Health and Wellness Show 02-22-25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Good morning hand On Now time we switch focus from
improving homes to improving health and wellness. Here it is
the Health and Wellness Show on one of three point
five FM and five sixty AMWVOC. If you're just joining us,
good morning tea, it's good to have you here. My
name is Gary David, and coming up we'll talk to
Matthew Terry and John Farley from Preservation Specialists. Their specialty

(00:29):
is preserving what you have accumulated and in many cases
sacrificed over the years. It's it to have for your
golden years now, whether you're there yet or not, doesn't matter.
The things that if you're that's in your future, the
things you should be thinking about and doing right now.
We chat about that. Speaking of the future, well, the

(00:50):
future of healthcare will be the topic when Jeff hal
joins us from Health Markets. All the open enrollment periods
are over now, so this gives us a little chance
to look ahead and see what the healthcare may well
look like. And we've had a lot of these situations
with insurance companies and hospital systems coming to well not
coming to agreements. The latest was I guess it was

(01:13):
a Humana and lex in the medical center or maybe
getting the getting mixed up, but they've all seemed to
be involved. That one is the LEAs of medical CENTERSUERS
is Overwight now, but is this a trend? And we'll
talk about well healthcare for folks that are under the
eight or sixty five here you're not there yet for
medicare or maybe you will be this year. The things

(01:35):
you need to know. So that's coming up with Jeff
Howe from Health Markets over in Lexington. First up, though
it's the law office of James Nell, but it's not Jim.
This morning, Emily Jones is joining us. Good morning, Emily,
good to see.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
You, got to see you too. How are you doing.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
I'm doing well. Thanks for getting that I'm coming in
here this morning. I appreciate that. Now let's say you
are you have a couple of roles in the office,
which am right?

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (01:55):
I am the personal Injury paralle goal in our office,
and I also am the office manager.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Just at curiosity, what what how much can a paralegal do? What? What?
What is the what is the range of of of
responsibilities and things that a paralegal does in a law offics.
I we all hear the term paralegal, but I'm not
I know exactly what what what your scope of responsibilities
can be.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
So we can draft documents and everything like that. For
the attorneys, we just can't really practice any kind of law.
So we can talk to the clients and talk to
prospective clients and get information and ask questions and stuff
like that, and we can try to prepare documents, but

(02:46):
they all have to go through the attorney and everything
like that, and usually the attorneys make changes and switch
it around how they need to, except when you do it,
because it's you know, you do it very well, right exactly, Yeah,
Emily did it fine, I'm good, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
So and so so you're a pairalegal. And that's just
on the personal injury front, right, Yes, I know that.
At the office here you handle both personal injury and defense.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Law as well, right, yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
But you're also the office manager. You're kind of the gatekeeper,
aren't you.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yes, I'm a little bit of the gatekeeper, try to
keep the attorneys on track if we need office supplies
or office updates, that's who I'm the person to contact
and schedule like maintenance and stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
But you're also like the mother, hen right, because you've
got Jim, you've got to be here at this time,
or they're at that time, or Madeline or or whomever.
You keep all straight over there.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yes, yeah, because the schedules changed so frequently that the
attorneys don't always get to see it before it changes, right,
So you have to keep them on track.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
You're the mercy of the court, right pretty much?

Speaker 2 (03:52):
Unfortunately, yes we are.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Yeah, but now, when folks call the law officer James Snell,
typically you gonna be the person they're talking to, right.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
Right, Yeah, I'm usually the first first contact. If not me,
one of the other paralegals in the back is one
of the first contacts into the office when you call.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
And a lot when it comes to the personal injury side.
And we talked about this what you have in the past.
Not every circumstance warrants an attorney getting involved, correct, correct.

Speaker 3 (04:25):
Yeah, So on the defense side, if something is just
like very early on in the process, you kind of
have to figure out whether an attorney's needed at that point.
But on the personal injury side, it's kind of a
matter of what hiring an attorney result in you getting
more help and like treatment, but also would it result

(04:50):
in you getting a higher settlement. So like if there's
not something that an attorney could do, or like the
attorney's fee was going to.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Be more or very close to what you would get back.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
Sometimes it's just easier for you to try to work
with the insurance company.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
And when you talk about attorney's fees in the case
of personal injury law, this is all a contingency fee,
right again, Yes, people hear that. Sometimes they're freaking out, Wait,
I got I got to pay money up front to
get you you to represent me? And the No, that's
not the way it works.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
No, no money up front. And if we if we
send people to like evaluations or anything like that, we
send you to a second doctor to get a second opinion,
those costs are usually fronted, like we front those, so
no costs upfront. It's all contingency at the end, and

(05:41):
the costs are paid back at the end.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
So the determination needs to be made at the outset. Again,
as you mentioned, right, so you know the contingency fees
that they're fairly standard, aren't they a percentage of whatever
may be paid out by the insurance company.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:58):
For for the most part, the attorney's fees are a
pretty standard fees some attorneys are higher than others. I've
seen also too, with like inflation and stuff like that
and the world that attorneys have raised their raids. We've
kept ours the same. We haven't raised them currently, but

