August 20, 2025 • 25 mins
Learning about Medicare Tennessee learning about open enrollment Tennessee Senior Health Care
Ask The Experts Atlanta is broadcast live Wednesdays at 10AM ET on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Ask The Experts Atlanta is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
Ask The Experts Atlanta Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ask-the-experts-atlanta--5773655/support.
Ask The Experts Atlanta is broadcast live Wednesdays at 10AM ET on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Ask The Experts Atlanta is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
Ask The Experts Atlanta Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ask-the-experts-atlanta--5773655/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The topics and opinions express in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests and not
those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability,
explicit or implied shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio
or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should
be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing
(00:21):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome to the Ask the Experts Show on W FOURCY
Radio and Talk for TV, where we bring you educational
information from top local experts in the fields of legal, health,
financial and home improvement. Now sit back and listen to
experts in family law, association law, hearing laws, business brokers,
(00:47):
home care, along with many other topics. Now Here are
your hosts, Stevo and Sophia.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Hey, Good morning, Tennessee. Welcome to another sc Expert show.
This is our sixteenth year of doing the Nasty Expert
Show and I am so excited about this morning show.
For back to the last four years, we get your
emails and your texts asking us to add a show
(01:16):
on medicare, and I, of all people, should know how
important it is to be educated when it comes to medicare,
because I screwed up so bad in the beginning and
it costs me dearly. You don't want that happening to you.
So we extended Tennessee, which enabled us to get one
(01:41):
of the greatest medicare experts. I can see his head
growing right now. You know, the guy has got to
be a good guy when the name of this company
is nice guydic Mister nice Guy Medicare, let's welcome our
new expert Tennesse.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
All coming to you from Franklin, Tennessee. Good morning to you, sir.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
My little brother. It seemed like we've been brandy. It
seemed like we've been talking about this forever and the
day has finally come.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
Doesn't it always come good?
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Bad?
Speaker 4 (02:18):
And when it always comes? And here I am ready
to talk to you about.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
We are so happy and decided that you're gonna be
with us every month, all us about mister nice guy Medicare. Well.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
So, I've been an independent medicare broker in Tennessee since
twenty ten, so I've been at this for quite a while.
Don't let my youthful looks fool you. I've been doing
this for a minute. I've been in medicare since two
thousand and seven, independent since twenty ten. And I didn't
(02:53):
always go by mister nice guy Medicare Advisor.
Speaker 5 (02:56):
I used to go by the.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Very generic RWH Insurance Solutions. That's boring, I know, right,
it could be. It's like an ACME insurance. You know,
it's a generic sound right.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Here you go.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
So me and my wife were talking one day, this
is probably around twenty eighteen or so, and she's like,
you know, why don't you change your name to something
that's about you?
Speaker 5 (03:20):
And I'm like, I don't know. She goes, well, you're
a nice guy. And then it just woh.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
She's like, like, mister nice guy medicare advisor. She's like,
I think.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
That sounds good and wow. So I've been calling myself
that since twenty eighteen.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
What a great name, and I got it. I'm gonna
tell you just a little short story, Randy. I gotta
tell you my first agent here in Florida. It is
so important that you get a good agent. And I
know what a good agent is now, but my first agent,
(03:57):
I didn't hear from him for a year, and then
all of a sudden, I start seeing all these commercials
on TV and we're giving this and we're giving that.
I'm going, well, why hasn't he called me to tell
me all the new things? And I called him up,
which I shouldn't have. He should have called me, but
he said, oh, I've been busy. It's like, are you
(04:19):
kidding me? So I learned then how important is to
have a good agent. And you're an independent agent, so
that means you represent a lot of different companies. Correct.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Yeah, So here in Tennessee, we have different Medicare supplements
and different Medicare advantage plans, and I am authorized to
offer I think every Medicare advantage plan and about twenty
different Medicare supplements. And here's how it works. Steve is like,
I'm a matchmaker. That's kind of what I do. So
depending on your situation, you could tell me. You know
(04:55):
what your health history is, or what your threshold for
risk is, what your budget is, you know whatever pre
existing biases you have are. And I kind of talk
to people and based usually on doctors, drugs, and other factors,
I try to come up with what I think is
the best approach for them where I offer them several
(05:18):
options and the people don't pay me. That's what's that's
what's crazy or awesome for you guys, the Medicare beneficiaries.
You guys don't pay me anything. It's these companies that
pay me. And when it comes to Medicare advantage, they
all pay me the same. So I'm not biased by
anything other than what's best for each person. And when
(05:40):
it comes to reaching out to my clients. So there's
a fine balance I've found between being being too too
touchy feely and not being responsive at all. So there's
like a what do you call it, like a threshold
in there, Like there's a word I'm thinking about. It'sn's
coming to me. But there's a spectrum, that's the word.
