Health and Wellness Show 11-01-25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Good morning and welcome down to the Health and Wellness
Show on one of three point five FM and five
sixty am WVOC had heard around the planet on the
iHeart Radio PAP coming up. Oh by the way, I'm
Gary David. If you just tuning in and joining us,
if you weren't here last hour for the home show.
Jim Stell, the law officer, James Stell, that's his name

(00:27):
on the shingle there. We'll be here to talk about
workman's comp cases, which you know, I always thought working
this compcase would be pretty cut and dry. Not always.
We'll talk about that. Jeff Howell from Health Markets here.
We're in the middle of a Medicare open enrollment season
and of course the Affordable Care Act insurance the open
marketplace open enrollment starts today. We'll focus on Medicare this

(00:50):
time around with Jeff from Health Markets out in Lexington.
What you need to know about the changes and how
to navigate that here in twenty twenty five. For twenty
twenty six. First up, Hey, it's Matthew Terry and John Farley,
the dudes from Preservation Specialists. Good morning, guys.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Morning, Gary, Hey, good morning, good to see you.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
John. You doat us up a nice so cool, crisp
fall morning.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
Yeah, you know, and it's a pretty nice weather on
tap here for a couple of days.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
I love this weather weather. Yeah yeah, pretty good.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah yeah, football weather, babe, I love this. Yeah. Well,
we had an eventful week on one hand and a
non eventful week on another hand. When it comes to things,
government shutdown is still going on, and of wherese they
left town Thursday, I guess, so maybe next week's the
week they do something about that. But in the midst
of all that, and by the way, the government shut
down did lead to it will continuely as long as

(01:43):
a lasts too, you know, maybe less than accurate numbers
for the Fed to take a look at. But regardless,
this past week, Jerome Powell, the Fed did cut the
rate again. So that's the second straight twenty five basis
point cut. But the next meeting is coming up next
month in December. Well because of the shutdown and such,

(02:06):
Powell kind of alluded to, well, yeah, don't maybe expect
another one, right, yeah, yeah, even nothing else. We don't
really know what the data is, but we want to
talk this morning about that. So it's a it's a
quarter point breakup. Number one, This is this is the
rate that is used set by the FED for banks
to lend money overnight to other banks. Yeah, okay, I

(02:30):
guess my first question would be banks are you know,
well publicly traded but I mean privately held. They're not
government entities. Uh and I ned thought about this before.
But but the FED, which is not also not a
government entity, how do they have the ability to tell
a bank this is what you can loan money to
another bank for overnight.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
That's a pretty good question. But I would say that.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
You know, that's that has been a tradition for you
know that that there are independent, independent bodies that have
the authority to say things to to uh, independent you know,
to to like for example, think about a public utility, right,
you know, public utility. Uh, the board has the right

(03:15):
to tell them this is what you can set your
rates at. And that's just the way the rules are.
But you know, like you think about like you know,
see and G or anything those or Duke or Dominion,
those are not private companies.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
Those they're they're public company.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
But they're overseen by a board that has the authority
to tell them what to do, you know, or within
reason you know what I mean, you can tell them
how much you can charge in that sort of thing.
So I think you call it the same sort of
thing here, Just that.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
The FED is a non governmental agency. Is usually we're
looking at like the Public Service Commission or the Office
of whatever the other one is. I forget what it is,
but anyway, I get you. Yeah, but that's it is
what it is. Yeah, all right, So that doesn't really
matter to us. What matters to us is, Okay, a
quarter point rate cut? How and when will that affect us?

(04:04):
So let's jump into that this morning. Uh what does
it mean to us?

Speaker 3 (04:08):
I mean, well, usually when when when? Typically when when rate? Well,
when that happens.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
The biggest thing that people see is, Okay, if I'm
going to buy a house, the my mortgage rate will
come down some Uh. If I'm going to buy a car,
my the the loan will come down. The rate on
that loan will come down. So generally speaking, these things
can help stimulate the economy for for the for certain things.
And uh, it can also usually help stimulate things like

(04:40):
the stock market, usually because businesses can borrow their money
for cheaper. That said, that doesn't always happen because that
happened earlier in the week, right, because that's already that
was already factored in the cake.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, yeah, the cake.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
What's going on?

Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah, So, but the the idea.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
Is, you know, they're they're walking a bit of a tightrope,
and I would not want their job because you know,
the idea is they're trying to pull the levers that
they have to get inflation down to the target of
two percent a year, and that hasn't happened yet.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
So that's one of the levers they can pull.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
But there's another one in Matthew and I were talking
about this on the way, which is to add money
to the economy or take money out of the economy,
and Matthew go ahead, jump in because we're having this.

Speaker 4 (05:26):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, So since June of twenty twenty two.
This was whenever the market and the economy kind of
slowed down, the FED they made a policy shift and
they said we're going to start taking money out of
the economy. That's typically what they do that for is
to lower inflation. So Jerome Powell, he announced earlier this

(05:47):
week that he was going to be making a policy
shift again starting December first, and they were going to
start putting money back into the economy, which is typically
good for stimulating the economy, making sure that banks have
enough cash on hand they're able to give out more loans,
everything across the board. It's intended to stimulate. So I know,

(06:09):
to me it's a unique timing though, because we did
have a little bit higher than anticipated inflation report.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
That was my question. Yea, because the more money you
put into the economy, that the less value that dollar
has not because of inflation.

