Insurance and Financing Blog

Recently, Anthem Blue Cross–the largest provider of health insurance in California–proposed a significant increase in the price of its individual health insurance policies. The price hike of over 30% was set to take effect several months from now, and drew criticism from the Obama administration. Under current law, health insurance companies are regulated by the states. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius only had the authority to write a stern public letter criticizing Anthem. In an attempt to resuscitate healthcare reform, Democrats pointed to the WellPoint subsidiary’s actions as a harbinger of what would happen in the health insurance market if their bill fails and the status quo remains.

It remains to be seen whether that tactic will revive support for health insurance reform, but there are indications that individual health insurance plans in several other states are looking to follow suit. In Maine, Anthem Blue Cross health insurance wants to increase its rates by nearly one-fourth; that’s on top of last year’s jump of one-third. Meanwhile, health insurance companies in Oregon have had their requests for 15% rate increases for individual health insurance approved. They, too, had also previously increased prices the year prior.

Many people have demanded an explanation for these price increases, especially during a recessionary period. Standard economic logic would have predict that lower demand from consumers with less money to spend would cause insurers to lower their premiums to attract more businesses. However, the health insurance industry is unique in that regard. In some respects, their costs are relatively fixed. Healthier people are more likely to drop their individual health insurance policies or switch to Health Savings Accounts and high-deductible health insurers plans with lower premiums. The people that keep their comprehensive health insurance in those circumstances tend to be those in worse health. Unhealthier people continue to use medical care. It costs health insurance companies money to fulfill their claims, while they are losing the more profitable individual health insurance consumers that generated income while using relatively small amounts of health care.

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As a result, Oregon and Maine insurers–along with individual health insurance providers from California–have to increase their prices to maintain profit margins. Despite job losses, the employer-based group health insurance market has seen less volatility in sales. That, in addition to the larger risk pool that allows health insurers to spread costs, means that their rates have increased as significantly as those for individual health insurance.

What are the state health insurance regulators doing about this? Some states have no authority in the matter; they can negotiate with a health insurance company and plead with them to lower the level of proposed increases, but insurers don’t have to heed them. In these particular states, insurance departments can deny health insurers rate increases. However, individual health insurance companies can appeal the ruling or even sue to have it overturned. Oregon regulators approved several years’ worth of double-digit increases, since 2006 premium cuts caused individual health insurance providers to lose money. Unfortunately, the state insurance department’s reparations had exceptionally bad timing for its residents. In addition, they agreed with health insurance companies that an increase in diagnostic tests and higher service provider costs justified the rate increases.

Maine regulators have not been as charitable towards providers of health insurance. Originally, Anthem Blue Cross wanted last year’s average increase in the rate of individual health insurance to be 18.5%, but the state was able to hold the average consumer’s rate hike down to about 11%. The state is holding two public hearings on the issue later this month. Consumer protection groups are planning to attend in full force.

Proponents of healthcare reform claim that these increases show that the current system is not working, especially states like California or Maine, where a single health insurance company holds a near-monopoly. If there is a dominant individual health insurance provider in a state, it is easier for them to raise their rates without competition. A national health exchange market would attempt to bring prices down by promoting market competition, while subsidies and health insurance mandates are intended to help lower individual health insurance rates by increasing the size of risk pools. Anthem has called for the health insurance reform process to continue, because it has the potential to bring them more customers. Others believe that a better approach to the problem would be to allow insurers to sell policies across state lines, which would also serve to open up the market.

By comparing the private health insurance in germany (german: günstige krankenversicherung) you can find a cheap health insurance

Finding a cheap health insurance in today’s health care situation has become very difficult. To make an effective and good PKV with stable contributions without having to apply tariff restrictions and exclusions of diseases, one has some hurdles to overcome. The health status should be “properly”. In almost every small reduction in health and private health insurers charge a so-called risk premium on the health insurance contribution. The really cheap health insurance contribution, you usually only find with a low entry age, which lies between 20-35 years. From the 35th Age, the contribution ratio between private and statutory health insurance and less interesting.

