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August 24, 2024 • 20 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good Saturday morning to all schools are starting soon or
maybe they have already started. This is Dick shlig and
this is safe money. We're here, We've been here for
a long time now, encouraging listeners to be safe with
their investment decisions first and foremost this morning, Remember the

(00:23):
thirtieth Annual Run with Carl is coming up here very soon,
in just a couple of weeks. On Labor Day, September
two is the thirtieth annual Run with Carl. So if
you're not yet registered, you go to www Run with
Carl and do so today. In twenty twenty four, more

(00:47):
than half, or fifty four percent of eligible Medicare beneficiaries.
That's thirty two million people out of sixty one million
Medicare beneficiaries with both Parts A and Part B are
enrolled in Medicare advantage plans. So that's half of all

(01:10):
Medicare recipients. Fifty four percent are enrolled in Medicare advantage plans.
Medicare advantage enrollment as a share of the eligible Medicare
population has jumped from nineteen percent in two seven to
fifty four percent in the year in twenty twenty four. Boy,

(01:35):
think about that only nineteen percent of Medicare beneficiaries participated
in advantage plan in the year two seven. Now today,
in the year twenty twenty four, we have over fifty
four percent, So more than half of Medicare beneficiaries are

(01:59):
in advantage plans. So, between twenty three and twenty four,
total Medicare advantage enrollment grew by about two point one
million beneficiaries, or seven percent, a similar growth rate as
in the prior year eight percent. So the Congressional Budget

(02:20):
Office projects the share of all Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in
Medicare advantage plans will increase to sixty four percent in
the next ten years. So from fifty four percent which
we have now to sixty four percent of eligible Medicare

(02:43):
beneficiaries will be enrolled in Medicare advantage plans. So in
twenty twenty four, nearly two thirds of Medicare advantage enrollees
are in individual plans that are open for general enrollment. Now,
there are some group retiree plans that offer advantage plans,

(03:05):
but we are talking about individual plans that are open
for general enrollment. More than six and ten more than
six in ten Medicare advantage in rollees, or twenty point
five million people are in plants generally available to all
beneficiaries for individual enrollment. That's an increase of zero point

(03:29):
nine million enrollees compared to twenty twenty three. Individual plans
have declined as a share of total Medicare enrollments since
twenty ten. More than six point six million Medicare beneficiaries
are enrolled in special needs plans in twenty twenty four,

(03:53):
more than double enrollment in twenty nineteen, So on five years,
that was a tremendous, tremendous increase. More than six point
six million Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in special needs plans
SNIPS special needs plans. Special needs plans restrict enrollment to

(04:16):
specific types of beneficiaries with significant or relatively specialized care needs,
or who qualified because they are eligible for both Medicare
and Medicaid. Enrollment in SNIP plants increased by sixteen percent
between twenty three and twenty four and accounts for twenty

(04:39):
percent of the total Medicare advantage enrollment in twenty twenty four,
an increase from twelve percent in twenty ten. Since twenty nineteen,
SNIP enrollment has more than doubled from two point nine
million to six point si six million dollars. This increase

(05:04):
is due in part to the increasing number of SNIP
plans available on the average and more dual eligible individuals
having access to these plants. Most SNIP enrollees a matter
of fact, eighty eight percent are in plans for beneficiaries
duly enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid. That's called d

(05:27):
SNIP plans. Another ten percent of SNIP and rollies are
in plants for people with chronic or disabling conditions. In
two percent are in plants for beneficiaries requiring a nursing
home or institutional level of care. SNIP enrollment varies across

(05:49):
the states. In the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico,
snip and rollies comprise about half of all Medicure of
all Medicare enrollees in nine states and nine states, SNIP
enrollment accounts for at least a quarter of Medicare advantage enrollments.

