Latest / Money In Motion with Klaas Financial / Underwritten: Risk and Reward

Transcript

Underwritten: Risk and Reward · Money In Motion with Klaas Financial

0:00
Speaker 1: Tenerphone lines. They are open for you right now if
0:03
Speaker 1: you have a question for our retirement planning professionals from
0:06
Speaker 1: Class Financial love to get you on the show this morning.
0:08
Speaker 1: I got a new is pick up phone dial in
0:10
Speaker 1: six oh eight three two one thirteen ten. That's six
0:13
Speaker 1: soh eight three two one thirteen ten. Maybe you've had
0:16
Speaker 1: a retirement related question that's been in the back your head.
0:19
Speaker 1: You want to get it off your chest. Great opportunity
0:22
Speaker 1: to get that question answered again. Telephone number question answered
0:25
Speaker 1: telephone number six oh eight three two one thirteen ten.
0:27
Speaker 1: That's six so eight three two one thirteen ten. Of course,
0:31
Speaker 1: Money in Motion brought you by Coss Financially. You can
0:33
Speaker 1: learn more about them online their website Closs Financial dot
0:37
Speaker 1: com that's Klaas Financial dot com and their telephone number
0:41
Speaker 1: six oh eight four four two five six three seven.
0:44
Speaker 1: No charge for that initial gets to know you appointment
0:46
Speaker 1: tech Coss Financial. It will indeed be complimentary to you
0:49
Speaker 1: again their number six oh eight four four two five
0:53
Speaker 1: six three seven and join us this morning from Class Financial.
0:55
Speaker 1: CJ Closs and Eric Schwartz CJ. How you doing this week?
0:59
Speaker 2: I'm doing great? How are you?
1:00
Speaker 1: I'm doing really well. Great to talk with you.
1:02
Speaker 3: Eric.
1:02
Speaker 1: How have you been.
1:04
Speaker 3: I'm doing great, Sean. It's been a good week.
1:06
Speaker 1: It's been an interesting week weatherwise, I'll go with that.
1:09
Speaker 1: And it's a good week so far. We've got got
1:13
Speaker 1: a lot of good stuff to talk about too. Speaking
1:15
Speaker 1: of good things, we're going to be talking this week
1:17
Speaker 1: about understanding ACA, the Affordable Care Act, everything he needs
1:21
Speaker 1: to know when it comes to major medical We're going
1:23
Speaker 1: to get the details from CJ and Eric on that
1:25
Speaker 1: this morning. Don't forget each and every week, our friends
1:28
Speaker 1: from Class Financial, I have a great prize provided to you.
1:31
Speaker 1: A twenty five dollars gift card to the Cheesecake Factory
1:35
Speaker 1: is this week's prize with the Class Quiz Question of
1:37
Speaker 1: the Week. We'll be doing that a little bit later
1:39
Speaker 1: on in the program. Little tip though, it's definitely beneficial
1:42
Speaker 1: to pay close attention to the program one. You get
1:44
Speaker 1: great information in two. Just about every show, the question
1:47
Speaker 1: and answer to the Class Quiz Question of the Week
1:49
Speaker 1: comes up during the program again you have a chance
1:51
Speaker 1: to win a twenty five dollars gift card to the
1:53
Speaker 1: cheesecake Factory. We'll tell you a little bit later on
1:55
Speaker 1: the program how you can do that. And before we
1:58
Speaker 1: get into this week's topic and conversation, so let's actually
2:00
Speaker 1: look back at last week's show and get the question
2:03
Speaker 1: and answer there as well.
2:05
Speaker 3: Eric, absolutely, so, listeners got a little break from me
2:09
Speaker 3: last week. You had Nate on the show, one of
2:11
Speaker 3: my colleagues here, and he is, i would say, our
2:14
Speaker 3: expert in college finance planning. And near the beginning of
2:19
Speaker 3: last week's show, he told you, or he told all
2:22
Speaker 3: the listeners, you can get Alan for college, but you
2:25
Speaker 3: can't get a loan for blank. What was the answer
2:28
Speaker 3: to that? That was our quiz question last week and
2:31
Speaker 3: the answer is, you can get Along for college, but
2:33
Speaker 3: you cannot get Alan for retirement. So we need to
2:37
Speaker 3: think about that when we're planning for both.
2:39
Speaker 1: And it was a really informative program. And of course
2:41
Speaker 1: you can listen back at class financial dot com. That's
2:44
Speaker 1: gloss k l a Asfinancial dot com. And if you
2:47
Speaker 1: need your Eric fix, you're saying, wait, wait, wait, I
2:49
Speaker 1: want to hear more Eric too. There's plenty of podcasts
2:52
Speaker 1: with our good friend Eric Schwartz on there as well,
2:54
Speaker 1: So to subscribe, thank you. You know, I do my part.
