Pay less now or pay more later. Flood insurance rates to increase as of Sept. 11 when new maps go into effect

Five Towns residents only have three weeks to take advantage of cheaper, grandfathered in rates on flood insurance which will only be available before the new flood map take effect on Sept. 11, said a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) official.

“Flood elevation is up by four feet,” said Richard Einhorn, of both FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. “If you have a mortgage, the bank will require you to get flood insurance. Buy flood insurance before the new maps go in. If you wait too long, there's a possibility your bank will call you, and you'll be out of luck for grandfathering.”

Some 27,000 homes in Nassau County are being added to the flood plan when the new map goes into effect. Einhorn encouraged all residents to look up their flood risk online at www.floodsmart.gov, as well as check the new flood map to see whether their area is affected by the changes. He added that the Web site will give you the names of the closest flood insurance agents to your home.

“It's the difference between paying wholesale and resale,” said Monte Rosenzweig, an insurance agent with Gold Standard Agency Inc. in Woodmere. “If you purchase insurance now, you're going to save thousands of dollars.” He added that flood insurance is transferrable to a future owner of a property, so investing in insurance now can save someone money for years.

Residents should check whether the new flood map affects them, Rosenzweig said. “If the zone of your home changes, you're making a tremendous mistake by not buying flood insurance right now.”

Some manufactured home owners get bad news from State Farm

Jack Spikes loves the view from the back porch of his manufactured home on the bank of the Chattahoochee River near Columbia.

The flow of the lazy river is peaceful, calm. He remembers seeing alligators in the river and coyotes near the home, as well as other wildlife. It’s why he made his vacation getaway a permanent residence several years ago.

“This was once the best kept secret in the Wiregrass,” Spikes said.

But Spikes can take a walk off his back porch and point to the watermark that still exists on a nearby structure almost 20 years after the Chattahoochee left its banks and flooded the area. He can point to another place where the water rose in 1995.

Spikes said he remembers filing insurance claims on the flood, included as a part of his regular homeowner’s policy.

“And they paid, right away,” he said.

Last month, however, Spikes received a letter from State Farm which said changes were being made to all manufactured home policies in the state. Flood insurance would no longer be included in the regular homeowner’s policy. Spikes said he was offered a separate flood insurance policy for $2,500 a year.

“That’s more than I can pay,” Spikes said.

Local State Farm agent Don Thompson said the changes were a simple matter of profit and loss. He said State Farm was one of the few agencies that had continued to offer the flood coverage at no extra cost, and could not afford to include it any longer.

“We had been paying thousands of flood claims without collecting the proper premiums,” Thompson said. “Just couldn’t give it away anymore.”

Thompson said the changes affected several of his clients around the Chattahoochee and Lake Eufaula.

“Most of them understood,” Thompson said.

But $2,500 is too steep for Spikes. He said he plans to take his chances.

“The Corps of Engineers has done a real good job of controlling the flow. It hasn’t flooded in a long time,” he said.

“But you never know.”

The insurance co-op is already in your neighborhood

It's like a good neighbor -- and State Farm Insurance is probably American's most successful and best-known member-owned cooperative.

Whether the government could replicate its success by creating health care co-ops is far from certain -- and highly unlikely.

"When the Senate says we are going to have a co-op, what they are really saying is we are going to have a government-run program that will remain so until the government decides to turn it over to members," said Michael Cannon, a health care policy expert at the Cato Institute. "There is a lot of reason to doubt."

Barry Manilow reportedly wrote the schmaltzy jingle the insurance giant uses to this day. The company was founded in 1922 by a retired farmer and insurance salesman who started his own company with a couple of friends. Some modern advocates of creating a co-op system for health care have cited the State Farm example as a workable model. The company says it serves more than 75 million policies in North America, according to its Web site. At the end of each year, the company turns profits over to policy holders -- more than $1 billion in 2007.

Barry Manilow reportedly wrote the schmaltzy jingle the insurance giant uses to this day. The company was founded in 1922 by a retired farmer and insurance salesman who started his own company with a couple of friends. Some modern advocates of creating a co-op system for health care have cited the State Farm example as a workable model. The company says it serves more than 75 million policies in North America, according to its Web site. At the end of each year, the company turns profits over to policy holders -- more than $1 billion in 2007.

But the practical realities of creating a cooperative of any size are staggering and do not easily translate to the current health care debate.

A group health cooperative, as loosely envisioned by advocates in Congress and elsewhere, would comprise stakeholder members enrolling voluntarily who would pick policies, managers and more.

Shifting a group into a newly created health cooperative would take time, money, organization, assistance and significant government oversight. It's not even clear how long it would take for co-ops to get up and running, or if members would experience a gap in coverage in the meantime.

Lawmakers have said health co-ops could be eligible for a portion of about $6 billion that could be set aside as startup funds -- another significant departure from the private insurance company model.

Cannon said there would be significant disincentives for the government to cut ties with health co-ops and turn them over entirely to members.

"It would mean the politicians could keep handing out the goodies to constituents like doctors and other providers, and could wield more influence," Cannon said.