Health and Wellness Show 10-04-25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Now time for the Health and Wellness Show on one
O three point five FM and five sixty AM WVOC.
Happy to have you joined us this morning. We got
an hour full of talking about your health, your wellness.
We'll be talking to Jeff Howell from Health Markets Medicare
advantage plans versus Medicare supplements. You know, it's just about
that time of year again. It's open enrollment for Medicare
coming up. How to get started with the guys over

(00:31):
at Preservation Specialists, how to start working that financial plan
to give you a peace of mind in retirement, John
Farley and Matthew Terry or about it, talk about that.
We get things started this hour with Jim Snell from
the law office of James Snell. How you doing, buddy,
morning do you side? Good morning sir, How the heck
are things? Man?

Speaker 3 (00:47):
Well?

Speaker 2 (00:48):
I tell you what you know.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
I like coming down here Saturday morning because this time
of you know, day on Saturday, like, traffic's not bad
at all. Right, So and get through Lexington, get through
Malfunction Junction and get over here. Although I'll tell you
I do not like having to get up Saturday morning
and put a tie on.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Oh you didn't have to do that for me. I
have to.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
I have to put on the whole lawyer costume.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Gotta come dressed in the costume. At least you're not
putting on those those wigs and such that they do
over in England.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah, no, I think actually that'd be kind of cool, right,
And and I'll.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Tell you this so so now I've got this mental
image of you in one of those powdered wigs.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
And again I'll need to find out. I'm assuming some
of the like the female you know barristers, Yes, right,
the barristers.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
It might be convenient because you don't have to really
worry about fixing your hair styling it to go to work.
You just put that wig on. There's a good point.
You just roll in the bed, put your wig on
and go the roll and go. Now, only where is
my wig? But you don't get the choice of what,
you know, color or anything. It's it's all one size
fits all, it's right. I mean, I don't I don't
know if they're a white wig. I don't know if

(01:59):
they have different shades of powders, even kind of tempted,
but you know, and they wear this, you know, they
have the I know, the barristers have the I guess
the gown.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yes, And I'm not really all look like judges to me.
That's confusing me.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
And I am not an expert at all on European
court systems and operations. But I mean I've seen I
did go into traffic court in Paris one time.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Were you were you the defendant or you were just
toss Oh? You know, I'm just all right.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
And if you if you think the French, you know,
can kind of side eye an American, Uh, just tup
wondering around traffic court right right. And but the lawyers
they were all wearing the gowns, and he was kind
of neat they do in Italy.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
I know. Okay, I think I think most of those
you are a big okay, the sticklers for tradition. I suppose
we moved past a lot of those things here, so
we shouldn't have but a lot of it, you know,
maybe one of the good today the view from high altitude,
the view from thirty thousand feet over, what did you do?

Speaker 4 (02:59):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (02:59):
Yes, you know, and it always I tell you, it's
you know, we're here in this on this program, you know,
typically talking about you know, I'm gonna call injury law
topics or injury law, which is, you know, car wrecks
and slipping falls and.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Wrongful death.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
You know, people have these, you know, bad accidents and
also workers' compensation. People get heard at work. Right, And
and I will tell you one thing about injury law specifically, right,
that's that from my perspective, Just as different the conversations
with potential clients or current clients are different than other

(03:38):
kind of cases. You know, if somebody has a I
don't I'll call it like a real estate dispute or
a good josh, a criminal case.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Right.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Oftentimes those folks are very interested in the nuts and
bolts of the law, the court process says, and you
can you can you can easily dive pretty deep in
that stuff and and and have your audience engaged. Right.
You know, people that have been hurt or they've got
a family mem that's been hurt, they frankly do not

(04:15):
want to They don't want to hear about court dockets
and filing fees and process servers and you know statutes.
I mean, they just they're hurt. They need to get better,
and they want to know, you know, what we can
do for them.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
When can I get my money?

Speaker 5 (04:29):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (04:29):
And that's and how much can I get?

Speaker 3 (04:31):
And and and so, and you know, so I think
about that and then and I also think about the
surveys I've seen and you know, reports I get. You know,
about legal I guess consumer awareness are the public's awareness
of of how lawyers in this in this arena operate.

(04:52):
And a lot of folks really still don't know how
to find a lawyer, how the lawyer charges, or how
that works.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
So just talking about that, a lot of people are
still don't real is that when it comes to personal
injury law, that you're not paying money up front? Right?
And I'm always amused by, you know, the commercials see
on TV and where they I get you stress that
because it's the truth, but sometimes they try to make
an implication of hey, you know, we're the only ones

(05:19):
who do this, but that's the way it works. Every
unless I think you've said before, every now that you're
across somebody who if you talk to a personal injury lawy
and they're talking about money up front, run right.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
Well, I mean, you know, any kind of yes, generally,
because if you have a you know, if you've got
an actual valid case. You know, you ought to be
able to find a lawyer you can accept with no
money up front, And not that.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
It's illegal to ask for the money upfront.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
No, no, and and and and you know, and again
I'm not saying that every time there was, because you
can structure fees differently, you know, and you certainly could
do an injury case, you know, I hourly basis or
a flat fee basis with the money up front. I mean,
legally and ethically that's fine. But just as a general,
lawyers in this arena don't request money up front. They

(06:10):
advance the costs of the case. That means they, you know,
the money that it costs to pursue these actions. The
lawyer of the law firm advances that those expenses and
and then doesn't recoup and doesn't get paid until the
end of the case, if and only if there's a
successful recovery.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
For the client.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
So you've got skin in the game. You've got skin
in the game. But well, I guess first thing, I
want to talk about this so people, so assuming people
know nothing, right, we talked about in the world of
injury law, specifically or wrongful death. You know, the kind
of situations lawyers get involved with or are ones where

(06:54):
people you know, have been injured either through no fault
or mostly not their fault, right, and you got to
have an injury, you got to have damages. Meaning, you know,
if somebody runs a red light and they come six
inches from your bomper and they almost creamed you, right,