(06:21):
we've noticed with like doctor's visits and stuff like that too,
like the independent evaluations and stuff we send people, they've
raised their prices for their fees for seeing them.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
But again, somebody comes to you and you determine that, yes,
an attorney can be of value. And in your case,
it's the contingency plus whatever costs are involved. If you've
got to go to a lot of specialists and bring
in a lot of witnesses or investigators, what have you, all,
that can can really pile up, right.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
It can, Yeah, it can.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
But that's one thing that I do like pride Jim
and as he's very upfront about that with people. He
wants to let people know, like if we have to
get these people in, like that will add this amount
of money to it, just so they kind of have
an idea of what they're going into.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
Seems to me, and I may be wrong, correct me
if I am, But if you look at a case
and you're thinking, yeah, we need to get a lot
of experts involved, and it's probably a case that really
could could potentially bring a good settlement from an insurance
company to begin with, right.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
For the most part.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yeah, yeah, probably, But you want people to that upfront.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
Yeah, I mean, we want to be as upfront as
possible with people, just so there's no surprises on the
back end.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
A lot of times that can create unhappy people.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
Sure, so we want to be as upfront as possible
because we want all of our clients to be happy.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
If you come across cases where yes, the individual really
would benefit from having legal representation, but when you go through, okay,
here's the potential money that could come out of your
settlement that they say Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
No, you mean like yeah no, as in.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
I'm just gonna try it on my own or whatever. Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
We have some people that do do that.

Speaker 3 (08:12):
We've seen that, and then we've also seen them say
that and then come back.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
A little bit they like doing brain surge on yourself
kind of you know.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
Yeah, kind of sometimes it sometimes it can be like
a simple process with the insurance, but the insurance company's
goal is to pay as least money as possible. Sure, so,
And I think a lot of people think that they're
paying into their insurance their profiting, like they're giving them profits,
so they should watch out for them. And in this situation,

(08:43):
that's not the case, and they're trying to pay as
as little money as possible to you.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
And that's why they have something else the insurance companies
that if you go on your own, you don't have
that isn't really an arm employers, right right right, I
mean this is what they do every day.

Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah, yeah, And they have all like there are equations
and set up stuff set up that they can just
plug stuff into their computer and it chugs out a
number to you, right right, and that's what they go with.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
So give us a give us a sense, Emily again,
because many times you're the one who's feeling that initial
phone call. What sort of questions are you asking? In
other words, so if somebody calls you, be prepared to
answer these sorts of questions to determine whether or not
you know you're going to benefit from legal representation.

Speaker 3 (09:31):
So we really want to know what happened, just like
it doesn't have to be like super detailed, but just
what happened where you went to get treatment, what they said,
like what the doctor told them, What if they have

(09:53):
any like firm diagnosis or for future treatment, we would
want to know that. There's also in some cases I
think that Jem's probably talked about like premises liability where
you slip.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
And fall or a grocery store or whatever.

Speaker 3 (10:11):
Right, So in that case, like we kind of want
to know like signs and did you report it.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
And that kind of thing.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
So give us some examples, emily of without naming names obviously,
or definite situations of you know, when you get a
phone call and you determine, really this is not your
best interest to bring us on board. What would be
some of those answers that you got that would lead
you to believe, Okay, yeah, you're better off on your own.

Speaker 3 (10:40):
So we'll get calls from people that get in a
car accident and they call like the same day and
they haven't been to see a doctor. They're just they
their shoulder hurts or their neck is stiff or something
like that. In that case, what I normally, what I

(11:02):
would normally do is tell them go get that treatment.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
Go see those doctors.

Speaker 3 (11:08):
They'll do the imaging and all the necessary reports and
then follow back up with me so that we can
see what the doctors even say, because a lot of
it is like whiplash. If you get in a car accident,
that should resolve, right, that should resolve, and you should
be back to one hopefully. And then it's just those

(11:30):
initial medical bills that there that the insurance company is
looking at, and so you don't have that's kind of
where the damages start. Like the settlement amount is based
on those starting records and like those medical.

Speaker 1 (11:46):
Bill costs, it has nothing to do with how much
damage to your vehicle? Is this personal injury loss talking
about here?

Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah, So those are actually two different parts.

Speaker 3 (11:53):
So the the insurance company, there's a portion that's property
damage and they're there's limits on that side, and then
there's also the bodily injury.

Speaker 2 (12:04):
That is a completely separate area.

Speaker 3 (12:06):
There's usually two different adjusters that handle each one of
those areas. So a lot of times attorneys don't necessarily
help with the property damage side because we want them
to get as much money for their car their vehicle
or get those repairs done.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
So again, number one before you call an attorney is
at least have a diagnosis.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
Yeah, probably the best thing to do.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
I mean, I'm sure that you could touch base with
an attorney and they would probably try to talk to
you and.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
Maybe get you to sign just in case.

Speaker 3 (12:42):
But I would like to know a diagnosis just because
I want to know if it's going to be something.
Because I like to also be upfront with people and
just tell them, like you might be able to get
a bigger amount of money and then you don't have
to pay an attorney.

Speaker 4 (12:57):
And so I mean, is there does it get to
the point where the dollars and says come into the
factor And if if you look at a case and
you're thinking, wow, you're you might get ten thousand dollars
out of this if you're lucky.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
And again if we have to bring in experts and
this and that, I mean, you're you're, you're, you may
wind up with nothing. Right well, So there's as the
as the claiming here.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
Right well, and so there's there's other ways to to.

Speaker 3 (13:30):
I don't want to say bypass the experts, but do
other stuff so that the experts fees don't pile up. Yeah,
So I mean, like we have we have a case
right now, and they we can send requests like by

(13:52):
paper discovery to admit the records and bills so that
we don't have to have pay doctors to come testify,
because testifying getting doctors to come testify.