Speaker 4 (06:22):
Yeah, well that was the discussion that John and I
were having before it. We're kind of scratching our heads
and we say, you know what, we don't want Jerome
Pau's job because he is in a very difficult situation. Right,
Your lowering rates typically in the past, whenever you would
be switching to this type of stance, it would be
happening whenever you're also lowering rates to because the goal

(06:44):
is to stimulate the economy. We know that we're seeing
a few large companies continue with layoffs whenever it comes
to their team and whatnot. We're not really sure if
the reason is because they're gearing up for a potential
recession or is that just because a lot of companies
are are really focused on this new thing called ai AI.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
The Amazon job cuts this past.

Speaker 4 (07:08):
Week absolutely, and you know, is that just the start
of something. I don't know if we'll continue to see that.
But the biggest thing is is whenever it comes to planning,
there's just so much uncertainty going on right now. And
that's the thing that we want to say is we
want to make sure that you need a plan for
regardless of what's going to happen, that you know that

(07:29):
you're going to be okay. And that's what we help
the families that we work with every single day. We
help them develop a plan. We want to make sure
that you're continuing to work for your goals and in
the event of a worst case scenario. We don't always
want to be a pessimist, right We're certainly always going
to hope for the best, but we want to be
planned for the worst because if that happens, we want
to make sure that you know you have the peace

(07:50):
of mind knowing that you're going to be okay.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
So yeaheah. I mean, it's interesting.

Speaker 3 (07:55):
You know, we talk a lot about about planning, and
the most important plan is an income plan, and you
know what you observe and what you read is that
there are a lot of people who underspend in retirement.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
I know that's going to sound surprising.

Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, that is for fear of running out, but that's
important to know really where you are now. Clearly, the
worst thing to happen would be to run out, but
the second worst would be to get to a point
in your life where you don't have the energy to
do the things that you really wanted to do, but
you're sitting on a pile of money that where you

(08:33):
could have done it.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
You know, that sort of thing.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
So the idea is to work with someone who can
actually have the sufficient tools and modeling to be able
to say, hey, this is where you are and this
is where you're going. And you know, as Matthew was
talking about, we don't want a bad thing to happen,
but the reality is you don't know when these bad
things are going to happen. Nobody knew exactly when the

(08:57):
tech bubble was going to happen, but it happened. Nobody
knew when COVID was going to happen. Certainly no one
knew when two thousand and eight was going to happen,
and you know, there is a I think many people
are discussing the looming AI bubble because you know, there's right,
so and that, so that's going to have significant impact
on the economy. It doesn't necessarily have to have significant

(09:19):
impact on your lifestyle.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
If you do a proper plan.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
Now, the average person's going to say, oh, yeah, we're
all about that. Guys. You know you just got a
diversify It'll put all your eggs in one basket. Well,
your definition at preservation specialists, your definition of diversification goes
far beyond what the average investors definition of diversification is.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
Yeah, I would I would exactly care because because what
you're describing is when someone says I'm diversified frequently, and
they come in and this is normal. It happens all
the time. They're diversified in their four oh one K
or their individual retirement account, and that is they have
a conservative stocks, they have tech stocks, they have medical stocks,
they have consumer staples, you know, pepsi and you know

(10:06):
the people who make a toilet paper, you know what
I mean, nother It's these people what people by every day.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
Right, So hopefully some vida and there something.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
Exactly yeah, right, but but the but the idea is
is that when you're diversified in that case, you're diversified
within the public stock market. And you know, think about
uh during the tech bubble, you know people people frequently say, well,
when when times get rough, I put my money into

(10:35):
utility stocks because they're steady, eddy, they pay a dividend
and so on. Okay, that's that is a strategy. But
on your own go check out what happened to Duke
uh in the in the tech bubble, Duke lost about half.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
Of its value over a three year period.

Speaker 3 (10:52):
Right, this is a stable steady where we go to
in a rain storm stock So the idea of diversification
is there are a lot other of other options outside
of the stock market that can really help you a
lot to weather these storms, and you don't. Now, clearly
the stock market is a great place for growth. I mean,

(11:14):
look at the growth that we've seen over the last
fifteen years. It's it's unprecedented. It hasn't happened in the
history of the stock market. It's the biggest uprun that
with the exception of the blip and COVID and a
little bit in twenty twenty two, it has been up, up, up,
up up, I mean crazy. But the issue is it's
not great to have all of what you need to

(11:35):
live on in that in that pool because that pool
cannot historically is not stable over the long time of
say a thirty year retirement. I mean, it's pretty likely
that there's going to be one of you know, the
academics call these things these black swan events, like something
you can't see coming happens.

Speaker 2 (11:56):
Well, that is going to happen.

Speaker 3 (11:58):
But what you want is you want your income plan
to be installated from that, if not totally, quite a
bit so that you know that, hey, I'm good, I
can continue to do what I'm doing. So not only that,
not only are you does it give you the comfort,
but it gives you the peace of mind, right because
you know, when you're when you're you know, think about it.

(12:18):
You know it's seventy five or eighty years old, you
want to think, do I have to go back and
be a greeter? You know, I mean, this is not
but but we see that once in a while with
people who are very you know, quote diversified in the
stock market. You know, that sort of thing happens. So yeah,
so so what are we talking about here.

Speaker 1 (12:34):
Yeah, get asked out of the stock market, what are
we what are we looking at here when it comes
to diversification Matthew.