(07:17):
that's not a case, no, right, but it scared me.
You it's scary, it's scary, and it's it's it's but
but it's and and you know, people call, you know,
with all kinds of situations where somebody was careless or
negligent and it was almost awful but nothing happened, and
and you know they'll call and they'll want an appointment,

(07:38):
they want to you know, they want to pursue a claim,
and you know we're trying to, you know, nicely tell them, Hey,
you know, unfortunately there's not a I say, well, fortunately
nobody got hurt, right, so I'm not gonna say unfortunately,
you know, you didn't break your arm, but fortunately everybody's okay.
So there's really not a legal claim that can be pursued.
And that frustrates some people sometimes, right, because they they

(08:00):
get this idea that whenever there's somebody's been careless or negligent,
they should have a claim, but you got to have
an injury or damages.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Well that there is that element these days in society
that thinks that anytime they've been slighted wrong in any way,
they got some kind of a case against somebody.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
Oh that's right, you know, something unusual happened, or or
they had a customer service issue, like seriously, I've had
you know, really oh yeah, I mean, you know, and
just anybody that's worked with the public, right, I love
all my customers. I'm thankful for every time the phone rings.
But you know, in this twenty years, you know, we've
had people call before very upset that their a twelve

(08:36):
piece bucket had eleven pieces or you know, I mean
and obviously, which.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Is different than the hot coffee at McDonald's actually scalding you.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
Okay, that that was a terrible That woman got hurt horribly.
So that's that actually was a real, real situation. But
all right, so we need this injury, and we need
to have somebody actually hurt, and it needs to be substantial. Okay,
you know, can't do a whole lot for a paper cut.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
But sue iHeart over up my last paper.

Speaker 3 (09:03):
Cuts something something substantial, and then you gotta have and
you gotta have, you gotta you know, typically have it
at fault party, right, who did it?

Speaker 2 (09:14):
Okay?

Speaker 3 (09:15):
There are some there are some some kind of some
specific rules for like hit and run car wrecks and
that sort of get that.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
And I'm glad you mentioned that, because as you were
saying that, it popped into my head. What happens in
a case like that, in a hit and run and
this individual was never caught? I mean, is there any
recourse against anybody? What happens to that third individual? Okay?

Speaker 3 (09:35):
And I'll tell you and I've I've actually had some
some several recoveries in the last few years on hit
and run car accidents. What you really want is a
situation where you've got actual in order to get the case,
as a practical matter, to get the case resolved, right,
you need you need to have actual evidence of a
collision or contact.

Speaker 6 (09:54):
Right.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
It needs to be reported to law enforcement m promptly,
you know reasonably, you know closing time to the to
the incident, and then if the if the at fault
drivers never identified or located, then you can do the
recovery against the uninsured auto insurance and that's that's what

(10:24):
it's for. Yeah, I mean, there there are some you know,
I'm not saying that. There can be situations where you
could have somebody you you you swerve to avoid a
car that say, in your lane and it and you
swerve to avoid him and you were off the road
and you never make contact. There are situations like that
that also can potentially result in a in a in

(10:45):
a claim. But you know this, I'm gonna call the
smoothest processes when there's actual evidence of contact, you know.
So Okay, so you gotta have somebody, right, and then
you've got to have an at fault party or company
or whatever that's got I mean, frankly gotta have money
or insurance.

Speaker 6 (11:06):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (11:07):
So you know people have horrible you know situations are
the healthy stories where you know some you know nair
day well that don't have two nickels drubbed together, you know,
did something that caused their injury.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
Right.

Speaker 3 (11:22):
But if that individual doesn't have any insurance, doesn't have
any money themselves, right, you know, you may have a
great legal claim at least in theory, but there's no
way to actually get a recovery. And this is why
so much of the advertising you see, especially on television,
focuses on car accidents, because all well, the majority of

(11:46):
cars have insurance, right and so South Carolin, we get
a chunk that don't. And additionally a lot of people
have under insured coverage, boosting the amount of coverage your
compensation they can receive. And uh, and actually I say
this in almost all of the situations, you know, you

(12:07):
hear about people getting substantial sums out of car accident cases,
you know, two hundred and fifty three hundred thousand, a
million dollars right in recoveries, Almost all those involve contributions
from the underinsured portion. So if you don't, you know,
check your insurance policy, make sure you got the coverage

(12:28):
sure sure under insured. So okay, so you gotta have
you gotta you gotta have somebody you can pursue the
claim against you. Gotta have a real injury.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
You need to have.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
You know, people need to have have gotten medical attention,
have followed, you know, the instructions of the doctors as
far as treatments, you know, been compliant, you know, it
just been reasonable. Right, you get hurt, it's not your fault.
Somebody did it, has insurance or whatever, and you've you've
been reasonable and how you handled it right, That's that's

(12:59):
the case. And so when people have those situations and
they call us, you know, obviously I've got intake staff
that you know, ask a few questions, you know, just
to make sure we're within the statue limitations. And it's
in our practice area, you know, like I can't help
somebody that got who would make a referral or something,

(13:19):
but we can't. You know, I'm not licensed to practice
law for example, in Idaho, license in South Carolina, and
you know.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
All stay in federal courts.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
But we want to ask some few questions and then
you know, generally what we do if, if the most
people want to come and meet with us in person,
right although in situations where people are seriously injured, we're
happy to meet them at the hospital or you know,
travel to them or you know, and then really it's
a process at that point of checking in with them

(13:49):
to see how the treatments are going, getting the medical records,
getting bills, communicating with the insurance company. You know, I'm
a big believer people shouldn't settle their case until they
really finish their medical treatments, yes, and they know the
extent of their injuries, what their recovery is, like, what

(14:09):
the permanent damages will be, you know.

