0:02

Welcome to Money Matters , the podcast

0:04

that focuses on how to use the money you

0:06

have , make the money you need and

0:08

save the money you want .

0:10

Now here is your host , Ms Kim

0:12

Chapman . Welcome to another

0:15

edition of Money Matters . I am your host

0:17

, Kim Chapman . Are you , or someone

0:19

you know , new to Medicare and want to better

0:21

understand the basics ? Well , today

0:23

, hopefully , we will make Medicare seem

0:25

a little bit easier . My guests

0:27

today are John Stockwell and Jennifer

0:30

Lindsey , with Stockwell Insurance . They're

0:32

here to explain the ins and outs just

0:34

really the basics so that you or your

0:36

loved one can be a little bit more comfortable

0:38

as you transition into

0:40

this new experience . So welcome

0:43

, John and Jennifer . Thank you for having us .

0:44

Yes , thank you , Kim .

0:46

All right . So , John , give us a little bit about

0:48

your history . You have Stockwell

0:50

Insurance . What do you do ?

0:52

I'm a resident of Batrush , Louisiana

0:54

. I've been licensed in insurance business

0:56

since 2005 . I

0:59

dove into Medicare 2011

1:02

. So this is my 12th year . We

1:04

help about 2,000 clients locally

1:06

. We have a local office on Perkins

1:09

near Blue Bonnet , very easy to get to

1:11

. We also do home visits

1:13

and office visits as well .

1:15

Okay , and Jennifer , what is your ?

1:17

role , my role . I am an administrative assistant

1:19

for John , as well as licensed agent . Also

1:21

, I am licensed to help sell Medicare

1:24

life insurance . We also do group

1:26

insurance as well .

1:28

Well , I tell you I definitely want

1:30

to learn today . I mean , I still have a little

1:32

time left , just had a birthday and it's

1:34

amazing because you know , one minute it

1:37

seems like retirement and Medicare

1:39

is a lifetime away and the next thing you

1:41

know , it's like , okay , it's time , Maybe I sit up

1:43

and pay attention . So let's just kind of cover

1:45

the basics . What is Medicare ?

1:47

So Medicare , it is the national insurance

1:49

program . It provides health coverage for

1:51

senior citizens who and it

1:53

was originally started just for seniors who

1:56

may be like lacking that proper health insurance

1:58

coverage . It's administered through the Social

2:00

Security Administration and regulated

2:02

through CMS , which is the center of Medicare

2:05

and Medicaid services .

2:06

So who is eligible for Medicare ? Who out

2:08

there should be listening and really paying attention

2:10

to what we're discussing today .

2:13

Anyone 65 and older is eligible , as

2:15

well as some individuals with

2:17

certain disabilities also may qualify . You

2:20

do have to live in the US continuously

2:22

for five years and be a US citizen , and

2:24

if you are disabled , you could

2:27

qualify if you have a 24-month qualification

2:29

disabled period .

2:30

Okay , and how would one even find out if

2:32

they're not 65 , what would

2:34

be the process of them even trying to find

2:37

out if they qualify for a disability ?

2:39

So for somebody that is disabled

2:41

it has to be a government mandated

2:44

disability . Typically you have

2:46

to have an attorney involved . That's a pretty

2:48

tedious process . Once

2:50

you get approved , you can start drawing

2:52

a Social Security benefit and

2:54

for 24 months is your time

2:57

period , from the time you are deemed

2:59

disabled by the government to the time you

3:01

can start your Medicare .

3:03

And you hit that magical age 65

3:06

, but I've seen the books and that's

3:08

what really makes me concerned . It's like it looks

3:10

like an encyclopedia when it comes

3:12

to Medicare . So really , how early

3:14

should somebody start really planning and

3:16

learning about Medicare , the ins and outs

3:18

, because I feel like if I don't understand it at 55

3:21

, how much more am I going to understand it when it's

3:23

time at 65 ?