2:57
Speaker 1: I know what the people want, they want, CJ want
3:00
Speaker 1: Aeric guys all are fantastic at Class Financially again, head
3:04
Speaker 1: out over to classfinancial dot com. You can sign up
3:06
Speaker 1: for the podcast right there. You can also schedule a
3:09
Speaker 1: complementary chat right online or call the office six oh
3:12
Speaker 1: eight four four two five six three seven that initially
3:15
Speaker 1: get to know you appointment at COSS Financial. It's not
3:17
Speaker 1: going to cost you a thing. It will be complementary
3:18
Speaker 1: to you again their number six oh eight four four
3:21
Speaker 1: two five six three seven. So this week we're gonna
3:23
Speaker 1: be talking about a topic that impacts just about everyone
3:26
Speaker 1: at some point, which is health insurance. You know, as
3:30
Speaker 1: we talk about you know, things like major medical insurance
3:33
Speaker 1: and the Affordable Care Act also known as ACA. Let's
3:36
Speaker 1: ce J. Let's kind of get started with the basics.
3:39
Speaker 1: What does that term major medical mean?
3:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, good question, Sean. So major medical refers to comprehensive
3:48
Speaker 2: health insurance coverage. These are plans designed to cover a
3:51
Speaker 2: wide range of services that include preventative care, doctors, visits,
3:55
Speaker 2: hospital stays, prescriptions, and emergency cared. That you want to
4:00
Speaker 2: kind of focus on here is comprehensive. These plans are
4:04
Speaker 2: meant to protect you financially from both, just like routine
4:07
Speaker 2: healthcare costs and major unexpected medical events. So, simply put,
4:12
Speaker 2: major medical health plans are what we generally think of
4:15
Speaker 2: as basic health insurance. Now, when evaluating these different options,
4:20
Speaker 2: it is important to recognize that health plans vary significantly
4:23
Speaker 2: in their coverage and protections. So when we tell people
4:27
Speaker 2: whenever you're thinking of looking at health insurance or medical insurance,
4:31
Speaker 2: you need to be mindful of not only premium but coverage,
4:35
Speaker 2: because while some alternatives may initially appear more cost effective,
4:39
Speaker 2: they frequently do not offer the comprehensive benefits and safeguards
4:43
Speaker 2: of major medical plans. Major medical plans are often available
4:47
Speaker 2: through an employer sponsored health plan, the Affordable Care Act exchange,
4:51
Speaker 2: or directly through an insurance company. And as we move
4:54
Speaker 2: on through the remainder of the show, we're going to
4:56
Speaker 2: talk about the different optionalities that are out there. But
5:00
Speaker 2: you just have to understand the difference between major medical
5:04
Speaker 2: and other options that are available.
5:06
Speaker 1: Really important distinction for sure. This morning, as we talk
5:08
Speaker 1: with CJ. Closs and Eric Schwartz, our retirement planning professionals
5:11
Speaker 1: from Claws Financial, if you've got a question, love to
5:13
Speaker 1: get you on the air this morning six eight three
5:15
Speaker 1: two one thirteen ten. That's six soh eight three two
5:18
Speaker 1: one thirteen ten. So, Eric, we hear a lot of
5:20
Speaker 1: discussion about the Affordable Care Act. Of course, folks may
5:24
Speaker 1: know it as ACA or Obamacare. Let's talk about some
5:26
Speaker 1: of the background on what exactly ACA entails.
5:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think this is really important, Sean, because
5:33
Speaker 3: I think, you know, this discussion can get kind of
5:37
Speaker 3: caught up in the world of politics and the issues
5:41
Speaker 3: of the day. But I mean this is, you know,
5:43
Speaker 3: how people get their health insurance when they don't have
5:46
Speaker 3: another option. So, just to give kind of a quick
5:49
Speaker 3: definition of it, at its core, the ACA set minimum
5:53
Speaker 3: standards for what qualifies as major medical insurance coverage. So
5:57
Speaker 3: it didn't eliminate private insurance companies. It didn't create like
6:01
Speaker 3: a public health care plan, but instead it created rules
6:04
Speaker 3: that private insurance companies have to follow around what comprehensive
6:08
Speaker 3: coverage must include. And you know how consumers are actually
6:12
Speaker 3: protected through that process. So, for example, ACA compliant plans
6:16
Speaker 3: must cover what are called essential health benefits. They can't
6:19
Speaker 3: deny coverage based on pre existing conditions, and they can't
6:22
Speaker 3: impose lifetime dollar limits on coverage. So these are just
6:26
Speaker 3: kind of some of those examples of what the writers
6:29
Speaker 3: of the plan would call those those consumer protections. The
6:33
Speaker 3: ACA also created the health insurance marketplaces, where individuals and
6:37
Speaker 3: families can shop for coverage. And now this is only
6:40
Speaker 3: generally going to come into play if they don't have
6:42
Speaker 3: coverage available through an employer or a government program like
6:46
Speaker 3: Medicaid or Medicare. Private insurance companies offer health insurance plans
6:52
Speaker 3: that meet the minimum ACAA requirements to consumers through these exchanges.
