Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Contingency Fee for Professionals

Should a system of contingency fee be practiced for lawyers and medical specialists, so that they get paid their fee only on successful outcome of the case? Here are the results of a survey of 34 people.

www.tankinlian.com/latest.aspx

Medishield covers upto age 85

About 70% of respondents to my survey indicated that they prefer to be insured under Medishield after the retire from work. The premium is lower (about one-third of a Private Shield) and the co-payment is also lower. They have to used the subsidized wards (B2 and C).

The remaining 30% indicate that they will opt for Private Shield. The key result cited is that Medishield stops at age 85 and Private Shield can be continued beyond age 85. In my view, this is not necessary to worry about this feature because:
  • It is likely that Medishield will be extended beyond age 85 at a future date
  • Even if Medishield is not available beyond age 85, there is no need for an elderly person beyond age 85 to spend a lot of money for treating a serious illness, as the chance of successful recovery is very low.
It is better to spend the money for a better quality of life at a younger age. 

Insurance for co-payment

The Medishield and Private Shield plans require the patient to co-pay the part of the hospital bill, comprising of the deductible and co-insurance. Some insurance companies offer a rider to cover the co-payment. Many insurance agents sell the rider as an attractive benefit. In my view, it is all right for the consumer to self-insure and make the co-payments out of  savings (e.g. Medisave), rather than pay the insurance premium (that includes a loading for expenses and profit).

My explanation can be found here: www.tankinlian.com/latest.aspx (look for Medishield and private Shield).

Damage to home caused by a falling tree

A consumer ask his insurance company if the home insurance policy covers damage to the home caused by a falling tree. He gets a vague answer. Here is my view about the coverage.


www.tankinlian.com/latest.aspx

Read
Practical Guide on Financial Planning.


Unmarried Child Custody | Unmarried Child Custody Rights and Issues | Child Joint Custody

As unmarried child custody becomes much more common, the courts have become sensitive to individual family situations; and take many more factors into consideration than when they are deciding custody as a result of a conventional divorce. 

Child Custody Papers-Where To Get Free Child Custody Papers | Child Joint Custody

Anyone who finds themselves in the position of filing child custody papers may also find themselves in need of a lawyer.  However, lawyers can be expensive; and anyone going through a divorce may also be short on funds.  This is why if you need to file child custody papers, the first place to look is the Internet.  Most states have a sample of child custody papers available for all situations of child custody. 

Medical Transcription Training Online | Medical Transcription Training Options | Transcription Software

Medical transcription training would equip the students with basics on medical terminologies, elementary laws governing the medical field in the country, the various tips and tricks of transcribing the recording quickly and accurately, latest technologies in the domain and future trends. Some course would also train people on delivering advanced and complete solutions to their customers too – not just transcribing audio into typed records.

Security and monitoring of the server in the data center

A local company Typent offers a service in I.T. Outsourcing. I engaged them to look into the security of my dedicated service, which is located at a data center. I did not experience any security issues previously, but I wanted to make sure that if there is a security threat in the future, I will be ready to respond.

Typent run a tool to scan the server over a few hours. They were able to identify a few potential security threats that could arise in the future. They advised the installation of a firewall and anti-virus software on the server and also for the server software to be updated. As a hardware firewall is expensive, I decided (on their recommendation) to implement a software firewall to provide first level protection. They assisted me in the implementation of these measures. They also helped me to install a virtual server, which can be used in an emergency.

I also engaged Typent to provide a regular monitoring service on my server. This service allows them to be alerted on any potential threat to the server or the possibility of a potential failure of the hardware. The monitoring is continuous and an email alert will be sent immediately on any of these incidents. This allows Typent to see if any corrective action needs to be taken immediately.

The cost of the initial and regular service is quite small and is easily within the budget of any small enterprise. I recommend that any enterprise that users a server for their business, should have this type of monitoring service. Take precaution before any failure or threat occurs, and be ready to respond when it arises. If you are interested to use the service of Typent, send an email to kinlian@gmail.com.

Typent also recommend the creation of a virtual machine (that contain a copy of the image of the operating system) that can be called in an emergency.