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Transcript

Talking Medicare · Money In Motion with Klaas Financial

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Speaker 1: And you know the music, you know the opportunity, you
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Speaker 1: know the telephone number six oh eight three two one
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Speaker 1: thirteen ten. That's six oh eight three two one thirteen ten.
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Speaker 1: Love to get you on the air this morning with
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Speaker 1: your retirement related question for our retirement planning professionals from
0:13
Speaker 1: Class Financial, the website COSS financial dot com. That's COSS
0:17
Speaker 1: k l Aasfinancial dot com. Telephone number for the office
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Speaker 1: right here in Madison, six oh eight four four two five,
0:24
Speaker 1: six three seven. No charge for that initial get to
0:26
Speaker 1: know your appointment tech Loss Financial. It will be complimentary
0:29
Speaker 1: to you again their number six oh eight four four
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Speaker 1: two five six three seven, And again phone lines are
0:34
Speaker 1: open for your question. Six oh eight three two one
0:37
Speaker 1: thirteen ten. That's six oh eight three two one thirteen ten.
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Speaker 1: Joined this morning by CJ Class and Eric Schwartz of
0:44
Speaker 1: Class Financial. CJ. How you doing this week?
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Speaker 2: I'm doing great.
0:47
Speaker 1: How are you, Sean, I'm doing really well. Great to
0:49
Speaker 1: hear from you, Eric, How have you been?
0:52
Speaker 3: I am doing great. Falls back and I'm happy.
0:54
Speaker 1: I know that was a weird week we had there,
0:57
Speaker 1: but well, you know, we'll take a little extra heat
0:59
Speaker 1: in summer and sunshine as well. And yeah, we've got
1:02
Speaker 1: an important conversation. We're talking about medicare this week, a
1:05
Speaker 1: very hot topic and I know there's going to be
1:08
Speaker 1: a lot of questions, a lot of great information and
1:10
Speaker 1: answers as well for folks. And again, phone lines are
1:12
Speaker 1: open three two one thirteen ten. That's three two one
1:14
Speaker 1: thirteen ten. Website for Class Financial it is Cossfinancial dot com.
1:18
Speaker 1: You can learn more about the folks at cost Financially.
1:20
Speaker 1: You can learn about their separate divisions. You can also
1:22
Speaker 1: sign up for their weekly market Pulse newsletter. Again, that
1:25
Speaker 1: all available to you at Klassfinancial dot com. That's Coss
1:28
Speaker 1: Klaas Financial dot com and they're telephone number six So
1:32
Speaker 1: eight four four two five six three seven. Before we
1:34
Speaker 1: talk about this week's topic, let's actually take a look
1:37
Speaker 1: back at last week's show. Of course, each and every week,
1:39
Speaker 1: do the Class Quiz question the week your chance to
1:41
Speaker 1: win a fantastic prize. This week, no exception, our friends
1:44
Speaker 1: from Class Financial have provided a twenty five dollars gift
1:47
Speaker 1: card to Darden Restaurants. Listen close to the program because
1:50
Speaker 1: just about every show, the question and answer come up
1:52
Speaker 1: during the program. And let's actually look back at last
1:55
Speaker 1: week's show and get the question and answer there.
1:59
Speaker 3: Absolutely, thank you to everybody as always for listening, and
2:03
Speaker 3: big congratulations to our winner from last week, which was
2:06
Speaker 3: Patricia from Waterloo. True or False in twenty twenty five,
2:10
Speaker 3: you can gift up to nineteen thousand dollars per recipient
2:14
Speaker 3: without triggering federal gift tax reporting. And the answer to that,
2:18
Speaker 3: Sean is true.
2:19
Speaker 1: Excellent, And if you missed any part of that program,
2:22
Speaker 1: really good show, you can always listen back at Clossfinancial
2:25
Speaker 1: dot com. That's Claus k l Aasfinancial dot com. So,
2:29
Speaker 1: as mentioned this week, we're talking medicare, which is a
2:32
Speaker 1: very hot topic of course in the news. And you
2:34
Speaker 1: know you probably heard and I've heard a lot about
2:36
Speaker 1: about medicare over the years, and you know a lot
2:39
Speaker 1: of us and including myself, don't really understand all the
2:42
Speaker 1: specifics and CJ, let's talk a little bit about some
2:46
Speaker 1: of those specifics and kind of help us understand what
2:48
Speaker 1: exactly medicare is.
2:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're not alone, Sean. There's a lot of a
2:52
Speaker 2: lot of confusion, a lot of questions as it relates
2:54
Speaker 2: to medicare because it often comes up in political debates,
2:58
Speaker 2: usually around funding and and government involvement and healthcare, and
3:02
Speaker 2: certainly everybody has an opinion about this, but today we
3:06
Speaker 2: are going to be steering clear of the political elements
3:09
Speaker 2: of this and instead just give you a practical understanding
3:12
Speaker 2: of how Medicare operates, especially as you approach age sixty five.
3:17
Speaker 2: So let's just begin with a quick disclaimer. We are
3:20
Speaker 2: a financial planning and retirement planning firm. The reason I
3:24
Speaker 2: bring this up is because we are not your insurance specialist.
3:27
Speaker 2: We do have individuals on our team who are insurance licensed,
3:30
Speaker 2: but we actually don't sell any insurance. It allows us
3:33
Speaker 2: to speak from a place of authority without having the
3:36
Speaker 2: conflict of interest. So good news is we're licensed to
3:39
Speaker 2: kind of discuss some of this. Bad news is we're
3:41
Speaker 2: not going to basically give you, ultimately the suggestions. At
3:45
Speaker 2: the end of the day, you would have to work
3:47
Speaker 2: with an insurance agent to actually execute on obtaining Medicare
3:51
Speaker 2: insurance or life insurance or anything like that. Now, another
3:54
Speaker 2: quick side note, Class Financial is actually hosting a what's
3:58
Speaker 2: called a COSS Education in webinar series next Tuesday afternoon,
4:03
Speaker 2: October fourteenth, and believe it or not, our topic on
4:06
Speaker 2: that webinar is Medicare. So we have a specialist in
4:10
Speaker 2: the Medicare field coming to join us, and you can
4:12
Speaker 2: call our office to get signed up for that webinar
4:15
Speaker 2: if you're interested in a deeper dive, because today, obviously
4:18
Speaker 2: in a twenty minute show, we're not going to be
4:20
Speaker 2: able to take the deeper dive.
4:21
Speaker 1: Did I see did I see two? CJ? That Eric
4:25
Speaker 1: is one of the co hosts.
4:27
Speaker 2: That's I was.
4:28
Speaker 3: Actually just going to bring that up. Yes, I will
4:30
Speaker 3: be I will be there, So give us a call
4:32
Speaker 3: and and join it.
4:34
Speaker 1: Oh fantastic. Get to see Eric on the online so awesome. Yeah,
4:38
Speaker 1: so I'm sorry sort of interrupted that, but I know
4:42
Speaker 1: you wanted to get to some of the basics here, CJ.
4:44
Speaker 2: No, it's great, it's great. Yeah. So so call in,
4:47
Speaker 2: sign up and you'll get to you to see Eric
4:49
Speaker 2: a little bit, actually get to see us face because
4:51
Speaker 2: you to see our faces on the radio. So for now,
4:55
Speaker 2: let's start with the basics. Medicare is a federal health
4:58
Speaker 2: insurance program that many people are to jump into as
5:01
Speaker 2: soon as they meets either the age criteria or other
5:04
Speaker 2: applicable criteria. So to become eligible for Medicare, you need
5:08
Speaker 2: to fit one of these eligibility requirements first is be
5:13
Speaker 2: age sixty five or older. This is by far the
5:16
Speaker 2: most common way that people become eligible for Medicare. Or
5:21
Speaker 2: be disabled and receiving SSDI Social Security Disability Insurance payments,
5:27
Speaker 2: or have end stage renal disease or have ALS. So
5:34
Speaker 2: there's four criteria. Sixty five, be receiving SSDI and stage
5:39
Speaker 2: renal disease or ALS. Three of those four you don't
5:43
Speaker 2: really want to become eligible for Medicare that way. It's
5:48
Speaker 2: a blessing. By the way, I am thankful that we
5:50
Speaker 2: live in a country where we have some of these
5:53
Speaker 2: social safety nets in place in case you do end
5:55
Speaker 2: up in one of those horrible situations. But far what
6:00
Speaker 2: we see in our space, at least the most commonly
6:03
Speaker 2: is when people turn age sixty five. Now, in addition
6:07
Speaker 2: to those criteria about how you've become eligible for Medicare,
6:10
Speaker 2: you must also generally be a US citizen or a
6:14
Speaker 2: lawfully admitted permanent resident who has lived in the US
6:17
Speaker 2: for at least five continuous years. A great resource to
6:21
Speaker 2: learn even more about this program can be found at
6:23
Speaker 2: medicare dot gov. And then beyond that, if you and
6:27
Speaker 2: your spouse have worked and paid Medicare taxes for a
6:30
Speaker 2: certain amount of time, which is typically ten years, you'll
6:34
Speaker 2: likely qualify for premium free Medicare Part A, which is
6:38
Speaker 2: the hospital insurance segment of Medicare.