Speaker 4 (12:40):
Yeah. So you know, most everyone is familiar with the
public stock market, that's public stocks, public bonds, But what
we're really talking about is things that are outside of that.
So that could be things that are either issues to
an insurance company. That's called annuities. So there's different many
different types of annuities, but we'll just say a new

(13:00):
for one is an option. But another area is things
that are found within the private market. And by private market,
there's very very many different areas that you can invest
into to achieve diversification there. It could be things such
as investing into private companies that are like private stocks
that are just not publicly traded. You could go into

(13:21):
commercial real estate, which has a very strong historical track
record of keeping pace with inflation and paying a very
steady eddy dividend. Another option that you can invest into
into the private world would be things such as private
bonds or collateralized loans. If you think about your mortgage
and what happens if you quit paying your mortgage, Well,

(13:44):
the bank's going to give you a foreclosure statement and
if you still don't pay, then they're eventually going to
come in. They're going to take over your home and
they're going to sell it to reimburse themselves. That is
what a collateralized loan is. It is simply a way
to make a loan that is the safest way possible.
So those types of loans, they pay dividends to our clients.
Right now, given the type of interest rate environment that

(14:06):
we've been in the last few years, they were paying
as high as eleven percent at one time. They're on
their way down as interest rates are also lowering. But
at the end of the day, as John mentioned, we
have ways to develop plans for clients in the event
of a worst case scenario, in the event of that
one in thirty year black swan event, if that occurs,

(14:27):
you're going to be okay. And to me, knowing that
you can have that peace of mind, that's priceless, you know,
And that's what we're looking to provide and give each
of our clients and families that we work with.

Speaker 1 (14:39):
So, John, I'm fascinated again by what you mentioned a
few minutes ago, and I'm curious at every ten people
or couples, families you work with. What would you say,
what percentage of those are actually doing what you talked
about doing? They're not spending enough? Oh, I would say.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
Half really yeah, yeah, I mean, because it's just it's
just so think about it though. I Mean, the wonderful
thing about people who come to us, and this is
really terrific, is that they're mostly savers. Right, they've spent there,
they've done the right things, they've done the heavy lifting,
they've they've they've sacrificed they you know, and this is

(15:21):
you know, you're talking about real quality people who come
in and said, I'm not spending beyond my means, and
I'm making sure that I have rainy day fund and
I'm making sure. You know, they've done all the right things.
So their hands are kind of clasped. But but there
has to be a time where we encourage them to
loosen their hands because hey, you've done that, You've gotten

(15:42):
yourself to a really good position, and now it's time
to to loosen that up. I mean, I could give
examples where you know, some people you cannot get through that.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
I can give you one.

Speaker 3 (15:53):
Example of of a of a of a of a
gentleman who there's no way he's going to spend all
of his money, and I keep encouraging him to say, hey,
and I'm doing my best, but.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
We just reachally went through this with my mom who
passed recently and her Kirk for the last couple of years.
Her question was always, am I gonna unt of money?
Am I gonna run of money? Am gonna wunt a money?

Speaker 3 (16:16):
Mom?

Speaker 1 (16:16):
You can lived one hundred and five. You're not gonna
round the money?

Speaker 2 (16:18):
Yeah, yeah, she did.

Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, but it's a it's a it's a it's a
tough sell man. Yeah, with that generation that held onto everything,
that's a tough sell to say, go spend some of it.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yeah, absolutely, all right.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
Well, so it's again it's a question and peace of mind.
And this is what you guys specialize in a preservation specialists,
John and Matthew. What's the best way to folks to
reach you and sit down for a free consultation? Right?

Speaker 2 (16:44):
Yeah, it's it's no cost, no obligation.

Speaker 5 (16:46):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (16:47):
We of course, in a first meeting, we'll ask you
a bunch of questions and the second meeting will have
some some thoughts. Again, both of them are no cost,
no obligation. It's getting to know us, uh and you
and us getting to know you. It's AIGHTO three to nine.
Retire at three nine retire, and I would also make
the observation. You know a lot of folks say I

(17:08):
have an advisor. That's great. A second opinion is always
free and not a bad one to discuss.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
So right, yeah, guys, you'll have a great weekend.

Speaker 2 (17:18):
Thanks Gerry you too.

Speaker 3 (17:20):
Hi, this is John Farling. Now let me ask you,
is your retirement inflation proofed? Here's what I mean in retirement.
Chances are you're on 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 2 (17:37):
You inflation proof it.

Speaker 3 (17:38):
Our team at Preservation Specialists can show you strategies to
help combat inflation so it doesn't outpace your retirement income.

Speaker 2 (17:46):
Call us today at.

Speaker 3 (17:47):
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 minor and
any call the team at ATO three nine Retire now
to start inflation proofing your retirement today at three nine

(18:08):
Retire that's eight three nine Retire.

Speaker 6 (18:11):
Securities offer through Okado's Capital member Finner and SFPC Advisory
Services off through Okados Will Preservation Specialist and Arcadios are
not affiliated through any ownership.

Speaker 7 (18:19):
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? Jeff Howell in Health Markets do
all the grunt work for you. They make the calls,

(18:39):
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 tone. Called Jeff

(19:02):
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 h O w l E dot com
and let them find the right insurance for you.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
Welcome back to the Health and Wellness Show on one
O three point five FM and five sixty AM w
E C. Jim Stell now joins the program from the
on office of James Snell. Good morning, my friend, Good morning,
go the heck are your brother?

Speaker 6 (19:34):
I will tell you what I'm I'm doing pretty good.
Uh up until Clemson, you know, kickoff. I think at
twelve somehow, you know we're still favored. Uh, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (19:48):
Somehow, Jim, Jim, it could be worse. You could be me.
You could be a game Cup fan. You're having a
better season.

Speaker 4 (19:57):
Hm.

