Insurance & Protection
Health insurance, auto insurance, life insurance, homeowner’s and renter’s insurance, disability coverage, and how to evaluate policies and claims.
Latest in Insurance & Protection
A power of attorney and health directive keep your money and care under your control if illness strikes
A stroke, a car accident, or a sudden diagnosis can leave someone unable to sign a check, authorize a medical procedure, or communicate treatment preferences....
A long-term-care partnership policy shields a matching amount of your savings from Medicaid spend-down
Families with moderate savings face a sharp financial cliff when a loved one needs nursing home care or extended home health services. Medicaid, the primary...
Replacement-cost home insurance rebuilds at today’s prices, not a depreciated value
Homeowners who suffer a total loss from fire or storm face a sharp financial divide based on a single policy detail: whether their coverage pays...
Many life-insurance policies let a terminally ill policyholder draw cash from the death benefit while still alive
A terminally ill policyholder facing mounting medical bills and lost income can often tap cash from the same life-insurance policy that was supposed to pay...
Many veterans can get VA health care with no monthly premium and low or no copays, depending on income and service
Veterans across the United States can enroll in VA health care without paying a monthly premium, but what they owe in copays, if anything, depends...
$2,874 a month, tax-free, can go to wartime veterans who need daily help
Wartime veterans who cannot dress themselves, stay clean, or avoid daily hazards without help can receive up to $2,874 a month in tax-free pension payments...
$1,000 extra a year can go into a health savings account once you turn 55
Americans turning 55 gain access to an extra $1,000 a year in health savings account contributions, a fixed statutory amount that does not change with...
A free pharmacy discount card sometimes beats your insurance copay on generics
Millions of Americans filling generic prescriptions at the pharmacy counter may be paying more through their insurance copay than they would with a free discount...
UnitedHealth denied 71% of seniors’ long-term-care requests, versus 42% at smaller plans
Seniors enrolled in UnitedHealth Group’s Medicare Advantage plan saw roughly 70.9% of their prior authorization requests for long-term acute care hospital stays denied in June...
Uninsured or paying cash? Hospitals must give you a good-faith cost estimate before they treat you
Millions of Americans who lack health insurance or choose to pay out of pocket for medical care now have a federal right that many still...
$15 a month buys renters insurance covering your belongings and a liability lawsuit
Renters who skip insurance leave their furniture, electronics, and savings exposed to a single fire, break-in, or liability claim that could cost tens of thousands...
Leaving a job? COBRA lets you keep your health plan 60 days, at full price
Workers who lose employer-sponsored health coverage face a tight deadline and a steep price increase if they want to keep the same plan. Federal law...
An ABLE account lets people with disabilities save tens of thousands without losing federal benefits
Millions of Americans with disabilities face a harsh financial trap: save more than $2,000 in countable resources and lose access to Supplemental Security Income and,...
Disability insurance replaces part of your paycheck if an illness or injury keeps you from working
Workers who lose income to a sudden illness or off-the-job injury face an immediate financial gap that employer-provided or state-mandated disability insurance is designed to...
Term life insurance costs a fraction of whole life for the same coverage
Households shopping for life insurance face a stark price gap between term and whole life policies, even when the death benefit is identical. A healthy...
A health savings account is the only account taxed three ways in your favor, with a $4,400 individual limit this year
Workers enrolled in high-deductible health plans now have a higher ceiling for tax-advantaged medical savings. The IRS set the 2026 self-only contribution limit for health...
An emergency-room visit can’t be billed above your in-network share, even if the hospital is out of network
Patients who end up in an emergency room at an out-of-network hospital cannot be charged more than their plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount for that visit....
A federal flood policy caps payouts at $250,000 for the home and $100,000 for belongings
Homeowners who suffer flood damage through a federally backed insurance policy can collect no more than $250,000 toward rebuilding their home and $100,000 for destroyed...
Homeowners can buy federal flood coverage even when they live outside a mapped flood zone
Homeowners who live outside a federally mapped high-risk flood zone can still buy coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program, and a substantial share of...
Standard home insurance doesn’t cover flood damage, and a new flood policy takes 30 days to kick in
Homeowners and renters who assume their standard insurance policy will cover flood damage face a costly surprise: it will not. FEMA states plainly that neither...