Speaker 5 (06:01):
So there's a spectrum.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
So I try to So what I do every year
is I send them a letter, usually around early September,
and then I'll reach out to them with a phone
call in early October to bring them up to date
on changes. I used to call more often, but some
people they are like, I'm good, you don't have to
keep calling me, So I kind of I kind of
(06:23):
settled on that, And I always let people know. If
you see a commercial on TV or you hear your
neighbor phyllis talking about the plan she has.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
I can offer all of them, so ask me.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
I'll be happy to tell you if it's legitimate or not,
because a lot of these ads you see are totally
bait and switch, so they.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Try to wow they are many of them are.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Yeah, So they try to give you like the best
possible scenario in America when it might be just a
couple counties in America to offer that plan or what
they're offering on TV is for people who have Medicare
and Medicaid both, which when people have Medicare and Medicaid both,
(07:06):
they have access to different, better plans than people just
Medicare A and B. So I know I've talked a bit,
but does that all make sense to you?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Yes? Absolutely, Listen. I would have been happy with just
a letter, you know, yeah, hey, yeah, you didn't have
to even call me, but I mean, no communications whatsoever.
So this is such an important area. We're getting ready
to start with what's called open enrollment next in October.
(07:40):
Correct tell people what that means.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
So there's different times a year where you can enroll
in different plans. And then this upcoming annual election period
is what you're referring to. It runs from October fifteenth
to December seventh, and that's where you can pretty much
enroll in any Medicare advantage plan you want that's available
in your county, or any prescription drug plan that's available
(08:07):
in your county. Now, if you have a Medicare supplement,
A lot of people don't realize this, but you can
change your Medicare supplement all year long. So say, I
will explain the difference between Medicare supplement and advantage by
the time we finish today, but just for now, I'll
let you know.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
If you know you have a Medicare supplement, you can
always change.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Say your rates get pretty high, Say you're like seventy
two years old and you've had the same one since
you were sixty five years old, Well, those rates could
be creep up and get pretty darn high. And when
that happens, if you're still in good health. And when
I say good health, I mean you don't have like COPD.
You haven't had cancer in the last two to five years.
(08:50):
Skin cancer's fine, but I'm talking like internal cancer. If
you don't have something like Parkinson's or a serious chronic condition.
A lot of people don't realize they can change their
company at any point they want. A lot of people
think that annual enrollment time they have to do changeing
of Medicare supplements during that time, which isn't true.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
The caveat being though, if the company.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
If you're not in good health and a company won't
take you, then you can't change your Medicare supplement.
Speaker 5 (09:21):
That's kind of the gotcha.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
But when it comes to enrolling a Medicare advantage, you
can always enroll in that from October fifteenth to December seventh.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
And that's what I missed up in the beginning. So
I had to wait a whole year. And if I
would have only seen a show like this, I would
have known. I was shocked, Randy, how many people don't
understand about when they especially when they turned sixty five.
(09:54):
What kind of benefits? I just didn't know. And that's
what's so great about a show like this.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
So let's talk about your situation.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
So you didn't have any insurance other than you didn't
have Did you have insurance before you were sixty five
at all?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I did not, and I'm self employed.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Okay, so I'm in the same situation as you. So
if you are in that situation where you don't have
any insurance or you have THEACA, which some people call Obamacare.
So say you're sixty four years old and you've got
either ACA or you're self employed and don't have any insurance,
you need to get on Medicare A and B on
(10:34):
your sixty fifth birthday within three.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
So you can register. You can go to SSA.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Dot gov, which is Social Security Administration dot gov and
register for Medicare A and B, and you need to
do that up to three months before your birth month.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
There is an exception if you're drawing Social Security.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Prior to your sixty fifth birthday, Medicare will a lot
of men enroll you into Medicare A and B.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
Most people don't do that, though.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Most people don't activate their Social Security benefits until after
their sixty fifth birthday.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
So if you're not drawing.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Social Security, you will have to go and activate your
Medicare A and B.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
But here's the thing.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
If you're on ACA, A lot of people think if
you have ACA, well that's insurance. Well, the thing is
that it's run by the federal government, and the federal
government wants you to be on Medicare if you turn
sixty five versus ACA. So I've run into this a
few times. If you just keep going on and you
don't switch over to Medicare, well, the federal government doesn't
(11:40):
automatically disroll you right away every time. So if they
miss you and you continue to be on it past
your sixty fifth birthday, then they will rescind the coverage
post after starting your sixty fifth birth month, and if
you had any claims, you have to pay all that
money back, and then what happened to you, You had to
(12:02):
pay a penalty.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Right exactly.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Yeah, so they'll they'll charge you a penalty for your
Part B. So you're getting hit from all angles here, So.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Maybe more people what Part A and Part B is.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
So Part A that is what you pay your taxes for,
and that is anything impatient.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
So you know, when you see your past UB and
you see.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Medicare on there and they're charging you for that, they're
charging you over time for Medicare Part A.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
So that's your hospital admittance.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
That's if you ever have to go to a skilled
nursing facility to rehab and hospice. So uh, and then
if you so look so basically in mental hospital, that's
the one I'm for. So if you're being admitted, it's
covered by Medicare A B. Now that's what you have
to opt into. That's what most people. Most people it's
(12:55):
is they have to pay one hundred and eighty five
bucks most folks, and is for anything medically necessary that
you're not admitted for. So that could be anything from
like a simple doctor visit to rehab to outpatient surgery.