Speaker 1 (19:58):
Well yeah, I did make this commed a couple of
weeks ago. I said, for folks like you that are
Clemson fans, you have an expectation every year that you're
going to play for the college football National Championship, right, Yes,
I mean that's like the baseline expectation for Clemson fans. Me,
on the other hand, as a Gamecock fan, I'm just thinking,
you know, you're playing for a bowl game, and it'd

(20:21):
be nice to to get into the college playoff. But
you know that's not an expectation. That's my feeling personally
of the Gamecock fans. You may disagree with me on this.
Clemson fans you may disagree too, But so for me,
you know, maybe it's less of a bummer. I don't know,
although for my game Cock is gonna be hard to
make a bowl game with the schedule that they got left,

(20:42):
including today tonight. Ole miss our best game Cock coverage,
A reminder starts at four o'clock this afternoon. Okay, yeah,
there you go. All right, all right? Brother, Uh, workman's comp.
You know, we talk about workman's comp from time to time.
And you know, when we first started talking about this,
I thought, well, let's start to talk about you know.
I mean, you're you're you're you're working, you're employed, something happens,

(21:04):
you get hurt. We got working workers conversation laws in
the state. We got a big chart up in the
back here of the radio station says, you know, workman's
comp blah blah blah blah blah. But but it can
it can get a little squarely, I guess at times.

Speaker 6 (21:15):
You know, it can. And and first I'll tell you
this you know, I've been doing this radio program now
for several years.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
Yeah, I will tell you.

Speaker 6 (21:23):
The you know, some of the best clients I get
from this radio show. Uh, I've got some wonderful you know,
done some lot of help for some wonderful people with
kind of car wrecks. But comp people, you know, work
as comp clients, right, And first thing is not every
time you know, somebody gets a bruise or a scrape knee,

(21:46):
do they need to file a comp.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
Action or get a lawyer.

Speaker 6 (21:49):
But the more serious injuries, certain you know, things are
requiring surgery, permanent disabilities, you know, permanent limitations. You know
where you're show older is never as good as it was,
or your knees never going to be as good as
it was. Those are situations where legal intervention can be
frequently as very helpful.

Speaker 1 (22:07):
See, I'm gonna guess, Jim, and you can tell me
I'm wrong or right. That probably a lot of folks
who get hurt on the job don't realize that they
can seek the advice of an attorney like yourself.

Speaker 6 (22:19):
I think an awful lot of people don't realize. They
don't understand it. Never you know, you grow up and
you know, of course, you know, I grew up in
the you know, eighties. I guess right, Yeah, you're younger
than me. Yeah, look right, But I mean, of course
I remember just being you know, I think attorney advertising
got legalized in the seventies, late seventies, eighties in that

(22:40):
and then we talked about it before. It's really interesting.
But I mean I grew up, you know, watching all
these so I'm you know, I'm from kind of Sparkrare
County and would watch you know, the Greenville County, uh,
you know TV stations and the TV station of Charlotte
and just you know, just so all the lawyer advertising, right,
and it's kind of amazing. You know, you don't pay
attention into it until you're sort of thrust in that world. Yeah,

(23:05):
and I mean yeah, I tell people that have no idea,
oh this is so so so every advertisement I've seen
over the last you know, fifty years of my life,
this is what you know, this is what it's for.
So it's always interesting. The first thing I would say,
anybody thinks that they may have a situation, you know,
we could help, or they just want to find out,
They're welcome to talk to us. It's free consultations, zero stress,

(23:29):
no obligation, and people can call us at eight zero
three three five nine three three oh one. But yeah,
I would agree with you. There are people that get
hurt at work, have legitimate injuries that are serious, that
just don't have awareness that they may have, you know,
legal rights that are implicated.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
So let's start from the start here on this. It
happens to you, You're you're you're hurt on the job,
What were the first Let's let's leave the the the
attorney out of it for just a second. Okay, what
do most people do? I mean, what, what's what's the process?
Notify your employer and then they just leave it in

(24:09):
their hands or.

Speaker 6 (24:11):
Yes, so, so obviously the first thing someone should do
they're injured at work. I mean, first of all, obviously,
if it's a you know, if medical, if depending on
the type of injuria, a hospital, yeah, I mean, note
on one, call an ambulance. I mean, deal with that
that sort of thing first. But as quickly as practical,

(24:34):
you got to notify your employer. You know, typically that's
notifying your manager or whoever the supervisor is for the
job site or the the office. You just got to
let them know. I got heard at work. Right, Employers
in South Carolina, most all employers are required to provide

(24:54):
workers compensation insurance. That insurance is going to be provided
by a for profit insurance company. Right. The employer just
pays premiums. You know, So filing a worker's compensation claim
is not directly it's it is against the employer, But
it's the insurance company that becomes responsible. Right, But you

(25:19):
got to let them know. The workers compensation insurance company
responsible for the claim then gets to decide what doctors,
what medical procedures.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
What you get? Right? Oh, you don't get a say
in that.

Speaker 6 (25:37):
Uh, I don't. I don't know if I say, you
don't get to say. But you don't get you don't
get to decide if you could argue it all day long. Yes, yes,
so they will pick you know, like like for for
orthopedic injuries or people with broken bones backs. You know,
there's several uh kind of larger practices in the Columbia

(25:57):
area that that you know, I think our majority workers
comp you know, clients are patients, I mean, but they
will that insurance company will then be responsible for directing
you to where to go for medical attention and be
seen and screened.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
Now that this assumes that again your your injuries aren't
severe enough to where you know, nine one one is
called when you're taken to an AMUS to an r
and then you're going into surgery right away and admitted
and all that correct.

Speaker 6 (26:28):
But I will tell you it is the employer through
the you know, usually the insurance company gets to pick
okay and if and there's situations which are you know,
emergencies where people do call nine to one and go
straight into the hospital. You know, there alsoirs situations where
people have legitimate claims, legitimate injuries and for whatever reason,

(26:53):
the insurance company denies the claim or refuses to cover
it or just to slow to respond, and then people
are left to their own devices to you know, go
to their own doctor, filing under their own insurance and
basically seek medical attention when the workers compensation insurance company

(27:14):
refuses to cover it.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
And that okay, yeah, or just doesn't respond, doesn't response,
and you've got to.