6:57
Speaker 3: So one of the largest impacts beyond creating the exchanges
7:01
Speaker 3: of the Affordable Care Act is the creation of a
7:04
Speaker 3: government subsidy program that provides premium assistant based on a
7:08
Speaker 3: taxpayers MAGI or modified adjusted gross income. These subsidies are
7:13
Speaker 3: generally paid directly to insurance companies on behalf of the policyholders,
7:18
Speaker 3: and they're designed to help reduce the cost of purchasing
7:20
Speaker 3: private health insurance. Last piece here that I'll point out
7:24
Speaker 3: is the ACA offers different levels of health insurance coverage.
7:29
Speaker 3: They're commonly known as metal tiers. So there's a bronze plan,
7:32
Speaker 3: there's a silver, a gold, platinum. Each level varies in
7:36
Speaker 3: how costs are shared between the insurer and the consumer.
7:40
Speaker 3: Bronze plans generally have lower premiums but higher out of
7:43
Speaker 3: pocket costs. So CJ was just was just referencing that
7:47
Speaker 3: in the last segment. Here just the idea of you know,
7:50
Speaker 3: there is not a free lunch, and it's all about
7:52
Speaker 3: how you're paying for something, not necessarily the total amount
7:56
Speaker 3: changing a lot. On the other hand, platinum plans will
7:59
Speaker 3: have higher premiums, but you know they'll have those lower
8:02
Speaker 3: out of pocket costs generally, and the tiers allow individuals
8:05
Speaker 3: to choose a plan that best fits their their health
8:08
Speaker 3: needs and their financial situation.
8:11
Speaker 1: Talking this morning with Eric Swartz and cjch Loss, they
8:13
Speaker 1: are our retirement planning professionals from Class Financial. Don't forget
8:16
Speaker 1: about the website COSS financial dot com. That's COSS k
8:19
Speaker 1: l A A S Financial dot com. Their telephone number
8:22
Speaker 1: six oh eight four four two five six three seven.
8:25
Speaker 1: Don't forget no charge for that initial gets know you
8:27
Speaker 1: appointment Tech Loss Financial. It will be complementary to you
8:30
Speaker 1: again their number six oh eight four four two five
8:33
Speaker 1: six three seven. Talking this week about ACA and major
8:37
Speaker 1: medical and some of the things you need to understand
8:39
Speaker 1: when it comes to those and Eric, you mentioned the
8:43
Speaker 1: premium subsidies. It kind of reminds me of some of
8:46
Speaker 1: those questions. You hear a lot about ACA plans, and
8:50
Speaker 1: I think one of the biggest ones is are they
8:52
Speaker 1: only for folks with low income? And when it comes
8:55
Speaker 1: to quality of an ACA plan, how do they compare
8:57
Speaker 1: with with an employer plan.
9:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is a really really important point and a
9:02
Speaker 3: really common misconception, especially when people are investigating health insurance
9:06
Speaker 3: on their own for the first time. ACA plans are
9:10
Speaker 3: not just for people with low income. I think people
9:13
Speaker 3: think that because number one the name is the Affordable
9:16
Speaker 3: Care Act, and the ACA does provide financial assistance for
9:20
Speaker 3: some households, but many people who use ACA compliant plans
9:24
Speaker 3: don't receive any subsidies at all. So if you're modified
9:27
Speaker 3: adjusted gross income exceeds certain limits, you don't actually get
9:30
Speaker 3: premium assistance on the ACA. So self employed individuals, people
9:35
Speaker 3: who retire before Medicare eligibility, and people who are just
9:38
Speaker 3: between jobs will often rely on ACA plans because they
9:41
Speaker 3: don't have access to employer coverage. Now your second question there,
9:46
Speaker 3: you know, what is the quality of an ACA plan
9:48
Speaker 3: compared to an employer plan. ACA compliant plans must meet
9:52
Speaker 3: the same baseline standards as employer plans, so they aren't
9:55
Speaker 3: inherently better or worse than employer plans, And in fact,
9:59
Speaker 3: both types coverage are required by law to include those
10:02
Speaker 3: essential health benefits and consumer protections that I talked about earlier,
10:06
Speaker 3: so coverage for preventive care, hospitalization, and prescription drugs. The
10:11
Speaker 3: real difference usually comes down to provider networks, deductibles, and
10:14
Speaker 3: how costs are shared. So this means that the insurance
10:18
Speaker 3: company you choose and the plan structure can influence which
10:21
Speaker 3: doctors you can see, how much you pay out of
10:23
Speaker 3: pocket before insurance begins to cover costs, and how your
10:27
Speaker 3: expenses are divided between co payments, co insurance and premium.
