other financial institutions about participating in the Scores on Statements program. Currently, 1.5 million consumers have access to free credit scores through the service.
Bottom line: Without knowing the financial arrangements, it’s impossible to estimate the ROI. But credit scores have real value to consumers and any financial institution providing them for free is likely to improve its standing. It’s also possible that a free credit score service could be a profit center if fee-based credit report monitoring options are marketed to enrollees of the free service (note 2).
