Tag: prescription drug plan

Next “Solving the Medicare Puzzle” Workshop

Announcing our next “Solving the Medicare Puzzle” Workshop!  Monday, March 16 at 5:30 pm in our Troy office at 1385 Stonycreek Road in Troy.

Are you, or someone you know, feeling overwhelmed about signing up for a Medicare Supplement? Is your mailbox overflowing with flyers and invitations? Are you more confused now than you were a couple of months ago? What do all of the letters of the alphabet have to do with healthcare? Well, look no further. Sign up today so you can be in the know!

Call our office at 937-492-8800 to reserve a seat (or two!), or simply complete the form below:

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’I would love to come! There will be a total of __ people in our group:’ type=’radio’ options=’1,2,3,4’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

Seniors need to “Be Prepared”!

Be Prepared for Medicare AEP

 

The Boy Scouts motto is dead on: “Be Prepared!” However, for many of us, procrastination is much easier because it takes less time (in fact, it takes no time). With the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) rapidly approaching (Oct 15 – Dec 7) it is going to be vitally important for you to be prepared. And since procrastinating is the path of least resistance, I am going to make this easy on you by giving you a single step that will go a long way in helping you be prepared for the upcoming AEP. I know that insurance is at the top of everyone’s “Most Interesting Topics” list, so do your best to stick with me.

The first step is Know What You Have. If you don’t know what type of Medicare Health Plan you have, you are an easy target for being taken advantage of. There are 2 major types of Medicare Health Plans:

  1. Medicare Supplement plans
  2. Medicare Advantage plans

These 2 types of plans are very different when it comes to how they work and the benefits they provide, but they are extremely misunderstood by policyholders. I often hear from policyholders, “I have a Medicare Supplement,” when in fact they have a Medicare Advantage plan. So what is the big difference between these plans?

 

Medicare Supplement Plans:

  1. Work in unison with Traditional Medicare Parts A & B: A supplement policy will pay most, if not all, of what Medicare does not pay. It acts as a secondary insurance.
  2. Do not have networks: They are not HMO or PPO plans so you are free to use any doctor or hospital that you want as long as they accept Medicare.
  3. Are funded entirely by policyholder premiums: This is important as it allows companies to keep benefits the same from year to year.
  4. Travel with you in all 50 states: Your plan works the same out of state as it does in your home state.

 

Medicare Advantage Plans:

  1. Work in replacement of Traditional Medicare Parts A & B: An advantage plan works in place of Medicare as your primary insurance and you do not have a secondary insurance. You are responsible for all deductibles, copays and coinsurance. And you don’t get out of paying your Medicare Part B premium.
  2. Are network plans: They are HMO and PPO plans so you may be restricted in the doctors and hospitals you are allowed to use.
  3. Are funded by Government subsidies and policyholder premiums: This is critical because as government subsidies are reduced, plan premiums will go up and benefits will go down, as has been the case for the past 7 years and I expect to be the case in the years ahead.
  4. May not cover you in other states (except in emergency cases): Many advantage plans only cover you in the case of an emergency if you are outside of your home state.

The biggest advantage in advantage plans has been the lower premiums. But as government subsidies have been reduced in years past, this benefit has been greatly diminished. For example, in 2007 you could get a Medicare Advantage PPO plan for a $0/month premium and your maximum annual out of pocket expense was $2,000. For 2014 that same plan has a $50/month premium and maximum annual out of pocket of $5,100 (for Shelby county plans).

As you can see, there is a big difference between these two types of plans. Know What You Have…because you may not be able to get your old plan back.

Seniormark will be sponsoring a workshop on September 11 at 5:30 pm at their office in Troy. “Solving the Medicare Puzzle” lays out the different parts of Medicare, and then will show you how the pieces fit together. This event is only for educational purposes and no plan-specific benefits or details will be shared.

DanDan Hoelscher is the founder of Seniormark, LLC, a company that has specialized in helping retirees make a successful transition from the workplace into retirement for the past 18 years.  Seniormark has offices in Sidney and Troy.  You can reach Dan by email at dan@seniormark.com or you can visit their website at www.seniormark.com.  Seniormark, LLC has no connection or affiliation with, and is not in any way sponsored by, the federal or state government, the social security administration, the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services or the department of health and human services.

 

Medicare Supplement policyholders are paying too much for their coverage!

If your parents were like mine, they probably taught you to spend your money wisely. Let me use a story here to make a point. Suppose you are shopping for a new refridgerator. Your first stop is at Sears where you find the perfect Frigidaire XL2014, and at a great price, $2100. But because your parents told you to shop before you buy, you decide to check a few more places. The last stop you make is at Lowes, where you find the same Frigidaire XL2014. Same make, same model, same features…they are IDENTICAL! Only the one at Lowes costs $1500. Do you go back to Sears and buy the one for $2100? Unless you own stock in Sears, or your son is the sales rep, I hope your response is…Absolutely not! Why would you spend $600 more on the same thing. But Retirees are doing that very thing with their Medicare Supplement insurance.

