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Mastering Medicaid and Medicare in 2026 · Money In Motion with Klaas Financial

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  Speaker 1: And our phone lines they are open to you right now.
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  Speaker 1: the air with Eric Schwartz and Nate Briby of Class Financial.
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  Speaker 1: The website it is Clossfinancial dot com. That's Closs Klaas
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  Speaker 1: financial dot com. They're tough a number for the office
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  Speaker 1: right here in Madison. Six soh eight four four two five,
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  Speaker 1: six three seven. And again phone lines are open for
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  Speaker 1: you this morning. Get you right on the air at
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  Speaker 1: six oh eight three two one thirteen ten. Again join
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  Speaker 1: us this morning are Eric Schwartz and Nate Briby. Eric,
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  Speaker 1: how you doing this morning?
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  Speaker 2: You know, Sean, I'm trying to stay warm, but I
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  Speaker 2: can't complain too much.
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  Speaker 1: I guess, yeah, no, it could be I think although
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  Speaker 1: it will be as they could be worse, and it.
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  Speaker 2: Will come on question, it will be.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, it will be great.
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  Speaker 1: Great to talk with you, Aaron, Who've got Nate along
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  Speaker 1: as well.
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  Speaker 3: Nate, how have you been it's been a while.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, good morning, John. Happy to be back here.
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  Speaker 1: It's great to have you on. And we've got so
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  Speaker 1: much important stuff to talk about. We're going to talk
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  Speaker 1: about Medicare, Medicaid, understanding it in twenty twenty six, and
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  Speaker 1: really ways to protect your retirement and we'll get to
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  Speaker 1: the details on that in just a moment. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: as mentioned, phone lines are open six SOH eight three
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  Speaker 1: That's Coss klaas Financial dot com. Also, we're going to
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  Speaker 1: be doing a Coss Quiz question a week. This morning
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  Speaker 1: your chance to win a fantastic prize from our friends
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  Speaker 1: at Coss Financial. This week, chance to win a twenty
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  Speaker 1: five dollars gift card to Starbucks.
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  Speaker 3: Little tip.
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  Speaker 1: Oftentimes, the question and answer to the class Quiz question
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  Speaker 1: week comes up during the program, so pay particularly close attention.
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  Speaker 1: Not only to get some great information, you also have
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  Speaker 1: on how to win a little bit later on the show.
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  Speaker 1: Before we get to this week's conversation on Medicare and Medicaid,
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  Speaker 1: let's actually take a look back at last week's program
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  Speaker 1: and get the question in answer there as well.
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  Speaker 2: Eric, Absolutely so. Last week we talked about starting off
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  Speaker 2: the year on the right foot. We talked about budgeting
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  Speaker 2: and getting an emergency reserve set aside. So our question
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  Speaker 2: was true or false? Experts often suggest setting aside three
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  Speaker 2: to six months of expenses as an emergency fund, and
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  Speaker 2: listeners from last week we'll know the answer to that
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  Speaker 2: is true. So thank you for everyone for listening.
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  Speaker 1: Fantastic and we'll do another one this week again chance
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  Speaker 1: to win a twenty five dollars gift card to Starbucks.
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  Speaker 1: And this week, as mentioned, we are going to be
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  Speaker 1: talking about Medicare and Medicaid, and of course as we
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  Speaker 1: talk about mastering those I think a lot of folks
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  Speaker 1: probably don't understand how myself included, how these programs work,
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  Speaker 1: or where they differ nate, what do we need to know?
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, so, just to start Medicare is a huge deal
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  Speaker 5: for retirees. For some this could be the best health
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  Speaker 5: insurance you've ever had and maybe one of the most
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  Speaker 5: important decisions you'll ever make in retirement.
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  Speaker 4: So a quick disclaimer to start.
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  Speaker 5: While many of our advisors here at CLOSS are insurance licensed,
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  Speaker 5: we do not sell insurance products, including Medicare supplements.
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  Speaker 4: But like Sean said, let's start with the basics. So
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  Speaker 4: what is Medicare.
