insurance Archives

Tech smart: Put all your medical records on your phone

It’s official: UnitedHealth Group confirmed over 100 million people had their health care and personal data stolen in a massive ransomware attack on a subsidiary, Change Healthcare. It’s a pretty safe bet your personal info and health data might be at risk.

Hospital systems get hacked and go down. Keeping physical records sounds old-school, but if digital systems are unavailable, this step could save your life. Let’s walk through how to do it.

Start with your meds

Make a detailed list of all your medications, including dosages and names, and keep both digital and physical copies handy. If you’re on an iPhone, the Health app is perfect — first responders can access it in an emergency. You can also try the Notes app and snap photos of your prescription bottles for quick reference.

Android users, Google Keep is a great option for this. If you order prescriptions online, check if there’s a list you can access there.

Bottom line: You should have a complete, accessible record of your meds for yourself and your loved ones. It could make all the difference in an emergency.

Move on to your medical records

These days, most health care records are stored in online patient portals, making them easy to access anytime. You can often request a printed or emailed copy directly from your provider. Just be prepared to wait.

To skip the hassle, try syncing your health records directly to your phone so they’re always at your fingertips. You can even download them as a PDF for quick access whenever — or wherever — you need them.

🍎 Steps for iPhone and iPad

Add your health records

Open the Health app on your iPhone.
Tap the Summary tab, then your profile picture in the upper-right corner. Scroll down to Features > Health Records > Get Started.
Search for your hospital or network, then tap it. FYI: It’ll ask you to add location services to find hospitals and health networks near you, but you don’t have to enable it to search.
Under Available to Connect, choose Connect Account. Sign in to your health care provider’s website or app.
Wait for your records to update. It might take a minute for your information to appear.
Repeat these steps for each supported provider. Start by going to Features, then tap Add Account.

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Need some extra cash? 15 jobs you can do from home

Working remotely isn’t suitable for everybody. But in the wake of the pandemic, it has seen a considerable boon globally. Tap or click here for legit ways to find work-from-home jobs.

If you’re interested in earning a living from home, there is no better time to get involved with the right opportunity.

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For the [fill-in-the-blank] person in your life

✏️ I’ll fill in the blank. All you have to do is wrap it.

For the road tripper: A dashcam with unlimited cloud backup storage. Your recipient’s insurance premiums will thank you.
For the sneakerhead: A sneaker eraser, so they can finally whip out the white Nikes.
For the guy who looks like Grizzly Adams: A fancy, new beard trimmer so he can grow big or go home.
For the kid with unlimited energy: An indoor soccer game to wipe them out in no time, even on snow days!
For the cook who makes way too much: Souper cubes. Freeze leftovers and pop ‘em out whenever you want. I use mine all the time.
For the person who’s always stressin’: Shower steamers, because they deserve it!
For the college kid: A refrigerator deodorizer. We all know what dorm mini fridges smell like.
For the person who’s always cold: A towel warmer makes getting out of the shower a lot less chilly. This one allows them to infuse their towels with essential oils, too!

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

Facebook funeral scam warning

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Scammers have hit a sickening low. They use real obituary details to trick grieving families into giving their credit card info for fake “services.” Plus, tech phrases we’re done with, insurance companies using drones, and why you need an outdoor TV antenna.

🏴‍☠ Hands off my treasure: Porch piracy is so out of control, you can now pay for stolen package insurance. PorchPals covers up to $2,000 of deliveries (or three claims a year) for $120 annually. Don’t bother. Save your money. Sign for your packages or have them delivered to a locker. Steps here!

50% higher

Expected car insurance costs in California, Missouri and Minnesota this year. Insurers are blaming damage from severe storms and wildfires. Across the U.S., premiums are expected to go up 22%. Check your state here.

5 hidden fees costing your small business money

Starting your own business can be exciting, but it often comes with a rocky road ahead. Those rocks will cut into your wallet through several expenses. Miscalculating the daily costs of running a company can hurt you in the long run.