 

But you may ask, “How do I know I’m getting the same benefits?” The answer is simple, our government did something right. Prior to 1992, Medicare Supplement insurance plans were not standardized. What this meant was that each insurance company’s Medicare supplement plans offered different benefits. This made it almost impossible for the Retiree to shop their coverage from company to company. Compare it to shopping for a car today. You can’t really compare cost from one dealer to another because the options are completely different. This one has leather seats, but the other one has On-Star. This one has a DVD player, but the other one has alloy wheels. It is impossible to truly compare cost because you are never comparing “apples to apples.” The same was true with Medicare Supplement insurance prior to 1992. But in 1992 the federal government stepped in and “standardized” Medicare Supplement insurance.

 

They did this because prior to 1992, unethical salespeople were taking coverage away from Retirees in order to save them money, and they weren’t disclosing the fact that they reduced their coverage. So the government stepped in and standardized the plans so this couldn’t happen anymore. They did this by offering 11 plans and giving them the letter names of A through N. In other words, it means you can compare a Plan F with one company to a Plan F with another company and know that the benefits are IDENTICAL. So you no longer have to say, “I know my supplement is expensive, but I don’t want to change it because it pays so well.” As long as you stick with the same Plan letter name, the new company is legally obligated to pay the same benefits as your old one.

 

So what does this mean for you? It means it would be a good idea to know what premium you pay compared to what others your age and in your area are paying for the same plan. This is important because you may be paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars more per year in premium and not be getting any better benefits. For example, the premiums for a Plan F for a 70 year old female range from $130/month on the low end up to $276/month on the high end. That’s a difference of $1,752 per year. And worse yet, the person paying $276/month is not getting any better benefits than the person paying $130. And don’t forget, you can change your medicare supplement policy any time of the year…you don’t have to wait for the Annual Enrollment Period at the end of the year.

 

If you would like to see how your premium compares, you can go to our website at www.seniormark.com and click on the “Supplement Rates” tab. And don’t worry, you will get instant numbers and we won’t collect your personal information. If you are not tech savvy just call us at 877-492-8803 and we will provide you with a free comparison report.

 

I bet your momma never thought shopping would be this easy!

Next “Solving the Medicare Puzzle” Workshop Announced!

Are you, or someone you know, ready to turn 65?  Is your mailbox overflowing with offers of insurance?  Are you starting to get confused by all the information  you are reading?  Then, plan to come to our next “Solving the Medicare Puzzle” workshop and we will try to help eliminate some of the confusion!

 

Thursday, September 12

5:30 pm

Seniormark/Troy Office

1385 Stonycreek Road

 

Please call our office at 937-492-8800 to save yourself a seat!  See you then!

Come and celebrate our Grand Opening with Us!

open house ad

(Click on image to enlarge)

Turning 65 and looking for some answers?

Are you turning 65 and wondering what the next step is? 

We will be holding our next Medicare Solving The Medicare Puzzle Workshop:

Wednesday, June 26 @ 5:30 pm – Location: Troy office — 1385 Stonycreek Road. 

This is an introductory session explaining the 4 parts of Medicare and what an individual’s options are when they turn 65 or retire and go on Medicare.  We have had an excellent response to these workshops, so if you know of someone who could benefit, please let them know.

Seating is limited, so please RSVP:  Toll Free – 877-492-8803, or comment on this post!

Next workshop date announced

Our next Solving the Medicare Puzzle Workshop will be held on Thursday, May 9 at 5:30 pm in our new Sidney office at 2551 Michigan Street in Sidney. Seats may be reserved by calling our office at 937-492-8800 or online by clicking https://seniormark.com/workshops/ .

If you know someone who would like to or should attend, please share this post with them!

Next Troy Workshop announced!

Our next Solving the Medicare Puzzle Workshop will be held on Thursday, December 13 at 5:30 pm in our Troy office at 1385 Stonycreek Road, Troy. Seats may be reserved by calling our office at 937-492-8800 or online by clicking https://seniormark.com/workshops/ .

If you know someone who would like to or should attend, please share this post with them!

New and improved website~

Things are changing all over the place at Seniormark! We are so excited about these changes, because it means we will be able to provide the same excellent service our clients are used to, while being able to add even more ways of teaching and expanding the knowledge base of our clients.

Today’s exciting announcement is that our website has been completely redesigned and has a fresh new look! We hope you will head over there and take a peek. We will continually update it with new videos, keep our prices current, etc.  Bookmark it and visit often for changes!

Please check out the new website at https://www.seniormark.com and let us know what you think!

Announcing our summer gas card giveaway!

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SUMMER GAS CARD GIVEAWAY!

Celebrate summer with our gas giveaway!!!  We will be giving away a $200 gas card to a random person the week of August 1, 2012. 

It’s easy to enter!  Just tell people about us!!  You will receive one entry for every person that calls and tells us that you sent them.  So, the more you spread the word, the more chances you’ll have in the drawing!

They do not need to purchase anything for you to be eligible.  However, they do need to mention your name during their first phone call to our office or their first workshop they attend, so make sure you remind them!

As always, our current clients will still receive a $20 gift card to Bob Evans for every referral.  But during the Summer Giveaway your fun is doubled because your name will also be thrown in the hat for our free gas card.

Good luck to everyone!