(06:11):
So there's got to be something to those advantage plans.
So if you are becoming eligible for Medicare sometime during
the balance of twenty twenty four, if you are becoming
eligible turning age sixty five, then boy, there's something to
be said for these these advantage plans. So I encourage

(06:33):
you to look into those plans and determine if they're
appropriate for you. As with other Medicare advantage plans, employer
and union group plans may provide additional benefits in lower
cost sharing than traditional Medicare and are eligible for bonus

(06:57):
payments if they obtain required quarterly scores. The employer or
union and sometimes the retiree, may also pay an additional
premium for the supplementary for the supplemental benefits. Group enrollees
comprise a quarter or more of Medicare advantage plans in

(07:18):
rollies in nine states, So there's a tremendous participation in
the Medicare advantage plans and an increasing participation in the
Medicare advantage plans. Prozen cons to original Medicare, just as
there are prozen cons to Medicare advantage plans. We encourage

(07:42):
you to take a look at both of these plans,
and that's why we have our virtual meetings. We talk
about the basics of Medicare and then the Medicare supplement
plans that are available. Remember, there are ten Medicare supplement plants.

(08:02):
You get to choose one of those plans. There are
eighteen prescription drug plans. You get to pick one of
those eighteen plans. Medicare advantage plans, which we are the
topic of our subject. We talk about the advantage plans,
and especially we talk about what we feel is the

(08:24):
more competitive of the advantage plants, and that is the
AARP Medicare Advantage Plan, which is offered by United Healthcare.
You know, United Healthcare and Humana account for nearly half
of all Medicare advantage and enrollies nationwide this year in

(08:45):
twenty twenty four, that's United Healthcare and Humana. United Healthcare
and Humana both offer advantage plans as an alternative to
original Medicare, So those two companies, United Healthcare and Humana
have half of all Medicare advantage enrollees. Together, Unite Healthcare

(09:11):
in Humanita account for nearly half of all Medicare advantage
enrollees nationwide, the same as in twenty twenty three. In
more than a quarter of counties twenty nine percent, or
in over nine hundred counties, these two companies account for
at least seventy five percent of Medicare advantage enrollment. United

(09:37):
Healthcare and Humana have consistently accounted for a relatively large
share of Medicare advantage enrollment. Now, listeners, you know that
both Craig and I and RJS and Associates we are
independent agents, so we represent more than one insurance company

(09:59):
and we can pick, choose and determine which of the
advantage plans are the more competitive. And this year we've
this year and last year we came up with the
United Healthcare advantage Plan as being the more competitive advantage

(10:19):
plans of all the advantage plans are that are being offered. Now,
if we have a listener that has some allegiance to
another company, we probably represent that company as well, so
we can help you participate in that program from that
company if you'd like to do that, so again, give

(10:40):
me a call five six three three three to two
twenty two hundred, or go to my website. Go to
my website, go to www. Dickshullig dot com and stroll
over to the contact icon from my email address, and
if you like, correspond confidentially with the email I'll be

(11:04):
happy to do that with you as well. United Healthcare
has had the largest share of Medicare advantage in enrollment
and the largest growth in enrollment since twenty ten, increasing
from twenty percent of all Medicare advantage enrollments in twenty

(11:24):
ten to twenty nine percent this year, so from twenty
percent of all Medicare enrollments to twenty nine percent in
twenty twenty four. Humanum has also a high share of

(11:45):
Medicare advantage enrollment, though its share of enrollment has grown
more slowly, from sixteen percent in twenty ten to eighteen
percent in twenty twenty four. Blue Cross Blue Shields plans
share of a moment has more been more constant over time,
but has declined moderately since twenty fourteen, and that in

(12:10):
part is due to the more competitive nature of the
advantage plans. The advantage plans offer tremendous coverage for sickness,
and they offer tremendous coverage for wellness because original Medicare
does not do anything with vision, with dental, or with

(12:34):
hearing programs, so the advantage plans offer extensive coverage for
not only illnesses, but for those vision, dental, in hearing plans,
those wellness plans as well. So that's why we have
such an attractiveness to those Medicare advantage plans. Now, if

(12:57):
you are aging into Medicare right now, I know you
are receiving tons and tons of solicitation requests by different
insurance companies, and it all gets confusing. My gosh, there's
ten Medicare supplements, eighteen prescription drug plans, and eight advantage plans.

(13:17):
Now we get to pick one of each of those.
If we're under original Medicare, we can choose one Medicare
supplement and one prescription drug plan. We call that choice
the three card system. You have your Medicare card, you
have your Medicare supplement card, and you have your prescription

(13:38):
drug card. That's the three card system. Now. The alternative
is the one card system, and that's the advantage plan.
The advantage plan covers with one card. It covers the
benefits of original Medicare, plus, it covers a prescription plan.

