Safe Money - 9-16-23

None

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Good Saturday morning to all on thismid September weekend. DICTIONI Care and this
is safe Money. We are hereevery Saturday to talk with our listeners about
strategies you use with our clients tomanage and protect assets, and to manage
and protect those assets safely here intoday's very unsafe world. Next week is

(00:24):
an important week for our agency aswe are presenting our virtual monthly community meetings
on Medicare. Creig from our officepresents these meetings on Tuesday, September nineteenth.
He reviews the basics of Medicare andthen focuses on the Medicare supplement plans

(00:45):
that are available. Recall, thereare ten Medicare supplements and we get to
pick one of these ten plans.Further, there are eighteen prescription drug plans
available in these Medicare regions and weget to pick one of these eighteen plans.
Then two days later, on Thursday, September twenty feet, Craig again

(01:10):
reviews the basics of Medicare and thenfocuses on the alternative to original Medicare,
and that alternative is Medicare Part C, the advantage plans, and in particular
what we believe is the more competitiveof the eight Medicare advantage plants in these
regions. And that plan, whichwe believe is the more competitive of the

(01:34):
advantaged plans, is the AARP MedicareAdvantaged plan that includes a prescription drug plan.
Now, this plan is called theAARP Medicare Advantaged Plan, but the
insurance company that offers that advantaged planis United Healthcare. AARP merely sells their

(01:57):
logo to United Healthcare, and asa result, United Healthcare has the privilege
of putting that logo on their ontheir products, on their advertising materials,
and on their product materials. Sothat AARP Medicare Advantaged Plan by United Healthcare

(02:17):
includes a prescription drug plan, andwe believe that that is the most competitive
of the advantaged plans in these Medicareregions. Now, remember when we talk
about Medicare regions, it usually includesa county and a surrounding area. So
Scott County and surrounding area surrounding countiesis a Medicare region and Rock Island County

(02:43):
and surrounding counties is a Medicare region. There are different Medicare regions since they
are different states. The advantaged plansdiffer a little bit from Medicare region to
Medicare region and from state to state, but not my but as independent agents,
we are licensed in of course bothstates, and we represent most plans

(03:07):
that are available in these Medicare regions. If you have original Medicare, that's
what we call the three card system. You have your Medicare Part A and
B issued by the federal government.That's one card. And then you have
a Medicare Supplement card issued by aprivate insurance company. That's your second card.

(03:30):
And then you have a third cardwhich represents a prescription drug plan card
issued by private insurance company. That'sthe three card system. You have your
Medicare card, you have your MedicareSupplement card, and you have your prescription
card. So that's what we focuson. That's what Craig focuses on Tuesday

(03:55):
next Tuesday, September nineteenth. Thentwo days later, on Thursday, September
twenty first, Craig reviews what webelieve is the more competitive of the Medicare
Advantaged plan and that is the AARPMedicare Complete Plan offered by United Healthcare.
And that's what we call the onecard system because you have one card issued

(04:19):
by United healthcare and that includes MedicarePart A and B as well as the
supplement as well as the prescription drugplan. So this is the topic of
our virtual Medicare meeting on Thursday Septembertwenty first. Both these meetings on Tuesday,

(04:40):
September nineteenth and on Thursday September twentyfirst. Both these meetings are at
ten o'clock in the morning. Thesemeetings are virtual meetings, so you stay
home using your own computer equipment andcall us. Call Craig at five sixty
three three three two twenty two hundredfor instructions on how to participate, or

(05:03):
you can email us. You cango to my website www. Dick Schulig
dot com and scroll over to thecontact icon for our email address. Attendees
at our meetings all tell us thesame thing. They say, now,
I understand the choices I have forMedicare, and my gosh, with ten

(05:26):
Medicare supplements, eighteen prescription drug plans, and eight Medicare Advantage plans, it's
no wonder persons eligible for Medicare areconfused. Now I want to share with
your listeners an article that was inone of the financial newsletters we received,