The race also plays an important role in the contribution amount. Women pay more for the PKV basically the same achievements. The choice of private health insurance requires extensive consultation. Agree to a very high deductible, for example, is not always the perfect solution for businesses. In the start-up companies can sometimes come at a high-agreed excess of health insurance, an accident with significant direct incalculable costs that must be the policyholder, then directly regulate and are reimbursed only from a certain amount of private health insurance. So you should not rely only on an inexpensive health insurance.

Selection of private health insurance

A Cheap Health Insurance cheap health insurance found in today’s Versorungssituation become very difficult. To make an effective and good PKV with stable contributions without having to apply tariff restrictions and exclusions of diseases, one has some hurdles to overcome. The health status should be “properly”. Rise in nearly every small restriction of the health Private health insurers a so-called risk premium on the health insurance contribution. The very low Health insurance contributions You usually only find with a low entry age, which is between 20-35 years. From the 35th Age, the contribution ratio between private and statutory health insurance and less interesting. The race also plays an important role in the contribution amount. Women pay more for the PKV basically the same achievements. The choice of private health insurance requires extensive consultation. A very high Deductible agree to, for example, is not always the perfect solution for businesses. In the start-up companies can sometimes come at a high-agreed excess of health insurance, an accident with significant direct incalculable costs that must be the policyholder, then directly regulate and are reimbursed only from a certain amount of private health insurance. So you should not only to cheap health insurance. 

Selection of private health insurance

A Cheap Health Insurance cheap health insurance found in today’s Versorungssituation become very difficult. To make an effective and good PKV with stable contributions without having to apply tariff restrictions and exclusions of diseases, one has some hurdles to overcome. The health status should be “properly”. Rise in nearly every small restriction of the health Private health insurers a so-called risk premium on the health insurance contribution. The very low Health insurance contributions You usually only find with a low entry age, which is between 20-35 years. From the 35th Age, the contribution ratio between private and statutory health insurance and less interesting. The race also plays an important role in the contribution amount. Women pay more for the PKV basically the same achievements. The choice of private health insurance requires extensive consultation. A very high Deductible agree to, for example, is not always the perfect solution for businesses. In the start-up companies can sometimes come at a high-agreed excess of health insurance, an accident with significant direct incalculable costs that must be the policyholder, then directly regulate and are reimbursed only from a certain amount of private health insurance. So you should not only to cheap health insurance.

What exactly is health insurance?

The primary reason you require an affordable health insurance would be to guide you program ahead with unanticipated expensive problems. The only method you possibly can complete this is always to evaluate costs via most top insurance policy organizations and as well deciding on a health insurance program that ideal you prefer. Back inside the days, obtaining an inexpensive health insurance prepare was merely not affordable.

Individual health insurance approach

Confidential health insurance approach is totally an unrestricted open up sector, consequently people who don’t yet use a health insurance strategy ought to contemplate obtaining a strategy. One important way Americans acquire health insurance policy is certainly caused by via their organizations. A lot of companies them get health insurance protection for employees for just a restricted time hence allowing them get health insurance policies. Online gives a choice for the better value health insurance. You can find a lot of organizations that supply all kinds of health insurance plans, rendering it feasible for everyone household to acquire a particular reasonable and cost-effective wellness care insurance cover prepare. Everybody wants the ideal health insurance both on their own as well as for their own families, but merely the ideal well being care insurance plan are able to do this along with cheap rates and full protection.

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Do you know the benefits of health insurance?

Getting the proper as well as the very best wellbeing care insurance coverage is tough. Several firms utilize the health insurance system to either bring in or maybe preserve their high quality business employers. Organizations also don’t add price of fringe advantages along with health insurance, to the buying price of their item and service. The diverse forms of health insurance contains person health insurance , inexpensive employee health insurance which can be also recognized as group health insurance , reasonably priced loved ones health insurance , reasonably priced business health insurance etc, your monthly insurance cover is determined by particular numerous several things. So your health insurance rates changes accordingly with the kind of wellness policy you’ve. If your health insurance is defined as for yourselves or all your family members, the procedures should surely have an impact on any quote you’re young or superior in age, self-employed obtaining health insurance firms will adapt your payment considering your actual age which will likely have an effect on the expense of the health insurance.

Do you know the Negatives of health insurance?