I mean, anything you're not being admitted for that is
medically necessary, be's pretty well going to pay for that.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (13:21):
And then D that's a prescription drug component, So if
you're taking prescription drugs, you also need to enroll in
a Part D plan even if even if you don't
take drugs, if you're turning sixty five.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
In my state, there's a plan that's zero. I call
it a placeholder plan.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
So like if nothing else, get the zero plan or
the one that's closest to zero, just so you don't
get because you will get penalized later if you don't
have B or D. So, and that's what you experienced
what it sounds right now, Medicare.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
D is really good. I gotta tell people you definitely
want uh D Part D especially.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
I mean, if you get put on a name brand drug,
you're going to really want to have party.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
But yeah, exactly, So Medicare advantage.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
What they do is they combine A, B and D
all into one package and they call it Medicare Part C.
So if you hear somebody say I have a Part
C plan or I have Medicare advantage, that's what they're talking.
And I believe you said you got it was a
human I am I allowed to say you have.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Humanity?
Speaker 5 (14:33):
Yeah, so he's got humanity advantage. Yes, so he's on
he's on.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
An advantage plan. So so the difference. So there's two
ways you can go. And if I'm stepping on your question, I.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Do apologize, No, not at all.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
So when you're getting into this Medicare maze here, there's
two ways you can go. One way is Medicare advantage,
which I've semi explained here. The other way is you
have original Medicare as your primary insurance. This is how
I keep it straight in my mind, who's your primary insurance?
With original Medicare you have A and B and then
(15:09):
you have to get a standalone part D plan. So
what people usually do if they're having Medicare be their
primary is they'll get a Medicare supplement or a Medicap plan.
So he maan As sells those two. But so with
Medicare advantage, instead of original Medicare being primary, you pick
(15:30):
the company that you want to basically cover all your
Medicare benefits. And what they are able to do that
Medicare original Medicare cannot. They can add extra benefits. So
when you see these ads or you hear your neighbors
and friends and family say oh yeah, I've got dental,
I've got vision, I've got hearing, I've got gym, you
(15:52):
know all this other extra stuff, that's they have a
Medicare advantage plan because for whatever reason. So what happens
in this scenario is the company you pick in your case,
Steve will use you do Manna is primary. So that's
how I keep it straight. And people are like, well,
how can they be zero premium, Well, Medicare pays them.
(16:15):
Whoever you pick, you man it for you cover all
your Medicare benefits and because they're more efficient with the
same amount of money than the federal government.
Speaker 5 (16:25):
Is because that's what medicare is. It's the federal government.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
Right, You're able to cover all your benefits and extra
benefits with the same amount of money. Now that being said,
there's pros and cons to each. I don't know if
you want me to go into that.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Well, you know what, Randy, I got to tell you
that people might be shocked at especially if just say eyeglasses.
I was. I had never had to wear except for
reading glasses. You know, you buy it CVS. But when
I had to get prescription lenses, I was shocked how
(17:01):
much eyeglasses are? Oh yeah, and I here I found
out that humanity on my policy covered the whole thing.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Oh really.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
I was shocked that how much of the eye exam
was and then the prescription and it was. But now
I've noticed that it changes every year, you know, the
different plans. But is it true that it depends on
your area code?
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Yeah, so when it comes to Medicare advantage, what's available
to you varies by the county you live in.
Speaker 5 (17:41):
Yes, So like we're we're in Florida, correct, I'm in Florida.
So Florida they've.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Got some of the most benefit rich Medicare advantage plans
in the entire United States because they have a lot
of more seniors there, so it's a lot more attractive
to the companies and it's a lot more competitive too.
So they're trying to get Steve O, they're trying to
get you know, gladys. You know, they're trying to get
as many people as they can on their programs. So
(18:10):
here in Tennessee, we have a pretty good Medicare advantage,
not as good as Florida, but we have pretty good
Medicare advantage options. So the other part about Florida that
a lot of people don't realize is the Medicare supplements,
which are that fill in the gaps of original Medicare.
(18:31):
They're double the price, sometimes more than double the price
in Florida than they are here in Tennessee. So if
I have a sixty five year old lady, I mean
I could sign her up on a plan G or
something for like one hundred and twenty bucks here in
the Nashville area.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Right.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
Well, if I go to say, you're, I don't know county,
we'll say Panella's county. It's like a vacation there in
Panella's county, the exact same thing might be two hundred
and fifty bucks. So people are like, well, shoot man.
