|
New Page 1
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Good
Tuesday morning...here's your weekly Dose of
Dover!
It's
your weekly shot of un-common
sense advice, ideas
and other observations.
This
all comes together as a direct result of your
e-mails, letters and
telephone
calls from the radio shows, TV segments and
newspaper column.
Do
me a favor and put me out of a
job!!!
Forward
this e-mail to everyone in your Address
Book,
others
that will benefit from the information I've
assembled below.
Tuesday,
September 17, 2002:
You've
got a 1 in 5 chance of being victimized by
medical malpractice the next time you stay in a
hospital...the numbers don't lie...but you could
die. You
can't afford to ignore these facts
before you go to the hospital! I've said
this before and it's worth repeating:
I have an enormous amount of respect for
the medical community...a group of folks that
are dedicated to their passion of saving
lives, often working long hours, besides being
woefully under-compensated for
the risks they take. So don't
misinterpret this story as an attack on Doctors
or nurses or the health care profession in
general, because it's not. The
bigger lesson here is one all of us can
benefit from, whether you're dealing with a
Doctor, or an insurance salesman or a stock
broker: Anytime you're
asking for advice from someone that could impact
your world in a big way, you've
got to
check the work of the people you've chosen to
trust when you're most
vulnerable. Especially
after you hear the latest statistics about
America's hospitals...Ben's
Bottom Line?
1.
Always have someone backing you up. Always have
a second set of eyes, where ever possible,
checking the work of others...especially if
you're in the unfortunate position of having to
put your life into the hands of the health care
community, especially if you're in a hospital, a
place that's full of germs, full of sick people,
and full of people, period!
2. If you or someone you
love is ever kept in the hospital overnight,
take copious notes! And check the work of the
nurse...especially the overnight shift! They're
human and they make mistakes, too.
3. And
from my own personal experiences (months in the
hospital as a result of my motorcycle accident)
it seems like the folks working the overnight
shift might not always be the
best-and-brightest...so get someone to
spend the night with you in your room if at all
possible!
Here's an
interesting bit of insight from a listener
that heard me discussing this subject on my
Los Angeles radio show; "Ben M" shared
his own personal experience...and food for
thought:
"Dear Ben:
Add to your list of things to do in a
hospital, or rather before going. Meet the
residents, they will be the ones treating you,
especially if going in for surgery. I went in
for a surgery recently and the surgical
residents, who actually handled the scalpel
most of the time, the staples in my skin, and
the post operative evaluation were the
epitome of arrogant surgeons, without the
skills to back it up.
What pulled me
through some major complications was a
relationship my wife developed with the Chief
Resident, who made a special effort to come
see me in the emergency room (that I had to go
to instead of being home recovering) and read
his residents (on duty at the time) the riot
act for screwing up and putting me back into
the emergency room. Then at rounds when I was
readmitted to the hospital he was on the
residents hard and made sure they knew what
they were doing."
In
the spirit of "practicing what I
preach," I recently upgraded my cell phone by
simply contacting my cellular phone service
provider: Considering the
fact that I've been spending over $200 a month
with them for over four years, I easily fell into
a category of clientele they want to keep happy
and out of the hands of competitors. But you
don't have to be spending that much to be treated
like cellular royalty. If you've been with your
current cellular service provider for over two
years, and spend at least $75 a month-or have been
with them for over a year but spend more (over
$100-$125) per month, they'll be quite receptive
to your "new phone/upgrade" request.
While you're at it, ask them to throw in some
extra minutes on your calling plan. (I picked up
an extra 1000 nights/weekends minutes just for asking.)
The
rules of the game have changed!
Didja know that the old "cancel by 6 pm"
policy is no longer the case for many hotels?
In fact the Hilton in Costa Mesa [CA] is now
requiring a 72-hour
cancellation notice! You'll
definitely want to read more...
Ben's Bottom Line:
Always make damned sure you know what
their policies are for cancellations and early
arrivals before you fork over any credit [or
debit] card information. And if you do book
a room on-line, make sure you actually print out
the page with all of the key rules-of-the-game
information.
Wanna
be really smart and never pay full price for a
hotel room again? Go where Ben's
been going for years for the best deals out
there on hotel rooms [and now travel packages and
rental cars]....it's a veritable one-stop-shop
for great deals all over the world: www.hotels.com
By the way:
The holidays aren't far away...so get surfing on
their website now to secure the best rates and
choices. Also worth noting? I've never
ever been shut
out of a city that's supposedly "sold
out." My friends at www.hotels.com
have always come through for me...give 'em a shot.
Several
KFI show listeners followed up via e-mails wanting
to get my reference website for finding attorneys
that specialize in particular types of litigation:
As a member of the National
Association of Consumer Advocates,
I think their website's a pretty good starting
point if you're in the "suing mood;" one
lady called in looking for an attorney that
specialized in elder care/nursing home abuse...the
NACA website's a great resource. Oh
yeah...here's where to find it: www.naca.net
Did
you sign up yet for the free Dose of Dover weekly
newsletter yet? Why not?