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National Public Data breach: How to protect yourself and your SSN

National Public Data, a company that collects information from nonpublic sources without consent, according to a class-action lawsuit (paywall link), has been hit by a massive data breach. The company makes money by selling personal data to employers, private investigators and anyone conducting background checks.

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Wear a health tracker? Expect high insurance costs

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You aren’t just counting your steps. Health tracker companies are selling your data, leading to higher insurance premiums, invasive ads, and more. Plus, TSA’s facial recognition is expanding, and a ‘lottery’ may decide seats for the Menendez brothers’ resentencing.

👥 Your body = Their revenue stream: You know that health tracker you’re wearing? The companies behind these trackers and wellness apps are selling your body-centric data to third parties, leading you to have higher insurance premiums, receive more targeted ads or worse. Current laws offer little protection, and you opt in when you agree to use the apps. You might want to pretend to be someone else if you have health issues, just sayin’.

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I can bearly believe this story. Four dopes used a bear suit and fake claws to ruin a Rolls-Royce and claim the insurance money.

🏥 Profits over patients? Hospitals are fighting a wave of insurance denials, thanks to AI algorithms slashing costs for insurers. Take Cigna, which was hit with a class-action lawsuit after rejecting over 300,000 claims in just two months. Their AI? It spent a whopping 1.2 seconds reviewing each case. Whoa. If you were denied coverage, ask them to take a look again — this time, by a human.

Big Brother is watching: License plate reader systems were once used to track stolen cars and gather insurance data. Now, they’re snapping pics of political signs, abortion-rights bumper stickers and clothing with text. Millions of pics are uploaded every month to massive, searchable databases with precise locations for each image. Wild.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s an insurance drone! Just ask Mike Arman, who was spied on twice by two different insurers. The first refused to renew his policy after satellite images showed his roof “looked deteriorated.” The second hit him with a 25% increase when it was time to renew. Your insurance company could start doing the same.

Spot the fake: Change Healthcare is offering free credit monitoring after this year’s massive data breach (paywall link). A reported one in three Americans had their insurance info, Social Security number, health conditions and more leaked. The credit monitoring is through IDX. If you get anything else in the mail, it’s a scam. Just a reminder: If you haven’t frozen your credit yet, here are the steps.

⚕️ Don’t give up: Fight Health Insurance is a new, free AI tool that can help you appeal health insurance claim denials. The chatbot scans your denial letter and generates an appeal letter you can edit. Unlike ChatGPT and others, this one is specifically finetuned for health insurance rejections. If you use it, triple-check the text before sending it off to your insurer.

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A helicopter was about 75 feet above my house in Santa Barbara, and I looked up the tail number on Flightradar24. Is it an insurance company taking videos to decide on coverage or the county checking whether someone’s built something they can tax them on?

3 quick checks to protect your privacy and your wallet

I make it a point to do the three important tasks below once a year. Now, you need to do the same. At the bottom, use the share icons to be the hero in your family and with your friends, too.

The three credit reporting agencies (TransUnion, Experian and Equifax) are required by law to provide you with one free credit report a year. Sweet. There are a few ways you can request a copy of yours from each agency:

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👀 Insurance spies in the skies: Homeowners insurance companies are using drones to spot potential issues. One guy had his policy canceled because of moss on the roof … that he cleaned up after the drone had already snapped a pic. I warned this was happening back in April. Listen here, in case you missed it.

PayPal, Venmo and Cash App don’t want you to know this

Sometimes, digital payment apps feel like the equivalent of finding $20 in a jacket pocket. I have $34 sitting in Venmo, $215 in Apple Pay and …

This isn’t a big deal if you keep a few bucks around to pay back a friend for a drink. But this is huge if you get paid directly to PayPal or Venmo for anything. Unlike the money at your FDIC-insured bank or credit union, you can lose your money sitting in these apps.

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