Speaker 2 (14:14):
And that's important because once a settlement is made, you
can't go back on the on the back side and say, yeah,
but we've since discovered this correct. Correct.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
And you know, there are stories I've heard about people
feeling pressure to settle their cases quickly, you know, and
like insurance companies oftentimes want to dangle a few thousand
dollars in front of somebody, you know, within hours or
days of an accident, right, and that's just almost never
ever in their best interests, So an insurance comings.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
Interest right sure.

Speaker 3 (14:42):
Yeah, but I've heard the stories about lawyers, you know,
people being pressure, Like my lawyers just told me to
sign and just you know, take this money now before
I'm finished.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
And it's just, you know, I don't ever think that's
really a good idea. Do you find it difficult? And
you know, and this happens in a lot of things,
like for example, if if if you were to walk
in here and I was to try to explain to
you something we do in this business, and the technical
aspects of it and this and that. You know that
it gets deep in the weeds. And it's like if

(15:11):
something I do every day and maybe you don't, and
you're like, okay, well I don't. Do you find it?
A lot of folks you speak to do you find it?
How do you go about trying to lay it out
in layman's terms for them?

Speaker 3 (15:29):
That could get tricky, you know, you know, it gets challenging,
especially when you have somebody that's hurt.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
And right, they're an emotional place, right.

Speaker 3 (15:36):
And they and they just they just need help, and
then they're not, you know, they don't come in, you know,
seeking all the details. I think it's it's an art.
You know, you have to let the I let my customer,
let the clients sort of. I try to follow their lead,
you know, give them as much or as little as
they as they want, but still get them to their place.
I mean, frankly, all I need I need to pursue

(15:58):
the claim. I need to know, you know, there's story
how they got hurt. I need their medical records, medical bills,
information about maybe their employment.

Speaker 2 (16:07):
I mean, just some basics.

Speaker 3 (16:08):
I just need that kind of stuff, right, And you know,
some people, though they want to ask about you know,
burns approve or the courthouse docket, or I mean just
you know, specific things, and we're happy to talk to
them and answer questions really as much as they want.
Again and again, it's remarkable in this world people typically

(16:31):
want to know less of those details than I'll say,
in other practice areas like people adopting a child, like
I've done some adoptions eight years ago, and people adopting
children want to know every little detail like that. I mean,
they want to scrutinize the paperwork they are all over.
Just the minute show reading the state code. It's complete
opposite typically from the average ILO call it consumer Personal

(16:54):
injury services.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
James Snell, the laws of Aames. Now we're talking personal
injury law this morning. But again, as you mentioned, do
you do criminal defense law? Do you why? I mean
a whole host of ways that folks who are in
need of legal representation can reach out.

Speaker 3 (17:13):
Yeah, and I'll say and again in the world of
personal injury and workers' conversation, doesn't cost any money to
hire us for a case, and people that are interested
in talking to us can give us a call at
eight zero three three five nine three three zero one.
Our business online at Snell Law dot com. That's three
ls Snell Law dot com. All right, goodness, everybuddy, Thank you.

Speaker 1 (17:34):
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Is your retirement inflation proofed?

Speaker 2 (17:39):
Here's what I mean?

Speaker 6 (17:41):
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Speaker 1 (17:46):
So how do you not run out of.

Speaker 6 (17:47):
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go up?

Speaker 1 (17:51):
You inflation proof it.

Speaker 6 (17:52):
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Call us today at ATO three nine retire to learn more.
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(18:13):
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Speaker 1 (18:15):
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Speaker 6 (18:17):
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Speaker 7 (18:33):
The hunt for quality insurance is more important than ever,
and with Jeff Howell and the team at Health Markets
in 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?

Speaker 1 (18:49):
Jeff Howell and Health.

Speaker 7 (18:50):
Markets do all the grunt work for you. They make
the calls, compare the plans and prices, and find you
the insurance plan that fits your needs.

Speaker 1 (18:58):
Best of all, their help is at.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
No cost to you.

Speaker 7 (19:01):
They work with nationally recognized insurance companies to give you
the affordable insurance you're looking for. So whether you're self
employed or in a small business, an individual or seeking
a family plan, they have you covered literally from head
to toe. Called Jeff 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

(19:25):
eight eight one two one or Jeff howl E dot
com and let them find the right insurance for you.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
Jeff Howell from Health Markets is our resident expert on
all things when it comes to health insurance.

Speaker 4 (19:51):
Jeff, good morning, sir, Good morning Gary.

Speaker 2 (19:55):
We uh want to talk about in being somebody who
just by ifa. I got my red and blue car
in the mail the other day, Jeff good for Medicare
is mind goes an effect come June. But for me,
I'm still working in on my employee plan, so I'm
just taking the Part A for now. But you know,
when you get to the rest of the parts, when

(20:17):
you don't have that group coverage through your employer and
you've hit the age of sixty five, then you know
the Part A you get. Then oh my goodness, if
you go to the regular route, you got what parts
c's and d's and g's and all sorts of parts,
and then you have well the other option, which is
to go with Medicare advantage plans. And you know, even
for some folks who are on Medicare right now, I

(20:38):
guess there's still a bit of confusion about what the
differences are and maybe what's right or what's not right
for them.

Speaker 4 (20:45):
That's true. I mean, if someone's been on Medicare for ten, fifteen,
twenty years, every year they know that an open roman
is coming up around the corner between October fifteenth and
December seventh when they can make changes, So you know,
right here, here, or may you know, we're thinking, they're thinking, well,
I can't make a change. Now there's a plan I'm

(21:05):
currently on right for me, and looking to the future,
you know, what does the future hold? For example, if
they're on a Medicare supplement plan, they know that every
year they get older that Medicare supplement is going to
go up in price. And then we look to twenty
twenty five to the prescription drug cards. You know, we've
been blessed, you know really since the inception of the

(21:28):
prescription drug card program in two thousand and six, is
that the premiums of the drug cards have been fairly low,
depend upon which drug card you select. But in twenty
twenty five, with some of the COVID laws going into effect,
and the good news for seniors is that they won't
pay any more in two thousand dollars and copays at
the pharmacies for example, when they go to you know,

(21:51):
my Pharmacy and Optical or Riley's Drugs or CBS wherever
they go. When they're paying their copays of the counter,
there's going to be a ceiling starting in twenty twenty five,
they'll pay no more than two thousand dollars, which that's
a law that is going to help with the counter
that's great.