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  Speaker 5: According to medicare dot gov, it's a federal health insurance
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  Speaker 5: program for Americans age sixty five or older or those
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  Speaker 5: with certain disabilities. Now, Medicare has four or five different
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  Speaker 5: parts to it that Eric will get to in a second,
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  Speaker 5: but a common area of confusion is.
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  Speaker 4: The link to Social Security.
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  Speaker 5: If you're already enrolled in receiving Security benefits at least
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  Speaker 5: four months before you turn sixty five, you'll automatically be
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  Speaker 5: enrolled in Part A and Part B of Medicare. You
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  Speaker 5: actually get the card in the mail of the Medicare card.
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  Speaker 4: But if you're delaying.
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  Speaker 5: Social Security, perhaps to sixty seven or seventy to get
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  Speaker 5: a higher check, Medicare does not start automatically, so you'd
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  Speaker 5: have to go to Social Security website and sign up yourself.
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  Speaker 5: Is called your initial enrollment period, which is the three
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  Speaker 5: months prior to you turning sixty five, the month you
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  Speaker 5: turn sixty five, and the three months after you turn
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  Speaker 5: sixty five, so seven months total. Right, you do not
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  Speaker 5: want to miss this initial window, as you could face
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  Speaker 5: lifetime late in rollment penalties.
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  Speaker 4: To your part B premium.
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  Speaker 5: Now, this is not the end of the world. It's
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  Speaker 5: it's like ten percent of the initial premium. So I
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  Speaker 5: believe the premium this year is two hundred and two dollars,
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  Speaker 5: so it'd be twenty bucks more a month, but for
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  Speaker 5: your lot for the rest of your life. So you know,
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  Speaker 5: none of us really want to pay much more than
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  Speaker 5: what we have.
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  Speaker 3: To obviously, so be aware of that, not at all.
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  Speaker 3: That's it could be pretty scary, Nate.
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  Speaker 1: And of course, as we think about that breaking down,
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  Speaker 1: I think a lot of folks hear those different parts
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  Speaker 1: I hear about, you know, ABCD.
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  Speaker 3: Kind of sounds like alphabet soup.
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  Speaker 4: Eric.
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  Speaker 1: Let's let's kind of break those those letters down and
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  Speaker 1: what they mean.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we got a few different parts of medicare to
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  Speaker 2: talk about today, that's for sure. As we look at
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  Speaker 2: the the twenty twenty six figures here, people may notice
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  Speaker 2: that well costs overall have have risen a little bit.
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  Speaker 2: I'm hearing from a lot of clients that their Social
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  Speaker 2: Security cost of living adjustment isn't as large as they
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  Speaker 2: expected because Medicare is going out the door first. But
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  Speaker 2: let's talk about original Medicare here to start. So that's
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  Speaker 2: parts A and Part B. Medicare Part A this is
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  Speaker 2: your hospital insurance. This will cover you know, inpatient stays.
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  Speaker 2: And for most people this is premium free because they've
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  Speaker 2: paid via payroll taxes for at least ten years, so
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  Speaker 2: they have at least ten years of work history which
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  Speaker 2: covers their premium. For Part A, it isn't free to use,
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  Speaker 2: but the the there is no premium and the deductible
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  Speaker 2: for a hospital stay is one seven and thirty six dollars. Now,
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  Speaker 2: Medicare Part B this is your medical insurance. Okay, so
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  Speaker 2: this covers your doctor, visits, your outpatient care, any durable equipment,
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  Speaker 2: and the premium for that is two hundred and two
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  Speaker 2: dollars and ninety cents per month.
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  Speaker 1: Two two ninety Is that now, Eric? Is that for everyone?
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  Speaker 1: Or or what's the what's the breakdown on that premium?