6:42
Speaker 1: Verly good stuff. This mornings we talked with CJ. Closs
6:44
Speaker 1: and Eric Schwartz, our retirement funding professionals from Class Financial
6:48
Speaker 1: online Class Financial dot com. That's Class k l a
6:51
Speaker 1: as Financial dot Com. Great website resource startel for number
6:56
Speaker 1: six so eight four four two five six three seven,
6:59
Speaker 1: No charge for that. She'll get to know your appointment
7:01
Speaker 1: dech costs financial. It will be complementary to you again
7:05
Speaker 1: the number six so eight four four two five six
7:07
Speaker 1: three seven. Eric, how do we then, when it comes
7:10
Speaker 1: to kind of that overall structure of Medicare, how is
7:13
Speaker 1: it put together and how do folks enroll in it?
7:17
Speaker 3: It's a great question, Sean, and the most basic way
7:20
Speaker 3: to look at it is Medicare is structured in two parts.
7:24
Speaker 3: So traditional Medicare is made up of Part A, which
7:28
Speaker 3: is your hospital insurance. So this is going to cover
7:31
Speaker 3: in patient care, nursing facilities, hospice, in some level of
7:36
Speaker 3: home care. And Part A is usually premium free if
7:40
Speaker 3: you've worked and paid Medicare taxes for at least ten years.
7:44
Speaker 3: On the other hand, we have Part B. This is
7:46
Speaker 3: your medical insurance. This is going to cover outpatient care,
7:50
Speaker 3: your doctor's visits, preventative services, and any durable medical equipment
7:55
Speaker 3: that you need. Now, Part B does have a premium.
7:58
Speaker 3: In twenty twenty five, the state entered premium is one
8:01
Speaker 3: hundred and eighty five dollars per month. Now, that comes
8:04
Speaker 3: with an annual deductible of two hundred and fifty seven dollars. Now, Sean,
8:08
Speaker 3: I think that sounds like a pretty good deductible. I
8:10
Speaker 3: would like to have a two hundred and fifty seven
8:12
Speaker 3: dollars deductive. Yes, So after you hit that first deductible,
8:17
Speaker 3: Medicare generally pays about eighty percent of your costs after that,
8:21
Speaker 3: which leaves you responsible for the remaining twenty and we're
8:24
Speaker 3: going to talk in a moment here about how to
8:27
Speaker 3: handle the remaining twenty percent. But that's traditional Medicare. So
8:32
Speaker 3: with regards to enrollment, if you're already receiving your Social
8:35
Speaker 3: Security benefits at least four months before you turn sixty five,
8:39
Speaker 3: you'll typically be automatically enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B. Now,
8:44
Speaker 3: if you're not taking Social Security yet, maybe you're still working,
8:48
Speaker 3: maybe you're just delaying it. To have it increase, you
8:51
Speaker 3: actually have to actively sign up for Medicare through the
8:56
Speaker 3: Social Security Administration. So honestly, the easy way to do
9:00
Speaker 3: that is online rather than trying to get an appointment.
