Nationwide Disaster Insurance Sucks

It really wasn’t so long ago when the stretch of real estate from Miami north past Vero Beach was ravaged by a quartet of nasty storms during a 13-month period, causing billions in property damage, in addition to loss of life and frayed nerves anytime something stronger than a light drizzle was forecast.

As I reflect on the recent turn of events in Houston, plus hurricanes Irma and Jose sweeping their way westerly through the Atlantic, PLUS the fires raging through the Pacific Southwest, I think it’s a really good time to have a national discussion about nationwide disaster insurance, which I believe would make life a lot better for individuals impacted by these kinds of situations.

Individuals like ... for example ... me.

According to preliminary estimates, Hurricane Harvey may inflict as much as $30 billion in damages on homeowners. But only 40 percent of that may be covered by insurance - and of that, the federal government will bear the biggest liability.

When natural disasters strike, concern about the health, safety and welfare of loved ones is paramount. It should be the first priority. But a close second should be the financial health and welfare when it comes to recovering from such a disaster.

This is not the first time such a position has been advocated, for a nationwide disaster insurance program to be implemented. The concept has been discussed in Washington, D.C. for years, but with minimal results - which is surprising, given the criticism the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been subjected to the past decade or more. Although insurance is largely limited by location, natural disasters occur without regard for such boundaries; hurricanes don’t hit the Florida-George line and say, “Whoops! Gotta stop here!” When Mount St. Helen blew her stack in 1980, the eruption column rose 80,000 feet into the atmosphere and deposited ash in 11 states plus parts of Canada.

No matter where you live, you can’t escape the possibility that a terrible natural disaster might one day happen to your home or business.

The problem is, current homeowners’ insurance policies are designed to be specific, largely to limit risk. But policies are riddled with lists of exclusions and specifications that could leave you uninsured when you need it most. For example, flood damage is excluded under standard homeowners and renters insurance policies, and while you can get replacement cost coverage for the structure of your home, only actual cash value coverage is available for possessions.

Proponents of natural disaster insurance call for blanket coverage across the nation, meaning that whether you face fire, flood, tornado, earthquake or hurricane - or any other such disaster that comes your way - you will have adequate coverage to salvage your home.

As noted previously, national disaster insurance would create a much wider pool for risks by encompassing communities across the nation that will not likely face natural disasters every year - or at least at the same time, which would make it profitable for companies. Better yet, it’s not a hard idea to implement - the national flood insurance program already gives us the template. And it would dramatically reduce the federal government’s financial responsibility to rebuild homes and businesses, allowing leaders in Washington, D.C., to use our tax dollars more wisely.

Scam Artists? Yes!

In many a horror film, there have been situations where a phone rings, and we, the audience, instinctively want to go meta and yell at the screen, “Don’t answer the phone!”

In our world, there have been a plethora of similar situations, thanks to the rise in telemarketers and scam artists trying to make innocent people the subject of real-life horror scenarios, complete with identity theft and credit fraud.

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission issued a warning to consumers about a relatively new scam hooking individuals with just one word: “Yes.”

According to the FCC, the scam begins as soon as an individual answers the phone. A recorded voice or an actual person asks, "Can you hear me?" And the consumer responds, “Yes."

"The caller records the consumer's 'Yes' response and thus obtains a voice signature,” an FCC news release said. “This signature can later be used by the scammers to pretend to be the consumer and authorize fraudulent charges via telephone.

"According to complaints the FCC has received and public news reports, the fraudulent callers impersonate representatives from organizations that provide a service and may be familiar to the person receiving the call, such as a mortgage lender or utility, to establish a legitimate reason for trying to reach the consumer," the news release added.

What is most disheartening about this twist on the tried-and-proven scam is that it relies on “local” phone numbers, not out-of-area exchanges. Individuals are more likely to pick up if an unfamiliar number is local, as they might think it’s someone from their child’s school, or a neighbor, or someone with whom they might be familiar. This is less likely to happen with calls from non-local area codes or anonymous calls.