Speaker 6 (27:21):
Get the care because when in those situations, you know,
the remedy under the workers' comp system is to request
the hearing before the South kind of workers compensation commission
and ask the commission to order or require the carrier
to be responsible, right, you know, you know, find this

(27:44):
injury is covering a worker's comp order medical treatment. But
it can take a long time to get a hearing scheduled,
you know, take months.

Speaker 1 (27:54):
Meantime, you got to get it fixed.

Speaker 6 (27:55):
Yeah, in the meantime, you get get fixed. And in
those situations, you know, you can ask for hearing and
then at the hearing say, hey, they should have been
paying for this all along. You need to order them
to reimburse us.

Speaker 1 (28:07):
Right.

Speaker 6 (28:08):
But that's one of the areas where where whatever reason,
insurance companies are non responsive or slow, or they just
simply deny responsibility for something that they should be responsible for.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
How often denying responsibility and insurance companies is no new news,
of course unfortunately, but just slow to react or not
able to get in touch with or whatever. How often?
How often does that happen to these workmens? Is that
more than more than we think it would be? I
see it pretty regular, really, yeah.

Speaker 6 (28:39):
Now, of course I've never seen any kind of you know,
official you know, studies or any you know, I'm gonna
call it hard data. And I know my vantage point
is a little skewed because you know, I have a
lot of clients that tried to manage to claim themselves
right brain into problems. So I don't my pool of clients.

(29:02):
I'm assuming I have to have a higher percentage than overall,
but that being said, it's still a pretty good percentage.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
Well, now I'm curious. So in this scenario, you've had
to rely on your own health care insurance, which you
hopefully add uh in order to pay bills and such.
Now you go in front of a hearing to request
this workman's comp insurance company reimburse I guess your insurance

(29:33):
cuse now is your insurance company getting involved in this point?
Are they going to be that hearing too? Is it's
still all on you?

Speaker 6 (29:38):
I think it's all on you? Well really yeah, it's
it's kind of weird. It's a little weird. It's a weird.
It's a weird thing.

Speaker 1 (29:45):
I mean, I could get real messy because only are
you asking them to reimburse your healthcare company or are
you are you just there to get them to reimburse
whatever your deductibles and such and such and such word
and stuff the heal your health insured to go after
them for what they paid out.

Speaker 6 (30:01):
Yeah, and oftentimes if if the if the medical you know,
if the injuries determined compensable and the medical care is
determined to be the responsibility of the workers comp you
know carrier, right, you know, they're they're just going to
order the responsor for the bills and that probably is
gonna include a combination of rest you know, reimbursement to

(30:22):
the original insurance company like maybe the health insurance reimbursement
for any copays, payment directly to the proietar for any
unpaid balances. I mean just you know, it could be
a combination of this. Sense, So this is if.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
You try to do it on your own, you run
the problems. So thats you just documented. And it's certainly
you want to get somebody like yourself, Jim Snell, the
loss of James Snell involved. You don't have to wait
for that to happen though, or not happen, right.

Speaker 6 (30:47):
No, No, And we you know again, you know so
many of these situations, you know, we do get you know,
contacted by people you know, very recently after injuries and
they get to send kind of you know, ground level
I'm gonna call it. And there's you know a lot
of things we can do to be helpful at the beginning,
you know, keep up with medical records, keep up with

(31:08):
the course of treatment, kind of be involved in talking
to the adjusters about you know, advocating for you know,
whatever medical exams or treatments are necessary. So a lot
of stuff we can do to be helpful. Right, and again,
workers comp is an area where there's no we don't
require money to be paid or fees to be paid
up front.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
Well that that was my question because in personal injury law,
you know, you're going after an insurance company or an
individual or whomever, or a company, a trucking company, you
name it, and you're going to be you know, more
to damages and you're paying a contingency fee on that.
In a situation like this, I maybe I'm wrong, but
it seems a little different. I mean, you're just you're
just trying to get this insurance company to cover the

(31:51):
medical cost of your of your clients. So where does
your money come from? Okay, where does the attorney's money come from?
In that?

Speaker 8 (31:56):
All?

Speaker 6 (31:56):
Right, So tell how how things work in my office.
So the benefits people are eligible for under workers compensation
are the medical treatments, weekly checks, while they're unable to
work due to an injury. There's some small amount of
money typically for mileage to inform medical appointments, people have

(32:19):
scars or entitled some compensation. But the other thing is
after people finish medical treatments and are fully healed, okay,
they are entitled the compensation. Based on any permanent loss
of use or impairment, they're entitled to typically lump some compensation.

(32:42):
There can be a lot of wrangling over how much
that should be, what the body parts are, how it's calculated,
how it's determined. Our fee is based on a percentage
of that number. So I don't ChIL a contingents. Yeah,
I don't try to charge a fee out of people's
weekly checks or you know, the medical treatments and and

(33:04):
it's it's just based on that.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
So I'm guessing here, Jim, that again, if for somebody
like me before we had this conversation years ago, this
is how it works. Not knowing like a lot of
people don't know you could enlist the services of an
attorney in these cases. If you didn't, you probably didn't
know that that part of it could be available to
you as well. You're just thinking I need to get
them to pay for my medical expenses. And that's that.

(33:27):
And you just potentially missed out on there's another chunk
of money that you could well have been owed and correct.

Speaker 4 (33:34):
You know.

