October 27, 2025 • 43 mins
Listen in as host Steve Kuker, President of Senior Care Consulting, visits with Mark Squires, The Medicare Whisperer, about all things Medicare. Mark addresses the Medicare Annual Election Period and what changes you can make during that time, as well as important policy changes regarding several Kansas City based Advantage plans. Then, Mark discusses major changes in Medicare Part D that could leave you without local representation from a Medicare broker. Don’t miss the Consumer Alert warning you about the latest scam of calling seniors about their “New Upgraded Medicare Card”. Spoiler alert: there is NO SUCH THING as an upgraded Medicare card! #SeniorCare #SeniorCareLive #SeniorCareConsulting #SeniorLiving #KansasCitySeniorCare #SeniorCarePlacement #SeniorCareAdvisor #Franchise #SeniorCareFranchise #Medicare #MedicareAdvantage (800) 331-6445
www.SeniorCareLive.com
www.facebook.com/SeniorCareLive
www.linkedin.com/in/stevekuker
www.twitter.com/SeniorCareLive
www.SeniorCareConsulting.com
www.SeniorCareLive.com
www.facebook.com/SeniorCareLive
www.linkedin.com/in/stevekuker
www.twitter.com/SeniorCareLive
www.SeniorCareConsulting.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Are you caring for an aging loved one? Are you
a senior searching for answers? Welcome to Senior Care Live,
a program dedicated to you, providing information, education, and resources
for seniors and their caregivers. And now America's Senior Care consultant,
Steve Keecker, Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
And welcome to Senior Care Live. I'm Steve Keeker. You're
Senior Care Consultant, and I really appreciate you tuning in today.
We have an excellent and i'll say important program today
with my friend and special guest in studio. You know
him as Mark Squires and you also know him as
the Medicare Whisperer and Mark, welcome back to Senior Care Live. Hi, Steve,
(00:47):
it's been a minute, it's been a minute or two.
I'm glad, glad this worked out today and you were available,
because what time is it, Mark.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Well, it's not open season on seniors, but that's the
way my industry treats it sometimes.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, well, let's let's not have open open season on you.
I'm hunting seniors. No, it's it is.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
The Medicare annual election period started the other day on
October fifteenth, just like it does every oh By the way, Steve,
did you hear Thanksgivings on a Thursday again this year? I?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
You know, I didn't. I don't think I heard that yet. Yeah, yeah,
it is.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
It's amazing, just like the last every Yeah, anyway, every year,
on October fifteenth, we go into what's called the Medicare
Annual Election Period. It's not open enrollment, but that's for
another episode. The annual election period lasts from October fifteenth
to December seventh every year, and that is the time
of year when people who are on Medicare can review
(01:43):
their Medicare advantage plan or their standalone Part D prescription
drug coverage, take a look at what's going to be
available for the next year, and decide if they want
to make a change or not.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
That sounds really easy, doesn't it, Steve. Just simple as
as could be.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah, just very very simple. Now, like I said, it
applies to Medicare advantage plans and prescription drug plans, now,
hear me. If you're turning sixty five after February first
and twenty twenty five, relax, enjoy your last year of
not dealing with Medicare right now, because you don't need
to do anything you're going to hear this universal consciousness
of medicare, the commercials on TV. People are going to
(02:19):
be calling you. You're going to get mail. If you're
turning sixty five after February first, relax, call us will
set up a review appointment for you, teach you all
about medicare. But you don't need to do anything right now.
Just enjoy yourself, enjoy the beautiful fall weather and the
holiday season.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So no need to deal with this stuff. I just
want to just touch on that again. If you're turning
sixty five February first of twenty twenty six or later
sometime that year, right, you don't have to sweat it.
You can deal with this closer to your brain.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
You got plenty of time and we will be glad
to educate you. Just give us a call. We can
set up you can call us now. We can set
up appointments a year in advance if we want to.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Well, let's provide the contact information for our listeners. You
can reach out to Mark Squire's and his excellent team.
He is the Medicare Whisperer. Eight one six, three, nine
nine four eight seven one. That's eight one six, three,
nine nine four eight seven. One could also visit his
excellent website online Life with Medicare dot com. And I'll
(03:20):
tell you what you're some of your the folks that
work with you in your office are almost full. They're
almost booked full. I mean, it's the good capacity is
going to be a problem here. So I would not wait.
I would call immediately and get on the calendar. Oh
please do.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
We've got seven agents plus me, and my lead agent
is about ninety two percent booked. He's been he's been
booking appointments since June. My number two agent is in
the high eighties book. We will make room for you.