3:25

It's definitely never too early to start planning

3:27

and getting some general information when it comes to

3:29

Medicare . The more you know , the better prepared

3:31

you'll be as far as when

3:33

you do start to get to that 65th

3:35

birthday , you do have an actual open enrollment

3:38

period . That is a seven-month window

3:40

. You have three months before

3:42

you turn 65 , your birth month and

3:44

three months following your birth month as well as your

3:46

birth month . So the better prepared

3:49

you are , the more proactive you can be

3:51

as far as trying to decide your Medicare options

3:53

.

3:54

So if I have private insurance , do

3:56

I need Medicare ?

3:58

So if you're on a group plan

4:00

that is credible coverage you

4:02

do not have to take Medicare . Yet

4:04

Now most people that have paid into the system

4:06

qualify for Medicare Part A automatically

4:09

, with no premium . So you can go

4:11

ahead and apply for Medicare Part A , which covers

4:13

inpatient hospital care , and

4:16

you'll just be double covered . You'll have your group

4:18

policy and if you go in the hospital

4:20

you also have Medicare Part A to help pick up those

4:22

costs .

4:23

Okay , Now part

4:25

A , and I've heard part B , C , D

4:27

, all the way to Z . Can you maybe break down a little

4:29

bit those different parts ?

4:31

Yes . So part A , that's going to be typically

4:33

covering some of your hospitalization cost

4:36

, and then you do have part B , which

4:38

would be covering more of your medical cost

4:40

or doctor visits , treatment plans

4:42

, diagnostic testing , and

4:46

then you do also have part D , which

4:48

is your prescription drugs , and part

4:50

C , which would be a Medicare Advantage

4:52

plan and that's kind of an all in one plan

4:54

where you can also decide whether you want dental

4:56

vision , hearing , just

4:58

different benefits like that . To roll it all into one

5:01

plan for you .

5:03

And so of course we know the word cover is pretty

5:05

broad , so maybe can you give us a better explanation

5:07

. Would there be deductibles

5:10

, or is you know ? How would I know you

5:12

know ? Can I rest assured that ? Hey , if I have part

5:14

A and I go in the hospital , what would I

5:16

have to come out of pocket ? Or would I have to come out of pocket

5:18

anything , or is it going to vary from individual

5:21

to individual ?

5:22

So for Medicare part A , if you

5:24

have just original Medicare and you do

5:26

not have a Medicare supplement plan or

5:28

Medicare Advantage plan , you do have a deductible

5:31

that covers the first 60 days After

5:33

today 60 , you have a per day

5:36

copay at the hospital . For

5:38

part B , you have a small deductible

5:40

and once you hit your deductible you pay

5:42

20% of the rest of your charges . There

5:45

is no maximum amount of pocket on original

5:47

Medicare . That's what's always beneficial

5:49

to look at some options like a Medicare supplement

5:52

plan or Medicare Advantage

5:54

plan . So there is a stop

5:56

loss there . Once you hit a certain

5:58

max out of pocket you don't have any more out of pocket

6:00

cost for your Medicare .

6:02

And does that vary from person to person or what

6:04

is that amount ?

6:05

So it does depend on the plan , not

6:07

technically person to person , unless you

6:09

do have Medicaid . If you have full

6:11

Medicaid benefits and Medicare

6:14

, we can get you a plan with

6:16

zero dollar co-payments , no max out of

6:18

pocket . There's a lot of more fringe benefits when

6:20

you do have a low income .

6:22

And what about the cost for Medicare

6:24

?

6:24

So Medicare Part A if

6:27

you put in your 40 quarters , there

6:29

is no premium there . And Medicare Part

6:31

B this year is $164.90

6:35

, is the base premium . That can be

6:37

reduced based on your income and it can also

6:39

be increased based on your income

6:41

. So I'll just do a little tidbit

6:43

here . If you're a single person and

6:45

your income was above $97,000

6:48

two years prior to

6:50

getting on Medicare , you're going to have

6:52

to pay extra money . If it

6:54

was above $194,000 as a married couple

6:57

, there's going to be income related

6:59

adjustment there as well and it can

7:01

be pretty substantial . It's a stair step

7:03

and it can get above $600

7:05

per month extra that you would be

7:07

paying for your Medicare Part A , B

7:10

and D , depending on your income .

