11/22/2023–Medicare Tip of the Week: Your health doesn’t have to be picture perfect to have a perfect fit.
Having the right Medicare plan should make sense to you and put you in the right ‘frame’ of mind. Everyone has foibles, flaws and even issues. And that’s ok. That’s what your health coverage is made for. If your Medicare plan doesn’t give you confidence, it might be time to give it a second look.
Our agents are here to listen and help you in the search for the right fit. No plan is perfect, but it may be exactly what you need.
09/23/2023–Medicare Tip of the Week: There is no substitute for your health.
If you are on the fence about telling your doctor about a nuisance issue, don’t withhold the information from your primary physician. Small issues may turn out to be symptoms of a bigger problem or an undiagnosed chronic condition. And some conditions can be mitigated if found earlier rather than later.
It may be tempting to just use a online search or medical website to try to self-diagnose, but you could pay dearly for trying to do-it-yourself on your healthcare.
The same could be said for your Medicare insurance needs. As AEP is set to arrive, it is important you have that personal contact with a licensed agent that understands your priorities and knows the carriers that service your area.
If you don’t have someone like that, feel free to contact us.
11/22/2022-Medicare Tip of the Week: Most people can benefit from having an advocate in the insurance business whose looking out for them. Get to know your insurance agent and feel confident with your decisions.
Even though you’ve known your agent for years, you probably never see him or her outside of the office. It’s good to take an interest in your agent personally to understand what they value and how they make decisions. After all, the most common question we get asked is “what would you do”. You need to be informed on the person who is informing you about potentially life-altering financial decisions.
Seeing them in a social setting and outside of their office is sometimes a great and eye-opening experience. I welcome the opportunity, myself, to see my clients in social settings. I am attending several events over the next few weeks, and I hope to see you there. You can track my progress on Facebook as I make the social rounds at https://www.facebook.com/thewattagency.
9/14/2022-Medicare Tip of the Week: Navigating the price of medications can cause a stress headache. We have news that can help you save money and ease the pains of Rx costs.
Nobody likes a big pharmacy bill, except the pharmacy and the pharmaceutical companies. Trying to the find the best deal between discount cards, insurance and mail order services can make a person stress, which they tell us is bad for health. So here are a few resources that may help. This is not an exhaustive list, but a few I’ve found helpful.
- Extra Help from Medicare. “Extra Help” is a Medicare program to help people with limited income and resources pay Medicare drug coverage (Part D) premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and other costs. What’s a premium, deductible, coinsurance, or copayment? You also won’t have to pay a Part D late enrollment penalty while you get Extra Help. What’s the Part D penalty? Some people qualify for Extra Help automatically, and other people have to apply. (source https://www.medicare.gov/basics/costs/help/drug-costs).
- Enroll in a Medicare Part D plan. This one should be considered even if you don’t receive any Extra Help from Medicare. Not having a prescription drug plan when you are first eligible for it and no longer are covered by employer health or any other “credible coverage” could result in a Late Enrollment Penalty (LEP). Also, the longer you wait, the higher the penalty. Plans can be less than $10 per month and can save literally thousands of dollars.
- State Help. Many states will have programs to aid in the costs of prescription drugs and will coordinate with coverages you have to keep your costs low. In Missouri the FAQ page is https://dss.mo.gov/mhd/faq/pages/faqmo_rx.htm
- Pharmaceutical company discounts. Although companies have gotten a reputation for profiting off the misery of others, many have programs that help with discounted medication for seniors who simply can’t afford it.
If you want to know more about these programs and options for paying for your medicine, you can check out the links above or contact us with the information below. We are here to help.
-Ben Schatz, Medicare, Life and Health Insurance Licensed Agent
8/13/2022-Medicare Tip of the Week: Changes come quickly -Review your Medicare and Rx plans/premiums regularly to prevent out of control medical costs…
CMS has issued updated estimations of the Prescription Drug Plan average premium for 2023. The average plan premium is estimated to be reduced by almost 2% (1.8% to be exact) to 31.50/month. Staying up to date with such trends is a good way to ensure you are getting a fair price for your insurance. Being informed is good medicine against premium rich and benefit poor plans. Occasionally, a person is willing to pay much more to avoid surprises on their medical bills. Spend time with your agent to review the changes at least yearly, and to strike a good balance between premium and benefits.