Growing the total amount of one’s health insurance deduction is an additional manner in which it is possible to guide ensures your insurance cover rates are reduced. This higher regular payment is required for everyone who has a pre-existing wellness issue that needs a comprehensive therapy receiving number of quotes from insurance policy businesses which meets for your wellness and prices standards, is often a intelligent selection when variety an health insurance .

Today shopping for individual private health insurance online is fairly simple. Simply type the keywords “health insurance” on any major search engine such as Google, Yahoo, or MSN and you are virtually guaranteed to come across a multitude of websites with designer custom made plans. However, too often consumers who are simply weighing their options forget the bigger picture. It’s called medical underwriting. Medical underwriting is a process in which an insurer will evaluate under what terms and provisions they will insure an applicant if at all. Many times shoppers spend months trying to find the perfect benefit plan for the best price only to find out the plan they applied for came back after they submitted the application with a much higher price than anticipated or worse, they were declined coverage altogether and now cant get individual health insurance because they passed up what their employer offered.

Getting approved for individual health insurance coverage is not so easy.

If you had group insurance offered by your employer for most of the time you had coverage and this is the first time shopping for individual private health insurance, do your self a favor don’t just shop to get a feel for the market, take the next step and apply. Applying for coverage is the only real way you will really know what offer will be given to you and under what terms or price. Consult with a knowledgably licensed insurance agent who is familiar with the medical underwriting guidelines of the major medical insurance carriers offering the coverage you seek and begin to initiate the application process. All insurance carriers on the individual market will require an application to be complete with the first month’s premium deposit for consideration. The reason why insurers request this deposit is to ensure the applicant is serious about applying since they will incur administrative cost to determine if they will insure you or not, however some insurers will only withdraw funds if your approved while others will take the first months premium deposit and refund you if you decline their offer or if you are declined coverage altogether. Basically the entire process is two fold while you are considering them they are considering you. 

There are many reasons why an insurer will come back with a much higher price than anticipated in regards to the benefits you apply for or decline the application altogether. Here are just a few common examples.

Height and Weight: The physical condition of a proposed insured is of basic significance in underwriting. One of the determinants of physical condition is build. Build includes height, weight, and distribution of the weight. Experience has shown that being overweight increases the likelihood of death or sickness at all ages so for an insurer to justify the cost they will raise your rate accordingly if accepted. 

High Blood Pressure: Hypertension or High Blood Pressure is an intermittent or sustained elevation of diastolic or systolic blood pressure. Hypertension is a major cause of stroke, cardiac disease, and renal failure. Complications occur late in the disease and can attack any organ system. Cardiac complications include coronary artery disease, angina, myocardial infarction, heart failure, arrhythmias, and sudden death. Neurologic complications include cerebral infarctions and hypertensive encephalopathy. Hypertensive retinopathy can cause blindness or glaucoma. Reno vascular hypertension can lead to renal failure. Just because it is controlled does not mean an insurer will accept you, also any combination of High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, and Obesity almost always result in a decline with most carriers or at least a very high premium. The reason for all of this is from the insures point of view at very best you will create medical expenses in the form of diagnostic test, assessments, treatment, medication or at worst heart attacks and kidney transplants costing lots of money. 

Smoking: When an individual uses tobacco in any form, whether it involves chewing, dipping, or smoking cigarettes, cigars, and a pipe, is an important risk factor by itself. In the past smoking or other tobacco use was considered in underwriting, but only rarely as a factor of importance by itself. For example, if a person had a respiratory problem and smoked, the underwriting decision might be less favorable than for an otherwise similarly situated non smoker. Smoking unaccompanied by any other negative factor however, was not a cause for a less favorable rating and continues to be ignored as a factor in many markets worldwide. Insurers now understand that smoking and any other tobacco use, even in the absence of any other negative factor, causes expected mortality and morbidity to be worse than average and the degree of variation is of such significance as to warrant separate classification. So important is this factor that the average female smoker can be expected to pay almost double the rate of the same non smoking male of the same age. 