7:12

And I imagine of course those numbers that cost

7:14

is going to change over the year . So while maybe

7:17

$164.00 today , next year it could

7:19

be a lot higher , because things

7:21

never get cheaper , right .

7:22

Right . Yes , cms does actually

7:25

kind of recalculate that premium

7:27

based on inflation , so it can go

7:29

up each year .

7:30

So is there anything as a working

7:32

individual now that I can do to offset

7:35

the cost of Medicare ? You

7:37

know , 10 , 20 years down the line .

7:39

So , as a working individual , being

7:41

that they're looking back two years at your

7:43

income , that's something to think about

7:45

, trying to stay under that bracket

7:48

. Another thing is we do have a form

7:50

that you can fill out once you retire , stating

7:52

that you do not work anymore and

7:55

you're retired and that your income is lower

7:57

now , and that can also

7:59

reduce the cost out of pocket for your Medicare

8:01

premiums .

8:02

And what about for individuals ? You know , there are those

8:05

that hey say I don't want to retire , I'm

8:07

going to work forever and they have

8:09

coverage . What happens , or what does their

8:11

scenario look like in terms of having

8:13

to get Medicare ?

8:15

Okay , so a working individual

8:17

? As long as they have credible group coverage

8:19

, they will not have to enroll

8:22

in Medicare and they will not have any penalties

8:24

.

8:25

So they don't have to do it no , ma'am . But

8:27

if they do , is it where that premium

8:29

? I think maybe earlier we kind of talked

8:31

about this a little bit that that Medicare

8:33

of the part A would be at a zero premium

8:35

for them .

8:36

Correct , it would just be like a double , double

8:38

coverage . Right . I would always recommend enroll

8:41

it in Medicare Port A because you're not going to have to

8:43

pay anything extra to have the extra insurance

8:45

with Medicare Now Port B

8:47

. If you enroll in Port B and your

8:49

income's high , they can charge extra

8:52

money . So as long as you have credible

8:54

group coverage , I would recommend

8:56

enroll it in Port A and

8:58

delaying Port B .

9:00

Okay , so we got the A's and the B's , so

9:02

let's kind of break down the C's and the D's

9:04

.

9:04

So D would be your prescription drug plan

9:07

. You do . If you're staying with original

9:09

Medicare , which is just your part A and part

9:11

B , you do have to enroll into a separate

9:14

prescription drug plan , which would be your part D

9:16

. Or you can go with a part

9:18

C option , which would be a Medicare Advantage

9:20

, where you would have your part A , part B and part

9:22

D all covered into one plan

9:24

.

9:25

And so tell us a little bit about how beneficial

9:27

the prescription is . Just yesterday I

9:29

was listening to the news and they were talking about

9:31

a new drug coming out for

9:33

patients suffering from Alzheimer's . Of

9:35

course , the catch 22 is that to

9:38

have this medicine , they were saying , it would cost you

9:40

$26,000

9:42

a year . I not

9:44

even want to remember that I'd have to pay that much

9:46

. So how can the Medicare

9:48

part help with costs that are that

9:50

high ?

9:52

So on Medicare prescription drug

9:54

plans you do get an allowance

9:56

for your drugs and it's the total

9:58

cost of each medicine that you fill . It's

10:01

not your cost out of your pocket but the actual

10:03

drug cost . So medicine it's

10:05

$26,000 . That

10:07

would eat up your initial coverage limit

10:10

which is $4,660

10:12

. Once you exhaust the initial

10:15

coverage limit you go into an

10:17

area called the coverage gap where

10:19

you pay 25% until

10:21

your out-of-pocket cost in

10:24

the manufacturer discounts equals $7,400

10:27

and then you pay 5% . So

10:29

that's also pretty unaffordable for

10:31

a drug that's $26,000 . The

10:34

manufacturers of most name brand

10:36

drugs do offer what we call a patient assistance

10:39

program and we do help apply

10:41

for that for our clients . A lot of times

10:43

we can get the drugs sent out to you from the manufacturer

10:46

to $0 cost .