There is a big difference between stressing about the possibilities of medical costs and planning for them. The right Medicare plan can instill confidence about the future and not dread. I have friends who have been saddled with a new and different plan than they originally chose because they failed to realize that their plan was discontinued for the next year. The mistake cost them over a thousand dollars. Their previous agent should have caught this and the insurance company no doubt sent out notice to them about the change in their Annual Notice Of Change (ANOC). But sometimes wires get crossed, agents get busy and people don’t always pay attention to every piece of mail they receive from their company. It is understandable, but also quite preventable.
So, even if you’re not planning on making a change of agent or company, it is good to review with a licensed agent about the plan, your life goals (travel, etc..) and especially about the provider network, prescription formulary and pharmacy preference to confirm the next year will be smooth sailing.
If you want peace of mind about your Medicare choices, now and for the coming year, feel free to contact us.
-Ben Schatz, Medicare, Life and Health Insurance Licensed Agent
7/13/2022–Good Oral Health Can Bring Smiles to Your Face (and Your Doctor’s)…
Some Benefits of regular dentist visits are obvious. There is the cosmetic reason. A healthy smile looks good on you and part of feeling good is looking good. Preventing tooth loss which can change the way you chew and bite. In turn, losing teeth can make it harder to eat nutritious foods.
Your dentist can also sometimes predict and help you prevent things like, migraines, periodontal disease, and infections. Sometimes a routine exam can catch illnesses early such as diabetes, infectious disease and cancer.
Good Dental Hygiene is an important first line of defense against germs and disease. Seeing your dentist regularly is a part of that. We have Medicare plans that offer comprehensive dental benefits. If your current plan does not, we can help with that.
-Ben Schatz, Life and Health Insurance Licensed Agent
6/22/2022–Now hear this! Hearing is major factor in Cognitive Health…
Hearing loss is associated with poorer cognitive performance and accelerated cognitive decline. It has been associated with indecision, memory loss, speed of processing and problem solving. Untreated hearing loss can be a significant risk factor in the increased incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
Why? It turns out the brain structure itself can change as the cells themselves can shrink from lack of stimulation. Hearing loss can also cause the brain to be overworked by constantly straining to understand speech and sound. Hearing loss can cause stress, social isolation, and depression which are all factors for poor mental health and cognitive decline.
What can we do to avoid hearing loss?
- Avoid loud noises and reduce noise exposure
- Wear ear plugs when you can’t avoid noisy situations
- See your doctor and audiologist (or hearing specialist) regularly
Many Medicare Advantage plans have hearing benefits that can help you pay for the care you need. If you have a supplement plan you can include Hearing Dental and Vision with a separate policy. The right plan could be music to your ears. Call me and we can set it up.
-Ben Schatz, Medicare, Life and Health Insurance Licensed Agent
6/15/2022-Eyes are Windows into your health.
Did you know- by looking at the blood vessels in the retina at the back of the eye, an exam can reveal risk factors for stroke or heart attack before they occur. An exam can also identify signs diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and, of course, eye diseases like cataracts, retinopathy and glaucoma. Finding these early can lead to better health outcomes. So, getting an exam is an important first step in eye care.
Other things you can do to improve your eye health is to exercise regularly and eat better. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in the adults ages 20 to 74. You could also wear sunglasses to avoid UV light damage to your vision. Blue light from screens can also be damaging, so adding a blue light filter to your computer screen or phone screen can fend off eye fatigue.
Having a good Medicare plan that covers vision or adding a vision plan to your current Medicare supplement is also a bright idea. We can help with that.
-Ben Schatz, Life and Health Insurance Licensed Agent
6/8/2022- Medicare doesn’t cover Long Term Care
About 43% of all people will need Long Term Care because a precipitating event or chronic condition makes them unable to perform two or more of activities of daily living (ADL’s) for longer than 100 days. At an average of $7,756 monthly, it can eat away at your assets quickly. Make sure that as part of your financial planning you include an option of home health care or nursing care if you haven’t already.
If you are relying on Medicaid to fund your Long Term Care, understand that most likely you will be required to sell off assets, empty savings and retirement accounts before Medicaid will kick in. As an alternative, I recommend that you purchase either a Long Term Care or Home Health Care plan. Every dollar covered by a LTC plan is exempted from Medicaid spend down requirements. This means that more of what you earned over a lifetime remains with you and can be passed on to your beneficiaries some day.
-Ben Schatz, Life and Health Insurance Licensed Agent