9:05
Speaker 3: But the timing does matter, especially if you're still working
9:08
Speaker 3: or you have employer coverage, So pay close attention to that.
9:11
Speaker 1: Really important warnings and information there as well as a
9:15
Speaker 1: lot of this stuff. Dealing with government agencies sometimes can
9:19
Speaker 1: be difficult, not only to start, but also if you
9:21
Speaker 1: do something wrong to correct some of those areas errors.
9:24
Speaker 1: You really want to make sure that you are knowing
9:28
Speaker 1: what you're doing as you're doing it. As we talk
9:30
Speaker 1: this morning with our retirement planning professionals, Eric Schwartz and CJ. Closs.
9:33
Speaker 1: Of course, they come to us from class financial website
9:35
Speaker 1: Cossfinancial dot com. That's Coss k l Aas Financial dot com.
9:39
Speaker 1: Tell for number six oh eight four four two five
9:42
Speaker 1: six three seven no charge for that initial gets to
9:44
Speaker 1: the appointment dech Loss Financial. It will be complementary to you. Again,
9:48
Speaker 1: they're number six oh eight four four two five, six
9:51
Speaker 1: three seven. You heard Eric mention that twenty percent that
9:54
Speaker 1: can probably add up to quite a bit. We'll get
9:56
Speaker 1: some details from Eric and of course talk a little
9:58
Speaker 1: bit more with CJ as well about ways that folks
10:01
Speaker 1: manage some of those out of pocket costs. We'll get
10:03
Speaker 1: that information next as Money in Motion with Coss Financial
10:06
Speaker 1: continues right here on thirteen ten doll will you IB
10:08
Speaker 1: eight talking with our retirement planning professionals CJ. Coloss and
10:13
Speaker 1: Eric Schwartz. Of course, they come to us from Coss
10:15
Speaker 1: Financial website Coss financial dot com. That's Coss k l
10:19
Speaker 1: aas Financial dot com. They're tell forh number six oh
10:22
Speaker 1: eight four four two five six three seven. Don't forget
10:25
Speaker 1: no charge for that initial gets to know your appointment
10:27
Speaker 1: at costs financially. It will be complementary to you again
10:30
Speaker 1: their number six oh eight four four two five six
10:32
Speaker 1: three seven. And something that I noticed on the newly
10:35
Speaker 1: redesigned website Coss Financial dot com you can actually schedule
10:39
Speaker 1: complementary conversation right at the website as well, so they
10:41
Speaker 1: make it real easy for you at cost Financial to
10:44
Speaker 1: start that conversation. Just before the break, we started talking
10:47
Speaker 1: of course about Medicare and how exactly it's structured. And Eric,
10:51
Speaker 1: you had mentioned that Medicare generally covers eighty percent, and
10:57
Speaker 1: of course then you're responsible for that extra twenty percent,
11:00
Speaker 1: and depending on on how things stand, I'm guessing I
11:03
Speaker 1: could probably add up quite to quite a bit of money.
11:06
Speaker 1: How do folks then kind of manage those out of
11:09
Speaker 1: pocket costs?
11:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, it certainly can add up. And that's where Medicare
11:14
Speaker 3: supplements or meta gap plans are going to come into play.
11:18
Speaker 3: So anybody who is close to the age of sixty
11:21
Speaker 3: five advertisements for Medicare supplements, that is what is flooding
11:26
Speaker 3: your mailbox right now. That is what you are being
11:29
Speaker 3: inundated by Medicare supplements and probably some Medicare advantage plans,
11:34
Speaker 3: which we'll talk about later in the show. But these
11:36
Speaker 3: are meta gap plans, are private insurance policies, and they're
11:40
Speaker 3: designed to fill in the gaps of original Medicare, especially
11:44
Speaker 3: that remaining twenty percent co insurance from Part B. Now,
11:48
Speaker 3: the important thing to understand about these plans is they
11:50
Speaker 3: are standardized. Okay, so private insurance companies offer these plans.
11:55
Speaker 3: They may charge different premiums. They may offer different service,
12:00
Speaker 3: but at their core, the coverage is the same. Okay.