Occupation: Occupational hazards are not as important today as they were in the past, although in certain cases they can be. They may increase the risk in at least three different ways. First, the occupation may present an environmental hazard, such as exposure to violence, irregular living, or a temptation to experiment with drugs or overindulge in alcohol. Second, the physical conditions surrounding an occupation can have a bearing upon health and longevity, as in the case of persons who work in close, dusty, or poorly ventilated quarters or are exposed to chemical toxins. Finally there is the risk from accident, such as is faced by professional automobile racers, crop dusters, and scuba divers. An individual who has recently changed from a hazardous occupation to a safer form of employment must be underwriting carefully, as he or she may still retain ill effects from the earlier job or because the change may have been prompted by a health factor. It is common to see increased premium rates for bartenders, telemarketers, tattoo artist, truck drivers, actors, singers, artist, and servers to name a few if they get accepted at all. 

Alcohol and Drugs: Information is usually sought regarding the proposed insured’s use of habit forming drugs and intoxicating beverages. Excessive alcohol use is associated with higher than standard mortality and morbidity meaning increased likelihood of death or sickness. If the individual applying for coverage uses alcoholic beverages in large amounts, he or she may be declined or offered substandard insurance while having to pay more to receive benefits, depending on the degree of usage. Use of alcohol in moderation is considered normal. Use of drugs not prescribed by a physician or drug abuse may call for a declination depending on the type of drug. A history of misuse or unsupervised use may require an extra rate increase depending upon the length of time since the drug or drugs were used, the nature of the treatment given, and whether there has been participation in a continuing support program such as Alcoholics Anonymous

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Hazardous Sports and Avocations: Persons with a higher standard of living and searching for new ways to spend their leisure time often resort to hobbies and avocations. Such activities as scuba diving, mountain climbing, competitive racing, hand gliding, and sky diving clearly can involve a significant additional hazard to be considered in the underwriting process. If a hazard causes increased expected mortality and the individual is insurable on some basis, he or she usually is charged a flat extra premium commensurate with the risk. A rider excluding death or hospital expenditures resulting from participation in the hazardous activity may be employed occasionally. Also, riders excluding coverage for accidental injuries caused by football, basketball, or baseball players are not uncommon. 

Anything: For those that think you are perfectly healthy, you are in for a big surprise. Even if you were never officially diagnosed with an uninsurable medical condition and by the way the list is endless, if you have not had coverage for some period of time a paramedical examination will have to be performed and insurers will be evaluating the test results very closely. Special attention will be given to the liver enzymes such as bilirubin, certain pressures in the kidneys such as the glomerular filtration rate which measures the rate of clearance of waste toxins you are capable of removing from your body and certain proteins in the body such as albumin. There really is not enough room within the scope of this writing to cover everything but it is important that you understand the reasons an insurer will decline your application or make you pay much more than anticipated is unlimited. 

As a final note: The best advice I could give to consumers considering individual health insurance coverage is to avoid trying to do it yourself and instead seek the services of a licensed professional insurance agent who is not a captive agent working primarily with one carrier but is appointed with many carriers so he or she can place you with the carrier who will issue the coverage you seek with the price you can afford. Just remember you really don’t know what you get until you apply. If you are accepted and you don’t like the offer the insurer offered you, you can simply refuse and get refunded your fist month’s premium as long as you are within your free look period as mandated by applicable state and federal law. 

For those of you still not ready to apply but need more questions answered please feel free to login to our website at health insurance questions and register your information and one of our consultants will be happy to assist you even if you are not yet ready to apply. At the very least by speaking with one of our consultants you will have a more accurate picture of what will happen whenever you are ready to initiate the health insurance application process with the insurance carrier you select.