10:47

So , of course , when I see commercials on

10:49

TV , you know there are so many different

10:52

insurance companies that offer

10:54

Medicare services . What is the

10:56

difference ? What are the different options ? Why would I choose

10:58

your company over another company

11:01

, or this group plan over another group plan

11:03

?

11:03

So the reason we have and

11:06

do what we do here locally is we

11:08

do house calls . We'll meet you at your

11:10

house , at your work . You can come by the office

11:12

. We have a local presence here and

11:15

we take the ball from applying

11:17

for Medicare , applying for Social Security

11:19

benefits , all the way to customer service after

11:21

you enroll into a plan . We

11:24

educate you and we help you make your

11:26

own decisions .

11:27

Okay , at age 65

11:29

, you mentioned , I could do it as early as three

11:31

months before or three months after . What does the

11:33

process look like in terms of enrolling

11:36

for Medicare ?

11:37

So you would need to . Well , if you are

11:39

already drawing your Social Security

11:42

benefits , you should automatically be enrolled

11:44

into your party in Part B whenever you do

11:46

turn 65 . If you're delaying

11:48

your Social Security benefits and you would need

11:50

to proactively enroll , which can be done

11:53

through the Social Security website , through

11:55

calling Social Security or in person , you

11:57

can also visit a local agent who would

11:59

help you enroll into that process

12:01

.

12:02

And is it a lengthy process ? Is it just a simple

12:04

form that I fill out ? What ? Can you walk

12:06

us through some of the steps .

12:08

It's just a form you fill out and you do turn into

12:10

Social Security . It does take a couple weeks to process

12:12

, so that's kind of why you want to be a little proactive

12:15

and not wait until your actual 65th

12:17

birthday . Do it as soon

12:19

as you can so that way it has

12:22

plenty time to process their Social Security .

12:24

And the easiest way is

12:26

to go online to ssagov

12:29

, that's the Social Security Administration , and

12:32

if you scroll down just a little bit , you'll see

12:34

apply for benefits and you can apply for Medicare

12:36

.

12:37

And of course we've got to think about too at 65

12:40

. Most of our 65s are not very tech-savvy

12:42

, so are there options to

12:44

actually do a paper application , or is that when

12:46

that benefit would be to have you come

12:48

out to the house and help us complete those papers ?

12:51

We do it all for you . You call us , we come to

12:53

the house . I actually did one this morning . Took

12:55

me about 15 minutes . We did our Social Security

12:58

benefits and her Medicare application and

13:00

she'll be processed in approximately two weeks

13:02

.

13:03

Are there any scenarios , at least when you

13:05

reach the age 65 , that someone could be denied

13:07

from Medicare ?

13:08

If they have not worked enough quarters , they

13:10

can be denied from Medicare .

13:12

And can you elaborate on , maybe , how many quarters

13:14

that would be ?

13:15

Yes , it's 10 years . It's 40 quarters

13:17

to qualify for Medicare . You can also

13:19

draw off of a spouse that's

13:22

put in enough quarters as well .

13:23

And if I don't meet either one of those qualifications

13:26

, do I have any other options ?

13:28

You can still enroll in Medicare , but you're going

13:30

to have some very large premiums

13:32

for part A and part B .

13:34

So we talked about enrollment and

13:36

so you said three months before

13:38

, three months after . So it's not

13:40

based on January to February or

13:42

January to March , it's just three months before

13:44

I make 65 and up to three months after

13:47

I make turn 65 . Is that correct ?

13:48

Right , it's not based on a calendar year . It is

13:51

based off of your birth month , so the

13:53

month you turn 65 .

13:54

I'm missing my head , because it seems like I always see

13:56

commercials that say , hey , you're running out of time , you're

13:58

running out of time . So I thought that maybe it was just

14:01

a time span , like you know , january

14:03

to March or something like that , but

14:05

it's based specifically on your birthday .