And then these these advantage plans are usually zero, and
in Florida they are they are attractive as heck man.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
They just load them up with benefits.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
So I think many more people in Florida have advantage
versus say, even Tennessee.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
I think it's about fifty to fifty. It might be
fifty five forty five.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
And advantage plan with a slight edge. Now, when I started,
it was like seventy thirty Medicare supplement and only thirty
percent advantage. So in fifteen years here, I've seen the
medicare advantage market explode. Now, from an agent's perspective, I
don't care what a person gets. I just want them
(19:45):
to be happy. I mean, that's that's how I feel like.
I make enough money and I have enough customers that
I'm not sitting here trying to worry about Oh I
want to force them into this plan or talk them
into that plan.
Speaker 5 (19:59):
I really just want want.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
To explain to you the differences and what's available.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
And have you be like, yeah, that makes a lot
of sense to me. You know, maybe draw your own conclusion.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
And Randy, I'm going to say this. You know that
I get twenty calls a day people wanting to talk
about medicare, and it's usually a robot by the way,
it's And I want to tell you how important it
is for you to find a good agent like Randy
(20:32):
that you can trust, because I got to tell you
most of these people who call me, oh yeah, you
told me to call you next week, which was so untrue,
and you imagine starting a relationship off on lies. I
would not pay attention to any of those calls you're getting,
especially when you have someone like Randy Hall, mister niceky
(20:55):
medicare well.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
So I appreciate you saying that most of the people
that do call you like that or flim flam men
are representing. They're the front four flim Flam person. They
don't care about you. Generally speaking, you might get lucky.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
It's possible.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
But if I was somebody, even if you're not in Tennessee,
even if you don't want to use me and your
in Tennessee, here's what I would tell anybody. Go to
Google and put in there independent medicare broker, and then
the county you live in, and then look for reviews
because those are very important. That's because the people on there,
(21:30):
like if you see five reviews, yeah, you can kind
of get five people, five of your friends to go
on there. But say somebody's got like twenty five or
more like, nobody's going to go to that extent and
actually try to read some if you have the time,
try to read some because you know what you're looking for.
You might not want somebody. You might not want to
want somebody who's high touch. You might want somebody who
(21:52):
just checks in with you or answers your phone call.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Well, the thing about an independent person.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
In which you see when you see the room views,
you'll see if they care about their customers or not.
The thing is you're not paying us, so you don't
have to come up with any money. Number two. If
you get somebody who's good and looking out for your
best interest and you don't have to pay them, I mean,
what's what's better than that? So yeah, and these people
on the phone, they their whole drift is to see
(22:22):
what you have, and then you know they'll do they'll
do some some work. Hopefully they won't be totally selfish. Well,
like say they look up your doctors, right, They're like, oh, yeah,
your doctors they take whatever.
Speaker 5 (22:37):
Yeah, all your drugs are covered.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Well, they might not be telling you there's a plan
that's way better than that because or the plan you
have way better than that, because they want you as
a customer.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
They only get paid if you switch to them.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
So well, you know I told you when we first started,
the show goes by really fast, and when it's an
interesting show like this is uh, it goes by even faster.
Tell people how they can reach you, Randy, Well.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
The best way to reach me is by calling me
or texting me six one five five seven eight five
one seven four. If you prefer to email me, I
have a really long business email with mister Nisky Medicare Advisor.
But if you want to keep it simple, you can
just brighte me at Randy W. Hall at yahoo dot com.
(23:26):
So and I always get those.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Well, I knew this was going to be a good show.
I'm looking at all the texts coming in people thanking
us for bringing a show like this, which I knew
was going to happen. But eight my last text I
got is you mean the show is over? It's not
long enough. Well, you know what, I have to pay.
Speaker 5 (23:47):
More money if I want it to be longer.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Man, right, right, right, But anyway, I can't wait for
your next show. And hey, you can go to iHeart
or Spotify and you can go back and listen to
today's show. Randy's going to be with us every month,
and Randy, great first show. I'm so excited we have
(24:09):
you and we'll see you again next month.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
Can I can I talk about my website real fast?
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (24:16):
So if you want to read into read into me,
go to www. Mister nice guy medicare advisor dot com.
And if I actually write articles on there. So if
you want some more information before the next time we talk,
Steve O that there's probably some really good information on
there you could look into. And I always welcome questions
(24:37):
even if I can't help you.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
Here's what I do.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
My philosophy is this, If I can make your situation better,
I will.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
If I can't, I'll tell you that too.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
So just do me a favor. Grow some hair before
our next show.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
I might be able to procure a wig, but I.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Can't grow hair anyway. Thank you, Randy, We'll see you
next month.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Steve, Randy Hall, mister nice Aye madic care. Uh, that's
we're going to go to a break, we come back.