Speaker 6 (33:34):
And again, some some injuries, you know, fully heal people
recover one hundred percent, there is no impairment. Other people
are going to be dealing with the aftermath for the
rest of their life. And I would say this oftentimes,
you know, we do have our clients seen I'll call
it second opinions. You know, we get different doctors to
do evaluations, help us come up with you know, ratings

(33:57):
or our opinions as to the impairment, opinions as to
whether or not future medical care, medical treatments could be beneficial.
And we even if we do that, you know, we
advanced those costs. You know, the client doesn't pay out
of pocket. You know, we advance the costs and then
we're you know, reimbursed at the end of the case,

(34:18):
after you know, attorney fees are calculated. We're remburse for
expenses and the goals to give the client more money
in their pocket than they would have.

Speaker 1 (34:27):
Had otherwise otherwise, which is the same approach personal injury law.

Speaker 6 (34:31):
Yes, and that's that's you know, we're just here to
try to help people, right.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
So so again, you could somebody could come in with
the workman's comp case and you could look at it
and study it and say, you know, it's not going
to be in your best interest to a hire an
attorney you can get all the time, yeah, Bet, And
I guess, and I don't want to cast any aspersions
here on the medical industry, but I'm guessing, as you

(34:54):
mentioned earlier, since the insurance company of these cases is
getting to pick and tell you you've got to go
see this doctor and that doctor, I'm guessing this is
where a second opinion kind of comes in because these
particular medical outfits getting a lot of a lot of
work from these workman's insurance companies might cotentially could potentially

(35:19):
be a little biased one way or another.

Speaker 6 (35:20):
I will tell you know, so my just my opinion,
right or what I've seen over the last you know,
twenty years. Oftentimes those practices that you know can't provide
very very good, very competent quality medical services. The the
issues get into at the end when people finish healing
and it's like do they have a permanent appairment, right yeah, right,

(35:44):
and then and then sometimes you know, I've seen people,
you know, post surgery and they clearly have an impairment,
you know, they and the doctor fills out the form
zero percent, you know, no, no impairment at all. And
you know, and I got some client now that can
tell it's going to rain, you know, yeah, he knows
it's raining, you know, next Tuesday, and you know on

(36:04):
Nebraska just based on the shoulder ache and some of
those are stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (36:08):
But that's when it gets subjective.

Speaker 6 (36:09):
Yeah, yeah, So well, I want to just thank you
so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
Always a pleasure, my friend.

Speaker 6 (36:14):
And if anybody needs to reach out at eight zero
three three five nine three three oh one our visit
online at snow law dot com three lssnow law dot com.

Speaker 1 (36:22):
All right, thank you, Jim.

Speaker 7 (36:23):
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? Jeff Howell and Health Markets do
all the grunt work for you. They make the calls,

(36:43):
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 get a
small business, an individual or seeking a family plan, they
have you covered literally from head to tone. Called Jeff

(37:06):
Howell in Health Markets at eight O three six seven
eight eight one two one, or visit Jeffhowel dot com
that's eight O three six seven eight eight one two
one or Jeff Howle dot com and let them find
the right insurance for you.

Speaker 8 (37:23):
Good morning, this is 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

(37:45):
to clean the air in your home, particularly if you
have coughing, sneezing rashes on your body. This could be
because of mole 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

(38:05):
have any airborne issues in your home. This is Larry
Harris with Classic Systems eighth three six two six, two
seven four eight eight oh three six two six two
seven four eight.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
Five sixty AMWVOC and join now by Jeff Howell over
at health Markets head Lexington, as we're in the midst
of of Medicare open enrollment and Jeff, good morning, tell youbody.

Speaker 5 (38:33):
Good morning Gary. Yes, they're exciting times right now.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
Yeah, keeps a little busy, a little hopping over there.

Speaker 6 (38:38):
I know.

Speaker 1 (38:38):
Now I would say this right up front. You do
accept walkins, but this time of the year is kind
of hard to shoe horn folks in, isn't it.

Speaker 5 (38:46):
We always accept walk ins, always to help people, always
willing to help people. And one thing I remind people
people ask me almost in every appointment is how much
do our charge for our services? And the answer is zero,
zero dollars. I'm free what So you know, essentially a person,
you know, I show them their options, whether it's a

(39:06):
Medicare advantage plan or a Medicare supplement plan, you know,
with prescription drug coverage. And if they choose a plan,
let's say they choose a Blue Cross, right, blue Cross
will pay me a commission, so they pay so the
person my client pays me nothing, but the price they
pay for that Blue Cross plans the exact same price

(39:27):
if they had to go out and research it on
their own.

Speaker 1 (39:29):
Right. So this is a no brainer It's a no brainer,
total no brainer. Now we will had to help. We
should mention too, Jeff. That again, while you do accept walkins,
you are busy this time of the year, so I
know you encourage folks to make an appointment ahead of
time by giving you a call or dropping your text,
right for sure?

Speaker 5 (39:45):
For sure, Hey, all go and get my phone number.
We'll do at the end. Also, my phone number is
eight zero three six seven eight eight one two one
eight oh three six seven eight eighty one twenty one.
That's my call or text number.

Speaker 1 (39:58):
Okay. In your website, Jeff, how dot com, howl dot com? Okay, right,
all right, So we're into open enrollment now. Now, certainly
if you're if you're not, or if you're just getting
to the age of Medicare. This open enrollment season again
is not necessarily meaningful. When you when you hit that age,
you enroll regardless, no matter what time of the year

(40:20):
it is, of course, and you can do that well
about three months ahead of time, right, And is that right?
Three months before or after your birthday? You're sixty two,
that's right.

Speaker 5 (40:29):
So someone who turns sixty five in April, they'll have
their own special enrollment because they're turning sixty five. So
a person who has turned sixty five in the past
and our is already on a Medicare advantage plan or
a Medicare a sespment with prescription drug plan, is their
open enrollment to make any changes between October fifteenth and
December seventh.