14:07

It is based on your birthday . Now there are other

14:09

enrollment periods . If you decide that

14:11

you are going to continue to work and you

14:13

are covered by an employer group plan

14:15

once you leave that employer group plan

14:18

, then you do have other enrollment options

14:20

you have when leaving your employer

14:22

group plan . You actually have an eight month period

14:24

to enroll into a Medicare program once you leave

14:27

that plan .

14:28

And what happens if I don't enroll .

14:30

If you don't enroll you will be faced with some penalties

14:32

. For part B , you can be faced

14:35

with a 10% penalty In part

14:37

D , your prescription drug , if you don't enroll into

14:39

that . It's also a penalty that gets calculated

14:41

every month .

14:42

So are there any exceptions to that rule ? Because , again

14:44

, I imagine at age 65 , that's when we

14:46

start to forget a couple of things

14:48

here and there . So are there any

14:50

waivers ? If you can , just you

14:53

know , have a good explanation for not filling

14:55

it out .

14:55

So for to , I guess , wave

14:58

a penalty , you would have to have low income

15:01

. That's pretty much the only way

15:03

to get those penalties waived . If you

15:05

just don't have credible group coverage

15:07

, you're just enrolling two

15:09

years later , haven't had any insurance

15:12

, you'll have penalties there . You'll have the

15:14

10% penalty per year for Medicare

15:17

part B , and that you pay that

15:19

the rest of your life , and then for

15:21

part D , your drug , it's 1% per

15:23

month that you do not have the drug coverage

15:25

and that is also paid the rest of your life

15:27

. So to get a penalty waived

15:30

it would be low income . It's

15:32

the only way we can really get that done .

15:35

Okay , so we've covered the things

15:37

like the majors the part A hospitalization

15:39

. Part B your

15:41

doctor visits . Part D

15:44

prescriptions . So C

15:46

, fill in a gap for me .

15:48

So your part C . Well , you do have

15:50

an option . If you want to stick with original

15:52

Medicare , which would be your part A and your part B

15:54

, and then adding a prescription drug , you

15:56

can also do what's called a supplement plan

15:59

, or metagap some call it , and

16:01

that is just adding a little bit additional

16:03

coverage to kind of fill in those gaps that

16:05

may not be covered through your part A or part

16:07

B . But you also have an option

16:09

of doing a Medicare Advantage plan , and

16:11

that's going to just be one plan

16:13

geared towards whatever fits

16:15

your needs . You can also add dental vision

16:18

, hearing , and just have one particular

16:20

plan that covers all of those benefits all

16:22

in one .

16:23

So I wouldn't have an A , B , C or

16:25

D , it would be one plan

16:27

, just be called the plan , and then

16:29

it would cover all of my needs . Right it

16:31

would be your plan . Okay

16:34

, well , that sounds a little bit better , because it sounds really

16:36

really complicated when you hear A , b , c

16:38

, b , all these different parts . How often

16:41

do the rules for Medicare change ?

16:43

They typically change . If any changes

16:45

are made , it's done annually and it usually starts

16:47

at the beginning of that next calendar year

16:49

.

16:50

And what happens if you're on a plan and

16:53

it becomes too much of a financial burden

16:55

? What are your options then ?

16:58

You can always reevaluate different plans . There's

17:00

different enrollment periods . Every

17:02

year you have an annual enrollment period

17:05

where you can make changes to the specific

17:07

plan . You might be on Different

17:09

things change in life as far as your income

17:11

status , different medical needs , so

17:14

that's something that can always be reevaluated

17:16

and changed at particular times in the year .

17:19

Well , you've definitely made it sound easy , so I'm

17:21

still just picturing this big encyclopedia

17:23

. What pieces are we missing ?

17:25

So if you read through that entire Medicare

17:28

handbook it's a few hundred pages

17:30

, probably 150 pages long . It's

17:33

just really elaborating what

17:35

we're simplifying . So you read

17:37

through there and it's more wordy

17:39

. We try to keep it simple and easy and we

17:41

try to do the hard work for you and

17:44

we try to condense it to make it make

17:46

sense . Okay .