We've got more with that year.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Thanks for tuning in today to the Ask the Expert
Show on the W four CY radio and Talk for TV.
Tune in next week and every week to hear more
from our experts on personal injury, insurance, air condition repairs,
escape planning, medicare, and many other topics in the areas
of legal, health, financial, and home improvement. See you next week.
The topics and opinions express in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests and not
those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability,
explicit or implied shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio
or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should
be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing
(00:21):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome to the Ask the Experts Show on W FOURCY
Radio and Talk for TV, where we bring you educational
information from top local experts in the fields of legal, health,
financial and home improvement. Now sit back and listen to
experts in family law, association law, hearing laws, business brokers,
(00:47):
home care, along with many other topics. Now Here are
your hosts, Stevo and Sophia.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Hey, Good morning, Tennessee. Welcome to another sc Expert show.
This is our sixteenth year of doing the Nasty Expert
Show and I am so excited about this morning show.
For back to the last four years, we get your
emails and your texts asking us to add a show
(01:16):
on medicare, and I, of all people, should know how
important it is to be educated when it comes to medicare,
because I screwed up so bad in the beginning and
it costs me dearly. You don't want that happening to you.
So we extended Tennessee, which enabled us to get one
(01:41):
of the greatest medicare experts. I can see his head
growing right now. You know, the guy has got to
be a good guy when the name of this company
is nice guydic Mister nice Guy Medicare, let's welcome our
new expert Tennesse.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
All coming to you from Franklin, Tennessee. Good morning to you, sir.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
My little brother. It seemed like we've been brandy. It
seemed like we've been talking about this forever and the
day has finally come.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
Doesn't it always come good?
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Bad?
Speaker 4 (02:18):
And when it always comes? And here I am ready
to talk to you about.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
We are so happy and decided that you're gonna be
with us every month, all us about mister nice guy Medicare. Well.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
So, I've been an independent medicare broker in Tennessee since
twenty ten, so I've been at this for quite a while.
Don't let my youthful looks fool you. I've been doing
this for a minute. I've been in medicare since two
thousand and seven, independent since twenty ten. And I didn't
(02:53):
always go by mister nice guy Medicare Advisor.
Speaker 5 (02:56):
I used to go by the.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Very generic RWH Insurance Solutions. That's boring, I know, right,
it could be. It's like an ACME insurance. You know,
it's a generic sound right.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Here you go.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
So me and my wife were talking one day, this
is probably around twenty eighteen or so, and she's like,
you know, why don't you change your name to something
that's about you?
Speaker 5 (03:20):
And I'm like, I don't know. She goes, well, you're
a nice guy. And then it just woh.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
She's like, like, mister nice guy medicare advisor. She's like,
I think.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
That sounds good and wow. So I've been calling myself
that since twenty eighteen.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
What a great name, and I got it. I'm gonna
tell you just a little short story, Randy. I gotta
tell you my first agent here in Florida. It is
so important that you get a good agent. And I
know what a good agent is now, but my first agent,
(03:57):
I didn't hear from him for a year, and then
all of a sudden, I start seeing all these commercials
on TV and we're giving this and we're giving that.
I'm going, well, why hasn't he called me to tell
me all the new things? And I called him up,
which I shouldn't have. He should have called me, but
he said, oh, I've been busy. It's like, are you
(04:19):
kidding me? So I learned then how important is to
have a good agent. And you're an independent agent, so
that means you represent a lot of different companies. Correct.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Yeah, So here in Tennessee, we have different Medicare supplements
and different Medicare advantage plans, and I am authorized to
offer I think every Medicare advantage plan and about twenty
different Medicare supplements. And here's how it works. Steve is like,
I'm a matchmaker. That's kind of what I do. So
depending on your situation, you could tell me. You know
(04:55):
what your health history is, or what your threshold for
risk is, what your budget is, you know whatever pre
existing biases you have are. And I kind of talk
to people and based usually on doctors, drugs, and other factors,
I try to come up with what I think is
the best approach for them where I offer them several
(05:18):
options and the people don't pay me. That's what's that's
what's crazy or awesome for you guys, the Medicare beneficiaries.
You guys don't pay me anything. It's these companies that
pay me. And when it comes to Medicare advantage, they
all pay me the same. So I'm not biased by
anything other than what's best for each person. And when
(05:40):
it comes to reaching out to my clients. So there's
a fine balance I've found between being being too too
touchy feely and not being responsive at all. So there's
like a what do you call it, like a threshold
in there, Like there's a word I'm thinking about. It'sn's
coming to me. But there's a spectrum, that's the word.