Speaker 2 (22:04):
Annual cap, right.

Speaker 4 (22:07):
Yeah, an annual cap, yes, sir, absolutely, and that's the
first time that we've had something like that. So brand
new law is starting next year. But what we worry
about as insurance agents looking forward is that what is
that going to do to drug card premiums starting in
twenty twenty five, because if the insurance companies are taking
on a lot of that overage over the two thousand

(22:29):
dollars in costs, then that will probably be passed down
the consumer as far as monthly premium.

Speaker 2 (22:37):
So this is not a case where the government bio
taxpayers is picking up the rest of the tab. This
is a cost that the pharmaceutical company is going to
have to eat, right.

Speaker 4 (22:48):
More specifically, the insurance companies companies. Okay, so interesting enough,
the pharmaceutical companies, we're not giving a very large percentage
of the liability over that two thousand dollars in costs.
The insurance companies were given the bulk of that percentage.
So of course it's the insurance companies that bill you
every month for the monthly premium to have the drug

(23:09):
card and then of course someone say, why do I
need a drug card? Well, part of that initial law
in two thousand and six for the prescription drugs is
that you do not have a prescription drug card or
credible coverage through your employer like you would have. But
if you do not have a prescription drug card, you
will be penalized. So everyone had a prescription drug card now,

(23:31):
and it's really not that big a deal. I mean,
we have prescription drug cards out there. They are fifty
cents a month, so having a drug card is really
you know, it is not that burdensome premium wise right
now for most people. There are some people who take
more expensive drugs who need a higher price a prescription
drug card, and their drug card might be over one

(23:52):
hundred dollars a month. Now, say, however, in twenty twenty five,
that one hundred dollars a month plus premium could be
the norm, not the exception. So you're saying, okay, so
now if you're say seventy years old, and you've been
on a Medicare supplement since you were sixty five, and
you've been on a drug card, and maybe you're paying

(24:12):
one hundred and ninety dollars for your supplement. Now you're
paying fifty cents for your drug card. Now if your
drug card goes up to to throughout an easy number
for math, one hundred dollars a month. Now you've got
from one to ninety and fifty cents to two hundred
and ninety dollars a month. That may make a lot
of people look a little more close to Medicare advantage

(24:35):
come this open enrollment season in October, So it's good
to start preparing and start realizing, you know, what is
Medicare advantage and is that an option for someone who's
currently on a Medicare supplement and drug card?

Speaker 2 (24:49):
Right right, and again you're talking about seventy seventy two
seventy five years old. You're more than likely on a
fixed income, and you know it comes to one hundred
bucks a month that you weren't expecting.

Speaker 4 (25:00):
That's correct, that's correct, and so and that's pushed a
lot of people to Medicare advantage. And you know, there's
a lot of fear about Medicare advantage because when it
first came out in two thousand and six, most of
the Medicare advantage plans were HMOs and no one likes
an HMO, because an HMO means you have to go
to this particular doctor, and if you have to go

(25:21):
to a specialist, you need to referral from that doctor
to go to this particular specialist to go to this
particular hospital. It's very restrictive. However, Medicare Advantage plans that
I sell are all PPOs, meaning you can go anywhere
that takes Medicare. It does have a network, and so
you definitely get lower costs when you go in network.
For example, if you've got a Blue Cross Medicare Advantage PPO,

(25:45):
every hospital in the state the networks. You can go
to Lexington, you can go to Prismo, you can go
to musc and Charleston. You know, you can go where
you want to, and you can even go out of state.
So if they're in network, you'll get the same low
costs and Colorad that you get at Lexa Medical Center.
If they're out of network, and still go to that
doctor in Colorado, who you just might pay a higher copay.

(26:08):
So you know, a lot of the fears about HMO's
and Medicare advantage, you know I can lay or put
those fears to rest when I meet with people and
talk to them about Medicare advantage and see if it's
the right fit for them.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
And I guess I think you've told us before, Jeff,
that in the last couple of years, the number of
people on these advantage plans is now more than those
who are on supplements, or right at the about the
same the same number.

Speaker 4 (26:38):
Is that right, it's a percentage, that's correct, that's correct.
You know, in twenty twenty two to the last year,
we have data from more seniors purchased Medicare advantage plans
than Medicare supplement plans. So Medicare's stepleins had always been
on top, you know, until twenty two. And I'm and
I can say with competence of twenty three will be

(27:00):
even more so when that data comes out that Medicare
advantage more Medicare advantage plans were sold to Medicare supplements.
And there's a lot of reasons for that. Is that
Medicare advantage plans have zero premium, right, And the second
reason is they provide extra benefits like three thousand dollars
in dental benefits, some vision benefits, three pair of glasses, hearing,

(27:21):
a discount, some gym memberships, flex cards, that's the card
you take to a grocery store CVS and get food
and over the counter like vitamins or toothpaste, things like that.
So they provide a lot of value. Now, of course,
with anything in life, there is a give and a take, right, Well, okay,

(27:43):
zero premium, you get all this extra stuff.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Well, pardon the cynic in me, but you know when
I first and I guess maybe one of the big
reasons for the boom in these is that, I mean,
let's face it, insurance companies have been advertising the heck
out of these for a while. Now, you know, I mean,
you can't spit without hitting one of those ads. But yeah,
I mean the sening to me says, hmm, I don't

(28:08):
pay anything, I get all this stuff. What's the catch?

