Debit card distribution

[phorsenuf]

I just saw on the news that people with insurance are not getting the debit cards. I don't think I agree with that. Those people need immediate help too. Just because they have insurance doesn't mean squat to me. I think they should all get debit cards and figure out the insurance part later.
In a sense isn't that reverse discrimination?

How long do you think it would take for the insurance companies to give these people any money?

 

[BuckNaked]

Yes, they should all be able to get them.

 

[ThAnswr]

I just saw on the news that people with insurance are not getting the debit cards. I don't think I agree with that. Those people need immediate help too. Just because they have insurance doesn't mean squat to me. I think they should all get debit cards and figure out the insurance part later.
In a sense isn't that reverse discrimination?

How long do you think it would take for the insurance companies to give these people any money?

Hurricane CHarley made landfall in Charlotte Harbor on August 13, 2004. There are people who just settled with their insurance companies a little while ago. There are people who have not seen a dime. And the worst of the worst was Allstate. The best was Tower Hill.

 

[phorsenuf]

Hurricane CHarley made landfall in Charlotte Harbor on August 13, 2004. There are people who just settled with their insurance companies a little while ago. There are people who have not seen a dime. And the worst of the worst was Allstate.

This is why I don't agree with their policy. EVERYONE needs help NOW and to tell people you cannot have help because you have insurance seems ludacris to me! I sure hope they change that, if not I see another storm abrewing.

 

[catherine]

How are they supposed to manage without any money? Will charities help them out?

Apparently there are over 100,000 homes that don't have any insurance!

 

[hemispheredancer]

Apparently there are over 100,000 homes that don't have any insurance!

So just because these people were ignorant and did not carry homeowners or flood insurance makes it our responsibility?? I think not! If I didn't have insurance on my car (because I chose NOT to pay the ins. bill) and it was totaled or stolen am I going to get help from the public or charities? Nobody would come to my rescue!! I am a firm believer that you work for what you get/have. It's a thing called WORK and I believe a lot of those residents don't do that.

 

[phorsenuf]

How are they supposed to manage without any money? Will charities help them out?

Apparently there are over 100,000 homes that don't have any insurance!

I'm not talking about the uninsured, I'm talking about the insured. The people who did not have insurance are the ones getting money right now. It seems the people with the insurance will have to wait.
Thats not fair to me.

 

[ThAnswr]

So just because these people were ignorant and did not carry homeowners or flood insurance makes it our responsibility?? I think not! If I didn't have insurance on my car (because I chose NOT to pay the ins. bill) and it was totaled or stolen am I going to get help from the public or charities? Nobody would come to my rescue!! I am a firm believer that you work for what you get/have. It's a thing called WORK and I believe a lot of those residents do that.

I don't recall any charity asking for proof of insurance before they gave you a hot meal after Charley.

I don't recall any charitable group asking for your insurance policy before they would put a tarp on your roof.

As a matter of fact, when the army corp of engineers sent a group to install tarps, I don't recall them asking either.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I just saw on the news that people with insurance are not getting the debit cards.
In a sense isn't that reverse discrimination?

It is reverse discrimination. It was your money that bought the insurance, not the governments.

Also, Waveland, Mississippi has not gotten any help from the Red cross yet. Why?

 

[janette]

I've heard that they are only going to be given to the people in the shelters, those that have family or friends to stay with will not be receiving the help.

 

[catherine]

I'm not talking about the uninsured, I'm talking about the insured. The people who did not have insurance are the ones getting money right now. It seems the people with the insurance will have to wait.
Thats not fair to me.

Sorry I should have read your post more carefully!

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

from FEMA:

Expedited assistance to help people with their emergency needs of food, shelter, clothing, and personal necessities is being made available to individuals as they apply to FEMA on line at www.fema.gov, or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362), TTY 800-462-7585. FEMA personnel are fanning across the nation visiting shelters and setting up disaster recovery centers staffed with individuals to assist in the process of providing expedited assistance.

"We realize that many victims do not have access to the usual means of even registering for assistance, and FEMA is initiating efforts to bring the registration process to those in need," said Homeland Security's Principal Federal Official for Hurricane Katrina response and head of FEMA Michael D. Brown.

Currently, the amount of money being distributed through the expedited assistance program is $2,000 per household. This expedited assistance is made available by FEMA to those residents severely impacted by disasters from Mississippi and Louisiana who do not have the usual means of identifying damage to their property or unable to provide the immediate documentation necessary.

This emergency assistance is provided to help with disaster needs such as transportation, clothing, rental housing, other housing accommodations, and food, and is included in the calculation of total benefits for which victims are eligible.


I think everyone in the area is hurting right now...it's the ones who don't know where their next meal is coming from or where they'll stay tonight that this money is aimed at helping.

Many of us have credit cards, savings, and insurance. And while we're inconvenienced and will have to pay a litle more, we're prepared for situations like this. These people aren't that fortunate and will likely either become a problem to public health in other ways--either as a burden to medical facilities (dehydration, injury from being in the elements) or to the stability to the area. If you're starving and have no place to stay, you're much more likely to be stealing to meet your minimum needs.

