Medicare 101 Episode 129

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Excel in Retirement podcast,
where we help good people makewise financial decisions so that
they may excel in retirementwith confidence.
Learn more at clientsexcel.com.
Now to your host, David Treese.

UNKNOWN (00:18):
David Treese.

SPEAKER_02 (00:23):
All right, hello and welcome to episode 129 of the
Clients Excel podcast.
This is Felicia Page and I'vegot Mr.
David Treece here with me today,and we're going to be talking
about Medicare.
So as of yesterday, it wasOctober 15th, and we have open

(00:44):
enrollment for Medicare, andthat's going to be open through
December 7th.
So you definitely want to getyour changes made, or if you're
just starting to get startedwith Medicare, you definitely
want to listen to this anddetermine what it is that you
can do.
So stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00 (01:00):
Thank you, Felicia.
I appreciate you hosting ustoday.

SPEAKER_02 (01:31):
Mary, first question.
Who is eligible for Medicare?

SPEAKER_00 (01:35):
Yeah, when we attain the age of 65 and we have
worked, I believe it's 10 years,we are eligible.
Either us, we have workedourself or our spouse have
worked, we are eligible forMedicare.
And the government says thatthey will pay 80% of our health
care costs with a few caveats.

SPEAKER_02 (01:55):
Okay, awesome.
80% is awesome.

SPEAKER_00 (01:58):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (01:58):
So obviously, I know sometimes I hear Part A, Part B.
So can you kind of tell us alittle bit about that?
What is Part A Medicare?

SPEAKER_00 (02:06):
Yeah, so in that 80%, you have Part A and Part B.
And so Part A, just rememberadmitted.
So Part A helps you if you'reever admitted to a hospital and
you get a bed overnight.
And so that's your hospitalcoverage.
There is a deductible with that,but there's no cost on a monthly
basis with this, part B is youroutpatient care.

(02:30):
So anytime you see a healthcareprovider outside of a hospital,
part B would cover you.
Now, if you went to theemergency room for say, God
forbid you had a broken arm orsomething like that, and they
patched you up and you werethere for a few hours and then
left, part B would cover you forthat.
So part A only helps you if youget admitted to the hospital.

SPEAKER_02 (02:54):
Okay.
All right.
And so obviously you coveredPart B as well as outpatient
care.
Yep.
So obviously we've got 80% ofthis Medicare covered.
So there's this 20%, right?

SPEAKER_00 (03:07):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (03:07):
That's left over.
So what are our options withthat?

SPEAKER_00 (03:11):
So there's a couple different options, but I
probably should add one moredetail about Part B.
One of the caveats with that isthe government charges you.
And this year in 2023, it startsat$174.10.
It's based on your income, andthat is per person.
And they just released, thegovernment just released the

(03:34):
figures for next year.
And I believe we said it was185, right, Felicia, next year?
Yes.
A complaint I often hear frompeople is the cost of living
adjustment that Social Securityprovides normally offsets the
increase for Medicare.
And so it doesn't feel likepeople sometimes are getting
much of an increase in theirSocial Security benefits, or at

(03:56):
least that's what I've heardpeople say to me.
And so that goes up withinflation, though.
And so you have the 20% thatyou're responsible for.
Another good detail is if you're65, you're you're probably gonna
get inundated with solicitationsand people telling you you have
to make decisions.

(04:17):
And the government's reallyserious about you getting on
Part B when you turn 65.
If you don't get on it at theappropriate time, then they're
going to penalize you for therest of your life.
And in my 13 years of doing thiswork, I've seen one person.
Of course, Medicare isn't afocal point of our business, but

(04:38):
we like to educate people aboutthis and be a resource for them.
But I've interacted with onelady, and for whatever reason,
she was in her early 70s at thatpoint.
This has probably been 10 yearsago or more.
But she did not get on Medicareregularly.
when she turned 65 and thepenalty was substantial that she

