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We offer a wide range of services and insurance products to meet any of your needs. We work for you, not the insurance companies.
Below is a partial list of the many services we have to offer you:
Helping seniors shop for, choose and enroll in a Medicare supplement health insurance policy is clearly the main focus of our agency. There are a number of common scenarios that would present an opportunity where it may be beneficial for you to talk to us to receive a FREE No obligation evaluation and recommendation in deciding on the best plan and best company for your Medicare supplement coverage.
Turning Age 65 Soon
For the majority of our customers, age 65 is when most of them will begin their Medicare coverage and then also when they will likely need a Medicare supplement plan. There are most likely a number of other important and sometimes confusing decisions that need to be made during this time. If you will be turning age 65 in the next year or less, we can help you navigate through all of these challenges.
Starting Medicare Part B After Age 65
We also see many of our customers who continue to work when they reach age 65 and therefore continue to have their main health coverage through a group plan provided by their employer. This usually allows them to delay the cost of beginning Part B of Medicare. Another reason why an individual may wait to get Part B of Medicare is that they have a spouse who is not yet age 65. Staying on their work related group health insurance plan allows their dependent to continue to have an option for health insurance coverage.
Once an individual or both members of a household have stopped working and or have turned age 65, the option that will provide the best health insurance protection at the best value may be to leave the group coverage and get Part B of Medicare. This will cause original Medicare Parts A and B to be the main health coverage. The next decision would be to decide if enrolling in a Medicare supplement plan as secondary coverage to Medicare would be a good idea. We can assist you in navigating all of the steps in this process.
Price Comparison For Your Active Medicare Supplement Policy
If you currently have an active Medicare supplement plan, have been with the same company for a number of years in a row and have received a premium increase at least once a year, your monthly premium may be to the point now that you could benefit from a price comparison. We can take a look at the marketplace and see how your current premium compares to other companies selling the exact same plan in your area. There is a possibility that we can substantially reduce your monthly premium without any reduction in the quality of your coverage. This is a very simple process. We help many seniors all over the country all year long to make this type of change and put money back in their pockets. This is a very rewarding part of what we do here at our agency.
Part A and Part B of Medicare, What Does This Mean?
Part A Hospital – Part A of Medicare helps to pay for medical care that is received if you have been officially admitted to a hospital or other similar facility such as a skilled nursing center, rehab center or hospice care. Part A of Medicare is free for most seniors and is also almost always activated when you turn age 65. If you have Medicare only and receive medical care using your Part A benefits, you will be responsible for your Part A deductible. The 2023 Part A deductible is $1,600. This deductible can be incurred more than once per calendar year. If you have Medicare only, you may also have other out of pocket daily co-payments for a stay in the hospital in addition to your deductible.
Part B Medical – Part B of Medicare is any medical care you require that is not covered by Part A such as a doctor visit, testing, treatment, physical therapy, ambulance, emergency room, outpatient treatment and etc. Part B of Medicare is NOT free. The cost of your monthly premium for Part B of Medicare is determined by several factors including your income. However, in the year 2023, most individuals who have Part B of Medicare will pay $164.90 per month.
If you are receiving social security payments prior to turning age 65, unless you take action to opt out, you will automatically be enrolled in Part B of Medicare. If you are not yet receiving social security, you will need to take some action to enroll in Part B of Medicare. You can do this by contacting your social security administration office by phone or by going online. You can click on the following form to get more details:
How to apply online for Medicare only
If you have Medicare only and you receive medical care under Part B, you will be responsible for a once per year Part B deductible. The 2023 Part B deductible is $226. If you have Medicare only, once your Part B annual deductible has been satisfied, Medicare will pay for 80% of your Part B medical care. You will then be responsible for a 20% co-payment for all Part B medical care received during the remainder of that calendar year.
Medicare Open Enrollment Period
For most individuals we work with, their Medicare open enrollment period begins when their Part B of Medicare starts, which in most cases is the first day of the month in which they have their 65th birthday. For others, if they have stayed on a group health plan when they turned 65 and delayed the start of their Part B of Medicare, their open enrollment will start somewhere soon after their group health coverage ends.
The Medicare open enrollment lasts for six months. During your open enrollment, you have the ability to choose any Medicare supplement plan with any insurance company without having to answer any health questions. If you are healthy, this may not be a big consideration, but in any case it is a convenience that you should be aware of.
If you did get Part B of Medicare at age 65, but also stayed on a group health plan, you may have some guaranteed issue rights to get a Medicare supplement policy once you do leave your group coverage. The guaranteed issue right rules vary from state to state.