10:31
Speaker 3: So it's really less about good versus bad and more
10:34
Speaker 3: about whether a plan fits someone's specific situation. And as
10:38
Speaker 3: I mentioned earlier there the ACA has different levels of coverage,
10:42
Speaker 3: so you know, based on what level of coverage you
10:45
Speaker 3: choose and the amount of premium you pay, that's really
10:48
Speaker 3: where you're going to get into more of the You know,
10:51
Speaker 3: does this cover or do I have as much out
10:53
Speaker 3: of pocket as I might with my employer plan.
10:56
Speaker 1: Really interesting stuff and if you missed any part of
10:58
Speaker 1: today's program you want to listen back shared. Of course,
11:00
Speaker 1: you can always head on over to Clossfinancial dot com.
11:03
Speaker 1: That's Coss k l a a s Financial dot com.
11:06
Speaker 1: You can listen to and subscribe to the podcast right
11:09
Speaker 1: there online. Also, while you're at the website, you can
11:11
Speaker 1: schedule a complementary conversation right from Cossfinancial dot com or
11:15
Speaker 1: you can call the office right here in Madison at
11:17
Speaker 1: six oh eight four four two five six three seven.
11:20
Speaker 1: No charge for that initial gets to know you, Apployment Tech,
11:22
Speaker 1: Class Financial, It will be complimentary to you. Again, they're
11:25
Speaker 1: number six oh eight four four two five six three seven.
11:29
Speaker 1: We're going to talk about some of the other other
11:31
Speaker 1: areas to be aware of when it comes to understanding
11:35
Speaker 1: this stuff, things like you know how it fits in
11:39
Speaker 1: kind of with things like your broader financial plan. We'll
11:41
Speaker 1: get the details from CJ and Eric and we will
11:43
Speaker 1: do that next as Money in Motion with Coss Financial
11:46
Speaker 1: continues right here on thirteen ten. Wuib I talking this
11:49
Speaker 1: morning with our retirement planning professionals CJ. Coloss and Eric Schwartz.
11:53
Speaker 1: Of course they come to us from Class Financial, the
11:55
Speaker 1: website COSS financial dot com. That's COSS k l a
11:59
Speaker 1: A S Financial and their telephone number six so eight
12:02
Speaker 1: four four to two five six three seven. Talking this
12:05
Speaker 1: week about understanding ACA and of course major medical what
12:09
Speaker 1: you need to know, what some of the differences are,
12:11
Speaker 1: some of the nuances there are as well in CJ
12:15
Speaker 1: as we talk each and every week on this program
12:18
Speaker 1: about retirement planning and really getting things organized and being prepared.
12:23
Speaker 1: Let's talk then about how health insurance decisions impact someone's
12:27
Speaker 1: broader financial plan.
12:29
Speaker 3: Yeah.
12:29
Speaker 2: Well, the reality is Sean and Eric can attest to this.
12:33
Speaker 2: Health insurance or the lack of coverage or expensive health
12:37
Speaker 2: insurance premiums are actually probably the most common reason why
12:41
Speaker 2: people choose not to retire until getting to sixty five.
12:45
Speaker 2: And so on the one hand, you know that disappoints
12:49
Speaker 2: people like Eric and I because we can do planning
12:51
Speaker 2: to kind of plan for higher premiums or different types
12:53
Speaker 2: of coverages or whatnot. But to kind of answer the
12:59
Speaker 2: initial question you had is how does this impact someone's
13:01
Speaker 2: broader financial plan? Well, I would say it's the lynch pin, right.
13:05
Speaker 2: This health insurance component is a really big mental barrier
13:09
Speaker 2: for a lot of the people that we work with.
13:11
Speaker 2: And let me just say, as I get into this
13:13
Speaker 2: next section, I can imagine that some listeners, maybe you
13:17
Speaker 2: can be honest with yourself, are starting to get a
13:20
Speaker 2: little bit squirmy as we talk about this, Like I
13:23
Speaker 2: don't think the Affordable Car Act is good think. And
13:26
Speaker 2: here's what I'd say to you. We're not here to
13:28
Speaker 2: play political pundits. We're not here to say whether it
13:32
Speaker 2: adds to the federal deficit. We're not here to do
13:34
Speaker 2: any of that. We're here to tell you the facts
13:35
Speaker 2: about how the plan works. And my encouragement would be
13:39
Speaker 2: when you actually break it down. It's a pretty simple concept.