Today shopping for individual private health insurance online is fairly simple. Simply type the keywords “health insurance” on any major search engine such as Google, Yahoo, or MSN and you are virtually guaranteed to come across a multitude of websites with designer custom made plans. However, too often consumers who are simply weighing their options forget the bigger picture. It’s called medical underwriting. Medical underwriting is a process in which an insurer will evaluate under what terms and provisions they will insure an applicant if at all. Many times shoppers spend months trying to find the perfect benefit plan for the best price only to find out the plan they applied for came back after they submitted the application with a much higher price than anticipated or worse, they were declined coverage altogether and now cant get individual health insurance because they passed up what their employer offered. Getting approved for individual health insurance coverage is not so easy. If you had group insurance offered by your employer for most of the time you had coverage and this is the first time shopping for individual private health insurance, do your self a favor don’t just shop to get a feel for the market, take the next step and apply. Applying for coverage is the only real way you will really know what offer will be given to you and under what terms or price. Consult with a knowledgably licensed insurance agent who is familiar with the medical underwriting guidelines of the major medical insurance carriers offering the coverage you seek and begin to initiate the application process. All insurance carriers on the individual market will require an application to be complete with the first month’s premium deposit for consideration. The reason why insurers request this deposit is to ensure the applicant is serious about applying since they will incur administrative cost to determine if they will insure you or not, however some insurers will only withdraw funds if your approved while others will take the first months premium deposit and refund you if you decline their offer or if you are declined coverage altogether. Basically the entire process is two fold while you are considering them they are considering you.  There are many reasons why an insurer will come back with a much higher price than anticipated in regards to the benefits you apply for or decline the application altogether. Here are just a few common examples. Height and Weight: The physical condition of a proposed insured is of basic significance in underwriting. One of the determinants of physical condition is build. Build includes height, weight, and distribution of the weight. Experience has shown that being overweight increases the likelihood of death or sickness at all ages so for an insurer to justify the cost they will raise your rate accordingly if accepted.  High Blood Pressure: Hypertension or High Blood Pressure is an intermittent or sustained elevation of diastolic or systolic blood pressure. Hypertension is a major cause of stroke, cardiac disease, and renal failure. Complications occur late in the disease and can attack any organ system. Cardiac complications include coronary artery disease, angina, myocardial infarction, heart failure, arrhythmias, and sudden death. Neurologic complications include cerebral infarctions and hypertensive encephalopathy. Hypertensive retinopathy can cause blindness or glaucoma. Reno vascular hypertension can lead to renal failure. Just because it is controlled does not mean an insurer will accept you, also any combination of High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, and Obesity almost always result in a decline with most carriers or at least a very high premium. The reason for all of this is from the insures point of view at very best you will create medical expenses in the form of diagnostic test, assessments, treatment, medication or at worst heart attacks and kidney transplants costing lots of money.  Smoking: When an individual uses tobacco in any form, whether it involves chewing, dipping, or smoking cigarettes, cigars, and a pipe, is an important risk factor by itself. In the past smoking or other tobacco use was considered in underwriting, but only rarely as a factor of importance by itself. For example, if a person had a respiratory problem and smoked, the underwriting decision might be less favorable than for an otherwise similarly situated non smoker. Smoking unaccompanied by any other negative factor however, was not a cause for a less favorable rating and continues to be ignored as a factor in many markets worldwide. Insurers now understand that smoking and any other tobacco use, even in the absence of any other negative factor, causes expected mortality and morbidity to be worse than average and the degree of variation is of such significance as to warrant separate classification. So important is this factor that the average female smoker can be expected to pay almost double the rate of the same non smoking male of the same age.  Occupation: Occupational hazards are not as important today as they were in the past, although in certain cases they can be. They may increase the risk in at least three different ways. First, the occupation may present an environmental hazard, such as exposure to violence, irregular living, or a temptation to experiment with drugs or overindulge in alcohol. Second, the physical conditions surrounding an occupation can have a bearing upon health and longevity, as in the case of persons who work in close, dusty, or poorly ventilated quarters or are exposed to chemical toxins. Finally there is the risk from accident, such as is faced by professional automobile racers, crop dusters, and scuba divers. An individual who has recently changed from a hazardous occupation to a safer form of employment must be underwriting carefully, as he or she may still retain ill effects from the earlier job or because the change may have been prompted by a health factor. It is common to see increased premium rates for bartenders, telemarketers, tattoo artist, truck drivers, actors, singers, artist, and servers to name a few if they get accepted at all.  Alcohol and Drugs: Information is usually sought regarding the proposed insured’s use of habit forming drugs and intoxicating beverages. Excessive alcohol use is associated with higher than standard mortality and morbidity meaning increased likelihood of death or sickness. If the individual applying for coverage uses alcoholic beverages in large amounts, he or she may be declined or offered substandard insurance while having to pay more to receive benefits, depending on the degree of usage. Use of alcohol in moderation is considered normal. Use of drugs not prescribed by a physician or drug abuse may call for a declination depending on the type of drug. A history of misuse or unsupervised use may require an extra rate increase depending upon the length of time since the drug or drugs were used, the nature of the treatment given, and whether there has been participation in a continuing support program such as Alcoholics Anonymous Hazardous Sports and Avocations: Persons with a higher standard of living and searching for new ways to spend their leisure time often resort to hobbies and avocations. Such activities as scuba diving, mountain climbing, competitive racing, hand gliding, and sky diving clearly can involve a significant additional hazard to be considered in the underwriting process. If a hazard causes increased expected mortality and the individual is insurable on some basis, he or she usually is charged a flat extra premium commensurate with the risk. A rider excluding death or hospital expenditures resulting from participation in the hazardous activity may be employed occasionally. Also, riders excluding coverage for accidental injuries caused by football, basketball, or baseball players are not uncommon.  Anything: For those that think you are perfectly healthy, you are in for a big surprise. Even if you were never officially diagnosed with an uninsurable medical condition and by the way the list is endless, if you have not had coverage for some period of time a paramedical examination will have to be performed and insurers will be evaluating the test results very closely. Special attention will be given to the liver enzymes such as bilirubin, certain pressures in the kidneys such as the glomerular filtration rate which measures the rate of clearance of waste toxins you are capable of removing from your body and certain proteins in the body such as albumin. There really is not enough room within the scope of this writing to cover everything but it is important that you understand the reasons an insurer will decline your application or make you pay much more than anticipated is unlimited.  As a final note: The best advice I could give to consumers considering individual health insurance coverage is to avoid trying to do it yourself and instead seek the services of a licensed professional insurance agent who is not a captive agent working primarily with one carrier but is appointed with many carriers so he or she can place you with the carrier who will issue the coverage you seek with the price you can afford. Just remember you really don’t know what you get until you apply. If you are accepted and you don’t like the offer the insurer offered you, you can simply refuse and get refunded your fist month’s premium as long as you are within your free look period as mandated by applicable state and federal law.  For those of you still not ready to apply but need more questions answered please feel free to login to our website at health insurance questions and register your information and one of our consultants will be happy to assist you even if you are not yet ready to apply. At the very least by speaking with one of our consultants you will have a more accurate picture of what will happen whenever you are ready to initiate the health insurance application process with the insurance carrier you select.