12:03
Speaker 3: Because they are standardized compliments to traditional Medicare, they're generally
12:09
Speaker 3: generally going to be labeled by letters, so you might
12:12
Speaker 3: be like a Plan PART, a Plan G, or a
12:16
Speaker 3: Plan N, So you're really going to want to talk
12:19
Speaker 3: to an insurance professional about this. In my opinion, it
12:23
Speaker 3: just makes the process a lot easier. But let's look
12:26
Speaker 3: at just a couple of these in particular. So Plan
12:29
Speaker 3: G is the most comprehensive option available to new enrollees.
12:34
Speaker 3: It covers everything except that part be deductible, so that's
12:37
Speaker 3: that two hundred and fifty seven dollars. Plan N is
12:42
Speaker 3: a lower cost alternative with similar coverage, but it includes
12:47
Speaker 3: some copays, so you might have twenty dollars for an
12:49
Speaker 3: office visitor, fifty dollars for an er visit if you're
12:52
Speaker 3: if you're not admitted. So while the benefits are identical
12:56
Speaker 3: for each plan letter, no matter, no matter the providers,
13:00
Speaker 3: and customer service can vary widely between companies, so that's
13:03
Speaker 3: why it's important to shop around, compare quotes, and consider
13:07
Speaker 3: factors like rate stability and customer support when choosing a
13:11
Speaker 3: metagap provider. The other thing to understand about these CJ
13:15
Speaker 3: and I see this all the time. This is something, unfortunately,
13:19
Speaker 3: that it's beneficial to shop around your provider on a
13:24
Speaker 3: regular basis, not unlike your home and auto insurance. Right
13:29
Speaker 3: the premiums just will go up over time, not necessarily
13:33
Speaker 3: due to increased coverage or anything like that, and just
13:36
Speaker 3: shopping around and switching to a new provider can save
13:39
Speaker 3: you a lot of money. So don't be afraid to
13:41
Speaker 3: do that. Talk to an independent agent and make sure
13:44
Speaker 3: that you're still getting you're still getting a good deal.
13:47
Speaker 3: And the final thing I'll note here is Metagap plans
13:50
Speaker 3: do not include prescription drug coverage, so you'll still need
13:53
Speaker 3: to enroll in a Medicare Part D drug plan separately
13:57
Speaker 3: if you're going to be going with original me care
14:00
Speaker 3: and a metagap plan.
14:01
Speaker 1: Really good stuff to know there. As we talked this
14:03
Speaker 1: morning with Eric Swartz, CG, COSS or retirement planning professionals
14:06
Speaker 1: from Class Financial Online, Cossfinancial dot com that's COSS k
14:10
Speaker 1: l A A S Financial dot com and CGI here CG.
14:14
Speaker 1: I hear about these kind of bundle these Medicare advantage
14:18
Speaker 1: plans what exactly are those What am I hearing there?
14:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, great question, Sean. So you know, Eric did a
14:25
Speaker 2: great job there of lining out kind of what we
14:28
Speaker 2: call traditional medicare. It's the Part A, the Part B,
14:31
Speaker 2: the metagap plan also know as Medicare Supplements, and then
14:36
Speaker 2: the Part D prescription plan also known as RX plans. So,
14:40
Speaker 2: by the way, you just have to understand the terminology
14:44
Speaker 2: just to try to function in this space. But what
14:47
Speaker 2: Eric outlined there is what is called traditional Medicare. It
14:51
Speaker 2: is going to be the typically the most costly of
14:54
Speaker 2: all of the routes to go when you get that
14:56
Speaker 2: meta gap and a prescription and sometimes you have to
14:58
Speaker 2: work on getting separate dental and but it's also going
15:01
Speaker 2: to have the lowest amount of out out of pocket components,
15:05
Speaker 2: and it'll give you the broadest network. You'll be able
15:08
Speaker 2: to go almost anywhere in the world, certainly anywhere in
15:11
Speaker 2: the United States and get coverage. We see most commonly
15:15
Speaker 2: traditional Medicare AB, a metigap plan, a D plan with
15:19
Speaker 2: low out of pocket costs besides the higher premiums. Where
15:23
Speaker 2: it changes is when you get into Medicare Part C.