13:42
Speaker 2: It's like meant to be kind of like your group
13:44
Speaker 2: plan with basically kind of like in your group plan.
13:47
Speaker 2: They it might be expensive, it might be cheap. It
13:50
Speaker 2: depends on how much your employer actually puts towards it. Well,
13:52
Speaker 2: that's kind of like the subsidies, right. If your income
13:55
Speaker 2: is low enough you can qualify for some subsidies, it'll
13:57
Speaker 2: be cheaper. If you don't qualify for subsidies, it might
13:59
Speaker 2: be more or expensive. You have choice around low deductibles,
14:02
Speaker 2: high deductibles. It's not that complicated at the base level.
14:07
Speaker 2: Now again, when you get into what choices do I
14:11
Speaker 2: have and how expensive are those premiums, that's decisions you'll
14:15
Speaker 2: have to make. But just want to encourage our listeners,
14:18
Speaker 2: if it's possible, try to kind of like bring down
14:22
Speaker 2: any kind of political pundent elements of this and listen
14:26
Speaker 2: to how these plans actually work. So, health insurance decisions
14:30
Speaker 2: affect a lot of things. It affects cash flow, emergency savings,
14:34
Speaker 2: and long term planning. Premiums are predictable expenses, but deductibles
14:38
Speaker 2: and out of pocket expenses can vary widely. While Eric
14:42
Speaker 2: and I talk about this stuff, we are consumers as well.
14:45
Speaker 2: We do not like high, unknown, unexpected expenses. It's actually
14:51
Speaker 2: really difficult to plan for in financial planning, which is
14:54
Speaker 2: part of the reason why it matters to us that
14:56
Speaker 2: there are options available to people. Health insurance also plays
15:01
Speaker 2: a major role during life transitions. I mean, just think
15:04
Speaker 2: if you have a career change or suddenly are laid
15:06
Speaker 2: off and can't find another job, having some sort of
15:09
Speaker 2: a fallback health insurance plan that provides some element of
15:13
Speaker 2: comprehensive coverage matters a lot. Now, again, whether that's the
15:16
Speaker 2: Affordable Care Act or something that eventually replaces that. We're
15:20
Speaker 2: not again staying out of the political pundent element of this.
15:24
Speaker 2: It is important that there is something for people to
15:26
Speaker 2: fall back on when they no longer have a group
15:30
Speaker 2: health coverage through their employer. And if you're in a
15:33
Speaker 2: situation where you're needing to select health insurance plans on
15:36
Speaker 2: your own, we believe working with an independent or insurance
15:39
Speaker 2: agent is a great idea. And just to remind you all,
15:42
Speaker 2: we aren't that we are not the independent insurance agent.
15:45
Speaker 2: We're financial advisors. We can connect you with independent insurance agents,
15:49
Speaker 2: but man oh man, are they super helpful because they
15:52
Speaker 2: kind of know the whole landscape and what's available. So
15:55
Speaker 2: independent agents can help you balance the features and benefits
15:59
Speaker 2: to find the right plan for your specific situation. And
16:02
Speaker 2: the plan with the lowest premium is not necessarily the
16:05
Speaker 2: best plan. It's a huge mistake we often see people make,
16:08
Speaker 2: which is I'm out of a job, I want the
16:10
Speaker 2: cheapest plan I can get, and we go, ooh, that's great.
16:14
Speaker 1: And I'm with you. But if you need to.
16:16
Speaker 2: Use the doctor, you're gonna have high out of pocket expenses,
16:19
Speaker 2: So a lower premium might look appealing, but it often
16:22
Speaker 2: comes with those higher out of pocket expenses. So again
16:27
Speaker 2: you need to work with an independent insurance agent who
16:30
Speaker 2: can kind of help you weigh the pros and cons
16:32
Speaker 2: along with how long you will need a particular plan
16:36
Speaker 2: before possibly jumping onto Medicare if you get to sixty five,
16:39
Speaker 2: or jumping on to a group plan if you get reemployed.
16:43
Speaker 1: Doctor This morning with CJ class at Eric Schwartz our
16:45
Speaker 1: retirement planning professionals from Class Financial to website Class financial
16:48
Speaker 1: dot Com. That's Claus k l a as Financial dot
16:51
Speaker 1: com and Eric, are there any rules folks should know
16:54
Speaker 1: about when they sign up for these health insurance plans?