17:48

So I have a couple of myths because , again , you know I

17:50

walked into this session with a lot of myths

17:52

about Medicare that you've already cleared up

17:54

, but there are a couple more . So it says Medicare

17:57

plans are only available through the federal

17:59

government .

18:00

So Medicare is offered

18:02

through the federal government . The extra

18:05

insurance policies , such as drug

18:08

plans , which is your part D , medicare

18:10

supplement plans and Medicare Advantage

18:13

plans , which is your part C , those

18:15

are offered through private insurance companies

18:17

, but they are regulated by the federal government

18:20

. Okay , all right .

18:22

It says Medicare covers all of your expenses

18:24

. All is such a subjective

18:27

word right .

18:28

So Medicare does cover all

18:30

of your medically necessary expenses

18:32

. They do not cover cosmetic

18:35

. They do not cover hearing

18:37

, dental or vision . Those are extra benefits

18:39

that you can pick up with a Medicare Advantage

18:42

plan or , if you do go with a Medicare

18:44

supplement plan and a standalone

18:46

drug plan , you can pick up a individual

18:49

vision , dental or hearing plan

18:51

.

18:52

So I have a question Do the supplement

18:54

so that vantage plans and because they're offered

18:56

by different insurance companies , will that what's

18:59

offered vary from company to company

19:01

? Or would it just be the cost that varies from company

19:03

to company ?

19:04

So it's not only the cost . Each plan

19:06

has their own co-payments , their

19:08

own benefits , their own allowances

19:11

, so you do have to shop around and

19:13

make sure , first of all , that your doctors and

19:15

your prescriptions are covered . Each

19:17

plan has their own network of doctors , so

19:19

it's very important . These are the first two things we ask

19:22

when we're evaluating a client

19:24

is what are your doctors , what

19:26

medicines are you taking currently ? And

19:28

we go from there and it kind of weeds out

19:30

some of the plans right off the bat .

19:32

Okay , here's another myth If your spouse

19:35

is enrolled in Medicare , you are automatically

19:37

enrolled too .

19:38

No , medicare is an individual

19:41

plan by the government , so each person

19:43

has their own Medicare plan . So if your

19:45

husband is making 65 and you're 58

19:47

, you do not qualify for Medicare

19:49

yet you have to qualify either through age

19:52

or disability .

19:53

Now it says Medicare will notify

19:56

me when it's time to enroll .

19:59

Medicare does send out some paperwork . Most

20:01

of it gets thrown away , and that's because you're

20:03

going to get paperwork from 200

20:06

different entities wanting your business

20:08

. They make the marketing

20:10

very similar to what Medicare official

20:13

mail looks like . So you got

20:15

to really keep your eye out and make sure it's from

20:17

ssagov , which is Social Security

20:19

, or CMSgov or

20:22

Medicaregov . If it doesn't say

20:24

those three things , or one of those three

20:26

things on the front of the envelope

20:28

, you need to disregard it , unless

20:31

you are looking for somebody to help you .

20:34

So are you able to maybe even explain

20:36

what type of Medicare fraud is out there ? As you

20:38

mentioned , you want to make sure you're looking for something

20:40

that's specifically Medicaregov . What

20:43

type of fraud should I listen to especially

20:46

our seniors be looking for

20:48

or be aware of so that they're not scammed ? What type

20:50

of scams exist ?

20:51

So there is an endless

20:54

list of fraudulent

20:56

activity that goes on . First and foremost

20:58

is the phone calls . You're going to get

21:00

somebody calling you saying they have a better

21:03

plan for you . They're not going to look

21:05

up your doctors or your meds and they're just going to

21:07

enroll you in next month or

21:09

whatever month they enroll you for . If your

21:11

doctors aren't on there and you go see

21:13

them , you're going to get bills and you will be responsible

21:15

. So make sure you do not do

21:18

business on the phone and if you

21:20

do , make sure they're checking everything

21:22

and doting eyes and crossing the T's

21:24

. The second one they have phishing

21:26

emails and ads on Facebook

21:29

, so you need to be very careful . If

21:31

you click it's called clickbait you click on

21:33

there , they'll collect your information

21:35

. Sometimes they'll enroll you without your permission

21:37

. And the third is through

21:39

the mail . That's another big one . They're

21:41

going to send mailers out and if you fill out one

21:44

of the response cards , they

21:46

can get you that way as well . It's

21:49

always best to have somebody local that you

21:51

know and trust , that has a building

21:53

in town that you can go to , and

21:56

you just have a local contact

21:58

.