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  Speaker 2: Certainly not Sean. That'd be way too easy if you
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  Speaker 2: just had one premium for everybody about actually about eight
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  Speaker 2: percent of retirees pay more because of something called IRMA. Okay,
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  Speaker 2: now that sounds like the name of a nice lady,
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  Speaker 2: but it actually stands for the income related monthly adjustment amount. Now,
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  Speaker 2: if your income from two years ago, so let's say
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  Speaker 2: we're talking about twenty twenty six, if your income in
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty four was over one hundred and nine thousand
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  Speaker 2: dollars for individuals or two hundred and eighteen thousand dollars
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  Speaker 2: for a couple, your premium is going to jump up higher. Now,
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  Speaker 2: there's multiple brackets. It's not just like, oh, if you
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  Speaker 2: go over this, then your your premium is this. They're
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  Speaker 2: about I think there's five different levels now that I'm
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  Speaker 2: thinking this through. The highest bracket in twenty twenty six
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  Speaker 2: means that if you if you hit that, you could
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  Speaker 2: be paying six hundred eighty nine dollars and ninety cents
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  Speaker 2: per month per person. So rather than that two pot
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  Speaker 2: two ninety are jumping to almost seven hundred. That is
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  Speaker 2: a massive hit to the retirement budget if you have
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  Speaker 2: not planned for it. Now. Part B also has an
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  Speaker 2: annual deductible. It's two hundred and eighty three dollars in
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. After you pay that Medicare pays eighty
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  Speaker 2: percent of your costs, so you are responsible for that
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  Speaker 2: other twenty percent. And that twenty percent gap is why
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  Speaker 2: most people choose either a Medicare supplement or a Medicare
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  Speaker 2: advantage plan on top of regular Medicare.
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  Speaker 1: Interesting stuff this morning, for sure, as we talked this
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: morning with Eric Schwartz and Nate Briby, our retirement planning
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: professionals from Class Financial.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: The website coss financial dot com.
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  Speaker 1: six oh eight three two one thirteen ten. That's six
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: oh eight three two one thirteen ten. So we broke
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  Speaker 1: down Medicare. What about Medicaid. We'll get the details on
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  Speaker 1: that and so much more as Money in Motion with
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Coss Financial continues next right here on thirteen ten, wu
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  Speaker 1: ib A talking this morning with our retirement planning professionals,
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  Speaker 1: Eric Schwartz and Nate Bribe. Of course, Eric and Nate
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: come to us from Class Financial to website Colossfinancial dot com.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: That's class k l AA S Financial dot com. Telphon
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: number six soh eight four four two five six three seven.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: Talking this week about Medicare and Medicaid. Really great, Uh,
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: previous segment on Medicare. If you missed any part of that,
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  Speaker 1: don't If you can listen back at Cossfinancial dot com
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  Speaker 1: number six oh eight four four two five six three seven.
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  Speaker 3: So so Nate.
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  Speaker 1: Just before the break, we talked about Medicare. What about Medicaid.
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  Speaker 1: And I again I mentioned about my ignorance on medicaid.
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  Speaker 1: This is our medicare. This is also one of those
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  Speaker 1: areas I'm I'm also quite confused on I will kind
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  Speaker 1: of use those interchangeably, and I know they're they're not
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  Speaker 1: the same. What are the differences between medicare and medicaid?
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  Speaker 5: Right, And that's important to distinguish between the two because
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  Speaker 5: you know, people use those terms interchangeably, like you said,
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  Speaker 5: and same to us that people say four oh one
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  Speaker 5: k Ira pension.
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  Speaker 4: It's all the same.
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  Speaker 5: It's it's not you know, And same with medicare as
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  Speaker 5: compared to medicaid.
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  Speaker 4: So Medicare is an entitlement.
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  Speaker 5: Program run by the federal government, you know, based on
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  Speaker 5: your age. So that is, you know, through pike attacks
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  Speaker 5: is like Eric said, you can earn credits towards that
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  Speaker 5: those benefits that entitlement. Medicaid is a safety net that's
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  Speaker 5: based on financial need. So in twenty Medicaid is more
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  Speaker 5: relevant for our seniors for two reasons.
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  Speaker 4: Dual eligibility.
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  Speaker 5: If your income and assets are low enough, you can
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  Speaker 5: be dually eligible. In this case, Medicaid acts as your supplement.
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  Speaker 5: It can pay your part b premiums, your deductibles, and
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  Speaker 5: that twenty percent co insurance that we mentioned earlier. Now, big,
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  Speaker 5: big key thing here is with long term care. We
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  Speaker 5: often hear this in our offices, well, I don't need
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  Speaker 5: that insurance.