Speaker 4 (28:12):
Yes, And so the catches is that there's higher risk. So,
for example, if you're on a standard or i'd say
the most popular Medicare supplement plan, now the plan G
where your only risk health wise is the part be deductible,
which is two hundred and forty dollars. So if someone
turns sixty five in June and I write them a
plan G for June first, the first time they go

(28:34):
to a doctor or urgent care or emergency room, or
the first time they receive medical treatment after June one,
they'll be billed that two hundred and forty dollars. Then
they're done for the year. They're one hundred percent covered.
That person has been a coma all summer, wake up
on Labor Day, and they owe nothing right because they
already pay that two hundred four dollars deductible, So their
risk is very low. Whereas on the Medicare advantage plans,

(28:57):
you know, the maxi amount of pockets could be anywhere
from five thousand to eleven thousand dollars, depend upon what
plan you choose. Now I will say that that's not
a deductible. You just pay small copays along the way,
and if those cops ever added up to that five thousand,
then you would be died at the five thousand if

(29:17):
that's your max out of pocket on that particular plan.
So sometimes people can confuse, They're like, I don't want
to pay the first five thousand, you wouldn't. So like
on most of the Medicare advantage plans, you go to
your primary doctor who pays zero or ten dollars cope,
you go a specialist. You'll pay a fifteen or thirty
five dollars cope, so you have small cope. MRI is
one hundred and fifty night in the hospital, three hundred

(29:40):
fifty dollars a night the first five nights. Things like that.
They're very delineated on the copays that you paid. But
if you had a very bad year, but certainly that
risk is out there. But the Medicare advantage studies showed
that less than one percent of people on Medicare advantage
plans hit their MAXI amount of pocket. So you have
to have a really bad year to hit your ma's

(30:00):
out of pocket on this plan.

Speaker 2 (30:01):
Well, the ironic thing about this, Jeff, seems to me
that all right, so folks who could most afford to
take the risk under an advantage plan of having to
come out of pocket, you know, five ten thousand dollars
or what have you in a canary year, are the
same folks who probably are in a financial situation to
best afford to stay on a supplement planned and pay
the money each month and not take the risk.

Speaker 4 (30:25):
That's true. And for a lot of those people, that's
the decision, you know, is would you rather just put
money away into a savings account and have that ten
thousand dollars, say, in a savings account every year. So
if you had a bad year, or if you have
twenty thousand in an account, if you have a bad year,
then that money's in your account and it's growing interest.

(30:45):
That's your money, right. Or do you want to mail
off a check to an insurance company for a supplement
and a drug card and once you mail those checks
the insurance company every month they're not coming That money's
not coming back. Whether you go to a doctor that
month or not. Would you have a prescription field that
month or not that next month the premiums are due again.
So it's just two completely different ways of doing your

(31:07):
Medicare insurance coverage. No wrong or no right, by the way,
and I do not push one or the other. I
just explained the differences and lay out the packs and
talk to a person about their doctors, their medical treatment,
their prescriptions, and they give them an educated you know,
educate them and they make an educated decision on which ones,

(31:27):
which path is right for them.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
Now you mentioned again with the changes in the prescription
card plan under the supplements, that you could see your
price really go up here over the course of the
next year or so. Now does that not applicable if
you're on an advantage plans, that doesn't hit.

Speaker 4 (31:45):
You there, It should not hit as much because Medicare
advantage plans have so much else going on as far
as money that received from the government for people who
are on those Medicare advantage plans, for the healthcare, for
the prescription drugs. It could you could see in the
Medicare advantage plans maybe the benefits not growing as much,

(32:08):
such as a dental or the vision of the hearing,
you know, some of those benefits being pulled back or
maybe capped.

Speaker 8 (32:15):
You know.

Speaker 4 (32:15):
A lot of time. You know, over the years, we've
seen dental go from five hundred benefits two one thousand
to two thousand to three thousand. So maybe next year
they don't go to four thousand, right, maybe their capped
or there or they're lowered, you know, So maybe we
see effects in the Medicare advantage plan that way. Internally
do not. I think we're going to see much effect
on the premium. So I think that's going to stay

(32:36):
you know, zero to you know thirty, you know, somewhere
under thirty dollars. Certainly on the Medicare advantage side.

Speaker 2 (32:44):
So do you do you foresee in your crystal ball,
mister Howell, or do you think that that maybe the
government's long term plan is to try to push everybody
off the supplements to the advantage plans. Is that is
that an advantage of the government.

Speaker 4 (33:00):
Well, when the law was passed in two thousand and four,
it was a George Bush was in office, w right,
with a Republican Congress, and it was a vote. It
was a law, believe it or not, that Democrats agreed
to back in those days when Congress was when they

(33:20):
would talk to each other and they would make compromises
and the law would be passed. That's the way Congress
was in two thousand and four. So this is a
law that the government sees as an advantage for the
government's keeping Medicare viable. Right, Because every time a person
signs up for a Medicare advantage plan, the private company
they sign up with, Blue Cross, at Na Humana, whoever

(33:43):
it is, that person becomes that private company's responsibility and
they are now off the Medicare books. Medicare still regulates
those companies, but Medicare now if that person havn't big
gets cancer has expensive treatment. Medicare is no longer putting
the bill for them. The private insurance company is they've
taken them that risk. So I think long term, that

(34:06):
is that is what the government would like to see.

Speaker 2 (34:08):
Absolutely interesting. Yeah, it certainly seems that way, or if
it seems like more and more people are moving that
way regardless, So the point may be moved here a
decade or so possibly well.

Speaker 4 (34:21):
And I don't you know, I don't know if Medicare
supplements will ever totally go away. It's probably not that bad.
But I do believe that Medicare advantage plans will just
continue to be more and more attractive as you compare
the two options.

Speaker 2 (34:35):
How like, folks, get a hold of you, my friend.

Speaker 4 (34:37):
Yes, my office is right beside the flight Deck restaurant
in Lexington at the flight Deck shops Health Markets Insurance,
and you can give me a call or text my
number at eight zero three six seven eight eight one
two one. My website is my name Jeff Hoowell dot com,
Jeff Hwle dot com.