The FCC shared the following tips:

• Don't answer calls from unknown numbers. Let them go to voicemail.
• If you answer and the caller (often a recording) asks you to hit a button to stop receiving calls, just hang up. Scammers often use these tricks to identify, and then target, live respondents.
• If you receive a scam call, write down the number and file a complaint with the FCC (https://www.fcc.gov/) so it can help identify and take appropriate action to help consumers targeted by illegal callers.
• Ask your phone service provider if it offers a robocall blocking service. If not, encourage your provider to offer one. You can also visit the FCC's website (link is listed above) for information and resources on available robocall blocking tools to help reduce unwanted calls.
• Consider registering all of your telephone numbers in the National Do Not Call Registry (https://www.donotcall.gov/).

Snopes, the urban myth debunking site, has classified the scam as “unproven,” because it has yet to "to identify any scenario under which a scammer could authorize charges in another person's name simply by possessing a voice recording of that person saying 'yes,' without also already possessing a good deal of personal and account information for that person, and without being able to reproduce any other form of verbal response from that person.”

But, better safe than sorry; it’s still extremely plausible, especially with advents in new technology. Even if a scammer doesn't use a "yes" answer to attempt to sign someone up for an unwanted service or product, it still has value to the scammers; just by answering, that person has proven their phone number is active, which indicates an individual will answer calls from unknown numbers. The scammer can then turn around and sell the number - and others - as sales leads to other solicitors of questionable repute.

The LeBron James Hurricane Index

According to LeBron James, there’s not one, not two, not three, but four storms a’brewing in the Atlantic right now. And that could mean bad news for Palm Beach County and southeast Florida.

One, Hurricane Gert, continues to spin parallel to the United States' East Coast, and in the middle of the Atlantic. It’s closer to the Carolinas than Florida, so it doesn’t appear to be much of a threat here - especially since it looked to be heading northeast of Nova Scotia. 

But three other tropical disturbances are disturbing, and by next week could be either sorry, soggy excused for storms or barreling full-throttle toward the United States mainland.

If all three continue to develop into tropical storms or hurricanes, they'd be named Harvey, Irma and Jose. However, at this time it doesn't seem likely all three will continue to grow.

Then again … we are heading into the heart of the mean season. Historically, hurricane season peaks from mid August to late September, when conditions are generally more favorable for more intense cyclones. And if hurricanes had bar mitzvahs, last week Hurricane Charley would have been reading from the scriptures, and next week Hurricane Frances would be doing the same.

It’s hard to believe that thirteen years have passed since Florida got nailed by the Fab Four of hurricanes; it was between August 9 and September 27, 2004, that Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne made their presence felt and re-landscaped much of the state, leading to thousands of blue tarped roofs and millions in damages.

Just last month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration nudged up its forecast for the current season after concluding the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean were likely setting the stage for more hurricanes. They now expect the season to produce 14 to 19 named storms, five to nine hurricanes and two to five major hurricanes with winds topping 110 mph.

So with all this in front of us, it seems like a good time to remind you of the obvious: be prepared! Create an emergency communication plan with your family. Have emergency supplies in place at home, at work and in the car. Check your insurance coverage, since damages caused by flooding are not covered under normal homeowners’ insurance policies. Know your local community’s evacuation plan and evacuation routes, how to receive alerts and shelter information. And listen to local officials for storm information.

The time to prepare for a hurricane is before a storm is bearing down on the region, when you have the time and are not under pressure. If you wait, the odds are you will be under stress and could make poor decisions. Plus, that’s when much-needed non-perishable foods and supplies dwindle quickly and may not be available. Take the time now to create and write down a hurricane plan, know where you will stay to be safe for a possible storm, and get your supplies in place.

For more tips on getting prepared for the 2017 hurricane season, visit www.nhc.noaa.gov/prepare.

The Definition of Insanity For $100, Alex

Albert Einstein is credited - probably incorrectly - with proposing the definition of “insanity” as repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.

This definition definitely applies to the Republican Party’s attempts to strike down and/or reform the Affordable Care Act the last seven years, where the GOP’s valiant abilities have been worse than Charlie Brown’s ability to hit a baseball or kick a football.

Between something like 60 failed attempts to repel the ACA while President Barack Obama was in office, and multiple failed attempts to do the same since Donald Trump took the Oval Office, Republican Party leadership and membership has been unable - and, in some cases, unwilling - to bring about its much-ballyhooed change to the health care system.

Obama promised change and achieved it; the GOP has proven all talk and no action, with plenty of flip and flop along the way.

Now, don’t get me wrong; there are plenty of issues that need to be fixed in the ACA. Plenty of Democrats feel this way; heck, back in January, Obama said he would publicly support GOP efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare - and encourage Democrats to support it - if their plan is better.