21:59

So if I do find that I was scammed and we'll talk

22:01

, we'll go with the first one that you mentioned that

22:03

maybe I enrolled in it and

22:05

then I found out later that

22:07

my doctors weren't covered . How difficult

22:10

or how easy is it to undo that

22:12

and maybe get into a more legitimate plan

22:14

that is customized to the doctors

22:16

that I want to see and the medication that I'm

22:18

on ?

22:19

It's a pretty tedious process . First

22:22

of all , if you do get scammed in

22:24

that regard , the first thing you want to

22:26

do is call Medicare and

22:29

file a complaint that's the first

22:31

thing and tell them that you were misled . We

22:33

can also help with that process

22:36

. We can also help you get into the correct

22:38

plan . Here in Louisiana we

22:40

do typically have what we call a special

22:43

election period for disaster , either

22:45

rain related , hurricane related

22:47

, wind related , and so throughout

22:50

the year we do have certain time

22:52

periods where we can change your plan , and

22:55

this year it's been pretty much the whole

22:57

year and last year as well . So

22:59

if you give us a call we can look

23:01

it up and see if we can put you back

23:03

on the correct plan . Also , with

23:06

the advantage plans , if

23:08

somebody enrolls into an advantage

23:10

plan that does not cover their doctors

23:12

and their medications , like they were told over

23:15

the phone or through the mail or through an email

23:17

, we can go ahead and get

23:19

that taken care of for you for the next month

23:21

with a five star rated Medicare

23:24

Advantage plan . So there are a couple

23:26

options in town where Medicare

23:28

has rated the plan a five star and

23:31

that gives them a 12 month ongoing

23:33

election period . So you

23:35

can enroll in those plans anytime during

23:37

the year . There's no set enrollment

23:39

period there .

23:41

What would you say are the best resources

23:43

for somebody that's listening but they still want

23:45

to learn more ? What are some good , legitimate

23:48

resources that are available for

23:50

people to learn more about their options

23:52

for Medicare ?

23:54

So , for Medicare , if you want to go

23:56

online and do research , you have Medicaregov

23:59

, and you also have Social Security

24:01

, which is the ssagov

24:04

. We're always available to answer questions

24:07

. We're very knowledgeable . We have

24:09

quite a few agents here in town that

24:11

are ready to assist .

24:13

Do you recommend any type

24:15

of webinars , or do

24:17

you even offer , you know , for example

24:20

, a workshop where seniors could go and learn more

24:22

?

24:22

So every Wednesday at our local office

24:24

on Perkins Road we do a seminar

24:27

at 10 o'clock in the morning , and that's every Wednesday

24:29

and it's ongoing .

24:31

Okay , good information , All

24:33

right . A couple more myths I want to go over before

24:35

we wrap up . This one says I can't

24:37

sign up for Medicare because I have poor

24:39

health , which I imagine . When you become a senior

24:41

, you have something pre-existing

24:43

by that time .

24:45

So with a pre-existing condition , when

24:47

you're getting on Medicare , there are no health

24:50

questions asked . With a Advantage

24:52

Plan going forward

24:54

, there are no health questions asked . With

24:57

a supplement plan a Medicare supplement if

24:59

you don't enroll during your initial

25:01

election period , you have a six month window

25:04

with no health questions . After that , a

25:06

Medicare supplement plan can underwrite

25:08

you and ask health questions .

25:10

Or Medicare . This is another one . Medicare Advantage

25:13

Plans and Medicare Supplement

25:15

Plans are the same thing .