Speaker 2 (34:56):
All right, thank you, Jeff, appreciate you, buddy.

Speaker 4 (34:58):
Thank you Gay.

Speaker 7 (34:59):
The hunt for quality and insurance is more important than ever,
and with Jeff Howell and the team at Health Markets
in 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,

(35:19):
compare the plans and prices, and find you the insurance
plan that fits your needs. Best of all, their help
is at no cost to you. They work with nationally
recognized insurance companies to give you the affordable insurance you're
looking for. So whether you're self employed or in a
small business, an individual or seeking a family plan, they
have you covered literally from head to toe. Called Jeff

(35:42):
Howell in Health Markets at eight o three six seven
eight eight one two one, or visit Jeffhowell dot com
that's eight oh three six seven eight eight one two
one or Jeff Howle dot com and let them find
the right insurance for you.

Speaker 5 (35:59):
Good morning. This Larry Harris with Classic Systems. I'm a
certified mold inspector. We can help you test the air
in your home ten minutes per sample. One sample inside
one sample outside. If we do it in the morning,
we'll have the lab report that afternoon and then we
can discuss with you what protocols you need to take

(36:21):
to clean the air in your home, particularly if you
have coughing, sneezing rashes on your body. This could be
because of mold that's in the air. Let us come
do air testing for you. The fee is only seventy
five dollars per sample and we can get the lab
report back the same day, so you know if you

(36:41):
have any airborne issues in your home. This is Larry
Harris with Classic Systems eight three six two six two
seven four eight eight three six two six two seven
four eight.

Speaker 2 (37:01):
We welcome you back into the Health and Wellness Show
on one O three point five FM and five sixty
A m w v O s C. Happy to have
you with us this morning on this fourth day of October. Wow,
where's the time going? Huh? John Farley, Matthew Terry preservation specialist.
John for folks like you and me, goes fast, Matthew
for you a little slower, you know, but you will

(37:22):
get there. One day You'll be asking, like John, I,
what is that?

Speaker 1 (37:25):
What's going on?

Speaker 2 (37:25):
What the heck's going to happen? What's happening here?

Speaker 4 (37:28):
Oh?

Speaker 8 (37:28):
I feel like I'm Marty there Gary.

Speaker 6 (37:31):
He's focused on the on the car, the UNCU Clemson
game today, that's what he's focused on.

Speaker 7 (37:37):
Yeah, that's it.

Speaker 2 (37:38):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (37:38):
Hopefully we can get the win. But we'll see Bella
check and Davo. It's pretty big, it is.

Speaker 6 (37:42):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, hope with me, I'm focusing on
the five weeks of the getting Cocks.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
I'm just going with that. Oh man, Yeah you're so
your Tigers are making your olds? What you're telling me?

Speaker 8 (37:54):
Yeah, definitely, definitely.

Speaker 6 (37:55):
Yeah, it's been tough so far.

Speaker 2 (37:58):
Well, uh, you may, I'll be getting peace of mind
for your favorite football team. But peace of mind is well,
you guys are all about a preservation specialist. Do we
want to talk about that this morning? Yeah? Uh yeah.
So's so often we we focus on the dollars and cents, right,
you know, what's what's in our bank account, what's coming in,
what's in our investments, what's in this and that wasn't
our time in savings? When you know, let's put the

(38:19):
focus on really the most important thing, that's peace of
mind in your in your retirement years and how you
get there and how you guys can help.

Speaker 6 (38:26):
Yeah, I mean when you talk about this, I mean
all of this money, you know, insurance and whatever you got,
this is all it means to an end and that's
all it is. So uh and it's really important to
start there and then work out so you know, what
is the when you talk about people who are either

(38:47):
soon to be or in retirement. The first thing that
we want to start with in terms of what gives
you peace of mind is making sure that you know
that on a monthly basis, you've got money coming in
to do what you want to do. I mean, so
a really good income plan. Now you know that it
depends on your situation. Maybe you have a pension, maybe
you don't. You know at all of these different scenarios.

(39:09):
But the bottom line is we start there and we
want to make sure, Okay, you don't have to worry
every month you've got money coming into your checking account
or wherever you know, wherever you want it so you
can do what you want to do, and then we
work out from there.

Speaker 8 (39:27):
You know what I'll say is, you know another thing
that has changed drastically from what retirement used to be
is is really how people view retirement. You know, our
parents or our grandparents, they likely worked at the same
company for a number of years, sure, and what kept
them at that company was a little thing called a pension.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
Right.

Speaker 8 (39:47):
They knew if they were there and they put in
the time, they would be entitled to a fixed income stream. Well,
pensions are a thing of the past, and the responsibility
to pay us that on paycheck, as John mentioned, well
that is going to need to come from our retirement savings.
So you know, obviously having a game plan that is
going to outline, hey, how much can I afford to

(40:09):
pull out from my nest egg. But also in the
event of, you know, any sort of downturn in the economy,
you can weather that storm and be just fine. Right,
Retirement is all about doing what you want to do,
enjoying that time that you have left, doing all those
things on your bucket list. You just want to feel
confident in those decisions that you're making.

Speaker 6 (40:31):
Yeah, I remember my grandfather. He worked for GE and
he was in accounts. He bring good things to life,
he was pretty good and he worked there for I
don't know, it was like thirty years, and when he
retired I remember having this discussion. He was he was
a golfer. He wasn't a good golfer, but he was
a golfer to most of us. Yeah, he used to
take me out. And I remember, you know, I was young,

(40:52):
I mean know, I was ten, twelve years old, and
you know, just watching him go through his retirement. But
but at the time, and you know, this was of course,
this is back in the day. It's generally one breadwinner
in the family. And but and he I remember him
having this discussion with my mother saying, yes, I took
the pension option that if something happened to me, your

(41:14):
grandmother would have this much money. You know, it was
a different time. And the other thing that I think
is really important is, you know, in those days, nobody
really thought about the fact that, hey, by the way,
one of these pension funds and might not have enough
money to support everybody.