 

[catherine]

So just because these people were ignorant and did not carry homeowners or flood insurance makes it our responsibility?? I think not! If I didn't have insurance on my car (because I chose NOT to pay the ins. bill) and it was totaled or stolen am I going to get help from the public or charities? Nobody would come to my rescue!! I am a firm believer that you work for what you get/have. It's a thing called WORK and I believe a lot of those residents do that.

I'm appalled that anyone could feel like this having seen the conditions that these people are living in!

 

[Southern4sure]

Are the insurance companies going to give money to their clients (who have paid premiums) to help secure a place to live, clothes and etc.?

My mom and dad are still waiting for $14,000 from their ins. company from Ivan for repairs still waiting to be fixed.

 

[ducklite]

I think the idea behind giving out these cards is to allow people to make choices, and then have the financial means to follow those choices. My guess is that for many, the only thing keeping them in shelters rather than relocating to the homes of friends or family elsewhere is the lack of funds to buy a bus ticket.

My guess is that most of the people in the shelters don't have a credit card, any savings, or anyone to borrow money from to start rebuilding their lives. Insurance companies are on scene and processing initial claims for people, handing over checks for living expenses.

The only thing that disturbs me about the wholesale distribution of these cards with no limits to how the money can be spent. In many cases, the recipients are poor and have no money management skills, and could easily blow through $2000 with nothing to show in a week's time, so it's just going to pepetuate the cycle of poverty.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

Are the insurance companies going to give money to their clients (who have paid premiums) to help secure a place to live, clothes and etc.?

My mom and dad are still waiting for $14,000 from their ins. company from Ivan for repairs still waiting to be fixed.

The insurance company my husband works for has already handed out checks for living expenses to any of it's insured's that have walked through the door of any branch or called who lived in the affected areas. The branch's have been authorized to cut check's on the spot as needed to help insureds.

Anne

 

[Southern4sure]

The insurance company my husband works for has already handed out checks for living expenses to any of it's insured's that have walked through the door of any branch or called who lived in the affected areas. The branch's have been authorized to cut check's on the spot as needed to help insureds.

Anne

That is great news...I'd wish all ins. companies did this! Ivan hit what...1 year ago and still no help from the ins company BUT keep paying your monthly premium or you get cancelled for non payment. It doesnt see right or fair IMHO.

 

[peachgirl]

Are the insurance companies going to give money to their clients (who have paid premiums) to help secure a place to live, clothes and etc.?

I think the point of the $2000 advance (it will be deducted from the total compensation given according to FEMA), is to aid those in the most dire of circumstances, in other words those people who are in shelters.

Honestly, the government has bit off more than they can chew by sending so many people to so few shelters. These people understandably don't want to be moved by the government again and it seems to me FEMA is trying to find a way to get rid of the problem.

It does seem a bit unrealistic to me though. I don't know about housing costs anywhere else, but here they are extremely inexpensive. Still, a family of 4 would have a very hard time covering the costs associated with renting any decent housing for that amount of money, let alone trying to cover living expenses while hunting for a job or waiting for assistance to come through.


More bungling by FEMA as far as I can see. On the surface it appears to be more of a pr move than an actual attempt to solve any real problems.

 

[ducklite]

I think the point of the $2000 advance (it will be deducted from the total compensation given according to FEMA), is to aid those in the most dire of circumstances, in other words those people who are in shelters.

Honestly, the government has bit off more than they can chew by sending so many people to so few shelters. These people understandably don't want to be moved by the government again and it seems to me FEMA is trying to find a way to get rid of the problem.

It does seem a bit unrealistic to me though. I don't know about housing costs anywhere else, but here they are extremely inexpensive. Still, a family of 4 would have a very hard time covering the costs associated with renting any decent housing for that amount of money, let alone trying to cover living expenses while hunting for a job or waiting for assistance to come through.


More bungling by FEMA as far as I can see. On the surface it appears to be more of a pr move than an actual attempt to solve any real problems.

Just as an FYI, anyone who had a job was able to file for U/E benefits on the spot in TX and have their claim paid that way. Also, they are distributing emergency food stamps and WIC vouchers. People who were in that cusp of "working poor" should be able to use the benefits available to them and get back on their feet. A hand up, not a hand out.

I think that what the government is doing is trying to give people the means to take some personal respnsibility and get out of the shelters and back into the "real world."

Anne

 

[Charade]

I think the point of the $2000 advance (it will be deducted from the total compensation given according to FEMA), is to aid those in the most dire of circumstances, in other words those people who are in shelters.

Honestly, the government has bit off more than they can chew by sending so many people to so few shelters. These people understandably don't want to be moved by the government again and it seems to me FEMA is trying to find a way to get rid of the problem.

It does seem a bit unrealistic to me though. I don't know about housing costs anywhere else, but here they are extremely inexpensive. Still, a family of 4 would have a very hard time covering the costs associated with renting any decent housing for that amount of money, let alone trying to cover living expenses while hunting for a job or waiting for assistance to come through.


More bungling by FEMA as far as I can see. On the surface it appears to be more of a pr move than an actual attempt to solve any real problems.

Nothing gets past you, does it.

$2000 in my pocket would still feel a whole lot better than lint.