Speaker 2 (14:04):
Can be.

Speaker 3 (14:06):
Up five to ten thousand dollars feet to have them
come testify.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
Wow. Yeah, Wow, we're just out on that business.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
I know. I know.

Speaker 1 (14:15):
Well they are the experts after all. Yeah. Now again
from from your standpoint, so, I mean, I guess that's
really it. I mean, is the diagnosis such that it's
going to benefit you? I mean there really I don't
know other criteria other than just really that for personal

(14:39):
it's personal injury.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
Right for the most part. Yeah, and like argue at fault,
like what happened?

Speaker 3 (14:45):
That's where the premises liability with the signs and stuff
like that kind of comes into play.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
Because you have to show liability.

Speaker 3 (14:53):
So like the personal injury like car accidents and slipping.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
Falls or.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
Something to that effect that would be or like a
dog bite, that's you have to prove liability. When you
have cases like workers comp which are also something that
I do in the office, those don't have liability on
their side, so you don't have to prove who is
at fault.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
You just have to prove you were at work, and you.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
Do have to even be in the building. You could
be on the job somewhere else as long as you're
carrying it. It's not like you're on your lunch hour
but you had to go pick something up somewhere or
what have you. Yeah, got you Well, this is again,
this is for most of us. We haven't had an
encounter situation like this. But what advice might you all

(15:46):
give for somebody who said, Okay, yeah, you know what,
you don't really need to hire an attorney here. You're
gonna be better off if you don't. But are you
willing to do? You share with them? Here's some tips
for dealing with the insurance company on your own.

Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, I do.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
I mean my biggest tip is that a lot of
people think that the insurance company, they what they give
as an offer is like the end all be all,
and it's not. I mean, some adjusters are probably gonna
be a stickler and probably be difficult to push back with,
but always ask. The worst they can say is no,

(16:23):
So like, why not ask and just see if you
can up that number a little bit?

Speaker 1 (16:29):
Yeah, I think Jim's mentioned before, be very worried of
a quick offer from the insurance company.

Speaker 3 (16:33):
Right, yeah, And they're gonna start low. I mean that
that is their job. Like we tell people before we
make initial demands and stuff to the insurance company that
they're going to start low, and it is going to
probably make you mad because it's going to feel like
an insult. But that's what they do, and that's why
you have us, and we go back and forth with
them and we tell them what they need, what they

(16:55):
need to hear to add value to those cases.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Is it? They always a good idea? Even if me,
if I got injured, let's say, and I'm thinking it's
not that big of ane, I may not need an attorney,
it's still a good idea. At least sit down and
make a phone call to your office or any any
personal injury attorney before you talk to the insurance company.

Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (17:13):
Yeah, I mean, I'm happy to talk to anybody that
calls in about that kind of stuff because you might
think that something so Like an example, a lot of
people will if they get diagnosed with a concussion, they
don't think that, Like the doctors will tell them, like

(17:34):
you might have some dizziness, but like you should recover well.

Speaker 2 (17:37):
A lot of people don't know that.

Speaker 3 (17:39):
Depending on how bad the concussion is and everything that
can become like a traumatic brain injury, which carries a
lot of other stuff. I mean, we've seen people get
traumatic brain injuries that they were lived on their own,
did everything on their own, and then after the accident
they can't do it anything.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
You can't function anymore.

Speaker 3 (18:02):
Yeah, and people too like don't notice like mood changes
or how they comprehend stuff is actually different than before
they got in an accident. And we have their family
members that are witnesses to this be able to testify
or tell us.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
All of this stuff.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
Plays into it. Emily, great, Stuff's good to see.

Speaker 2 (18:24):
You as good as you too.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
Should come by more often.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
I should? I should.

Speaker 1 (18:27):
It gives him a Saturday I definitely will meantime, if
folks want to reach you, if they think maybe they
got a case, how do they get a hold of Emily.

Speaker 3 (18:34):
They can call our office at eight zero three three
five nine three three zero one.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
All right, Thank you, Emily, thank you. Hi.

Speaker 5 (18:42):
This is John Farling. Now let me ask you, is
your retirement inflation proofed? Here's what I mean in retirement
chances are you run a fixed income with variable expenses.
So how do you not run out of money when
the cost of just about everything continues to go up?

Speaker 1 (18:59):
You inflation proof it.

Speaker 5 (19:00):
Our team at Preservation Specialists can show you strategies to
help combat inflation so it doesn't outpace your retirement income.
Call us today at ATO three nine retire to learn more.
Inflation could take a huge chunk out of your retirement savings,
but it doesn't have to. With some simple planning, inflation
can go from being a major disruption to just a

(19:21):
minor annoyance. Call the team at ATO three nine. Retire
now to start inflation proofing your retirement today at three
nine retire. That's eight three nine retire. Securities off through
Okado's Capital Member Finner and spec Advisory Services off through
okados well Performation Specialists and Arcadios are not affiliated through
any ownership.