But Republican plans have not been better.

For seven years, Republicans have railed against the ACA (also known as “ObamaCare”). Instead of spending time seriously devising an alternative that would work, they whined and complained and shook their fists in the air. And in the past six months, since taking full control of the federal government - the GOP controls the House, the Senate, and the Office - they have developed replacement plans in secret, without reaching across the political aisle, and alienating their own base.

While they freely assailed the health law when Obama occupied the White House, the GOP was unable to devise a workable plan that would keep both moderate Republicans and conservatives on board.

Is it any surprise three of the GOP senators who helped prevent Trumpcare from achieving a vote were Susan Collins, Shelley Moore Capito, and Lisa Murkowski? It’s notable the three women - who have been vocal in their positions on health care policy - were all left out of the Senate’s initial working group to draft the latest Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill - a group of 13 men.

"I did not come to Washington to hurt people," Capito said in a statement. “I cannot vote to repeal Obamacare without a replacement plan that addresses my concerns and the needs of West Virginians.”

So now what? After the latest crash and burn, conservative commentator Laura Ingraham said Republicans must admit they need to work with Democrats in order to pass legislation on healthcare or “do nothing.” Trump seemingly decided to focus on the latter part of her position; the president has declared his plan is now to “let Obamacare fail,” suggesting Democrats would then seek out Republicans to work together on a bill to bury the Affordable Care Act. 

If he is determined to make good on that pledge, he has plenty of options at his disposal, from declining to reimburse insurance companies for reducing low-income customers’ out-of-pocket costs to failing to enforce the mandate that most Americans have health coverage.

I hope Democrats and Republicans can come together and clean up the health care system. Americans deserve the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and having available, viable health care options achieves all three of these goals.

Florida's Opioid Mess

It took much longer than it should have, but the state Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott have finally passed and signed into law tougher penalties aimed at combating Florida’s opioid epidemic.

The legislation, officially signed last month, increases penalties for dealers caught selling synthetic drugs like fentanyl, a cheap and potent painkiller largely responsible for the surge in overdoses in Florida over the last few years.

Under the new law, drug dealers could face murder charges if their customers overdose and die using fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid South Florida drug dealers have mixed into heroin.

Starting this fall, judges will be forced to sentence people possessing 4 grams of fentanyl to a minimum of three years in prison. If an individual has 14 grams, they face 15 years in prison; people with 28 grams with get a minimum 25 years in prison.

County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay has been pushing hard for such legislation to be passed. About the same time Gov. Scott was ceremoniously signing the bill into law in Wellington this week, McKinlay was receiving the Florida Association of Counties’ Marlene Young Presidential Advocacy Award, which is presented to a county elected official who has shown extraordinary leadership. FAC President Kathy Bryant said the recognition was in large part due to McKinlay’s tireless push to not only create tougher penalties for opioids, but to get more and better funding from the state and federal governments.

McKinlay was among the first public officials in the state to lobby Gov. Scott for action, and in April helped persuade the commission to adopt an initial $3 million plan to address the crisis.

In May, after four years of a drastic increase in opioid-related deaths, Gov. Scott finally declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency. The new law allows Florida to tap more than $54 million in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant money to pay for prevention, treatment and recovery services.

The real questions now are, (a) is it enough funding to stem the tide, and (b) can any amount of money achieve this goal? Odds are, the answers are (a) no, and (b) no … but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

Florida has been a leader, nationally, in terms of opioid overdoses; according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state accounted for 12 percent of the 33,000 people nationwide who died in 2015 of opioid overdoses.

This is the second recent major drug-addiction related initiative with direct ties to Palm Beach County. There have been nearly 30 arrests in the past few months of individuals who have been breaking the law while running drug-treatment centers.

So-called “sober homes” are intended to be supportive transitional environments for individuals preparing to face the world during recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. In 2015, the state passed a law requiring recovery residences and their administrators to be certified (at the time, sober homes were unregulated, so the state was not even sure how many there were).

Last year, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg began a task force consisting of prosecutors and police to study abuses in the industry and find solutions. The result has been a crackdown on such abuse, which has direct ties to the opioid situation.

I am pleased the rampant abuse of drugs is being dealt with at the local and state levels, and hope this will be resolved quickly and effectively in short order.