17:00
Speaker 3: Some rules people should know and one of the big
17:03
Speaker 3: ones that impacts our friends in the insurance industry. As
17:07
Speaker 3: CJ was just mentioning those independent agents, one of their
17:12
Speaker 3: busiest time of year is what we call open enrollment.
17:15
Speaker 3: So this is the annual window. It's typically between November
17:18
Speaker 3: first and January fifteenth in most states. This is the
17:23
Speaker 3: annual window when you can enroll in or change your
17:26
Speaker 3: ACA compliant healthcare coverage. So during open enrollment you can
17:30
Speaker 3: update your plan or add or remove family members. Outside
17:34
Speaker 3: of this period. You usually need what's called a qualifying
17:36
Speaker 3: event a qualifying life event, in order to sign up
17:41
Speaker 3: or make changes. So examples of this would be like,
17:44
Speaker 3: maybe you lose your job and you don't have employer coverage.
17:47
Speaker 3: Maybe you get married or you get divorced, you have
17:49
Speaker 3: a child, maybe you adopt a child, or you move
17:52
Speaker 3: to a new state. These are the types of events
17:55
Speaker 3: that trigger what are called a special enrollment period, which
17:59
Speaker 3: gives you sixty days to adjust your coverage outside of
18:02
Speaker 3: that open enrollment window. Now missing open enrollment, this often
18:07
Speaker 3: means that you're limited to short term or limited coverage
18:11
Speaker 3: plans that maybe don't provide the same level of protections
18:15
Speaker 3: as other health insurance plans are required to. So planning
18:18
Speaker 3: ahead is really key here. Making sure that if you
18:21
Speaker 3: are going to be working with an independent agent, you're
18:24
Speaker 3: reaching out to them early. You're reviewing your health insurance
18:28
Speaker 3: options before open enrollment ends, frankly before it begins as
18:32
Speaker 3: a good idea as well, and especially if you expect
18:35
Speaker 3: changes in your job, your income, or your family. These
18:38
Speaker 3: things can affect eligibility for your subsidies, and they you
18:44
Speaker 3: know these types of changes also will give you an
18:47
Speaker 3: opportunity to make changes to your plan outside of that
18:50
Speaker 3: enrollment period, so annual review and understanding of enrollment rules
18:55
Speaker 3: really helps ensure that you get the right coverage for
18:57
Speaker 3: that year.
18:57
Speaker 1: Talk this morning with Eric Schwartz and CJ Closs, retirement
19:00
Speaker 1: planning professionals from Class Financial. Talk with CJ, we'll talk
19:03
Speaker 1: about some of the some of the other alternatives to
19:06
Speaker 1: major medical insurance and some little key areas you need
19:09
Speaker 1: to understand. We'll get the details from CJ and Eric.
19:12
Speaker 1: We will do that next as Money in Motion with
19:14
Speaker 1: Coss Financial continues right here on thirteen ten dobleu ib
19:18
Speaker 1: I and the website Coss Financial dot com that's Coss
19:21
Speaker 1: k l aa S financial dot com. Get to know
19:24
Speaker 1: the team. You can learn also about how costs can
19:26
Speaker 1: help you or if your employer, some of the different
19:29
Speaker 1: divisions and how they can help you at Class Financial
19:31
Speaker 1: online cossfinancial dot com. You can also schedule a complementary
19:34
Speaker 1: chat right from the website that's Coss k l AA
19:38
Speaker 1: S financial dot com, or you can call the office
19:40
Speaker 1: right here in Madison at six O eight four four
19:42
Speaker 1: two five six three seven No charge for that initial
19:45
Speaker 1: get to know your appointment at COSS financial it will
19:47
Speaker 1: be complementary to you again their number six oh eight,
19:50
Speaker 1: four four two, five, six three seven. Talking about this
19:54
Speaker 1: week about major medical and the Affordable Care Act and
19:58
Speaker 1: CJ Eric just for break had mentioned some alternatives to
20:01
Speaker 1: major medical insurance. What are some of those that we
20:05
Speaker 1: should be aware of?
20:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, we kin hinted at this at the beginning of
20:10
Speaker 2: the show, But there are other options that are available.
20:12
Speaker 2: So while many consumers choose a traditional major medical health
20:16
Speaker 2: insurance plan, there are some less common alternatives. So let's
20:20
Speaker 2: look at a few examples of those. There's something called
20:23
Speaker 2: short term health insurance. These provide temporary, cost effective coverage
20:27
Speaker 2: for periods between plans. However, it does not comply with
20:31
Speaker 2: the ACA requirements or like group health insurance plan requirements,
20:35
Speaker 2: and typically excludes coverage for pre existing conditions and essential benefits.
20:41
Speaker 2: There's another thing called like health sharing or medical cost
20:44
Speaker 2: sharing programs. We actually, I don't know how often Eric
20:47
Speaker 2: runs into this, but I run into it fairly often.