Speaker 6 (19:41):
The hunt for quality insurance is more important than ever,
and with Jeff Howell and the team at Health Markets
and Lexington, finding that perfect plan is easier than ever,
whether health or medicare insurance, Let the experts guide you
toward ease of mind at a healthier future. And who
couldn't use that nowadays? Jeff Howell in Health Markets do
all the grunt work for you. They make the calls,

(20:01):
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have you covered literally from head to toe. Called Jeff

(20:24):
Howell in Health Markets at eight O three six seven
eight eight one two one, or visit Jeffhowel dot com
that's eight oh three six seven eight eight one two
one or Jeff howl E dot com and let them
find the right insurance for you.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
It's Matthew Terry and John Farley, the dudes from preservation Specialists.
Good morning, Gary, how are you? Good morning? I'm good,
except for you know, this is that time of year
when we're all like, yeah, it's that pretty letter words.

Speaker 7 (21:07):
Taxes is upon us, taxes.

Speaker 1 (21:09):
Taxes, taxes. Yeah, I don't know. I'm like, I'm like
a try, Hey, you know what I'm I'm happy to
pay a huge national sales tax if you abolish the
I r s right, I'm all for that. I don't
have to spend that money if I don't want to.
That works for me anyway.

Speaker 5 (21:25):
Well, remember Forbes proposed that several years ago too. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
he went that that that was uh, I mean listen,
whatever it takes, you know, I mean, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:37):
I doubt you could find too many people that would
would argue with that concept, right, sure, absolutely, yeah, wow,
But here we are anyway, So it's still in the
reality of the now, in which will more likely be
the reality for the rest of our lives anyway. But uh,
taxes now, okay, are we we We're well no, I

(21:58):
can't say this, but planning for taxes that's a big
part of what you guys do at preservation especially, so
folks plan for taxes. It is, you know, to reduce
that liability. But okay, so now for for tax you're
twenty twenty four, you know, I mean, is there anything
left we can do to try to, you know, lighten
the load here.

Speaker 5 (22:18):
Well, the first thing you can do is is is, uh,
you know, get with your get with your folks and
and see where you are in terms of your income.
One of the big things you can do you have
until April fifteenth to contribute to your your personal IRA
or your personal WRATH. Now, it depends on how much
you're contributing to your if you're working for you know,
how much is going into four one K. There are
certain restrictions, but yeah, between now and April fifteenth, you

(22:42):
can look at that and say okay, can I can
I do this and that would lower If it's a ROTH,
it would not lower your tax burden, but if it's
a if it's a traditional then yeah, that would lower
your tax.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
Well, you did mention personal IRA, but is that the
four one employee sponsor four one ks?

Speaker 8 (22:58):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (22:59):
He so employer for one ks.

Speaker 7 (23:03):
You know, typically those deductions meaning you are you are
putting money into those accounts typically as you are working,
so that just naturally happens throughout the year. But you
have up until April fifteenth, or whenever you file your
taxes to an essence take money that is an individually
managed retirement account. So that would be things such as

(23:24):
your IRA, traditional IRA or off IRA or also if
you're like a self employed business owner, you have maybe
a step IRA, a self employed IRA. You have again
up until that tax felling deadline. In order to make
contributions and that would obviously lower your tax will income
in that case, but.

Speaker 1 (23:43):
There are limits absolutely.

Speaker 5 (23:44):
Yeah, just going to make sure you're in the guardrails,
that's all. Yeah, yeah, but it's a really good.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
Thing to do.

Speaker 5 (23:48):
I mean, I work with a lot of folks and
they say, yeah, I usually get a bonus around you know, February,
So I take that and a portion of that I
make sure that I fill it my wroth.

Speaker 1 (23:57):
Yeah okay, yeah, but the bigger picture again is if
you don't wait to the last second, then maybe you
don't have these issues. Right. You know, how much of
your time do you spend with folks doing just that
planning for taxes?

Speaker 5 (24:15):
Well, for us, we work in five areas. Okay, so
we do, and we're comprehensive retirement planners. So the first
thing that we do is we start with income because
it's pretty straightforward because without an income, you don't have
a retirement. And beyond that, you know that that has to.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
Taxes, correct, so you're all good.

Speaker 5 (24:37):
So then we start with income and then we do
things we do a state because we want to make
sure that everything that your wishes are thought through and preserved, right,
those are important things, and there are ways to make
sure that you transfer your funds, your your assets to
whomever they want to go to, whether it be a charity,
whether it be uh, you know, any number of things.
You know, your children, your grandchildren, whatever, but make sure

(25:01):
that that's in place. The third thing we'll do is
if you need insurance, and not everybody does, but it
is important to point out that we live, you know,
in our in in the state in the US, Medicare
will take care of you for ninety days, but after
that you're on your own. So if you need to
go into some sort of long term care, we need
to make sure we have allocations for that. And that

(25:21):
doesn't necessarily mean you need a traditional long term care policy.
I want to be very clear on that, but there
are options you want to make sure you're covered.

Speaker 1 (25:29):
If what are those alternatives now? So you bring it
up here.

Speaker 5 (25:32):
Well, one of the one of the big things you
can do is there are life slash long term care
policies now, so the knock on the long on the
traditional long term care policies. And I can tell you
from personal experience, so when I was in my thirties
and I know you're surprised that I'm not still there.
I am shocked. Yeah, I shocked. I've worked hard for
this gray hair. So I was in my thirties. I
was working for General Electric at the time. They were

(25:54):
a very paternalistic company. They were very you know, take care,
take care, get insurance, make sure everybody's protected, all the
you know, life insurance, health, all these things.

Speaker 1 (26:02):
Whether you one of the rare individuals actually had a
retirement plan sponsored by your yeah yeah, well in the day. Yeah,
I'm not sure I ever met one of those people.