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  Speaker 4: Or Medicare will cover that. Well that's not the case.
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  Speaker 5: Medicare does not pay for long term care insurance or
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  Speaker 5: excuse me, long term care, nursing home care.
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  Speaker 4: It only covers short term rehab up to one hundred days.
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  Speaker 5: So you're injured, you know, you need to rehab your leg,
• 10:43
  Speaker 5: your hip, whatever. It can cover short term rehab, but
• 10:46
  Speaker 5: not skilled nursing care, memory care, all the stuff that
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  Speaker 5: we see those higher monthly costs for. So if you
• 10:53
  Speaker 5: need to live in a nursing home permanently, you either
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  Speaker 5: have to pay privately or out of pocket, which as
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  Speaker 5: we know, can be eight nine, ten thousand plus depending
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  Speaker 5: on the level of care that you need. What's this,
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  Speaker 5: You know, paying those higher costs of care would require
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  Speaker 5: you to spend down your assets to qualify for Medicaid,
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  Speaker 5: which then picks up the bill because if you think
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  Speaker 5: about it, you know, if you go to your state
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  Speaker 5: and say, hey, I want to qualify for Medicaid, but
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  Speaker 5: I have a quarter million dollars in the bank. They're
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  Speaker 5: going to say, well, no, you need to spend down
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  Speaker 5: your assets in order to qualify for state aid through medicaid.
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  Speaker 3: That does not sound fun. That actually sounds horrible and
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  Speaker 3: also complicated. Nate.
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  Speaker 1: Let's get some insights then into what that exactly means
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  Speaker 1: when we talk about about a spend down.
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  Speaker 5: Right, right, So this gets into what's called countable assets.
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  Speaker 5: It says, what do you mean to have to spend
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  Speaker 5: down assets? What assets tret to sell my house, my car?
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  Speaker 5: You know what are we talking about here? So in
• 11:45
  Speaker 5: most states in twenty twenty six, you can't have more
• 11:48
  Speaker 5: than two thousand dollars in countable assets. So it is
• 11:51
  Speaker 5: like down to the penny, right, that's pretty much nothing
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  Speaker 5: and assets, assuming you're unmarried, two thousands of the limit.
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  Speaker 5: But if you are married, you say, well, wait a minute,
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  Speaker 5: what if what if Bob goes into care facility but
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  Speaker 5: Mary's still at home? You know, I think I'd take
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  Speaker 5: all of Mary's money. No, not necessarily. There's something called
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  Speaker 5: a community spouse community spouse allowance with significantly higher limits
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  Speaker 5: to prevent the spouse at home, you know, from becoming
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: pennyless basically, so in most circumstances, like I said, you
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: can keep the house up to a certain equity limits.
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: So this isn't the five million dollar house on Lake Genevo. Okay,
• 12:25
  Speaker 5: this is you know, you know, up to seven hundred
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: and fifty thousand to a million, depending on the state,
• 12:30
  Speaker 5: which is still a.
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: Very nice home in the Midwest here at least. So
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  Speaker 4: that's the first tip.
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  Speaker 5: If you think about it's like, well, wait a minute,
• 12:35
  Speaker 5: Wait a minute. If I have a home that could
• 12:38
  Speaker 5: use some fixing up, and I got two hundred thousand
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: dollars in the bank and I'm looking to go into
• 12:42
  Speaker 5: a care facility in the next six months, what should
• 12:45
  Speaker 5: I do with that money. I can't gift it out
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: to my children because there's a look back. We'll look
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: at that in a second. But maybe you put in
• 12:51
  Speaker 5: fifty thousand dollars into redoing your kitchen or twenty thousand
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: dollars into redoing your bathroom, right, those tend to hold
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: value when it goes to reseal that home.
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  Speaker 4: So that's a good tip. Tip there is like.
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  Speaker 5: Put money in your home potentially to protect it from
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  Speaker 5: the care facility.
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  Speaker 4: Right. You can also keep one car.
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: Now, the same logic could kind of apply to a car,
• 13:11
  Speaker 5: but cars are rapidly depreciating assets. So it's not like
• 13:14
  Speaker 5: a great investments by any stretch of the imagination. But
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: I was just thinking, it's like, well, maybe you're not
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: doing well and your your your kid, you know, your
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: kids and your grandkids are busy. You know, maybe you
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: buy a new suburban right and you know that's gonna
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: lose money the second you drive it off the lot.