Put Ben out of a job! Sign up for the free
newsletter and get so smart that you'll never have
to listen to the radio show ever again.
Is
it really your fault if you find yourself
in financial doo-doo? Or is it because your
creditors gave you enough rope to hang yourself
with? Aren't they really the ones
to blame? Shouldn't the
real fault be placed firmly upon the shoulder of
the banks and credit card companies and mortgage
companies? They must know that you're
capable of handling the debt load they're allowing
you to take on...otherwise, they wouldn't have
approved you for that fat new mortgage...would
they??? What
a bunch of garbage...last
week the Wall Street Journal used a couple of
homeowners as examples of "being taken
advantage of" because they bought too
much house and made the mistake of using an Adjustable
Rate Mortgage to finance it! Between excessive debt
loads [can you say credit cards?] and an
interest rate that went up [that is why they call
them "adjustable" you dopes!] and
in some cases--declining home prices--some
consumers are blaming the real estate agents or
mortgage brokers and companies for their
situation. Ben's
Bottom Line: Quit
your whining and take
responsibility for your own mistakes and quit
blaming others [mortgage brokers or real
estate agents] for doing their job. "Their
job" is to sell you a house or sell you the
financing to buy that house. Once the ink's dry,
they're off to find the next commission!
Another
caller wanted to know how to do some research
about a range of topics, among them?
Attorneys and other companies:
One of the best resources that's now available
to the public and has been used by the media
and the legal profession for years is Lexis-Nexis.
Here's their website: www.lexisnexis.com
Just
because "no payments until January"
sounds like a good idea from Ford, you'll wanna
think twice before you jump on this latest
"opportunity" to get you to buy
a new car: In fact this
is one deal I suggest you pass on.
Ford Motor Company's "free
ride" will actually send your budget into
a financial detour that'll cost you more
dough in the long run! According to James
Healey's article in the Thursday, September
12, 2002 edition of USA Today: "The
deferred-payment plan lasts through Sept. 30
and can be combined with cheap financing or
cash rebates. The catch: The four months from
September to January count as part of the loan
term, even though no monthly payments are
made. Thus, payments are higher because the
loan balance must be repaid in fewer months. A
Ford Taurus buyer who borrowed $20,000 for 60
months at 0% would repay $333 a month,
starting a month or so after the purchase. But
under "free ride," the first payment
is put off until January and the balance is
spread over 56 months instead of 60, boosting
payments to $357. On a three-year, 0% loan for
the same amount, the "free ride"
payment jumps to $625 from $556."
Since
the second largest expenditure for most of us
is our cars, it makes sense that someone would
wake up and start cashing in on these low
interest rates by re-financing some of those
higher-than-necessary car loans:
Check out renowned financial columnist
and recognized advice guru from the Los
Angeles Times, Kathy
Kristof's article in the Sunday, September 15,
2002 edition; it could
save you some dough on that car loan you're
probably paying an excessive interest rate on!
If
you're wanting to do some planning to avoid
financial disaster resulting from the
onerous costs of assisted living, many people
are trying to legally plan for the burden of
proof in the world of Medicare:
I'm no fan of these companies that pitch their
"living trust" and "living
will" seminars at your neighborhood
Ramada Inn. Their high-pressure buy now
to save now tactics irritate the hell out of
me...but you might want to get your hands on
one of these books or pamphlets listed
on this website that'll give you accurate
information in your quest for planning and
asset protection.
Another
terrific resource for dealing with issues
concerning older Americans?
Here's a
terrific resource for teaching and helping
seniors handle their money, their debts and
all of the affairs called H.E.L.P.
You've gotta check
out their website...it's a
treasure loaded with great information and
resources, for older consumers or their
families.
I
found the name of the book that'll help
you negotiate through the maze of rules and
regulations when Medicaid is the last
financial alternative (I was thinking about on
the air earlier today): Surviving
the Medicaid Trap by Armond D. Budish
Think
of it as un-common sense,
delivered conveniently to your e-mail once a
week: And the best news of
all? It's free.
Okay, maybe you're enlightened enough to
already be receiving your Dose of Dover; why
not make a friend, family member, co-worker,
fellow [former] cellmate--you name it--just
as smart as you! Send 'em this link: www.bendover.com/newsletter.asp so
they can get on board and get their own
[free] weekly Dose
of Dover.
Gotta
question for Ben?
Call in and get it answered live
on the air during his Sunday morning radio
show (8-10 am Pacific/9-10 am Mountain/10
am-12 noon Central/11 am-1 pm Eastern, 4-6 pm
GMT) on KFI-AM/640,
Los Angeles:
(800)
520-1-KFI [And
you can listen
live via the Internet,
no matter where you are!]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