20:50
Speaker 2: These are nonprofit community arrangements through which members collectively share
20:54
Speaker 2: medical expenses. It's important to note that these programs are
20:57
Speaker 2: not insurance at all. They actually the claim payment is
21:00
Speaker 2: not guaranteed and coverage guidelines can differ substantially depending upon
21:04
Speaker 2: what medical sharing arrangement you're a part of. There's options
21:09
Speaker 2: for what are called fixed indemnity or hospital or accident plans.
21:13
Speaker 2: These plans provide predetermined cash benefits for designated events and
21:17
Speaker 2: are typically low cost. However, they do not cover all
21:21
Speaker 2: medical expenses and are intended solely as supplemental coverage. There's
21:26
Speaker 2: also what are called direct primary care solutions. This model
21:29
Speaker 2: involves a monthly membership fee for routine primary care services,
21:34
Speaker 2: offering affordability and transparency. However, it does not include coverage
21:39
Speaker 2: for specialist consultations, hospitalizations, or emergency care.
21:43
Speaker 1: As a matter of.
21:44
Speaker 2: Fact, little plug, I believe you guys have had doctor
21:47
Speaker 2: Nicole Hemkis on here before. Okay, well, she would be
21:51
Speaker 2: one of those direct primary care solutions that are out
21:54
Speaker 2: there where. And the whole concept of this is, hey,
21:57
Speaker 2: you know, with the way that hospitals have changed over time,
22:00
Speaker 2: it becomes very expensive just to go in and see
22:03
Speaker 2: like a doctor. And so these direct primary care solutions
22:07
Speaker 2: can be a way for you to get say seventy
22:09
Speaker 2: to eighty percent of your medical care, kind of like
22:11
Speaker 2: daily medical care. Needs met by somebody like you know,
22:14
Speaker 2: Nicole Hemkus so that you stay out of the more
22:17
Speaker 2: expensive large hospital systems. So really kind of cool unique
22:22
Speaker 2: solutions that are available here in the States. And then
22:25
Speaker 2: another one would be association or group style plans. These
22:28
Speaker 2: plans provide coverage through associations or alternative group arrangements. However, again,
22:33
Speaker 2: their protections and benefits may differ and do not always
22:36
Speaker 2: meet the Affordable Care Act standards.
22:39
Speaker 1: So listen.
22:39
Speaker 2: While there's a number of alternatives to traditional major medical plans,
22:43
Speaker 2: the bottom line is that alternatives typically cost less, but
22:46
Speaker 2: involves some element of additional risk through fewer protections or
22:50
Speaker 2: out of pocket expenses or like maybe not covering major
22:54
Speaker 2: medical expenses that would come up. So what we love
22:59
Speaker 2: as Americans, which I do as well, is choice. We
23:03
Speaker 2: love choice, and so the thing is good news. Whether
23:07
Speaker 2: it's through the Affordable Care Act, you have kind of
23:09
Speaker 2: those four different metal tiers as they call them. If
23:12
Speaker 2: you don't like the Affordable Care Act because it's maybe
23:15
Speaker 2: too expensive for you or whatever, it might be cool.
23:18
Speaker 2: There's other options, like all the ones that I just
23:20
Speaker 2: went through for you. The key for us as financial
23:24
Speaker 2: planners is that you know, your choices and you know
23:27
Speaker 2: the risks associated with those choices. As long as you
23:31
Speaker 2: know those two things, good news.
23:33
Speaker 1: You've got a lot of choices. Talking this morning with CJ.
23:36
Speaker 1: Closs and Eric Schwartz, a lot of great information this
23:39
Speaker 1: week in the program Don't Forge Again. Always listen backclass
23:43
Speaker 1: Financial dot Com. That's Class k l Aasfinancial dot com.
23:47
Speaker 1: And speaking of all that information, of course, listening back
23:49
Speaker 1: to the podcast, Hi Eric, before we wrap up, can
23:52
Speaker 1: we kind of just kind of get like a highlight
23:54
Speaker 1: takeaway from the show for folks that kind of want
23:56
Speaker 1: everything nice and nicely encapsulated.