15:26
Speaker 2: And I hate this naming methodology's people are like wait,
15:29
Speaker 2: ce that comes before D, But listen. Medicare Part C
15:34
Speaker 2: is known as Medicare advantage, which we would also call
15:38
Speaker 2: going off of traditional medicare. So these are run by
15:42
Speaker 2: private companies. They do typically include Part A, Part B,
15:46
Speaker 2: and Part D. These Medicare advantage plans often have lower
15:51
Speaker 2: monthly premiums, but they come with networks and more restrictions.
15:56
Speaker 2: Think like hmo versus PPO right, kind of more local networks.
16:01
Speaker 2: In some circumstances with more restrictions. Some people prefer to
16:06
Speaker 2: the flexibility or they prefer, i should say, the flexibility
16:09
Speaker 2: and predictability of original medicare with a medicap plan, while
16:13
Speaker 2: others appreciate the convenience and the extras that advantage plans offer.
16:17
Speaker 2: So for those of you who are wondering, like, oh
16:19
Speaker 2: what do I haven't how does this work? Well, listen.
16:22
Speaker 2: You'll often hear like on the TV, oh, look, you
16:26
Speaker 2: can change this Medicare Medicare advantage plan and you'll get
16:29
Speaker 2: dental envision and trips to Hawaii and like all these
16:32
Speaker 2: thingsering what is happening that is often going off of
16:36
Speaker 2: traditional medicare, And the key there is premiums are lower.
16:40
Speaker 2: You do get more bells and whistles, but you will
16:44
Speaker 2: have more out of pocket expenses if you become unhealthy.
16:49
Speaker 2: So we're not actually here to say which one is better.
16:52
Speaker 2: We would say work with an independent insurance agent because
16:55
Speaker 2: there certainly can be circumstances under which medicare advantage could
16:59
Speaker 2: better for you or traditional medicare could be better for you.
17:03
Speaker 2: But the key here is to educate yourself and then
17:06
Speaker 2: to make sure you're working with a competent independent agent
17:09
Speaker 2: to give you guidance.
17:10
Speaker 1: Really good information this morning from CJ. Closs and Eric Schwartz.
17:13
Speaker 1: They are our retirement planning professionals from Coss Financial. Talk
17:16
Speaker 1: a little bit about enrollment when it comes to the
17:19
Speaker 1: rules for metagap plan what you need to know there well,
17:21
Speaker 1: also do our Coss Quiz question week. Will do that next.
17:24
Speaker 1: In the meantime, I've been to the website yet, head
17:26
Speaker 1: on over Cossfinancial dot com. That's Coss k l A
17:29
Speaker 1: A S Financial dot Com. Telephon number six O eight
17:32
Speaker 1: four four two five six three seven. No charge for
17:35
Speaker 1: that initial get to know your appointment tech Coss Financial.
17:37
Speaker 1: It will be complementary to you. Again, their number six
17:39
Speaker 1: oh eight, four four, two, five, six, three seven. More
17:42
Speaker 1: of money in Motion with COSS Financials next year On
17:45
Speaker 1: thirteen ten wib A Talking This Morning with CJ Closs
17:49
Speaker 1: and Eric Schwartz. They are our retirement planning professionals from
17:52
Speaker 1: Class Financial. Got a great website, cossfinancial dot com. That's
17:56
Speaker 1: Coss k l a a s Financial dot com. Against
17:59
Speaker 1: Schedule Apployment. Try it online. You can sign up for
18:01
Speaker 1: the weekly Market Pulse newsletter. You can also listen back
18:04
Speaker 1: to this in previous shows podcasts. Get more information as
18:07
Speaker 1: well about Class Financial all at class financial dot com.
18:10
Speaker 1: That's Class k l a a Sfinancial dot com. Talking
18:14
Speaker 1: Medicare this week with CJ and Eric and CJ. What
18:17
Speaker 1: about enrollment. There's probably I've got to guess some rules
18:20
Speaker 1: for enrollment when it comes to metagap plans.
18:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of people who have who are on
18:27
Speaker 2: medicare know that there's this kind of what we call
18:30
Speaker 2: open enrollment period that's you know, in the fall, which
18:33
Speaker 2: is actually coming up here starting October fifteenth. But there's
18:37
Speaker 2: some confusion around this and we want to try to
18:39
Speaker 2: clear it up a little bit. So so metagap or
18:41
Speaker 2: Medicare supplement plans do not follow the same open enrollment
18:45
Speaker 2: rules as Medicare Advantage or Part D prescription plans would.
18:49
Speaker 2: There's no annual re enrollment period for these Medicare supplements
18:53
Speaker 2: slash Medicare or metagap plans. So again, just whenever I
18:57
Speaker 2: say metagap, it's the same thing as Medicare supplement. Whenever
19:00
Speaker 2: isa I Medicare supplant, the same as medicap, just so
19:02
Speaker 2: you're away. But instead of these enrollment periods, you generally
19:06
Speaker 2: have a one time meta gap open enrollment period, which
19:09
Speaker 2: is the six months after you turn sixty five and
19:13
Speaker 2: are enrolled in Part B. During that window, you can
19:17
Speaker 2: enroll in any metagap plan without answering health questions or
19:20
Speaker 2: being denied for pre existing conditions. But after that six
19:25
Speaker 2: month period, you can still apply or switch metagap plans
19:28
Speaker 2: anytime throughout the year, but insurance companies may require medical
19:34
Speaker 2: underwriting that means you could be turned down or charged
19:38
Speaker 2: more based on your health history. So, unlike Medicare Advantage
19:43
Speaker 2: in Medicare Part D, which have a defined annual enrollment
19:46
Speaker 2: period which is at October fifteenth to December seventh, metagap
19:51
Speaker 2: changes can technically be made at any time, but you
19:54
Speaker 2: may not be guaranteed acceptance. So what I just outlined
19:58
Speaker 2: is not only the enrollment windows you need to be
20:00
Speaker 2: aware of, but is a critical component because here's often
20:04
Speaker 2: what Eric and I will hear in our offices. Well, hey, guys,
20:09
Speaker 2: I would rather jump on Medicare advantage because it's cheaper,
20:14
Speaker 2: it gives me more bells and whistles, I dental envision
20:17
Speaker 2: and other things like that, and yet it has a deductible.
20:20
Speaker 2: But if I get unhealthy, I'll just change and we
20:26
Speaker 2: go oh whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're right, you can change.
20:29
Speaker 2: You can change back to the metagap plan with lower
20:32
Speaker 2: deductibles and lower out of pockets. But what did we
20:34
Speaker 2: just get done saying there could technically be some underwriting
20:39
Speaker 2: that happens, because you can imagine there's some adverse selection
20:42
Speaker 2: issues that can happen. If somebody goes onto Medicare advantage,
20:46
Speaker 2: ends up with, you know, on dialysis, and then says, hey,
20:48
Speaker 2: I'm going to switch back to traditional Medicare and now
20:51
Speaker 2: not have those out of pocket expenses. There can be
20:54
Speaker 2: issues with that. Now, again, in all of what I
20:56
Speaker 2: just said, speak to these specialists. We know enough to
20:59
Speaker 2: be dangerous. We know how the system works, we know
21:02
Speaker 2: some general guidance to provide, but down in the weeds,
21:05
Speaker 2: these types of plans are changing constantly, so we just
21:08
Speaker 2: can't suggest enough. Make sure you find a specialist who
21:12
Speaker 2: can dig in deep with you and provide you some guidance.
21:15
Speaker 1: Really great, really great information. This morning's CJ. Closs and
21:18
Speaker 1: Eric Schwartz, And as we talked then about that understanding
21:22
Speaker 1: timing and health status really important when it comes to
21:25
Speaker 1: UH to switching metagap plans, isn't it.
21:27
Speaker 3: Eric, Exactly? And some people mistakenly think that they can
21:33
Speaker 3: switch metagap plans every fall like they would with Medicare
21:36
Speaker 3: advantage or drug plans. That's not necessarily the case. That's
21:40
Speaker 3: why it's it's really important to choose carefully during your
21:42
Speaker 3: initial enrollment window and to review your options periodically if
21:47
Speaker 3: you are considering a change, because there are there are
21:50
Speaker 3: some extra steps and requirements that you have to meet.