(05:01):
had to pay when she got ontoMedicare in her early 70s.
And so they really want you todo it at the right time.
But let's say though that youenjoy your career and you have
health insurance coveragethrough your employer and the
government uses the termcredible coverage.
And so if you have crediblecoverage like a traditional

(05:23):
under 65 year old plan orwhatnot, you do not have to
start Medicare at 65.
If you were going to retire atsay 67 and then you were not
going to have access to thatemployer plan anymore, you must
start part A and Part B and PartD, which we'll get to here in a

(05:43):
minute, at that point.
Otherwise, you will be penalizedfor the rest of your life.
So they're very serious aboutthat, but you don't have to do
anything if you have crediblecoverage at 65.
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (05:56):
And just since we're kind of talking about that, what
do these people have to do inorder to register for this?
Is there a registration processor how do they come about
getting

SPEAKER_00 (06:05):
Medicare?
Yeah, there's a can always go toyour local Social Security
office and start your benefitsthere.
And that can be a situationwhere you might want to take a
good book and a glass of waterbecause you might be waiting for
a little bit there.

SPEAKER_02 (06:24):
Kind of like the

SPEAKER_00 (06:25):
DMV?
Yes, yes, exactly.
I find the Medicare website andthe Social Security website to
be pretty user-friendly becauseHopefully, by that point when
you're starting Medicare, youhave already set up your Social
Security login.
I'm not certain on this, but Ithink your login for Social
Security to view your benefitsthat you're going to get.

(06:48):
is the same for Medicare.
I'm pretty sure, I'm notpositive on that, but I have
helped people in the office pullup their Medicare site and you
can register right there andit's pretty user-friendly.
I mean, I would have an hourreserved to take care of that.
It probably won't take you thatlong, but just to keep the
stress level low.

(07:08):
The other thing is, is you canstart your Medicare benefits
start working on the applicationprocess three months before you
turn 65, the month you turn 65,and then three months
afterwards.
And so that's the window.
And so if you're going to retireand you need to start Medicare,
in order to keep the stresslevel low, you might want to

(07:29):
start working on that a couplemonths before your targeted
retirement date.

SPEAKER_02 (07:34):
Okay.
Do they have to do anythingannually to maintain it or is it
like a set it and forget it kindof thing?

SPEAKER_00 (07:39):
So yes, you should look at your benefits yearly.
So let's go to that 20% thatyou're responsible for.
So that's 20% of any number.
It might be 20% of$5 or if youhad a lot of medical expense of
a million dollars.
And so that's not something thatyou want to try to self-insure
for normally.
And so there's two routes youcan go.

(08:01):
The The oldest route is with aMedicare supplement.
And there's, I believe there's10 different Medicare supplement
plans that you can choose from.
And Plan G is normally thoughtto be the most comprehensive
plan that covers the most stuff.
And Plan G covers 100% of that20% that you are responsible

(08:24):
for.
It covers the Part A hospitalcoverage deductible.
There is a small deductible thatyou have to pay a couple hundred
dollars the first time you go tothe doctor in the year and
that's something you pay everyyear but for a monthly cost that
is Some people may find itaffordable, some people may not.

(08:47):
The opinions vary on this, but alot of times, I have found in my
personal experience that people,a lot of times, Medicare is a
little bit cheaper than theirplan they were using when they
were under 65, but of course,everyone's experience is gonna
be a little bit different withthat, but a Plan G will cost a
monthly amount, and you can gothat route.

(09:10):
There's different plans that youcan use, so you could evaluate
those different plans.
If I were 65, which I am not atthis point, I would use a
Medicare Plan G probably.
That would be my preference.
Good people are going to have avast array of choices there.

SPEAKER_02 (09:29):
For sure.
What is it specifically aboutthe Plan G that you think and
find so beneficial?

SPEAKER_00 (09:34):
I think that it provides the most liberty with
going to whatever doctor thataccepts Medicare that you want
to go to.
If you travel at all, asupplement may be better for you
because you don't have as manyrestrictions on doctors that you
can go to like you would in aMedicare Advantage plan.
And that's the main reason, justmore liberty with where you can

(10:00):
go.