Speaker 5 (06:01):
So there's a spectrum.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
So I try to So what I do every year
is I send them a letter, usually around early September,
and then I'll reach out to them with a phone
call in early October to bring them up to date
on changes. I used to call more often, but some
people they are like, I'm good, you don't have to
keep calling me, So I kind of I kind of
(06:23):
settled on that, And I always let people know. If
you see a commercial on TV or you hear your
neighbor phyllis talking about the plan she has.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
I can offer all of them, so ask me.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
I'll be happy to tell you if it's legitimate or not,
because a lot of these ads you see are totally
bait and switch, so they.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Try to wow they are many of them are.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Yeah, So they try to give you like the best
possible scenario in America when it might be just a
couple counties in America to offer that plan or what
they're offering on TV is for people who have Medicare
and Medicaid both, which when people have Medicare and Medicaid both,
(07:06):
they have access to different, better plans than people just
Medicare A and B. So I know I've talked a bit,
but does that all make sense to you?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Yes? Absolutely, Listen. I would have been happy with just
a letter, you know, yeah, hey, yeah, you didn't have
to even call me, but I mean, no communications whatsoever.
So this is such an important area. We're getting ready
to start with what's called open enrollment next in October.
(07:40):
Correct tell people what that means.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
So there's different times a year where you can enroll
in different plans. And then this upcoming annual election period
is what you're referring to. It runs from October fifteenth
to December seventh, and that's where you can pretty much
enroll in any Medicare advantage plan you want that's available
in your county, or any prescription drug plan that's available
(08:07):
in your county. Now, if you have a Medicare supplement,
A lot of people don't realize this, but you can
change your Medicare supplement all year long. So say, I
will explain the difference between Medicare supplement and advantage by
the time we finish today, but just for now, I'll
let you know.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
If you know you have a Medicare supplement, you can
always change.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Say your rates get pretty high, Say you're like seventy
two years old and you've had the same one since
you were sixty five years old, Well, those rates could
be creep up and get pretty darn high. And when
that happens, if you're still in good health. And when
I say good health, I mean you don't have like COPD.
You haven't had cancer in the last two to five years.
(08:50):
Skin cancer's fine, but I'm talking like internal cancer. If
you don't have something like Parkinson's or a serious chronic condition.
A lot of people don't realize they can change their
company at any point they want. A lot of people
think that annual enrollment time they have to do changeing
of Medicare supplements during that time, which isn't true.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
The caveat being though, if the company.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
If you're not in good health and a company won't
take you, then you can't change your Medicare supplement.
Speaker 5 (09:21):
That's kind of the gotcha.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
But when it comes to enrolling a Medicare advantage, you
can always enroll in that from October fifteenth to December seventh.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
And that's what I missed up in the beginning. So
I had to wait a whole year. And if I
would have only seen a show like this, I would
have known. I was shocked, Randy, how many people don't
understand about when they especially when they turned sixty five.
(09:54):
What kind of benefits? I just didn't know. And that's
what's so great about a show like this.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
So let's talk about your situation.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
So you didn't have any insurance other than you didn't
have Did you have insurance before you were sixty five
at all?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I did not, and I'm self employed.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Okay, so I'm in the same situation as you. So
if you are in that situation where you don't have
any insurance or you have THEACA, which some people call Obamacare.
So say you're sixty four years old and you've got
either ACA or you're self employed and don't have any insurance,
you need to get on Medicare A and B on
(10:34):
your sixty fifth birthday within three.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
So you can register. You can go to SSA.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Dot gov, which is Social Security Administration dot gov and
register for Medicare A and B, and you need to
do that up to three months before your birth month.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
There is an exception if you're drawing Social Security.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Prior to your sixty fifth birthday, Medicare will a lot
of men enroll you into Medicare A and B.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
Most people don't do that, though.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Most people don't activate their Social Security benefits until after
their sixty fifth birthday.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
So if you're not drawing.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Social Security, you will have to go and activate your
Medicare A and B.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
But here's the thing.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
If you're on ACA, A lot of people think if
you have ACA, well that's insurance. Well, the thing is
that it's run by the federal government, and the federal
government wants you to be on Medicare if you turn
sixty five versus ACA. So I've run into this a
few times. If you just keep going on and you
don't switch over to Medicare, well, the federal government doesn't
(11:40):
automatically disroll you right away every time. So if they
miss you and you continue to be on it past
your sixty fifth birthday, then they will rescind the coverage
post after starting your sixty fifth birth month, and if
you had any claims, you have to pay all that
money back, and then what happened to you, You had to
(12:02):
pay a penalty.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Right exactly.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Yeah, so they'll they'll charge you a penalty for your
Part B. So you're getting hit from all angles here, So.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Maybe more people what Part A and Part B is.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
So Part A that is what you pay your taxes for,
and that is anything impatient.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
So you know, when you see your past UB and
you see.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Medicare on there and they're charging you for that, they're
charging you over time for Medicare Part A.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
So that's your hospital admittance.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
That's if you ever have to go to a skilled
nursing facility to rehab and hospice. So uh, and then
if you so look so basically in mental hospital, that's
the one I'm for. So if you're being admitted, it's
covered by Medicare A B. Now that's what you have
to opt into. That's what most people. Most people it's
(12:55):
is they have to pay one hundred and eighty five
bucks most folks, and is for anything medically necessary that
you're not admitted for. So that could be anything from
like a simple doctor visit to rehab to outpatient surgery.