Speaker 5 (26:09):
Yeah, look at this, but the station I worked for
was owned by General Electrics. So they came in and
they said, okay, we've got these long term care policies,
and here's the way it goes. You're going to pay
so much a quarter and that number will never go up,
so you're going to pay you know, at the time
it was these are crazy numbers. But at the time,
it was like forty bucks a quarter, and this was

(26:30):
going to cover you for long term care for the
rest of your life. Well, they lied, right, I mean,
I'm paying you know, as as the years went on,
those those rates kept going up because the way it
works is that insurance you know, if you're in one
of those traditional long term care policies, there is no
cap on what your premium could be as you go

(26:50):
out through your life. So those things can be really
slippery because we're you know, we work with folks who
are now in their you know, seventies even eighties, and
they've been paying on these long term care policies and
then premiums just keep going up and up and up.
So there are other ways there are there are other
ways to skin this cat. One is you can have
a specific one pay long term care slash life policy

(27:12):
such that it's a one time premium and you get
the money going either way. The other disadvantage of those
long term care policies was you spent the money and
it was gone if you let's say, you know something
that happened to you unfortunately, but it was sudden. All
that money you spend for long term cares out the window.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
We talked about a couple of weeks ago with annuities.

Speaker 5 (27:29):
Yeah, yeah, there are certain ways that you get certain auities. Yes, right,
So the idea is is there are ways. One is
one way that has come along is these life slash
long term care policies so if you need it for
long term care, you get it. If you happen to
pass very quickly and don't need it, you get it
that way too. So your money is not completely gone.
It's your money. There are other ways to set this

(27:50):
up where maybe the doesn't involve insurance. Maybe you set
aside a certain a certain amount, and you invested in
certain types of things that have either low risk or
no risk on the downside, right, and those will grow.
But that's your set aside money that you would use
for long term care. So there are things that you
do there. So that's one aspect that you will however

(28:11):
you want to do it. And then there are many
people a percentage that come in that they are perfectly
set up that they do not need insurance because they
can just take care of it on their own and
they never have to deal with an insurance company, which
is in many ways nice. Now, there are other other
things to do with whenever you get involved in this
long term care situation. One of the things you want
to talk about too is this if you're if you're aging,

(28:34):
one of the things that you don't want to have
to deal with is sending receipts to an insurance company.
Oh yeah, hello, yes, right, right, So are there are
other some of these policies that I was describing. They
happen such that as soon as you require long term care,
and that can be in the form of somebody comes
into your house and helps you out, or some sort
of assisted living or all the way up to you know,
really advance memory care that sort of thing. As soon

(28:57):
as you qualify, the money starts flowing into your bank
account on a monthly basis. That's the kind of policy
that you want, right, not one that's you have to
now have to fight with the insurance company that oh,
now I'm here and I have this receipt, now pay
me back. That that can be a real cumbersome thing, especially,
you know, that's not what you want to be dealing
with if you're having all these health issues.

Speaker 1 (29:17):
And I think, Matthew a lot of us feel like, yeah,
anytime you deal with an insurance company that scenario, they're
going to try their best to you know, to to
deny absolute or reduce or whatever. Absolutely for sure.

Speaker 8 (29:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (29:29):
So so certainly, just just as John said, you know, insurance,
that is certainly an area that we focus on and
we make sure we make sure all our clients are
buttoned up.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
What about life insurance though, for example, Yeah, I mean
is it is it when you're in retirement, you've reached
that point in life, is there any reason to maintain
or to purchase life insurance?

Speaker 7 (29:50):
You know what? What I would say regarding life insurance
in retirement, it really comes down to what sort of
legacy are you wishing to leave. In many cases, the
point of having life insurance is to cover a potential debt. Right,
if you were to pass away while you're living, you're
receiving income. But obviously if you were to pass away,

(30:10):
whatever loved ones you leave behind, well they just lost
your income stream.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
Right.

Speaker 7 (30:15):
The point of life insurance is to in essence, provide
them a lump sum of money that otherwise you would
have made.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
So you're really.

Speaker 7 (30:23):
Using life insurance to pay off those debts. But whenever
it comes to retirement, you can leverage life insurance in
such a way to where it does become a tax
planning tool. I know we've I believe spoken about this
on the radio before. It's a little bit complicated, but
it is a form of permanent life insurance. You can
either leverage it and use it for tax free income

(30:46):
and retirement and just live off of it. Or you
can also use it for long term care protection as well,
just as John mentioned, So there's a couple of different
ways that we can structure that. But again, it always
comes down to whenever you initially buy it, you want
to understand what are you getting yourself into, what is
your goal of that specific investment, and what specific case

(31:06):
is it going to cover you? So you know, all
those things vary the type that you would use.

Speaker 1 (31:09):
You term insurance, you got Universal, you got Whole Life,
the only ones I know about.