SPEAKER_02 (10:00):
Yeah, absolutely.
I know I like to choose mydoctors.

SPEAKER_00 (10:03):
Yes, no doubt.
For

SPEAKER_02 (10:05):
sure.
All right.
So you mentioned the Advantageplan.
I'm guessing that's the otheroption instead of the supplement
plan.
So tell us a little bit moreabout that.

SPEAKER_00 (10:12):
so an advantage plan i believe those came about under
george w bush in 2006 and youhave a ppo or an hmo of doctors
and health care providers thatyou need to go to when you have
an advantage plan and generallyan advantage plan has no monthly
cost for that coverage but youtypically will pay co-pays and

(10:33):
deductibles when you get careAnd there can be multiple
co-pays and deductibles, and soit's very important with an
Advantage plan to know what yourpotential out-of-pocket cost is.
Some of those Advantage planshave a drug plan and silver
sneakers and various differentbenefits embedded into them.

(10:56):
If you do not get an Advantageplan that has a drug plan and
you go with a supplement, youmust get Part D, which is a drug
plan also.
All

SPEAKER_02 (11:07):
right.
Anything else we need to talkabout in terms of the drug plan
itself?

SPEAKER_00 (11:11):
Yeah.
So a drug plan is based on yourincome, the cost, but there's a
tool on Medicare.gov that youcan type in the brand names of
any prescriptions you take andthe dosages and quantities.
And it will tell you the mostefficient plan for you to take.
And that is something that youwant to evaluate every year
during annual election period inOctober, November, and the early

(11:34):
part of December to make surethat your plan is the best one,
especially if you've gotten newdrugs prescribed to you that
year.
That's important to look at.
Even if you are not takingprescriptions, the government
requires you to have thatprescription drug plan.
That is important.
important too.

SPEAKER_02 (11:53):
Awesome.
All right.
Any other final notes aboutMedicare that we should really
discuss?

SPEAKER_00 (11:59):
The first time that we get on Medicare, the
insurance companies, whetherthat's an Advantage plan or a
supplement company, cannot askyou any health questions.
It's what's called a guaranteedissue period.
And so you could literally havea foot in the grave and they
would have to give you any planthat you wanted.
And so it may be advisable ifyou have health challenges to

(12:22):
make a good decision that firsttime.
That's important to understand.
I think that is what I wouldcall Medicare 101, though.
That's a high-level overview.
There's nuance to it, of course,when it comes to those advantage
plans, especially in thesupplements.
And we would be happy to referyou to somebody that specializes

(12:43):
in that, that can help you withit, or talk through your
questions that you might have onthat.

SPEAKER_02 (12:48):
Awesome.
Well, we appreciate youeducating us here today.

SPEAKER_00 (12:52):
Yeah.
Thank you, Felicia.
Anything else you have?

SPEAKER_02 (12:55):
I think that's it.

SPEAKER_00 (12:56):
Okay.
Well, we always appreciate ourlisteners and look for another
show

SPEAKER_02 (13:00):
soon.

SPEAKER_01 (13:07):
Yes, sir.
Investing involves risk,including potential loss of
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Insurance guarantees are backedby the financial strength and

(13:30):
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(13:52):
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(14:14):
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SPEAKER_00 (14:42):
And just a couple more words about Medicare.
Enrollment in the plan dependson the plan's contract renewal
with Medicare.
We do not offer every planavailable in your area.
Any information we provide islimited to those plans we do
offer in your area.
Please contact Medicare.gov or1-800-Medicare to get

(15:04):
information on all of youroptions.
Availability of benefits andplans varies by carrier and
location.
Deductibles, copays, andcoinsurance may apply.
Plans purchased after initialenrollment period are subject to
eligibility requirements.
We are not affiliated withMedicare or any other

(15:25):
governmental agency.
By contacting us, you will beconnected with a licensed
insurance agent.