I mean, anything you're not being admitted for that is
medically necessary, be's pretty well going to pay for that.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (13:21):
And then D that's a prescription drug component, So if
you're taking prescription drugs, you also need to enroll in
a Part D plan even if even if you don't
take drugs, if you're turning sixty five.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
In my state, there's a plan that's zero. I call
it a placeholder plan.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
So like if nothing else, get the zero plan or
the one that's closest to zero, just so you don't
get because you will get penalized later if you don't
have B or D. So, and that's what you experienced
what it sounds right now, Medicare.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
D is really good. I gotta tell people you definitely
want uh D Part D especially.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
I mean, if you get put on a name brand drug,
you're going to really want to have party.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
But yeah, exactly, So Medicare advantage.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
What they do is they combine A, B and D
all into one package and they call it Medicare Part C.
So if you hear somebody say I have a Part
C plan or I have Medicare advantage, that's what they're talking.
And I believe you said you got it was a
human I am I allowed to say you have.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Humanity?
Speaker 5 (14:33):
Yeah, so he's got humanity advantage. Yes, so he's on
he's on.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
An advantage plan. So so the difference. So there's two
ways you can go. And if I'm stepping on your question, I.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Do apologize, No, not at all.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
So when you're getting into this Medicare maze here, there's
two ways you can go. One way is Medicare advantage,
which I've semi explained here. The other way is you
have original Medicare as your primary insurance. This is how
I keep it straight in my mind, who's your primary insurance?
With original Medicare you have A and B and then
(15:09):
you have to get a standalone part D plan. So
what people usually do if they're having Medicare be their
primary is they'll get a Medicare supplement or a Medicap plan.
So he maan As sells those two. But so with
Medicare advantage, instead of original Medicare being primary, you pick
(15:30):
the company that you want to basically cover all your
Medicare benefits. And what they are able to do that
Medicare original Medicare cannot. They can add extra benefits. So
when you see these ads or you hear your neighbors
and friends and family say oh yeah, I've got dental,
I've got vision, I've got hearing, I've got gym, you
(15:52):
know all this other extra stuff, that's they have a
Medicare advantage plan because for whatever reason. So what happens
in this scenario is the company you pick in your case,
Steve will use you do Manna is primary. So that's
how I keep it straight. And people are like, well,
how can they be zero premium, Well, Medicare pays them.
(16:15):
Whoever you pick, you man it for you cover all
your Medicare benefits and because they're more efficient with the
same amount of money than the federal government.
Speaker 5 (16:25):
Is because that's what medicare is. It's the federal government.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
Right, You're able to cover all your benefits and extra
benefits with the same amount of money. Now that being said,
there's pros and cons to each. I don't know if
you want me to go into that.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Well, you know what, Randy, I got to tell you
that people might be shocked at especially if just say eyeglasses.
I was. I had never had to wear except for
reading glasses. You know, you buy it CVS. But when
I had to get prescription lenses, I was shocked how
(17:01):
much eyeglasses are? Oh yeah, and I here I found
out that humanity on my policy covered the whole thing.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Oh really.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
I was shocked that how much of the eye exam
was and then the prescription and it was. But now
I've noticed that it changes every year, you know, the
different plans. But is it true that it depends on
your area code?
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Yeah, so when it comes to Medicare advantage, what's available
to you varies by the county you live in.
Speaker 5 (17:41):
Yes, So like we're we're in Florida, correct, I'm in Florida.
So Florida they've.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Got some of the most benefit rich Medicare advantage plans
in the entire United States because they have a lot
of more seniors there, so it's a lot more attractive
to the companies and it's a lot more competitive too.
So they're trying to get Steve O, they're trying to
get you know, gladys. You know, they're trying to get
as many people as they can on their programs. So
(18:10):
here in Tennessee, we have a pretty good Medicare advantage,
not as good as Florida, but we have pretty good
Medicare advantage options. So the other part about Florida that
a lot of people don't realize is the Medicare supplements,
which are that fill in the gaps of original Medicare.
(18:31):
They're double the price, sometimes more than double the price
in Florida than they are here in Tennessee. So if
I have a sixty five year old lady, I mean
I could sign her up on a plan G or
something for like one hundred and twenty bucks here in
the Nashville area.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Right.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
Well, if I go to say, you're, I don't know county,
we'll say Panella's county. It's like a vacation there in
Panella's county, the exact same thing might be two hundred
and fifty bucks. So people are like, well, shoot man.