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: But you know that could be you know, an inheritance
• 13:31
  Speaker 5: right away to protect that those assets, you know, for
• 13:35
  Speaker 5: the next generation too.
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  Speaker 4: So.
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: But obviously any in savings account, investment accounts i ra's
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: four O one ks all have to be spent down
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  Speaker 5: or reduced right on your care before Medicaid will kick in.
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  Speaker 5: And like I just mentioned the five year look back,
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: people say, well, does write it check to my my
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: daughter or some they're hold out of my money. So
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: you just you know, slap my hands together and fix that.
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  Speaker 4: Right.
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: Well, no, when you go to qualify for Medicaid, that
• 13:57
  Speaker 5: they asked that, and they they if you do, you
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: give this this is the ultimate whammy. You write a
• 14:02
  Speaker 5: two hundred thousand dollars check to your son and say
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: I don't know, I don't got any money. Well they
• 14:06
  Speaker 5: actually declare you ineligible and eligible for medicaids.
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  Speaker 4: Like, well, I don't have any money. I gave it away.
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: Well you're ineligible for Medicaid. I'm sorry.
• 14:15
  Speaker 5: And if you gifted away, there's no requirement for your
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  Speaker 5: your son in this case to gift it back to you. Right,
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  Speaker 5: that is the ultimate double wham. So, like I said,
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: there's a lot to this. We could dedicate an entire
• 14:26
  Speaker 5: radio show to medicaid spend down in the asset reduction rules.
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: But just know, gifting away within that five year look back, you.
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  Speaker 4: Know, really is not a good option at all. So
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: a lot to discuss there with your advisor.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Sure, really good guidance this morning, so we talked with
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Nate Briby and Eric Schwartz ever retirement planning, fresh professionals
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: from class financially. If you've got a question, let me
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: get you on the other morning six so eight three
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: two one thirteen ten. That's six o' eight three two
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: one thirteen ten and Steve joins us. Steve, welcome to
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: the program. You're on the air with Eric Schwartz and
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: Nate Briby.
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  Speaker 6: Yeah, good morning. I have a quick question. Uh so,
• 14:58
  Speaker 6: I'm a veteran. I thought I heard you say that
• 15:04
  Speaker 6: the Part A that I've been paying into for and
• 15:07
  Speaker 6: still am, I'm still working. I don't really get anything
• 15:11
  Speaker 6: out of that because my hospital coverage is covered through
• 15:15
  Speaker 6: the v A.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Interesting you see, great question, Steve, Eric nada, Either you
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: guys got an answer to that or or understanding on
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: that on that area.
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm not sure, Eric. Are you with how VA
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: benefits would play in the party A.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good question. Obviously a really kind of
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: specialized piece of the healthcare system here. But unfortunately the
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: shortest answer to that is yes, generally because the VA
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: will cover hospital, hospital stays and things like that, you
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: are paying in into FIKA, but you wouldn't necessarily get
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: a direct benefit from it through Part A. Now, it's
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: not like they kind of break down like, well, this
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: part of your fighter tax is for Part A, this
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: is for Part B. It's more about do you have
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: ten years of work history at which point then you
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: don't have to pay a premium for Part A.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: Great answer, Great call, Steve. We go now to Thomas. Thomas,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the program. You're on the earth. The Eric
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: Schwartz and Nate Briby of cost Financial, I had.
• 16:24
  Speaker 7: A question when a person turns sixty five and they
• 16:27
  Speaker 7: required to sign up for the Medicare, but if they're
• 16:30
  Speaker 7: still working and they have health insurance that's allowed, how
• 16:35
  Speaker 7: do they choose not to sign up for Part B
• 16:38
  Speaker 7: and how did they sign up for the delayed exemption period?