Speaker 1 (40:49):
Right, you don't have to make any changes, right, I mean,
there's no stipulation that says you got to change anything,
is there?

Speaker 5 (40:55):
Some people do because they're losing their plans. So there
are couple popular healthcare Medicare advantage plans. They're leading the
state of South Carolina this year. And so all of
those people who are on those United Healthcare ARP Medicare
advantage plans, their coverage will end December thirty first. So

(41:18):
I'm seeing a lot of those people in the Lexton
County and Richmond County and Saluta County areas who are
losing that United Healthcare Medicare advantage plan.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
Do you know, off top of your head or just ballpark,
what percentage of people on Medicare advantage plans on our
state are losing the coverage because of that plan going away.

Speaker 5 (41:35):
I mean, that's a good question. I don't know that
particular percentage, but I know United Healthcare had a very
strong year last year with these two plans. One reason
being is that they were very low cost on brand drugs.
So if a person came into my office, or if
they searched it on their own, or they met with

(41:57):
another agent and we plugged in their description drugs and
they were on a brand drug. Oftentimes these two particular
PPO plans came up as a winner and that's the
one they signed up with. However, maybe that's why they're
going away. You know, health Care probably lost a lot
of money on these plans, and unfortunately, the Almighty dollar

(42:19):
often directs some of these insurance companies decisions. And so
now my clients who are on these plans and people
who I'm being for the first time this open enrollment,
are going to have to make a change.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
Okay, how many different plans are Medicare advantage plans are
options for us? Here in South Carolina?

Speaker 5 (42:39):
We have about sixty the sixty helpman.

Speaker 1 (42:42):
Did you take sixty?

Speaker 5 (42:44):
Yes, sir?

Speaker 1 (42:44):
Six? Zero? Really that many? Huh?

Speaker 5 (42:47):
We have a lot. We have a lot of options,
and there are many good companies and many good plans
for people. So, you know, people who are on the
nine healthcare you know, I tell them not to worry
too much. We'll find them a good replacement plan for
twenty twenty six.

Speaker 1 (43:03):
And we'll get into the particulars of Medicare advantage of
supplements and such. But are that there are changes on
the prescription drug plan side of the traditional Medicare this year,
aren't there?

Speaker 5 (43:17):
Correct? That's right. So two years ago a law went
into effect that the maxim out of pocket for prescription
drug plans was two thousand dollars. That was for twenty
twenty five. That's been bumped up to twenty one hundred
dollars for twenty twenty six. That's still a good law.
And so that means that you know, any person who

(43:38):
has expensive drugs you know that don't have a generic
let's say Jaradiance, eloquist ozempic, you know, for examples. You know,
they pay their copays during the year in twenty twenty six,
and once the retail costs of their drugs hit twenty
one hundred, they're done. They hit their maxim out of
pocket and they'll pay zero the rest of the year.

(43:59):
So that was a good law to replace the old
system where the maxaw pocket was eight thousand dollars.

Speaker 1 (44:05):
Oh wow, yes, yeah, but that's just if you're on
the traditional Medicare plan, right with your prescription drug card.

Speaker 5 (44:11):
That's a good question. No, So that applies to Medicare
advantage plans as well, really, because Medicare advantage plans have
the prescription drug card built into them, so that twenty
one hundred is whether you're on a Medicare advantage plan
or a standalone prescription drug plan, So.

Speaker 1 (44:27):
The same card. Okay, okay, good good.

Speaker 5 (44:33):
One thing we see in the market this year, also,
Gary us one to mention is a lot of these
prescription drug plans, the prices are being raised on the premium. So,
like anything in life, because we have good news on
the maxi amount of pocket on the drug costs. The
insurance company's reaction is to raise the costs of the

(44:54):
prescription drug cards.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
Right.

Speaker 5 (44:56):
So, whereas we still have many Medicare advanta edge plan
to have zero premium if someone has a Medicare suppa
and a separate prescription drug card, many of those prices
on the scription drug cards are going sky high this year,
and so we've seen a lot of people who are
having to either make a change on their drug card
or their interest in coming in again and talking about

(45:18):
the Medicare advantage option.

Speaker 1 (45:19):
I see, okay, all right now as in general, now
not just Medicare here, but just speaking in general, I mean,
we keep hearing that the cost of health care insurance
is going up pretty dramatically for a lot of folks
this year employeees, sponsor plans, everything else, a trend that
I guess we're probably going to continue to see coming

(45:39):
it sounds like.

Speaker 5 (45:43):
So whereas Medicare is not tied to what we've seen
with the discussions with the government shut down and Affordable
Care Act insurance, the same insurance companies are involved. Right,
so you know, whether no matter what insurance company we're
talking about, these health insurance companies have under sixty five

(46:07):
plans around the country, and of course they have Medicare
plan around the country, so it's all interconnected. So yes,
the rising price of healthcare, the rising price of health
insurance premiums under sixty five is still we can't you know,
Medicare can't get away from it, and so Medicare premiums

(46:28):
and these prescription drug plans, I'm sure there is an effect.

Speaker 1 (46:31):
Are there any any other changes to Medicare plans as
we have this enrollment period for twenty twenty six underway
right now OtherSide from we just talked about.

Speaker 5 (46:41):
It, I think for sure. So a person who's on
a Medicare advantage plan will get a letter in late
September early October. You know, people have already gotten it
called an Annual Notice of Change letter letter, and that
annual notice a change letter will let them know what
their new benefits are twenty twenty six. So no Medicare

(47:03):
plan advantage plan ever, stays static. Right, There's always changes,
some for the bad and sometimes for the good, but
they never stay the same. Insurance companies get different amounts
of money from the federal government for these Medicare advantage plans,
and that changes the benefits that they provide every.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
Year, So unlike being on traditional Medicare, typically not a
lot of changes year to year. I guess under the
traditional plan.