Speaker 2 (41:31):
But that's happened.

Speaker 6 (41:32):
I mean, I've actually been in the room with a
guy who he was expecting around forty five thousand dollars
a year in pension and his company legally got out
of that obligation and it was about one tenth of
that that he ended up with, right so there are
little gotchas that you can think through, Like like one
option in this case to give you a peace of

(41:53):
mind or you know or not is to if you
have a if your company has a pension plan, then
what you really want to do is you want to
look into is it part of the US government pension
backed program? That is to say, there is an FDIC
for pensions.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
I think of it.

Speaker 6 (42:11):
Yes, And it's really important for you to say, Okay,
is my company participating in that? And if you will,
If they are, then you're probably in pretty good shape.
Now I will point out that if you happen to
have the lower end pensions get covered by one hundred percent,
but the higher end pensions don't. So let's just say
you're you know, you're ten thousand dollars a month. Well,

(42:32):
let's say something happens to this pension situation and your
your company ends up using this pension protection program from
the United from the government. I'm just going to use
round number SA it's ten thousand. You will not get
that ten thousand. You will get some measure lower than that.
If you're like two or three thousand a month, then
you would get it. So they guarantee the lower ends,
but they guarantee most of the upper end, but not

(42:52):
the whole thing. So there are options that you can
look at. For example, you can take a buy up
from your pension, you can take all of that money,
you can take that put that into your own individual
retirement account and then manage it appropriately as you would like.
So there are plus and minuses to all of this.
But but it you know, the idea is pensions. There

(43:13):
are there are many options with pensions, but really the
biggest one is when you talk about a pension, what
is that that is certain income and you want to
make sure that it actually is certain.

Speaker 2 (43:23):
And as you bring that up, you think, for example,
the state retirement system we know is is terribly underfunded.
You know, treasure LOFTUS has been you know, you know,
waving waving that flag for years. We got to do something.
We've got to do something. But like a state, is
that could that happen to state? Well?

Speaker 6 (43:42):
Okay, The thing about the thing about a government entity
is they have the unbridled authority to tax right now.
So that's the the idea is if something doesn't go
well there, we're pretty sure that they're just going to say, okay,
you're going to increase the sales tax, so we're going
to do something too, because you know that that one
is less worrisome, though not as you say. I mean,

(44:06):
if something's not worth you know, underfunded, we got to
take care of this, clearly. The ones that are more
exposed are the private companies, and we work with a
lot of folks who come in from private companies, some
of whom now still have pensions. And in that case,
you just want to make sure. Okay, let's look at
all of the options. In fact, I worked with the
guy the other day. He was retiring from a company
that we all know, uh, and he said, well, they're

(44:28):
offering me this much on a monthly basis, And I said, well,
what are they offering you on the buyout? So we
looked at that and I took what they offered him
on the buyout, meaning okay, what if we took that
and we shopped that with a bunch of companies who
could then give him a guaranteed income stream. It turns out,
which is not that common, that his company was giving
him a fabulous deal, and I'm like, take the deal.

(44:51):
You know this is in your best take ye, No, no,
take the TA take the monthly monthly pension because the
numbers that they were giving him were very high relative
to anything else we could find, and they were they
were participating in the pension protection program. So I was like, look,
you've got a guarantee here. This is better than anything
we can find. Take it. But that's you know, but

(45:14):
each in a situation is individual, and you look at
everything and you say, okay, what is best?

Speaker 2 (45:18):
You know? So yeah, Matthew John's story about the the
guy who came in and you know that that pension
that was supposed to be forty five thousand, Yeah, it
was like forty five hundred might be the Well, we
found a couple of weeks ago, those publishing clearing house
winners who were guaranteed five thousand for life not anymore. Yeah,
they went belly up and that wasn't part of the

(45:40):
deal with the company that bought them out. So yeah,
you imagine that going from five thousand dollars a week
guaranteed for life to zilch. Yeah. Wow, extreme example, I know.

Speaker 6 (45:51):
But yeah, and it's all you know, And what you
want to do in this situation is you all want
to create, You want to you want to create scenarios
that that give you legitimate peace of mind. Right, So
the five thousand a week was peace of mind until
it wasn't until we can get you into situations that say, okay,
here we got you covered, and there are I.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
Mean, we all know that there are no guarantees in life.
We've all lived long enough to know that there are
no guarantees in life. But the point is to get
as close as you can to that, right.

Speaker 8 (46:19):
It absolutely is Gary. And you know how you get
to that point where you feel comfortable and you feel
confident stepping away and saying, hey, I truly feel that
I am prepared for whatever may lie ahead. Is you
run stress test, right? I mean, you run different scenarios.
We have really elaborate software. I know we've talked about
that before on the air, but you know, our software

(46:41):
is powerful stuff. We can show you a number of
different scenarios, a number of different scenarios as it relates
to social security, when each person may claim and start
social security, or hey, you know what happens if one
spouse passes away earlier than expected? How does that change
the income? How does that change the tax bracket? You know,
that's one big piece that a lot of people don't

(47:02):
consider is, uh, you know, while you're married, and you
know you have both of you living, you file your taxes,
married file and jointlym Well, upon the passing of one spouse,
that surviving spouse, they now have to file their taxes
single and as a result of that, you know, they
lose half the amount of the deductions. But if they're

(47:23):
still having to pull out the same amount from their
retirement account every single year, but that's going to push
them up likely into a higher tax bracket. So there's
a lot of considerations that we want to show our
clients to educate them to say, regardless of what lies ahead,
we certainly feel that you are going to be okay
if you stepped away from work.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
So the thing you guys talk about is comprehensive planning,
which is kind of a scary thing for some people.
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, but you really, I mean, you
have a process and you have a number of key
You've talked I think before John about the building a house.