Speaker 5 (31:17):
Yeah, yeah, you've got variations on on on several of those.
But but I mean, if you're just looking to protect,
you know, like, if you're just looking to protect, Okay,
I'm I'm the breadwinner, and I know that I'm going
to have to take care of mortgage and and family
expenses and kids education. A term is is not a
bad way to go, right, I Mean, it's cheap, and
if you get it when you're young and you sign

(31:38):
up for a thirty year policy or whatever it's, it's
that's a good way to go. But but if you
want to get more, you know, as as Matthew saying,
there are there are some tax planning advantages that you
can do with certain types of permanent life insurance that
would definitely uh play and play in your favor. And
the sooner you start on that sort of thing, like
sometimes people come in and they'll be maybe it may

(32:00):
be to their advantage to start that in their sixties,
but it's it could be really to your advantage to
start in your thirties. So we start to say, hey,
if you're thinking about your legacy for your kids, here's
an option for you where yes, this can protect your
children should they need it, like you know, for their
for their loved ones, for their for their children and
their dependents. But there are real tax advantages that you

(32:21):
can get with certain life insurance policies that you know,
they can be really staggering if you you know the
time value of money if you let things grow over years,
you know. Yeah, So okay, yeah, John, How to folks
get a hold of you guys ATO three nine retire
ATO three nine retire our offices. If you're driving up
twenty six out of Columbia towards Chapin R on the

(32:42):
left just before the harvest and exit, so we encourage
people to take Pinty Grove there's less traffic.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
I'll go say you can't miss it because you're probably
stuck in traffic anyway. Yeah, just look to your left
of your head now bound. Yeah, guys, you'll have a
great weekend.

Speaker 5 (32:53):
Thanks Garry, you too.

Speaker 6 (32:55):
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Speaker 1 (35:04):
We're back on the Health and Wellness Show on one
O three point five FM, five sixty AM WVOC and
always on the free iHeart Radio app. By the way,
you've missed any of our episodes. They're all right there
on the app. Just look for the Health and Wellness
Show WVOC and there they are in all their glory.
And this will be here soon us the show is over,
it'll be posted on there too. So Jeff Howe from

(35:25):
Health Markets now joining us as we're into the final
segment this morning. Jeff, Good morning to you, sir.

Speaker 8 (35:30):
Good morning Jary.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
Well, so, I guess this is kind of you're through
all the open enrollment stuff, right. We've had the Medicare
open enrollment, We've had the open marketplace open enrollment. So
open enrollment is done for a while, and again unless you,
I guess, have a change in your employment situation and
need to be in the open marketplace or you're getting
ready to turn sixty five need to get into Medicare.

(35:53):
But other than that, the big rush is done for
a few months.

Speaker 8 (35:56):
Right, that's correct, That's correct. It was a great open enrollment.
You know, we had a lot of people who are
new to health insurance or under sixty fives who signed up,
and we had a lot of people on Medicare who
found new plans. So it was a very it was
a very busy open enrollment, we're staying, not extended by

(36:18):
some I would say some marketplace disruption with a non
LEXU Medical center fighting, so that kind of extended the
open rollment well into late January, but that has been resolved,
which is good news. So at my and LEXA Medical Center,
you know, right before February first did sign a contract,

(36:40):
so had my is LEXA Medical Center is a network
with that, so that's good news.

Speaker 1 (36:45):
As I recall, I mean that that parting of the
ways came right after open enrollment was was finishing up
back in December, didn't it, which was kind of unusual,
very unusual.

Speaker 8 (36:57):
So normally when we go into the annual enrollment for Medicare,
which is October fifteenth to December seventh, normally the beginning
of October at the latest, we know which hospital systems
are going to be in network with which insurance companies.
So that way, you know, certainly, as the agents, I
can advise my clients, but just as individuals out there

(37:19):
on Medicare advantaged plans, they know, you know, which hospital
systems are going to be in network with their with
their insurance policies. However, this year, you know, it was
around December the seventeenth, well after December seventh, when we
got news that EDNA was no longer want to be
accepted by Lexa Medical Center as of February first, So

(37:41):
essentially all my clients of course they went out there
at ETNA and who used lex Medical Center as their
main provider or one of their providers. We're scrambling in
the month of January to make a one time switch,
which you're allowed to is called open ROLLMA. Between January
one and thirty one, a person on the Medicare Advantage

(38:02):
plan is allowed to make a one time switch and
it's for circumstances just like.

Speaker 1 (38:07):
This when we've had other issues. Though it seems like
in the last year, give or take a MUSC had
an issue with someone. Oh, prisoner had an issue with.

Speaker 8 (38:16):
Somebody, didn't they That's right. So last year United Healthcare
prison I went through this contract to speed and that
was eventually reconciled on April first of twenty twenty four.
So prison on Healthcare of fine now and right now
currently at West said here, Humana and m usc are

(38:38):
in a contract dispute, with the Humana contract running out
on March thirty first, with the m usc So someone
has MUSC a lot of people. You know, even if
you're in an election area, you go over to m
USC Providence Heart Hospital a lot. You know, they have
a very renowned heart you know, heart cardia cardiologist program

(39:00):
of our providence which is owned by MUSC. Now, so
those people still have a chance to make a switch
before March thirty first. It looks like that contract you
know we see here today, that contract has not been
renewed as a March thirty first.

Speaker 1 (39:17):
So I don't want to have you ask you to
assign blame here, but I mean, what what what's behind
all this? Is this rates going up. These hospitals are
charging our insurance companies just wanting to save more of
their money on their or a combination of both.