24:00
Speaker 3: Absolutely. Yeah, So, I think a big part of what
24:04
Speaker 3: we wanted to communicate today is choosing a health insurance
24:06
Speaker 3: plan is really about managing risk right. Healthcare costs are
24:10
Speaker 3: one of the biggest financial wildcards people face, especially during
24:14
Speaker 3: life transitions like changing jobs or starting a business or
24:18
Speaker 3: even retiring early, which something we help people do all
24:21
Speaker 3: the time. And when we're talking with clients, we're not
24:24
Speaker 3: just looking at their premiums or looking at how their
24:27
Speaker 3: how that health insurance plan maybe fits into their cash flow,
24:30
Speaker 3: their emergency savings, and their their long term goals. For example,
24:33
Speaker 3: maybe somebody maybe somebody wants to choose a high deductible plan,
24:38
Speaker 3: for example, because it has a lower premium. But if
24:42
Speaker 3: they don't have adequate savings, or they aren't setting some
24:45
Speaker 3: of that premium savings aside to cover out of pocket costs,
24:49
Speaker 3: it may not treat them treat they may not set
24:52
Speaker 3: them up the best in the long run. So we
24:54
Speaker 3: have to be thinking about both sides of that equation,
24:58
Speaker 3: and health insurance really isn't something that you're going to
25:00
Speaker 3: choose once and forget about, at least once you're out
25:03
Speaker 3: of your working years and your employer isn't choosing your
25:05
Speaker 3: plan for you. For the most part, as your income changes,
25:09
Speaker 3: as your family situation changes, or your goals evolve, your
25:12
Speaker 3: coverage needs to be reviewed and potentially changed. So understanding
25:18
Speaker 3: how these major medical and ACA compliant plans work gives
25:23
Speaker 3: you more confidence and flexibility when those changes actually happen.
25:27
Speaker 3: It's really easy to focus on the monthly premium, but
25:29
Speaker 3: remember that is one part of the equation. We have deductibles,
25:33
Speaker 3: we have out of pocket maximums, we have network considerations.
25:36
Speaker 3: All of these things are going to play a role
25:39
Speaker 3: in how much risk you're taking on. So sometimes paying
25:41
Speaker 3: a little bit more upfront can reduce that uncertainty and
25:44
Speaker 3: stress down the road. And the final thing here i'd
25:47
Speaker 3: remind listeners of, and we love to do this on
25:50
Speaker 3: the show, is remind people to use professionals. But the
25:53
Speaker 3: importance of working with a trusted professional on topics like
25:57
Speaker 3: this just cannot be cannot be overstated. Find an independent
26:03
Speaker 3: agent who can can help you find the right health
26:05
Speaker 3: insurance plan for you, because it really really does make
26:08
Speaker 3: all the difference and it makes it much less stressful.
26:11
Speaker 1: Really good guidance this week from Eric Schwartz and CJ.
26:13
Speaker 1: Closs our retirement planning professionals from Class Financial. Don't forget
26:17
Speaker 1: you can always listen back to the program Cossfinancial dot com.
26:20
Speaker 1: That's Coss k l a a s Financial dot com.
26:23
Speaker 1: Speaking of the website, I'm noticing on our notes no
26:27
Speaker 1: question this week for the Money and Motion listener question corner.
26:30
Speaker 1: What you should do this week? Email a question info
26:32
Speaker 1: at Clossfinancial dot com. Email a question to the guys.
26:36
Speaker 1: We'll answer it on an upcoming show. I'd love to
26:38
Speaker 1: have you do that again. Just heading over to classfinancial
26:39
Speaker 1: dot com. There's a link there to it, or info
26:41
Speaker 1: Atlossfinancial dot com before we wrap up this week of
26:45
Speaker 1: course closs quiz Question of the Week. Time works like this.
26:47
Speaker 1: In just a moment, I'll ask you the class quiz
26:49
Speaker 1: question of the week. You will then have thirty minutes
26:51
Speaker 1: from the today's program to call the Class Financial office
26:53
Speaker 1: right here in Madison at six o eight four four
26:56
Speaker 1: two five, six three seven. If you are the first
26:59
Speaker 1: caller with the correct answer, you'll win this week's prize,
27:01
Speaker 1: which is a twenty five dollars gift card to the
27:04
Speaker 1: cheesecake Factory. This week's class quiz question the week is
27:07
Speaker 1: this true or false? ACA compliant health insurance plans must
27:13
Speaker 1: meet the same baseline standards as employer plans. Is that
27:18
Speaker 1: true or is that false? Telephone number six oh eight
27:20
Speaker 1: four four two five six three seven. No charge for
27:23
Speaker 1: that first to get to know your appointment at Loss Financial.
27:26
Speaker 1: That meeting will be complimentary to you again. That's the
27:28
Speaker 1: office right here in Madison six oh eight four four
27:30
Speaker 1: two five six three seven. CJ. Eric, It's always great
27:34
Speaker 1: chatting with both of you, guys. Enjoy this beautiful day.
27:37
Speaker 2: Thanks Sean.
27:37
Speaker 3: Thanks Sean, take care guys.
27:39
Speaker 1: News comes your way next here on thirteen ten, do
27:41
Speaker 1: wu ib a