21:54
Speaker 1: I know a lot of folks think and I know
21:55
Speaker 1: we can we all do this, like I'm gonna find
21:58
Speaker 1: a way to out smart the insurance company.
22:01
Speaker 3: Good luck.
22:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're exactly right, Sean and let me just kind
22:06
Speaker 2: of say here at the end, if we deal in
22:10
Speaker 2: the space, I'm actually insurance licensed. As I mentioned, we
22:13
Speaker 2: don't sell insurance, but I am insurance licensed, and I
22:16
Speaker 2: can tell you all that if I were sixty five.
22:19
Speaker 2: I'm not yet, but if I were sixty five, I
22:21
Speaker 2: would not enter Medicare without a Medicare specialist. So listen,
22:26
Speaker 2: I'm in the space, I'm insurance licensed, and yet I
22:29
Speaker 2: wouldn't pursue Medicare plans without a specialist. So I hope
22:34
Speaker 2: that's just a testament to you. And by the way,
22:36
Speaker 2: that's not self serving, because we don't have anybody on
22:38
Speaker 2: staff who can even fulfill this for you. So I'm
22:42
Speaker 2: only telling you that just to make you realize how
22:45
Speaker 2: complicated it is and how much you should probably seek
22:48
Speaker 2: out competent guidance for somebody to help you pick the
22:52
Speaker 2: right plan for your needs based on your health conditions
22:55
Speaker 2: and your finances.
22:56
Speaker 1: A lot of really good people out there and a
22:57
Speaker 1: lot of really good resources as well to help you
22:59
Speaker 1: make great decisions. And speaking of helping out making great decisions,
23:03
Speaker 1: don't forget the website class financial dot com. That's coss
23:06
Speaker 1: k l aas Financial dot com no charge for that
23:09
Speaker 1: initial gets know you appointment at COSS Financial. It will
23:12
Speaker 1: be complementary to you. Of course, you can set a
23:14
Speaker 1: schedule appointment right on the website coss financial dot com,
23:17
Speaker 1: or if you prefer, give give them a call telephone
23:19
Speaker 1: number six O eight four four two five six three seven. Again,
23:22
Speaker 1: no charge for that initial get to know you appointment.
23:24
Speaker 1: That conversation at cost Financial will be complementary to you.
23:27
Speaker 1: That number six oh eight four four two five six
23:30
Speaker 1: three seven. Wan hold on to that telephone number. Now
23:32
Speaker 1: it's time for the Coss Quiz question in the week.
23:34
Speaker 1: It works like this, just a moment, I'll ask you
23:36
Speaker 1: the class quiz question of the week. You will then
23:38
Speaker 1: have thirty minutes from the end today's program to call
23:40
Speaker 1: the Class Financial office right here in Madison at six
23:43
Speaker 1: oh eight four four two five six three seven. If
23:45
Speaker 1: you are the first call with correct answer, you'll win
23:48
Speaker 1: this week's prize, which is a twenty five dollars gift
23:51
Speaker 1: card to Darden Restaurants. This week's class quiz question the
23:54
Speaker 1: week is this true or false? Medicare is structured in
23:59
Speaker 1: two parts, Part A and B. Is that true or
24:02
Speaker 1: is that false? Tell phone number six oh eight four
24:05
Speaker 1: four two five, six three seven first go out, correct answer.
24:08
Speaker 1: Win that twenty five dollars gift card to Darwin Restaurants.
24:10
Speaker 1: Don't forget as well. That's Cross Financial Office right here
24:12
Speaker 1: in Madison again their number. Six oh eight four four
24:15
Speaker 1: two five, six three seven CJ.
24:18
Speaker 2: Eric.
24:18
Speaker 1: It's always great talking with both of you. You guys
24:20
Speaker 1: enjoyed this fantastic day. We'll talk real soon.
24:23
Speaker 2: Thanks Sean, Thanks Sean.
24:25
Speaker 1: News comes your way next here on thirteen ten l
24:27
Speaker 1: w u IB eight