(13:58):
Plus it provides some additional living benefits like benefits for dental, benefits,
for vision, benefits for hearing that original Medicare does not cover.
So there's tremendous benefit to being under the advantage plans.
And I encourage you that our meetings that are coming

(14:20):
up here next week coming up here August twentieth and
August twenty second, that you can learn a tremendous amount
about the choices that you have with Medicare. Again, on Tuesday,
August twentieth, Greg talks about the basics of Medicare, and

(14:41):
then he focuses on the Medicare supplement plans and the
prescription drug plans that are available. So that's Tuesday, August twentieth.
Two days later, on Thursday, August twenty second, Greg again
focuses on original Medicare. We are the basics of original Medicare,

(15:02):
and then focuses on the advantage plans, and in particular,
what we believe is the more competitive of the advantage plans,
and that is the AARP Medicare Advantage Plan offered by
United Healthcare. You know, as a financial professional, I want

(15:23):
to conclude this week's program by saying something about the
stock market. You know, I talk about the stock market
all the time. Here, no person or no machine can
accurately predict what direction the markets will go in the future.
I want to emphasize with you that the stock market
remains extremely volatile, so I encourage you to advide by

(15:50):
our safe money harbor and what is our safe money
harbor and is simply a formula in which the formula
it works like this. You subtract your age from the
number one hundred age from the number one hundred, and
the result of that gives a percentage, and that percentage

(16:11):
reflects the percentage of the percentage of assets that should
be in safe money harbor versus the percentage of assets
that should be in the stock market or mutual fund market.
Stock market and mutual fund markets are volatile. They go up,
they go down all the time with the advantage plans

(16:35):
you share in the safety of the stock market. So
encourage you to give me a call and let's talk
about your situation or send me an email. My phone
number is five sixty three three three two twenty two hundred.
You can go to my website go to www. Ticshilik

(16:56):
dot com and scroll over to the contact icon for
my email address and send me an email you'd like
to tell me about your situation and the recommendations we
would make regarding medicare. I know you get solicited by
different companies, and there's a tremendous number of companies out there,

(17:19):
So I encourage you to take a look at that
and participate in our virtual meetings. Remember you stay in
the privacy of your own home and use your own
computer equipment. Call Craig at five sixty three three three
two twenty two hundred and he'll give you instructions on
how to participate in these virtual community community meetings. And

(17:42):
I'm sure by the time those meetings are concluded you
will say the same thing that you will say now,
I understand the choices I have with medicare. So, boy,
take care of the benefits that are available through the
event plans. So give us a call and participate in

(18:03):
those meetings so that you can say that you understand
the many choices you have with medicare so as a
financial professional. As a financial professional, I know now is
the time to take gains off the table. So if
you are on the fence about how to do that

(18:25):
and what to do in this very polatical market, I
am here on safe money for the last fifteen or
sixteen years because market polatility and recent market voluntility that
we've seen this past week, as many retirees and pre
retirees concerned about how their accounts and future financial stability

(18:48):
may be affected. I don't want to be the sky
is falling type of messenger, because truthfully, I don't know
what the stock market will or will not do. What
I do know is that are index annuities provide a
safe money harbor in that the value of your account

(19:09):
will share in the growth of the stock market if
there is growth in the stock market. But if there
is a decline in the market, your account value will
not share in that decline. Your account value will stay
the same as it was before. So our index annuities

(19:32):
share in the growth of the market, they do not
share any market downturns. So that's why I can save
here on safe money. That my clients have not lost money.
I can say that because of the participation of those
clients in those index annuities. That's about all I have

(19:52):
for you this morning. Have a great, great weekend. Remember
the thirtieth annual Run with Car It's coming up here
very soon, in just a couple of weeks. On Labor Day,
September two is the thirtieth annual Run with Carl. So
if you're not yet registered, you go to www. Run

(20:14):
with Carl and do so today. Have a great, great weekend,
looking forward to talking with you again next week. Good day,
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