Speaker 8 (39:31):
You have to look at a combination both with the
lean towards the insurance companies unfortunately have to take a
lot of this blaim. So and that's what we see
on a national scale. So the company I work for,
health Markets is a national company with you know, we're
all we're in all fifty states, and so we have
offices all across the country, and we see this, you know,

(39:54):
in Alabama and Texas and Florida, and Georgia, you know,
and then of course in non southern states all across
the country where you know these companies, their Fortune fifty
companies right at Humanity and Healthcare, the companies we've just
been talking about. Of course, their their bottom line is
to make money for their shareholders, right, and so one

(40:16):
way they make more money for their shareholders is by
paying hospital system as little as possible, right sure for profit.
And so these hospital systems, such as like the medical center,
one of the few ways they have to fight back
in their contract negotiations is to say, we just won't
take your insurance here anymore. You can call it Trump

(40:38):
style negotiating, right, We're just going to walk away from
where's going to walk away from the table and then
and see if that gets your attention. And a lot
of times it does get their attention. And that's how
compromises are made through negotiations.

Speaker 1 (40:52):
Do we unfortunate, yespically, do we typically see a winner
in these things? Is it one side over the other
normally prevail in these negotiations.

Speaker 8 (41:02):
That's a good question. I know for a fact who
the losers are. The losers are my clients are the
people of Lexington, County. You know, the policy holders. I mean,
if you had ATINA in late December, the policy holder
you got a letter from every single doctor or facility

(41:23):
that you ever treated with Atlection Medical Center telling you
that you're at a bake care advantage plan is no
longer going to be good. And those letters are scary.
I mean, imagine if you're going through chemotherapy treatment, election
oncology and you get a letter that says that your
insurance will no longer be taken any more Election Oncology.

(41:44):
I mean, that's a very scary letter to get. And
so that's who the losers are is who I feel like,
are the pawns of these negotiations or the patients are
my clients, And so you know, certainly I'm not you know,
at can blame and lects of Medical Center. I know
they have to do what they have to do. It's
just a shame that it has to happen.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
Does that seem to be? That seems to be. We're
on the trend now with us, aren't we. I mean
we were seeing that more and more and more.

Speaker 8 (42:11):
On we Jeff, we are we are? I think I
think it's probably going to be the future and it's
and these these type of disputes are are no longer
the exception, They're almost the rule. And so every year,
you know, a person on a Medicare advantage plan, you know,
really has to pay attention during the annual enrollment, which

(42:31):
is October fifteenth of December seven and make sure that
they're you know, their insurance policy is going to be
taken by their doctors. No longer really can you just,
so to speak, let it ride every year. And so
you know, for many years people were able to do that,
really not even check in. They were just you know,
they just let their let their policy roll over the

(42:53):
next year and keep on doing what they were doing.
I don't think that's a good idea anymore. Maybe it
never was, but certainly in these modern times of the
hospital systems fighting with these insurance companies, you really need
to check in every year. And and then of course,
you know we have what happened at les a Medical center.

(43:14):
You have to check in even after the the annual
enrollment in January and make sure that your insurance is
still good right well.

Speaker 1 (43:23):
And and you know, back in the old days, you
had a you know, an issue like this, it just
effected the hospital itself. But now, I mean, you're hard
pressed to find a doctor who's not affiliated with the hospital.
So as you mean, you got all these different specialists,
and even your primary care doctor, whomever they're they're all associated,
so they all fall into the same thing. As you mentioned.
People get all kind of letters.

Speaker 8 (43:44):
Some people Wow, that's right.

Speaker 1 (43:46):
Okay, Well, well we'll hold on and see what happens next.
Hol our breath. I suppose well, you know, now now
that we're we're done with open enrollment and all that,
and we've got most of these issues settle, at least
for the time being, except for the humanity in usc issue.
As we look ahead, uh you got have you have
you grabbed your crystal ball recently, Jeff and tried to

(44:08):
discern what the future of healthcare in this country might be. Uh,
the new administration and everything else going on. I mean,
do we look for any changes.

Speaker 8 (44:17):
It's it's so hard to predict right now, because of
course we just were just you know, getting through with
confirmation certainly, and so we have the new administration and
then you know, certainly the new Department of Health and
Human Services head and CMS, you know, Center for Medicare
Medicaid services. You know, they will take office here very

(44:42):
you know, and they'll have their own agendas, their own policies,
and so it's going to be interesting. Of course you
have Department of Government efficiency and see how does that
affect Medicare? You know how that how that effect the system? Right,
you know, And so for for a long time, you know,
the thought was, well, if you had original Medicare and

(45:04):
a supplement, you were kind of shielded from some of
these evils of medicare managed, so to speak. And it's
not my word, but you know other people's words, and
those evils being things like prior authorizations or denials or
having to go through for example, if you needed a

(45:24):
back surgery, maybe the back surgery is not get approved
right away. Maybe the insurance comeing ask you to go
through more rounds of physical therapy, yes, eple giral steroids,
things like that. And so when you're on original Medicare
with a supplement, you know, the whole you know, government,
you know, a thousand dollars hammer, right, you know, no
one's really guarding the h house, you know. But maybe

(45:46):
that's going to change. Maybe Medicare now will have more
of a watchdog look over medical treatment and maybe you know,
those those type procedures are going to have more pre
authorizations or maybe even denials as a Medicare advantage of
Medicare suptimast start looking very similar in those respects. I

(46:08):
think that's one prediction that I've certainly seen a lot
of our industry pundits talk about, is Medicare supple on
Medicare advantage looking very similar to each other.

Speaker 1 (46:18):
Something we talked about a while back, and maybe we've
already passed that time, but assimily, there was some there
were some things that were set to sunset at some
certain point in time of we got anything like that
coming up to say you in this calendar year, for example,
any kind of legislation that was in place for a
certain number of years that will expire if not renewed,
by the end of twenty twenty five.