(05:46):
and the topic of this article wasthat Medicare advantage beneficiaries. Medicare advantage beneficiaries
with cancer spend less on healthcare thantraditional Medicare beneficiaries. So the article states
that Medicare advantage beneficiaries with cancer spendfour thousand dollars on out of pocket costs

(06:14):
and premiums annually versus just a littleover six thousand dollars for traditional Medicare beneficiaries
with cancer. So that's important toremember, important to understand, and important
to research. If you are aginginto Medicare, then this is important,

(06:36):
very important information for you to haveMedicare advantage beneficiaries who have cancer or are
cancer survivors spend more than two thousanddollars less on their healthcare compared to traditional
Medicare beneficiaries with cancer. So thatreport public Thursday was conducted by the ATI

(07:02):
Advisory and was commissioned by the BetterMedicare Alliance, a research and lobbying group
for Medicare advantage. The researchers reliedon the two thousand and nineteen Medicare Current
Beneficiary Survey from the Center for Medicareand Medicaid Services for the analysis, and

(07:24):
boy, that's an important analysis.They found that Medicare advantage beneficiaries with cancer
diagnosis spend four thousand dollars on outof pocket costs and premiums annually versus six
thousand dollars for traditional Medicare beneficiaries withcancer. Medicare advantage enrollees without a cancer

(07:50):
diagnosis also spend less on healthcare thirtyfive hundred dollars on the average versus fifty
three hundred dollars for traditional Medicare beneficiaries. In addition, traditional Medicare beneficiaries with
a cancer diagnosis are more likely tobe to be cost burdened by their healthcare

(08:15):
expenses, meaning at least twenty percentof their income is spent on healthcare.
About twenty three percent of traditional Medicarebeneficiaries with cancer diagnosis are cost burden compared
to fifteen percent of Medicare advantage androllees with cancer. Boy that's important numbers

(08:39):
to keep in mind, and thatthose numbers are reported by a study that
was done with for Medicare people whohad cancer versus Medicare people who did not
have cancer. Now, in additionto that, traditional Medicare beneficiaries with cancer

(09:00):
are more likely to be cost burdenedby their healthcare expenses, meaning at least
twenty percent of their income is spenton healthcare. About twenty three percent of
traditional Medicare beneficiaries with cancer diagnosis arecost burden compared to fifteen percent of Medicare

(09:22):
advantage in enrollees with cancer. Whythose are important numbers in important study.
The lower total healthcare spending for Medicareadvantage plan beneficiaries can be partially driven by
higher rates of preventive services like cancerscreenings. Among patients with cancer or cancer

(09:46):
survivors, Medicare advantage in enrollees havea higher rate of utilization for mammograms,
cholonoscopies, prostrate blood tests, homefecal blood tests, so these are much
higher than traditional Medicare enrollees among thosewithout cancer, people on Medicare advantage plants

(10:11):
have a higher rate of utilization formammogams, colonoscopies, and home fecal blood
tests, but traditional Medicare beneficiaries havea higher rate of utilization of blood tests
to detect prostrate cancers. Higher ratesof screen and preventive care among Medicare advantage
beneficiaries then fully insured Medicare beneficiaries contributeto cost savings, as identifying cancers early

(10:43):
not only results in improved prognosis,but also reduced long term costs. The
impact of financial hardship on delayed orforegone care and poor medication adherents is well
documented among patients with cancer, therefore, controlling the out of pocket costs of

(11:07):
healthcare for this population group. Thenenrollment period for Medicare is coming up here
in October. October first is wheninformation can be released for plans for two
thousand and twenty four now beginning Octoberfifteenth, the choice of Medicare plans can

(11:28):
be changed. Changes take effect thenon January one of twenty twenty four.
So remember, folks, if youare turning age sixty five and you are
aging into Medicare, becoming becoming eligiblefor Medicare, this is your initial enrollment

(11:50):
period. October first begins the annualenrollment period in which if you are are
already on Medicare and you can changeyour choice for Medicare beginning October first,
and then you can be enrolled inthat new plan October fifteenth, and then

