Fair Pricing Search Page - Californians can comparison shop for healthcare
Clarkhoward.com - Read about one family's journey to financial freedom

These days you're likely to see a tip jar when you go into a coffee shop, a sandwich shop or any other place with counter service. Clark was recently in a rental car van and the driver was very helpful with his traveling partners' suitcases. Though he usually wouldn't, he did tip in this instance. But there's this constant grey area when it comes to tipping. Most people know to leave a tip for a server; a bellboy who helps with your bags; a housekeeper at a hotel; or a concierge who does something for you. Money Advisor recently asked people how often they put money in the tip car at pizza shops, ice cream parlors and the like. 48 percent said never; 3 percent said they pretend they never see a jar; 4 percent said they always tip when they see a jar; and a little less than half said they occasionally pop funds into the jar. Meanwhile, Clark is really confused about this one: Should he leave a tip when he goes to pick up a pizza at a chain?? He has no idea!

We're at a point in our country where 1 in 5 people don't have health insurance. It's not always the same 47 or so million who do without it at any one moment. It's constantly changing as people lose jobs and get hired. The oddball thing is that insured patients get quoted a rate that is as little as one-tenth the "retail" price of a medical service or procedure. But if you're uninsured, you pay full price and it seems like the hospital wanted the money from you yesterday. Now California has become one of two states (the other being New York) where hospitals must publish their price lists on a website. This helps the uninsured comparison shop in non-emergency situations.

Clark recently had some lab work sent to a facility that didn't have a deal with his insurer. So he was billed at the phony full "retail" price. He had to meet a big deductible before the insurer picked anything up. It's as if he was beaten up twice. There's such a shocking disparity between the billing for the insured and the uninsured. The healthcare issue has been a big one on the campaign trail. While the Dems treat it as a primary issue, it's been more of a sleeper one for the GOP. But ultimately to solve this, Clark thinks all health coverage should be individually purchased -- not gotten through your employer. Healthcare costs would be dramatically lower under that scenario. You don't go to your employer for car insurance and you don't lose your home insurance because you lost your job, do you?

The slowing economy presents many challenges along with many opportunities. In the latest edition of Clarkonomics, Clark focused on some of the latter. The Fed's drop in interest rates has led to an opportunity to refinance. Here's the back-story: People who are skittish about the stock market right now are instead putting money into U.S. treasuries, which are like CDs for rich people. Clark recently saw a 10-year treasury trade going for around 3.6 percent. That low rate in turn affects what you pay for a mortgage.

Let's look specifically at how Countrywide is helping to make refinancing a smart move. The mortgage lender had gotten into all kinds of trouble with their undesirable liar's loans and option payment loans, which they hoped to sell off to investors. But there are no buyers willing to take the risk in these tough economic times. So Countrywide is stuck with them. The Los Angeles Times reports that right now the mortgage lender may be willing to work with you if you're in one of their weirdo, exotic loans. They'll waive all kinds of requirements to get you into a good loan. Their goal is simply to package you up with other "safe" loans and sell you off to investors. So keep asking what you can do to get into a better loan -- even if you've been turned down before. Meanwhile, what do you do if this scenario doesn't apply to you because you're in a relatively good loan? The Fed's interest rate cut still means that you may have the opportunity to refinance for an even better rate.

There's something brewing right now that Clark considers akin to a national scandal. The cell phone companies are in cahoots with rip-off artists and they're stealing your money. Here's the background: Do you recall back in the landline days when people were falling victim to "The Cram"? Phone companies would bill them for fake charges attributed to a "marketing" company. These bogus fees would pop up on a page of unregulated charges on a monthly bill. The phone companies would get a cut of the action when they teamed up with these 3rd party aggregators who initiated the charges. Many people would pay year after year without questioning because they were so confused by their bills.

Now this same garbage is popping up with cell phones. The cell carriers are doing courtesy billing for 3rd party crooks that push a variety of messaging services. And of course they're getting a cut of the money once again. People are getting burned in 2 ways, actually, because cell companies are also raising the cost of text messaging. This is a virtually free transaction for them, yet they're raising rates to as high as 20 cents/text message. People are being billed for messaging services they never signed up for. For example, Clark is getting spam text messages ads. The cell carriers love this -- especially if you're not on an unlimited texting plan -- because every spam message is more money for them. If the history of "The Cram" is any indication, the FCC probably won't get involved for several more years. So you must take the responsibility of reviewing your cellular statement page by page every month. Many people just get their bill charged to their credit card every month and never see a statement. Don't be one of them! Get a paper statement and scrutinize it. This is war. They think they can get away with stealing your money, but they can only do so if you allow it.