25:17

No , they're not the same thing . Like we

25:19

said , medicare Advantage is going to kind

25:21

of cover all of your Part A , part B

25:23

and Part D costs into one particular

25:26

plan . A supplement plan

25:28

just kind of fills in those gaps . That's separate

25:30

from your Part A , part B and Part D

25:32

. It's a separate plan that just kind

25:34

of helps fill in some gaps that may not have been covered

25:36

.

25:37

Just to piggyback on , jennifer a supplement

25:40

plan is a secondary insurance

25:42

, so you would have Medicare as your primary

25:44

and a supplement plan is a small deductible

25:47

and then covers everything at

25:49

100% that is covered under original

25:51

Medicare . An Advantage Plan

25:53

is a Medicare replacement plan

25:55

, so Medicare would pay the Advantage

25:58

Plan and whatever private insurance

26:00

company you choose for your Advantage

26:02

Plan would administer your

26:04

doctors and your hospitals and your

26:07

drugs . They're your go-to . Now You're

26:09

not going to be dealing with Medicare

26:11

at that point . You'd be dealing with your private insurance

26:13

company .

26:14

So I'm a planner by nature , always looking

26:16

ahead , planning . Is there

26:19

a point where somebody can come in , let's say

26:21

well before 65 , let's just say at age

26:23

60 , just to sit down and look and say

26:25

, okay , if I were

26:27

turning 65 tomorrow , what would

26:30

it look like for me , so that they can kind of

26:32

plan for the future in terms of what

26:34

their Medicare costs would look like if

26:36

they want to start preparing for supplement

26:39

insurance ? Or is an advantage plan going

26:41

to be right for them ? Is that something that

26:43

you would even recommend , or is that

26:45

even an option ?

26:46

We do that often . We sit down with folks

26:48

that are not Medicare eligible and

26:51

just kind of do a what-of scenario

26:53

and that way whenever they

26:55

get eligible , they kind of already know

26:57

what plan's going to work best for them .

26:59

And is there a particular age that you even recommend

27:01

that ? I mean , would it , is it only worth

27:03

it if you're really really close to 65

27:06

, or would somebody 60 or 55 even benefit

27:08

, just to give them a real good general idea

27:10

of what's to come ?

27:12

I think 55 is a little bit early , but

27:14

60 to 63 is a good time

27:16

to really start thinking and gathering information

27:19

.

27:19

Okay , well , I want to thank you guys

27:21

for joining me . Please let our listeners

27:23

know if they want to learn more information

27:26

or maybe be able to attend one of those

27:28

Wednesday sessions . How can they reach ?

27:30

you . Yes , so our office

27:32

is located on Perkins Road and a

27:34

phone number that can be reached is 225-400-4300

27:38

.

27:39

And is there a website ?

27:40

We do have a website . It's wwwstockwellinccom

27:45

.

27:46

And our physical address is 10859

27:50

Perkins Road , Sweet Sea

27:52

, Baton Rouge , Louisiana , 70810

27:55

. All right .

27:56

Well , thank you , john . Thank you , jennifer . I

27:58

think I feel a little bit better , but thank God

28:00

I've got a little bit more time , so you

28:02

won't see me for a while . Yes , very good

28:04

, all right , thank you .

28:05

You're very welcome , thank you .

28:12

As you just heard , there is an unlimited set

28:14

of resources available for you to learn about Medicare

28:16

, but here are some key tips that you want to take

28:18

away . Start planning early

28:21

. Remember you can enroll up to three

28:23

months before your 65th birthday

28:25

. If you're still

28:27

confused , consider attending one

28:29

of those free online or in-person classes

28:32

to learn more about the ABCs and

28:34

D of Medicare . You can

28:36

always talk to your Benefits Administrator

28:38

, but be sure to compare your coverages

28:40

. And finally , check out neighborsfcuorg

28:44

For slash financial education to

28:46

learn more on how to use the money you have , make

28:49

the money you need and save the money you

28:53

want .