(12:13):
the effective date of that new planwould be January first, So that is
the annual enrollment period, not tobe confused with the initial enrollment period.
Now, on another topic I wantto discuss with you this morning. I
want to talk with you about aboutthe cola costs. We're approaching the month

(12:41):
of October, and in the monthof October is when the Social Security Administration
gets together and they determine the colaincrease for twenty twenty four. Now,
so far, it looks like thecoal increase for twenty twenty four is likely

(13:03):
to be three point two percent basedon the latest Consumer Price Index data released.
Now, I have a chart ofthe years going back a long way,
going back into the mid seventies,and the rate of increased in cola

(13:24):
from year to year. Now,as I say in nineteen, in two
thousand and twenty two, last year, we had an eight point seven percent
increase in that cola costs for twentytwenty three that was determined in October of

(13:45):
twenty twenty two. That was eightpoint seven percent. And as look back
over previous years, the year twothousand and eight stands out and I was
surprised that that coal of percentage increasewas only five point eight percent. If
you know, remember what the stockmarket did in two thousand and eight was

(14:09):
a terrible, terrible year. I'msurprised that that coal of benefit is not
much higher. But in two thousandand eight the coal of benefit was five
point eight. Two thousand and oneand two thousand and two thousand and five,

(14:31):
the coalal benefit was four point one. In two thousand and one it
was two point one percent, andthen in the latter part of the nineteen
nineties it was two point five percent. In the year two thousand it was

(14:52):
three point five percent. Now inas I go back into the nineteen ninety
the number that sticks out was theyear nineteen eighty nine when a cola increased
was four point seven percent, andthen going back, my gosh, in

(15:13):
the early part of the nineteen eightyeighty one, eighty two, and eighty
three, nineteen eighty the cola percentagewas fourteen percent. In nineteen eighty one,
cola was eleven point two percent.In nineteen eighty two, it was
seven point four percent. In nineteenseventy nine, the cola was nine point

(15:39):
nine percent. In seventy eight itwas six point five percent, in seventy
seven five point nine, and seventysix was six point four and in nineteen
seventy five, the COLA percentage waseight percent. The Social Security Administration starts

(16:03):
with the consumer the consumer price indexfor urban wage earners and clerical workers and
official measure of the monthly price indexfor a basket of goods and services such
as food, energy, and medicalcare. The consumer price index for wage
earners and clerical workers is tracked bythe US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Social

(16:30):
Security Administration then calculates the coal upby comparing the average of the consumer price
index for wage earners and clerical workersfor July, August and September of the
previous year with the average for thesame three month period in the current year.
The percentage change for the coal upis then for the following year.

(16:55):
So, for example, in twentytwenty two, the third quarter average sumer
price index for wage earners and clericalworkers was eight point seven percent higher than
it was in the third quarter oftwenty twenty one. So as a result,
benefits will draise by eight point sevenpercent in twenty twenty three, and

(17:19):
that's what they did for this year, So the average monthly retirement benefit will
increase. Then average monthly retirement benefitwill increase from sixteen hundred and eighty one
dollars to eighteen hundred and twenty sixdollars. The average benefit for disabled workers
will go up from thirteen one thousand, three hundred and sixty four dollars to

(17:44):
one thousand, four hundred and eightythree dollars. According to the Social Security
Administration, the COLA amount is typicallyannounced in October and takes effect for the
following January. So I'm talking withyou listeners about coal of increase in mid
September because next month, the monthof October, is when the coal of

(18:08):
benefit will be calculated for increase intwo thousand and twenty four. So I'll
keep your posted on that as timegoes on and as we get closer to
that calculation becoming defined. So lotsof things going on in our world today,

(18:30):
I remind you, also, especiallythis week, this week's stock market,
which is extremely volatile again this week, although as of this recording on
Thursday, September fourteenth, the marketwas up quite a bit today. So

(18:51):
that was refreshing and good to seenow whether that continues throughout the week or
throughout the month of September, becausewe're rapidly moving into the month of October,
and that is when the cola benefitwill be determined for twenty twenty four.
Want to remind you too that westill have our bargraph charts showing the