Speaker 6 (48:01):
Yeah yeah, in terms of yeah, so so when when
you when you talk about the comprehensive planning, that one
of the you know, you start with income because that's
the most important, right, and then you work out you say, okay, uh,
it is insurance necessary in some form. Now you know again,
once you get to this stage in life, most people
are saying, Okay, do I have enough to cover long
term care? Because that's what's important, right Uh. And then uh,

(48:23):
you want to make sure that your taxes you're you're
paying the appropriate taxes, but you're not leaving more. You know,
you're not You're not giving an uncle Sam more than
you need to.

Speaker 2 (48:30):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (48:31):
Then there's a state you know, you want to make
sure that your wishes are preserved. And and we see
a lot there. You know that that people Uh and
when when when parents pass? Uh, sometimes things happen with
the kids that seem to involve money that probably don't.
It's more emotional in other words, like they'll start saying, oh,

(48:53):
money this and money that. But really what it was is,
you know there was some there were some snags in
the relationship that we're under really so anyway, the point
is is that as a person who puts together in
a state plan, you have the opportunity to make sure
that your wishes are preserved and you can avoid these
these potential conflicts between the children. That's a big one,

(49:14):
and we see that. And then finally investments. And when
you talked about the financial house, we do that which
is roof walls, foundation, We do that all the time.
Where roof would be for growth, walls would be asset backed,
meaning some sort of if something goes away, you still
have an asset behind it. An example of that would
be professionally managed commercial real estate, right, that sort of thing.

(49:36):
And then foundation would be guaranteed income. We discussed that
a little earlier, some form of a pension or some
form of guarantee from annuity or you know, even FDIC
insured CDs or something. But anyway, you have these these
different areas and they serve different purposes.

Speaker 2 (49:51):
How often do you guys see in your practice where
again you've got folks who are drawing down for a
monthly income from what they've set aside that they actually
wind up growing their money. Oh well, that that I
guess before we get we don't think that's not possible.
I'm just going to be you know, deducting, deducting, deducting,

(50:11):
and it's get small and small and small. But that's
that's not necessarily the case.

Speaker 8 (50:14):
No, No, absolutely not So there's two parts gear. You know,
we absolutely want to make sure for one, the rate
of return, but receiving is keeping up with inflation, sure, right,
and not just keeping up with inflation. We would love
to outperform inflation.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
It is easier now than it was a year ago.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
Yeah. Absolutely.

Speaker 8 (50:33):
But but at the end of the day, you know,
our our number one goal as advisors if depending upon
that lifestyle that you're wanting to live, we want to
preserve your principle, meaning your initial investment amount so it
can continue to split off income to you. We absolutely
see clients withdrawing money from their nest egg, and we
absolutely see their total account balance still continue to grow
and it still continues to compound. And that's that's the

(50:53):
name of the game, right You're you're you're you're doing
you're doing the things that you want to do, and
you're also preserving and leaving a legacy by on to
your loved ones. Uh you know at the end of
your time.

Speaker 2 (51:04):
Well, like you talk about all the time, John, sometimes
people just they don't spin enough of it.

Speaker 5 (51:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (51:08):
Yeah, you go ahead and enjoy it. Yeah no, And
and that happens again. You know, this is this is
a challenging thing because it's kind of like, you know,
many years ago, there was that Midas muffler commercial where
this older guy drives up in this you know, nineteen
twenty something and he says, I want my guarantee on
my muffler. And the guy's like, what do you mean?

(51:29):
You don't need this? And and and you know he's
being chauffeured in. Remember that commercial. Okay, So anyway, so
he's being chauffered in, and he's in the back seat
and he rolls down the window and he says, I
need to you know, I need I need to get
my guarantee on the muffler. And the guy, the technician,
looks at him, goes, what do you mean. You're a billionaire,
you don't need this. And he goes, how do you
think a man like me? He got to be a

(51:49):
man like me, right, And so the point is so
so But my point of that is is that most
people have done I have done a good job saving, and
now it's time to do a good job spending. And
to do that transition and to make people feel comfortable
with that is part of our job. And sometimes it's
hard because people just have that mindset of saving you.

Speaker 8 (52:10):
Know, yeah, and I mean people are not going to
loosen the reins right their entire life. The number one
objective has been to save. Right, Let's let's make sure
we're always spending less than we have coming in because
you know that was the recipe for success when retirement.
You know, we we have that bucket list, we have
all those things that we want to do, and you know,
it's almost making sure that that client is comfortable and

(52:33):
that family is comfortable with, like you say, live in
that dream retirement scenario. They're okay, loosen the rain, spend
a little bit of money. You're going to be perfectly fine.
Don't stress about it.

Speaker 1 (52:42):
This is why you saved.

Speaker 2 (52:43):
Peace of mind. You cannot put a price tag on that. No,
we guys can can work to get you there. John Farley,
Matthew Terry Preservation Specialists. Always good to see you and
if folks want to reach out to you and so,
don't have a conversation.

Speaker 6 (52:55):
Yeah, it's eight oh three nine, retire eight oh three
nine and retire. Our office is between Piney Grove and
Harveston off of twenty six.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
All right, that's good to see you about Thank you too.
The lawyers and staff at the Law Office of James
Snell are there to help those with injuries and workers'
compensation claims, car accidents on the job, and other accidents
resulting in injuries. They want to help everyone resolve their
claim as quickly as possible, but they'll never recommend you
accept as settlement that's unfairly low. The Law Office of

(53:28):
James Snell recognized by AVA with a ten and an
eight plus rating with a Better Business Bureau. There's no
cost to speak to them. Insurance companies make their money
by denying and minimizing otherwise valid claims. The Law Office
of James Snell can help. They're not looking to try
to take every small mishap, but focus on real injuries
that deserve to be taken seriously. The Law Office of

(53:48):
James Snell. I'm Jim Snell. Contact me at Snell Law
dot com. That's three l's spell law dot com. The
Law Office of James Snell since two thousand and four
with off. This is in Lexington and Columbia.