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: Great question, that's a really good question.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: So if you are still working and you have coverage
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: through your employer and it qualifies as like an alternative
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: to Medicare, then you do not need to sign up
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: for Part B. A lot of people still do sign
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: up for Part A just because they're generally not paying
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: a premium for it, and it becomes kind of a
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: secondary insurance. But you are not required to sign up
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: for Part B. And then when it comes times that
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: comes time that you do sign up for Part B,
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: there's actually a form that you fill out to show
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: that you've had coverage that qualifies for the time that
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: you between when you were sixty five and you actually
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: signed up, so you don't get that delayed enrollment period.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: Thomas, Great great call, great question. Don't forget if you
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: ever have questions. You can always call COSS Financial six
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: SO eight four four two five six three seven. No
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: charge that initial get to know your appointment at Costs Financial.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: It will be complimentary to you. Love getting calls and
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: questions on the show as well. We do this each
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: Thursday morning at eight. Don't forget about the website colssfinancial
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: dot com. That's cost klaas Financial dot com. I know
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: what you're saying, What about Part D? What about Part C?
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: And why am I saying D before C? We'll find
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: out from Eric and Nate. We will do that next
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: as Money in Motion with Class Financial continues right here
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: on thirteen ten WIB talking with our retirement planning professionals,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: Eric Schwartz and Nate Bribey. Of course they come to
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: us from Class Financial online, class Financial dot com. That's
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: Class k l aas Financial dot Com. There telphone number
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: six SO eight four four two five six three seven.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Talking this week about mastering Medicaid and Medicare what that means.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: We started off talking about Medicare and the different parts
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: of Medicare, and we haven't touched on on Medicare Part D.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: At Eric, what do we need to know about Part D?
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: What is that exactly.
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: So Part D is your prescription drug coverage. So you
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: know this one's a little bit easier. Part D goes
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: with your drugs, And we're talking about Part D before
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: PARTZ because Part D actually works in conjunction with Medicare
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: Parts A and B that we talked about earlier. But
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty six is a pretty historic year for Part
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: D because of some of the effects that the Inflation
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: Reduction Act of twenty twenty two had and that are
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: going into effect this year. So for the first time,
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: there's a two one hundred dollars hard cap on what
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: you pay out of pocket for prescriptions for the entire year.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: So in the past, seniors with cancer or rare diseases
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: they could face unlimited costs. And so now once you
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: hit that twenty dollars cap in twenty twenty six, you
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: will pay zero dollars for your covered drugs for the
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: rest of the year. Now, others are people listenings, they
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: may remember there's also there was also something called the
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: donut hole or the coverage gap for seniors on Medicare
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: Part DY, which could end up causing seniors to pay
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: eight thousand dollars in out of pocket costs due to
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: certain prescription costs. Twenty twenty six is also historic because
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: again the Inflation Reduction Act has provided a big shift
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: for for seniors with chronic or high cost conditions. So
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: now the donut hole is officially eliminated, and once seniors
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: hit that twenty one hundred dollars limit, they pay absolutely
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: nothing for covered prescriptions for the rest of the calendar year.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: So now this is notably just for covered drugs, but
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: it is still a big, big change for those on party.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: It seems like a pretty significant relief there.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: And Eric, what about Medicare Medicare Parts C these are
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: I know, I hear and see commercials about this one
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: all the time.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Medicare Parts C is. It's also called your Medicare
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: Advantage plans. These are heavily heavily marketed to seniors. You
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: will see a commercial or you'll get a letter just
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: about every day. So instead of having original Medicare, which
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: is Part A and B plus you know, maybe a
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: Medicare supplement plan or a separate Part D prescription plan,
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: you get one single plan from a private company. Okay,
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: so the upside of this is they'll often have really
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: low premiums, maybe even zero dollars. Premiums will also include
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: extras like sometimes they'll cover dental vision or maybe JIM memberships.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: And the downside is, though you're usually restricted to a
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: certain network of doctors, you often need to get prior
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: authorization for procedures. So it's not all you know, there's
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: no free lunch here. You're getting in some cases what
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: you pay for. But this is Part C again, is
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: an alternative to original Medicare, which is you know, Parts
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: A and B plus a supplement and maybe a separate
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Part D prescription plan. Now finally here, if you have Medicaid,
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: you might also look at what's called a dual Special
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: Needs plan. This is a specific type of advantage plan
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: that is designed to coordinate your Medicare and your Medicaid
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: benefits under one plan. So that would be something to
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: look at again if you are qualifying for Medicaid.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: A lot of great information this week, as always, don't
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: forget to listen back online COSSFINANCEI dot com. That's Closs
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: k l a a S Financial dot com and Nate
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: will let's take us down the home stretch. Let's say
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: I'm sixty four today, what should my first step be yep.