Speaker 8 (46:39):
Yeah, great question. So that's on the under sixty five market,
the individual health market. On December thirty first, twenty twenty five,
these expanding subsidies which we had given to us through
the COVID laws are going to set to expire if nothing,

(47:00):
if they're not extended. These expanded subsidies we'd go back
to the old way of looking at subsidedes, which means
we had a very bright line. For example, a family
of two, if their household income in twenty twenty six,
there's going to be a penny over seventy eight thousand,
for example, seventy eight thousand of one, they get no subsidy,

(47:23):
you know, seventy eight thousand unless they do whether now
you know, the expanded subsidies has been able to say
if they were in their sixties, a family of two
can make up the two hundred thousand or maybe even
a little more and get a subsidy. So that's a
lot of people between that seventy eight thousand line and
that two hundred thousand line for getting subsidies who will
no longer get subsidies if the substeds are not expanded,

(47:47):
you know, or continued expanded subjects are not continued.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
And I'm just I'm just guessing here that with the
Trump administration, that more than likely that will probably sunset
at the end of this year. I mean, if you
had to bet, is that what you would.

Speaker 8 (48:03):
Say, I would say so, I would say so. So
I believe we will probably go back to the old
way of doing the subsidies, and so that's going to
hurt a lot of people. You know, a lot of
a lot of people were able to retire early. You know,
if you're you know, if you're in your way, if
your early sixties and you're not quite a medicare yet

(48:24):
at age sixty five, and say your spouse is working.
Because even though the spouse may have group health insurance,
here's an individual you can go on the marketplace and
get a subsidy, but you certainly have to count your
spouse's income. So with the person's social security say at
sixty three and their spouse is income, that puts you

(48:44):
over that seventy eight thousand and eighty thousand dollars mark.
But you're still getting a great subsidy. With the expanded subsidise,
the person was able to retire well. Now with the
expanded subsey's most likely sunsetting that scenario may not be
in place. See me more for a sixty three year
old due to the high costs of their individual health insurance.

Speaker 1 (49:06):
Okay, so let's uh for a moment to make the
assumption that these will son sat at the end of
the year. Does that impact premium starting in twenty twenty
six or twenty twenty seven.

Speaker 8 (49:19):
That's a good question. So the counter point that a
person would say is that the new administration, hopefully different
insurance policies will come back into the marketplace. So, you know,
when Trump was in office before he brought back some

(49:41):
type of you know, he had allowed policies to come
in to the marketplace that were not marketplace policies, so
they were essentially private insurance policies. They excluded previous and conditions,
but a person was healthy, they could purchase the policy
and have a lower premium. So maybe that some of
those policies come back to the marketplace, which will be

(50:03):
an option for a person who would not qualify for
a subsidy but would have the option of having lower
priced health insurance compared to what a full priced marketplace
insurance policy would cost. Whether we get those policies back
in twenty twenty six or twenty twenty seven hard to say.

Speaker 1 (50:23):
Well, I'm sure that no matter what happens, if if that,
if these laws are the sunset, people will be giving
ample warning, right, I mean, it's not gonna be a
big surprise to anybody, I hope, unless you're just not
paying attention.

Speaker 8 (50:36):
It could be a big surprise, you know, with the
open rollment coming November first. I mean, that's just right
around the corner. A lot of times insurance companies have
to get their rates and their policies you know, to
seem as by April or by early May. And so
that's very much so right around the corner. So there

(50:56):
could have been there could be a lot of uncertainty,
a lot of a lot of surprises come up in
a roll when in that scenario, save for the last
three years, a couple who's you know, say making ninety
thousand dollars, is they paying very little for health insurance.
They're coming to my office and suddenly their subtecy is
gone and they have a thousand dollars a month premium.

(51:18):
That's gonna be a big shot.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
So you say that these these insurance companies have to
get their rates locked in by April and May of
this year for next year. But yet they're going to
have to do this based on no certainty is to
whether what the subseas will be.

Speaker 8 (51:35):
H It's a tough it's a tough situation. I believe
that I believe that everyone is operating under this under
the assumption right now that those subsidies that were expanded
under COVID will not will not be extended. So you know,
we'll never know.

Speaker 1 (51:53):
But does that mean the insurance companies look to try
to lower their premiums in order to keep more of
that business or well, how would they approach this?

Speaker 8 (52:04):
I'm I think that's to be determined. We don't. We
don't know. So that's that's a that's a great point
because a lot of business could get lost with the
premium sticker shock that a lot of people are going
to have in November. For sure.

Speaker 1 (52:22):
Well no, no, certainly yet No. May maybe they do,
you know, get extended, but my guess is they probably won't,
but we'll we'll find out when we find out, all right, meantime, Okay,
so you're under sixty five and you need some help
in the open marketplace, or you're getting ready to turn
sixty five and you need some help with with with
medicare sort of. These are all things you can do
on your own, but chances are you won't find the

(52:43):
best deals. This guy can help you do it, Jeff,
how to folks reach you at health markets?

Speaker 8 (52:47):
My friend, Yes, free to the consumer, So come see me.
My off is right in the flight Deck shopping center
in Lexington, outside the front door of the flight Deck restaurant.
My phone number eight zero three six seven eight eight
one two one.

Speaker 1 (53:03):
Jeff, thank you so much and have yourself a great weekend, Buddy,
Thank you, Garry. The lawyers and staff at the Law
Office of James Snell are there to help those with
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(53:44):
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