Speaker 5 (47:30):
So that's yeah, that's that's a great question. So a
Medicare supplement, Let's say if a person has a Plan
F or a Plan G, the two most popular ones,
those don't change as far as what their benefits are.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
Now.

Speaker 5 (47:44):
The Plan G has a one time deductible called the
part BE Medicare deductible. For example, in twenty twenty five,
that was two hundred and fifty seven dollars. So the
first time a person goes to a doctor hospital gets treatment,
they pay that two hundred and fifty seven do are deductible,
and then they don't pay anything for the rest of
the year. We do not know yet what the part

(48:05):
BE deductible will be for twenty twenty six as of
right now, you and I talk you know who. You
get that information late November or maybe early December. I
don't think Congress all rated too much. Right We're in
an election year, right, a congressional election year. I don't
see them pumping that number up too much. So it

(48:27):
may get from two fifty seven to two sixty to
who knows, But I don't think it's going to be
a big race.

Speaker 1 (48:33):
But and.

Speaker 5 (48:37):
Year, but that would be the only change.

Speaker 1 (48:38):
Okay, Now again we're talking about in this open enrollment period.
This is for folks who are already on Medicare want
to make some changes or just explore do I need
to make some changes. But let's step outside of that
box for just a second here, if we can, Jeff again,
for people that are approaching Medicare age and don't really
yet understand the differences between the traditional Medicare. You know,

(49:00):
the Part A the Part B, which everybody's got to
have at sixty five or unless you're still gainfully employed
and you have to have the Part A regardless.

Speaker 5 (49:09):
Right, But yeah, so let's let's talk about that first.
So a person's still working and they're still on their
group health plan, and they want to continue on their
group health plan, they don't need to do much of anything.
Medicare will mail them a card with their Part A
because they turn sixty five. But that person is essentially
deferring Part B, the part that costs money. Most people

(49:31):
pay one hundred and eighty five dollars a month for
Part B, and that'll be raised next year too, by
the way, we don't know what that's going to be,
but twenty twenty five it's one eighty five a month,
but that can be deferred as long as the person's
on their group health plan. And then when they do retire,
let's say three years from now, they would call Medicare
up about two to three months before their retirement date

(49:51):
and then enroll in Part B when their group health ends.
Now the person is say self employed, and they don't
have a group health plan, then about three months before
they turn sixty five, they'll contact Social Security, which is
also Medicare, and go rolling Parts A and B. Both
A the free part B it costs to one eighty five,

(50:14):
and then they would choose between a Medicare advantage plan
Choice one or Choice two, a Medicare supplement with the
prescription drug card.

Speaker 1 (50:21):
Okay, So that's that's when it gets different for different people. Right,
which way do you go? Do you stay traditional or
do you go with the Medicare advantage plans? And there
are pros and cons that You've said it many times.
It depends on the situation, right, But I guess with
as you just mentioned, we don't know what the price
is going to be for Part B, you know for

(50:42):
twenty twenty six. But the you've got to have amb
regardless right, correct.

Speaker 5 (50:50):
Correct, and when if you're working with a group health
plan that is correct or you'll get penalized. You got
to have part absolutely.

Speaker 1 (50:56):
But but then beyond that there are other parts if
nothing else, prescription drug card you need if you stay traditional.
And this is where people, many are and many more
every year seem to be going the Medicare advantage. Right?
Is that a cost saving thing? Is that a benefits thing?
What is that?

Speaker 5 (51:13):
All of the above, and there's always trade offs. So
a Medicare advantage plan covers everything that original Medicare covers. However,
instead of you paying twenty percent of the cost, Like
if the person just had red, white, and blue card
their Medicare A and B card that essentially just covers
eighty percent of doctors and hospitals with some deductibles that

(51:36):
person would have to pay, Medicare advantage has to cover
everything the original Medicare covers. Now you replace that twenty
percent with copeys. So now instead of paying twenty percent
and you go to your primary care doctor. Most Medicare
advantage plans have zero copay to primary care doctor instead
of paying twenty percent. You go to see a specialist.

(51:58):
You might have a forty hour copaid the specialists. So
there's set copays in a Medicare advantage plan that I
show each person and then they choose. You know, if
that Medicare advantage plan is right for them, but.

Speaker 1 (52:09):
Isn't there's more potential out of pocket.

Speaker 5 (52:11):
It depends on what we're comparing it to. So if
a person just has original Medicare, that twenty percent has
an unlimited out of pocket right compared to a Medicare
advantage plan which has an out of pocket which could
range between six to ten thousand dollars.

Speaker 1 (52:27):
Okay, well, there's a lot to digest there, I know.
And uh, if you're on Medicare right now, so December
seventh is the final date to make your changes. Jeff again,
give us that phone number, that website how folks can
get ahold of you for your free help.

Speaker 5 (52:43):
Fantastic. Yes, So my office is right beside the flight
Deck restaurant and Lexington Health Markets Insurance. My phone number,
call or text to get an appointment. Eight zero three
six seven eight eight one two one. That's eight zero
three six seven eight eighty one twenty one. My website's
my name www dot Jeff howl E dot com.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
All right, thank you, Jeff. Appreciate anybody thanks, it's scared.
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.

Speaker 2 (53:51):
Contact me at Snell Law dot com.

Speaker 1 (53:53):
That's three l's spell law dot com.

Speaker 6 (53:56):
The Law Office of James Snell since two thousand and
four with off This is in Lexington and Columbia,