(19:18):
monthly showing the annual performance of thevarious indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average,
the SMB five hundred, the NASDAC, and the NASDAC one hundred,
and we have those as of midyear, as of the end of the
second quarter, as of June twothousand and twenty three. Now very shortly

(19:40):
we'll be calculating the indexes on thebasis of the third quarter, and it
would be interesting to see the changein that from June of two thousand and
three to the end of September intwo thousand and twenty three. So if
you'd like to have a copy ofthose biograph charts, I'll have more to

(20:03):
say about that as we move intoOctober, and as we have our cola
increase for the determined by the monthof October, that cola increase will tell
us what the cola increase will befour twenty twenty four. So I look
forward to having that for you aswell. Keep in mind next week our

(20:26):
agency is a very very important weekbecause we we again sponsor our monthly virtual
community meetings on Medicare. I knowif you are aging into Medicare and turning
age sixty five in the near future, then I know you're just being inundated
with lots of solicitations. I guessthere are ten Medicare supplement plans available,

(20:49):
there are eighteen prescription drug plans available, and there are eight advantage plans available,
and we get to pick one ofthose. So which ones do we
pick? We are independent agents,therefore, we represent different companies and we

(21:10):
would like to talk with you aboutyour choice for Medicare, whether you are
choosing original Medicare with the Medicare supplementsand the prescription drug plan, or whether
you are choosing the one card system. That one card system is the Medicare
Parts C. We believe that they'reof the eight plans. Of the eight

(21:33):
Medicare advantage plans available in these Medicareregions, we believe that the AARP Medicare
Advantage plan is the most competitive ofthese plans. Now, as I mentioned
before, AARP is not an insurancecompany. The insurance company is United Healthcare,

(21:53):
and of all the insurance companies thatoffer Medicare products. We believe that
the more competitive of the Medicare advantageplans is that AARP Medicare Advantage plan offered
by United Healthcare. So we'll behappy to sit down and talk with you
about your situation. We like towhen we talk with you, we like

(22:15):
to have a list of your prescriptionmedications, the type of medication you're taking,
the frequency and the dosage of thatmedication, and we input that into
the Medicare dot gov website. Youcan do that on your own if you
wish, then your computer savvy,if you go to www. Medicare dot

(22:37):
gov, then you can scroll overto the Medicare Prescription Drug Plans and that
website allows you to input each prescription, the name of the prescription, and
the dosage and the frequency of use. And when you input all that information,
then that website will tell you themost cost effective plan for your situation.

(23:03):
So I encourage you to make useof that. That's very helpful,
very good information to have, andit's very helpful in making that determination.
If you need help with that,we'll be happy to help you, So
give us a call. Call usat five six three three three two twenty
two hundred or email us. Goto my website, go to Dick Schulig

(23:25):
dot com, scroll over to thecontact icon and drop down from my email
address, and if you'd like tocorrespond with me but via email, we'll
be happy to do that for youas well. A lot going on in
today's world mid September of twenty twentythree, with a lot yet to come
on throughout the balance of twenty twentythree. We're moving into the end of

(23:52):
the third quarter, coming up herevery quickly, and moving into the fourth
quarter of twenty twenty three. Thosebarograph charts that we create will have those
updated as of the end of thethird quarter of this of this year,
and have that available for you atthe end of the second quarter. As

(24:18):
of June thirtieth, the Dow JonesIndustrial Average was throwing a three percent gain
for the calendar year, the NASDACmy gosh was showing a thirty one percent
gain, NAZDAC one hundred was showingin thirty eight percent gain, and the
S and P five hundred was showingalmost a sixteen percent gain. Now that

(24:41):
is for the calendar year from Januaryfirst to the end of the end of
the second quarter, which was onJune thirtieth, twenty and twenty three.
Now in another week will have theresults of the third order, and we'll
report those as we do. Again, I want to remind you to jot

(25:04):
down the dates of our community meetings, which is Tuesday, September nineteenth and
then Thursday, September twenty one.If you'd like to participate, give us
a call or drop me an email. That's about all I have for you
today, so have a great,great weekend. Good day,