Health insurance is becoming popular right now that some health insurance companies are banking on the consumers who are interested in having a health insurance and offer them at an expensive price. But if you are wise enough, you can get instant health insurance quote from different companies and compare them to get the best health insurance plan at a less expensive rate. Because of today’s technology, getting instant health insurance quote has never been easier.

Health insurance is probably one of the most important things one needs to have. It does not only protect yourself in times of hospitalization due to illnesses or diseases but it also protects other members of your family or your dependents that’s why it is important for people to have individual health insurance plans. Even if you don’t need individual health insurance plans now, but in the years to come you will need it especially in times when you need medical treatment and you will realize the importance of having the right health insurance. You can find low cost individual health insurance from a lot of health insurance providers.

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If you don’t have proper health insurance coverage, you need to get an instant health insurance quote right now to get yourself covered. Here are some helpful ways for you to get an instant health insurance quote.

1. The first thing you need to do is to gather all your medical history information so you will get an accurate instant health insurance quote. The health insurance rate you will end up having will be based on your medical history. It is important not to lie when filling out this information or you will be denied of getting one.

2. Find a good website that allows you to compare multiple health insurance quotes all at once. Determine the type and level of coverage that will suit your needs and pick a reliable company that allows you to buy a policy online. Most health insurance companies these days run their own websites to make it more convenient for consumers.

3. Most health insurance companies these days also look at your credit history first before providing you with an instant health insurance quote. If you have a bad credit history, chances are higher that they will give you health insurance at higher rates.

4. Also raise your deductibles as much as possible so you will pay lower premiums monthly. In this way, your monthly budget won’t be at risk because you will be paying affordable health insurance plans.

Search for individual health insurance online because most health insurance companies offer cheaper health insurance plans online through an instant health insurance quote. There are certainly a lot of options available out there if you just take your time and be patient enough to compare an instant health insurance quote from different health insurance companies. When you get to shop online get an instant health insurance quote and you can save a lot of money because there are a lot of quality individual health insurance plans that are being offered there.