Who do I call to complain about a health insurance company?

Contact the state Insurance Department.

The address is Louisiana Department of Insurance, P.O. Box 94214, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9214. The phone numbers are 800-259-5300 and 225-342-5900; the fax number is 225-342-3078.

You can file a complaint online or print out a form and mail it in.

Keep in mind, though, that the Insurance Department has no jurisdiction over employer-sponsored self-funded plans. Complaints about those should be directed to the Employee Benefits Security Administration at 866-444-3272.

Things the state Insurance Department can’t do for you, as listed on its website:

Give you legal advice, act as your lawyer or interfere in a pending lawsuit.

Recommend one insurance company, agent, or adjuster over another.

Decide disputes based on who is negligent or at fault.

Determine the facts surrounding a claim (that is who might be telling the truth in a matter when accounts of that matter differ).

Resolve a complaint if the only evidence is your word against the word of others.

Online: http://ldi.louisiana.gov.

Relay stations used in pre-satellite days

Before we had satellites out in the atmosphere for the television signals, how did we receive the national signals? I know we had antennas for the local stations. But how did we receive the national signals from coast to coast here in Lake Charles?

“In the early days of television, network signals were transmitted to stations via microwave relay systems (similar systems are still in use, mostly to relay TV signals from live remote vans to stations, and from stations to their remote transmitting towers),” Jim Serra, KPLC-TV vice president and general manager, wrote in an email.

“With the advent of satellite distribution, networks began sending their signals out to local TV stations via satellite. Only when satellite equipment became smaller and less expensive did it become a viable means to relay signals from TV stations and other program sources directly into viewers’ homes.”

Online: www.museum.tv.

Tinted-window law applies to wraps

What’s the difference between illegally tinted windows on vehicles and those that have been plastered with company names, ads, slogans, whatever?

“Louisiana state law specifies the minimum light transmission each side or rear window on a motor vehicle is required to have,” state police Sgt. James Anderson wrote in an email.

“Any material placed on a window that reduces light transmission below the legally required level, whether it is window tint or a vehicle wrap, may be a violation of state law depending on which windows are affected and the type of vehicle.”

Under R.S. 32:361.1, side windows at the front of a car must allow at least 40 percent of the light through, and those in the back must let in at least 25 percent. Light transmission for rear windows must be at least 12 percent.

Online: www.legis.state.la.us.

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com

(mgnonline.com)