des far-reaching plans to alter the two major government-run health-care programs. Senators will continue voting on three further budget plans, all of which are certain to fail in the Senate. The dueling votes were set up to illustrate the vast differences that exist between Democrats and Republicans on federal government funding levels in the near-term but more importantly how to address the fiscal problems that the large entitlement programs threaten the country with. The Senate vote was 40-57 against beginning formal debate on the spending framework. One Democrat and two Republicans didn't cast a vote. The five Republicans who voted against the plan were Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Paul opposed the plan because he believes it doesn't go far enough to rein in federal spending, while the others all voted no over concerns about the Medicare proposal. Ryan's plan would essentially replace Medicare with a voucher scheme providing subsidies to seniors toward thys. High-end homeowners can particularly feel the pinch, since their properties will exceed the coverage provided by the federal flood insurance program and most regular homeowners’ policies. In some cases, they could find themselves holding at least four separate policies to insure their coastal homes: homeowners’, windstorm, flood and excess flood coverage. “That’s where it starts to get expensive,” says Loretta L. Worters, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute. But Daniel Odess, president of Florida-based East Coast Public Adjusters, says the issue is less one of heightened risk and more about insurance company profits. He argues that insurance companies, which have powerful lobbying operations, have portrayed such things as insurance fraud by their customers as a reason to hike rates. “There is such a focus on the profit by the insurance companies,” he says. “It truly is more about making money than the things that have happened.” As for premiums, Odess says: “They’re absolutely at a record high. His advice to homeowners: Read your policies and know what’s covered and what’s not Make copies of policies and seal them in bags in two separate locations Digitally document your home from all sorts of angles, particularly to show what you’ve done to prepare (not just show personal property) to avoid having a claim denied or minimized High-end homeowners, in particular, should be sure of what their coverage includes — Though premiums are higher they often come with more conditions “We put so much faith and trust in the insurance industry we forget this is just another contract — a contract to protect the largest investment in your life,” Odess says. Worters of the Insurance Information Institute says consumers often don’t understand all the issues affecting their insurers and the rate increases they face. Natural disasters elsewhere in the world, for instance, can have an impact on the reinsurance market which will then affect the costs of U.S. insurers, she says. Plus, Worters says, with the interest in living near the coast — which has steadily been increasing — the risk of catastrophe grows. “We’re building homes where they shouldn’t be built,” she says. “These homes are at a much higher risk.” Wind-related damage by far is the biggest cause of property damage in the U.S. When it comes to insurance payouts, hurricanes and tropical storms dominate, even though tornadoes tend to be more lethal. On average, tornadoes account for $1.1 billion in damages to crops and properties, Worters says. Hurricanes, she said, cost an average of $5.1 billion a year. With coastal development growing and an active hurricane season forecast (the season starts June 1), the prognosis for losses — and insurance rates — is bleak. “Disaster losses along the coast are likely to escalate in the coming years, in part because of huge increases in development,” Worters says. “One catastrophe modeling company predicts that catastrophe losses will double every decade or so due to growing residential and commercial density and more expensive buildings.” Hurricane Andrew, which devastated S