And then these these advantage plans are usually zero, and
in Florida they are they are attractive as heck man.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
They just load them up with benefits.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
So I think many more people in Florida have advantage
versus say, even Tennessee.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
I think it's about fifty to fifty. It might be
fifty five forty five.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
And advantage plan with a slight edge. Now, when I started,
it was like seventy thirty Medicare supplement and only thirty
percent advantage. So in fifteen years here, I've seen the
medicare advantage market explode. Now, from an agent's perspective, I
don't care what a person gets. I just want them
(19:45):
to be happy. I mean, that's that's how I feel like.
I make enough money and I have enough customers that
I'm not sitting here trying to worry about Oh I
want to force them into this plan or talk them
into that plan.
Speaker 5 (19:59):
I really just want want.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
To explain to you the differences and what's available.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
And have you be like, yeah, that makes a lot
of sense to me. You know, maybe draw your own conclusion.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
And Randy, I'm going to say this. You know that
I get twenty calls a day people wanting to talk
about medicare, and it's usually a robot by the way,
it's And I want to tell you how important it
is for you to find a good agent like Randy
(20:32):
that you can trust, because I got to tell you
most of these people who call me, oh yeah, you
told me to call you next week, which was so untrue,
and you imagine starting a relationship off on lies. I
would not pay attention to any of those calls you're getting,
especially when you have someone like Randy Hall, mister niceky
(20:55):
medicare well.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
So I appreciate you saying that most of the people
that do call you like that or flim flam men
are representing. They're the front four flim Flam person. They
don't care about you. Generally speaking, you might get lucky.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
It's possible.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
But if I was somebody, even if you're not in Tennessee,
even if you don't want to use me and your
in Tennessee, here's what I would tell anybody. Go to
Google and put in there independent medicare broker, and then
the county you live in, and then look for reviews
because those are very important. That's because the people on there,
(21:30):
like if you see five reviews, yeah, you can kind
of get five people, five of your friends to go
on there. But say somebody's got like twenty five or
more like, nobody's going to go to that extent and
actually try to read some if you have the time,
try to read some because you know what you're looking for.
You might not want somebody. You might not want to
want somebody who's high touch. You might want somebody who
(21:52):
just checks in with you or answers your phone call.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Well, the thing about an independent person.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
In which you see when you see the room views,
you'll see if they care about their customers or not.
The thing is you're not paying us, so you don't
have to come up with any money. Number two. If
you get somebody who's good and looking out for your
best interest and you don't have to pay them, I mean,
what's what's better than that? So yeah, and these people
on the phone, they their whole drift is to see
(22:22):
what you have, and then you know they'll do they'll
do some some work. Hopefully they won't be totally selfish. Well,
like say they look up your doctors, right, They're like, oh, yeah,
your doctors they take whatever.
Speaker 5 (22:37):
Yeah, all your drugs are covered.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Well, they might not be telling you there's a plan
that's way better than that because or the plan you
have way better than that, because they want you as
a customer.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
They only get paid if you switch to them.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
So well, you know I told you when we first started,
the show goes by really fast, and when it's an
interesting show like this is uh, it goes by even faster.
Tell people how they can reach you, Randy, Well.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
The best way to reach me is by calling me
or texting me six one five five seven eight five
one seven four. If you prefer to email me, I
have a really long business email with mister Nisky Medicare Advisor.
But if you want to keep it simple, you can
just brighte me at Randy W. Hall at yahoo dot com.
(23:26):
So and I always get those.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Well, I knew this was going to be a good show.
I'm looking at all the texts coming in people thanking
us for bringing a show like this, which I knew
was going to happen. But eight my last text I
got is you mean the show is over? It's not
long enough. Well, you know what, I have to pay.
Speaker 5 (23:47):
More money if I want it to be longer.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Man, right, right, right, But anyway, I can't wait for
your next show. And hey, you can go to iHeart
or Spotify and you can go back and listen to
today's show. Randy's going to be with us every month,
and Randy, great first show. I'm so excited we have
(24:09):
you and we'll see you again next month.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
Can I can I talk about my website real fast?
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (24:16):
So if you want to read into read into me,
go to www. Mister nice guy medicare advisor dot com.
And if I actually write articles on there. So if
you want some more information before the next time we talk,
Steve O that there's probably some really good information on
there you could look into. And I always welcome questions
(24:37):
even if I can't help you.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
Here's what I do.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
My philosophy is this, If I can make your situation better,
I will.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
If I can't, I'll tell you that too.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
So just do me a favor. Grow some hair before
our next show.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
I might be able to procure a wig, but I.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Can't grow hair anyway. Thank you, Randy, We'll see you
next month.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Steve, Randy Hall, mister nice Aye madic care. Uh, that's
we're going to go to a break, we come back.
We've got more with that year.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Thanks for tuning in today to the Ask the Expert
Show on the W four CY radio and Talk for TV.
Tune in next week and every week to hear more
from our experts on personal injury, insurance, air condition repairs,
escape planning, medicare, and many other topics in the areas
of legal, health, financial, and home improvement. See you next week.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.