High-Tech Auto Safety Features

We look away from the road for a few seconds to grab our coffee cup or glance at a billboard, we leave a little late for work and drive too fast, we drift off after a long haul on a monotonous road, or we freeze-up and fail to react to an erratic driver or an obstacle on the road. The sad fact is that these common errors are responsible for most of the accidents on the road, and they are all the responsibility of the driver.

But what if our cars could protect us from ourselves? That's just what some new high-tech safety features like these are aiming to do.

Read the rest of this story from Jones & Associates Insurance and check on your own Clinton MD Auto Insurance today!

Officials: Be Careful In Hiring For Home Repairs

by WBALTV | wbaltv.com | October 1, 2010


State officials are urging homeowners to be careful when choosing a contractor to repair damage from Thursday's severe weather.

Alexander M. Sanchez, secretary of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, said residents can be taken advantage of if they're not careful.

"Too often, unlicensed contractors arrive after harsh conditions, such as this week's storm and flood, with offers to help when their true intent is to take advantage of people in distress," he said. "Often the first available or the cheapest contractor is not the best choice."

Homeowners who use licensed home improvement contractors are protected by the Maryland Home Improvement Commission's Guaranty Fund. This fund is administered to compensate homeowners who suffer economic damages at the hands of a licensed home improvement contractor.
 
No coverage is provided to the homeowner if the contractor is unlicensed.

"Homeowners should remember the law requires contractors to hold a current license in order to perform home improvement, electrical, plumbing or heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration work,” said Stanley J. Botts, DLLR's commissioner of Occupational and Professional Licensing.

Consumers may contact DLLR's Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing at 410-230-6001 or click here to check the licensing status and complaint history of any contractor.

Be sure you're covered with your own Clinton MD Home Insurance policy through Jones & Associates.

Maryland offers homebuying incentives to BRAC workers

by Ryan Sharrow | September 29, 2010 | Baltimore Business Journal



Maryland’s housing department said Wednesday a new program will provide an additional $2,500 in home buying assistance to military workers relocating to the state.


The BRAC Match Program enables homebuyers to receive $2,500 in down payment and/or closing cost assistance if purchasing a home through the Maryland Mortgage Program, administered by the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development. The state-run mortgage aid program offers first-time homebuyers a variety of low-interest, fixed-rate loan options.

The BRAC Match Program is available to civilian and military employees of the federal defense agencies that are relocating to Maryland.

The Base Realignment and Closure plan is expected to bring thousands of workers to Maryland from New Jersey and Virginia over the next several years.

The program can be used with other state assistance programs currently available to homebuyers.

In July, the state announced plans to expand the Maryland Mortgage Program ahead of BRAC and provide $100 million in mortgage loans to homebuyers in 10 counties.

Check on your own Maryland Home Insurance with Jones & Associates Insurance Agency today!

Cash-Poor Governments Ditching Public Hospitals

By SUZANNE SATALINE
AUGUST 29, 2010

Peninsula Clarion

A patient and care giver at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska, where the government is considering a partnership with the for-profit LHP Hospital Group of Texas.

Faced with mounting debt and looming costs from the new federal health-care law, many local governments are leaving the hospital business, shedding public facilities that can be the caregiver of last resort.

A patient and care giver at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska, where the government is considering a partnership with the for-profit LHP Hospital Group of Texas.

Officials in Lauderdale County, Ala., this spring opted to transfer their 91-year-old Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital and other properties to a for-profit company after struggling to satisfy an angry bond insurer.

"We were next to knocking on bankruptcy's door,'' said Rhea Fulmer, a Lauderdale County commissioner who approved the deal with RegionalCare Hospital Partners, of Brentwood, Tenn, but with trepidation. She said the county had no guarantee the company would improve care in the decades to come. "Time will tell.''

Clinton County, Ohio, in May sold its hospital to the same company. Officials in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, are weighing a joint venture with a for-profit company, similar to one the same company made with Bannock County, Idaho. And Prince George's County, Md., is seeking a buyer for its medical complex.

Full Story
Get a free health insurance quote by calling Jones & Associates at 301-899-6117.

Maryland Becomes Second State to Offer Federally Funded Abortions under Obamacare

July 16, 2010
By Matt Cover, Staff Writer

(CNSNews.com) - Maryland will join Pennsylvania as the second state to use federal tax dollars to pay for abortions under the new health care law signed by President Barack Obama in March, according to information released by Maryland’s State Health Insurance Plan.

Maryland will receive $85 million in federal funds for its federally mandated high-risk insurance pool, which will cover abortions. As CNSNews.com reported on July 14, Pennsylvania will receive $160 million in federal funds for its high-risk insurance pool, which will also cover abortions.

During the debate over the health-care bill, President Obama delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress, saying: “Under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions.”

The day the House voted to pass that bill, President Obama also signed an executive order purporting to prevent federal funding of abortions in the programs it created.


Full Story

No Maryland employees enroll same-sex spouses for health insurance

By: Hayley Peterson Examiner Staff - June 7, 2010

No Maryland state employees enrolled their same-sex spouses for health benefits during the state's first enrollment period for gay couples, according to Gov. Martin O'Malley's office.

The state's Office of Budget and Management opened the special enrollment period for same-sex couples following a February mandate from Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler that state agencies begin recognizing out-of-state gay marriages.

Although no one enrolled their same-sex partners for benefits, a handful of gay couples submitted their marriage certificates for the record.

"We have received a number of marriage certificates from employees already receiving domestic partner benefits, which means the only change would be that they would be in the system recognized as 'married,' " said O'Malley spokesman Shaun Adamec. The state has received fewer than 10 certificates, but more may have been submitted that have not been processed, he said.

Maryland already extends health benefits to same-sex couples who register as "domestic partners" -- meaning they share a bank account and home address, and agree to sign a contract saying they have been in a relationship for at least one year.

Full Story

Insurance broker releases ‘very preliminary’ reform guide for employers

The CIMA Cos., an insurance broker with offices in the Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D.C., areas, has issued a tentative guide for employers on federal health care reform.

The Woodbridge, Va.-based company called its guide “very preliminary” in this “environment of uncertainty,” according to a statement.

The guide on handling compliance deadlines in the sweeping Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act precedes actual federal regulations for implementing the law, which was signed into law in March.

The CIMA guide includes a timeline for the requirements, along with a description of some of the issues that must be resolved through the regulatory process; speculates on what the act might cost employers; and includes links to resources for additional information.

The guide is available in PDF format in The CIMA Letter.

Source

Suitland Auto Insurance

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