• 21:58
  Speaker 5: First thing is definitely check your full retirement ages for
• 22:01
  Speaker 5: Social Security because that determines you know, your your seven
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: month window, right, so your full soil security age should
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: be anywhere from age sixty six to sixty seven if
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: you're not already drawing your sole security benefits. Second, look
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: at your income.
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: For twenty twenty four.
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: Why twenty twenty four because that determines your aunt IRMA
• 22:21
  Speaker 5: surcharge right that Eric talked about, so irma irma again
• 22:25
  Speaker 5: to determine if you're paying that two O two ninety
• 22:28
  Speaker 5: or potentially higher. So that's based on two years prior
• 22:31
  Speaker 5: and always is for further years as well. And Third,
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: decide if you want the you know, the original Medicare
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: with a supplement where you can standing doctor in the US,
• 22:41
  Speaker 5: or the lower upfront cost of Medicare advantage which is
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: also known as Medicare Parts C. Like Eric just described
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: now a way we frame this with clients to say,
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: you know, you can pay a little bit more for
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: original Medicare knowing the freedom that your deductibles are minimal
• 22:55
  Speaker 5: and you have the much expanded network, so you're kind
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: of budgeting for month to month for health insurance and
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: retirement right, which is generally a big win for a
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: lot of our clients. Other people are drawn to the
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: advantages and perks that most Medicare advantage plans offer and
• 23:09
  Speaker 5: the lower premiums, knowing that there could be other expenses
• 23:14
  Speaker 5: and deductibles and such when you actually show up for care.
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: So kind of not definitely not a one site fits
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: all when it comes to Medicare, but it's about, of course,
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: matching your plan to your health needs and to your
• 23:26
  Speaker 5: balance sheet. Now, like Eric and I said, we know
• 23:30
  Speaker 5: we're not Medicare specialists. We certainly know enough on this topic,
• 23:33
  Speaker 5: but we do also recommend that our clients work with
• 23:37
  Speaker 5: a Medicare specialist to go through the different plans and
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: supplements and advantage plans that are available in your areas
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: and make an informed decision as to what makes the
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: most sense for you. So, of course, if you need
• 23:47
  Speaker 5: a referral, please give our office a call and we
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: can put you in touch with some of our competent specialists.
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: Who are in our cost professional network.
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: Really good resources there, for sure.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: You can learn more about Class Financial right on their
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: website class financial dot com. That's closs k L a
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: as Financial dot Com there teleph number six oh eight
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: four four two five six three seven. Don't forget no
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: charge for that initial get to know you appointment tech
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Loss Financial. It will be complimentary to you again their
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: number six oh eight four four two five six three seven.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: You want to hold on to that telephl number because
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: it's time now for the coss Quiz question of the week.
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: It works like this.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: In just a moment, I'll ask you the class quiz
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: question the week. You will then have thirty minutes from
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: the en Today's program to call the Class Financial office
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: right here in Madison at six oh eight four four
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: two five six three seven. If you are the first
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: call correct answer, you win this week's prize, which is
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: a twenty five dollars gift card two Starbucks.
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: This week's class Quiz Question the Week is this Now.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: We talked about the alphabet soup of Medicare today, which
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: part of Medicare is also known as Medicare Advantage, the
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: all in one private insurance alternative to original Medicare. Telephone
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: number six oh eight four four two five six three seven.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: First call it correct answer when that's twenty five dollars
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: gift card Starbucks and don't forget that's class Financial office
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: right here in Madison. Telephone number six O eight four
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: four two five six three seven Eric Nate.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: Great chatting with both of you, guys. Have a fantastic day.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Thanks Sean.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: Thanks Sean, Take care guys. Doctor Marty Greer joined US
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: next year on thirteen ten w ib A