Choosing A Medicare Supplement Plan Letter
The current list of Medicare supplement plan letters to choose from can make it seem like quite a confusing situation. The last revision of these choices went in to effect on June 1, 2010. The current plan letter choices in most states are – Plan A, B, C, D, F, High Deductible F, G, High Deducible G, K, L, M, N. You can click on the link below for a chart that shows the specifics of these plans:
Medicare Supplement Plan Chart – 6-1-2010 And After
OK, so . . . the Good News is it’s really not that complicated because in the real world there are only three different plan letters that you need to know about. The only Medicare supplement plan letters we ever recommend are Plan F , Plan G and Plan N. These are all good plans that will provide you with additional secondary protection at a good value.
Note: Individuals who turn age 65 after January 1, 2020 are no longer able to get a Medicare supplement Plan F.
How They Are The Same – Plan F, Plan G and Plan N all work exactly the same if you are receiving Part A medical care. If you are admitted to a hospital or other similar facility, these plans will all pay your $1,600 Part A deductible, your daily co-payments and any other expenses not fully covered by Medicare. You are covered 100% on all of these plans in regards to a stay in the hospital. That is good news!
How They Are The Different – Plan F, Plan G and Plan N are different in the way your medical bills will be covered in regards to Part B medical care you receive.
Plan F – This is referred to as a first dollar coverage plan. This means that if you have a Plan F Medicare supplement plan, it will pay for your Part A deductible ($1,600), your Part B deductible ($226), your 20% co-payments and any other medical charges not covered completely by Part A or Part B of Medicare. This was a popular plan a number of years ago. This is very good coverage, but it is also the most expensive plan.
Plan G – Plan G is very similar to Plan F. The only difference is that on Plan G, the insured is responsible to satisfy the once per year Part B deductible, which is $226 for the year 2023. Both plans cover you 100% for a hospital stay. Both will pay for the 20% co-payments. Once you pay for the first $226 of Part B medical care each year, Plan G works just like a Plan F for the rest of the year. We actually very often will recommend Plan G to our customers. This is because in many cases, when we compare the monthly premium of a Plan F to a Plan G, the price difference is enough of a savings on the Plan G to make it clearly a better value.
Plan N – Plan N is the least expensive Medicare supplement plan. Again, 100% protection for a stay in the hospital. The plan N is similar to Plan G in that it also requires the insured to be responsible for the annual Part B deductible of $226. The reason why Plan N is less expensive is because, after the Part B deductible has been paid, there are two possible occasions where the insured could incur a small cost sharing payment, kind of like a co-payment.
The first situation would be if you have a standard visit to a doctor. If the doctor sends a claim to Medicare that is coded as a doctor office service fee, Medicare will pay 80% of this amount. The insured is responsible for 20% of this amount, on a sliding scale, but with a maximum amount of $20. Our customers who have a Plan N, tell us that that they pay somewhere between $15 to $20 for a visit to their doctor.
The second situation where there may be an out of pocket payment for a person with a Plan N would be a visit to a hospital emergency room. If a visit to a hospital emergency is not followed by an admission to the hospital, the insured could have a cost sharing payment, but with a maximum of $50. For some individuals who are healthy and trying to limit their insurance premiums costs, choosing a Medicare supplement Plan N can be a very good option to consider.
What Insurance Company Is The Best?
This can be a very interesting conversation when working with our customers to help them not only choose a Medicare supplement plan letter, but also help them decide on what insurance company to purchase their Medicare supplement plan from. The first important principle to understand in regards to this decision is the fact that:
– – Medicare supplement plans are Standardized Plans – –
This means that as long as you choose the same Medicare supplement letter with any insurance company, the benefits of your insurance policy are Exactly The Same! For example, if you have decided that the best Plan letter for your needs is a Medicare supplement Plan F, you do not need to study, evaluate and compare the benefits of a Plan F issued by different insurance companies because there is no difference.
Many people get stressed by this decision, but in reality it is NOT an extremely critical decision. Your doctor or hospital gets paid the exact same amount of money and in the exact same method regardless of what insurance company you have your Medicare supplement policy with.
Some individuals we speak with have been pressured into to choosing a certain insurance company and even pay a higher priced premium in the belief that somehow they are getting better coverage or they will somehow have a lower cost premium in the future. Please do not be persuaded by this false information.
We do feel like there is a considerable value to you to have an independent agent help you shop the market and find the best plan letter for your needs and the insurance company that will offer you the best value. Because we are independent, we do not have any loyalty to any specific insurance company. This allows us to remain unbiased in our recommendations.
Another important factor to consider during the process of choosing a Medicare supplement plan is that whatever decision you make initially, this does not have to be a permanent decision. One valuable service we provide to our customers is an annual rate comparison review. We will be in contact with you at least once a year to let you know we are aware of any changes in your premiums in the future and then to compare your new premium to other companies in the marketplace. This allows us to do the best we can to make sure we are continuing to keep you on a plan that is the best value for your needs.
Thank you again for visiting our site. I hope the information you have read or videos you may have watched have been helpful. Please fell free to contact us at any time if you would like a pressure free, no obligation one on one consultation. Our services are always free to you. We work very hard to keep our customers happy.
Billy Williams – 800-499-1942