Don't get me wrong. We're not saying we're too busy
for you. However, the longer you wait to call, the
last chance you have.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Of getting in.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Now you know we can do in person, we can
do on the phone, or we can do a team's
meeting or zoom.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Whatever you prefer.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
So, I mean, if if, if you're you know, a
little ways away from where we are in Kansas City,
we don't expect you to drive for long. What if
you want to come see us. We'd love to see
in our brand new office, but you know we can,
we can accommodate you. Now, I want you to remember,
each listener, I want you to remember what I'm.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
About to say.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
The biggest danger we have is that our industry tries
to make Medicare a one size fits all. Now, I
know we're on Radio Steve and people cannot peer through
their radio through my microphone and see. But I have
absolutely huge hands, so buying gloves for me is difficult.
So when I see gloves, if I go to a
(04:41):
store and says one size fits all, yeah, that's not work,
I'm oj you know it's not going to fit this handy.
So just remember when it comes to Medicare, especially when
it comes to Medicare, there's no such thing as one
size fits all. So look, if your neighbor, your bunco partner,
your aunt, your sister, whoever has Plan Q, whatever it is,
(05:01):
it's probably a great plan for them, but it may
not be right for you. Each person is an individual,
Each person's situation is different. So please, I implore you
set up a review. Let us take a look at
you as the individual, not as a product purchaser. Let
us review the coverage. If you already have coverage, if
it's right for you, you know what we're gonna say, Steve, Hey,
(05:22):
you did a good job.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
It's right for you. Yeah, don't change it, just walk
away and good for you. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And then if you know you have a reference point
in the future, if you have a problem or a question,
you know somebody you can call and say, hey, Steve, Stacey, Mark, whoever, Dwayne,
if you can call him and say, I have got
a question. And now it's somebody you actually have a
warm relationship with who is happy to answer whatever question
you have. Beyond oh, call the toll free number on
your card.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Oh yeah, good luck with that.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Well, I mean, you know, you do talk to somebody
in a place where they don't have consonants in their alphabet,
and you may hear a chicken in the background. Oh boy,
but you know that's okay. Nothing against those people they've
got to work to. But I you know, again, by
setting up an appointment with us, or if you're working
with another broker that you're like, then we're not trying
to steal anything. But please do your best to avoid
becoming prey. We're going to talk a little bit about
(06:08):
some scams here in a few minutes, but the best
way to do this have a relationship with a broker
that you know, if you don't have a broker, if
your broker's got out of the business, we're gonna mention
that in a minute, give us a call. We will
become that point of contact for you, and we'll do
our best to help you understand Medicare as it applies
to you, so that you don't fall prey to one
of the scams. And I'm not saying Medicare is full
(06:30):
of scams, but I am saying that if your Medicare
isn't built right, it can be very, very expensive.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Okay, And so this is maybe a little off the
beaten path. I just I just thought of it. I
have a client, she's going to be moving her mother
to the Kansas City area from I believe it's Virginia.
Will she need to change her Medicare plan when she
comes when she's a Missouri resident. So the answer to
that is it depends and maybe okay, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, So without knowing what she has in Virginia, if
she is on a Medicare supplement or medigapp policy, no,
she doesn't have to change, or we just have to
explain to her how rates work in Missouri. Because we're
one of the higher priced states. But if she's on
Medicare advantage, the minute Social Security finds out she's moved,
they're going to notify Medicare. Medicare is going to notify
her Medicare advantage plan, and they're going to say, you
(07:19):
have moved outside of the plans coverage area. Your coverage
will terminate in sixty days. You have sixty days to
choose a new plan in your new area.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
And you know, I think she does have an advantage plan,
and that's that's an advantage plan contracts with providers locally.
So she will need to make a move a change
at that point, at the very least review it so
she knows she has what she needs.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
You said, you're one of her family members is moving
her here?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Correct?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
And I want to point that out if if that's
a situation in the family, be involved in that meeting.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
As long as.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
The Medicare beneficiary says, yes, it's okay with me. We're
happy to meet your family members.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
And she would she and her daughter get along very well,
and so they could they could address that with you.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Oh sure, absolutely, a lot like you and your mom.
I mean, you come and hang out and we talk
to your mom and we probably talk about more than
Medicare and have a lot of fun together. So yeah,
anytime a family member wants to be a part of that,
as long as we have permission, we're good with that.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Perfect. I will have them reach out to you very soon. Okay,
I can't wait anyway.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You know, Steve, every year we've been friends for many,
many many years and work together and done a lot
of cross referring. Every year you hear me say this,
It's like, this is the most volatile year in medicare
I've seen since twenty ten. And I say it and
every year it's true, but this year it really is.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I mean it.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
This year, I just cannot tell you how much turmoil
is going on in medicare as I say, behold the
great Egress. Now we're talking about Kansas City. I know
we're all over the country, but Kansas City specifically where
we live. Prime Health and Humana have still not made up.
It's been over a year.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
And so if you are on a human Medicare advantage
plan and you're going to your Prime Health hospital that
would be Saint Joe or Saint Mary's. They're not going
to see if you're on Humana at an a Medicare
advantage plus United Healthcare Medicare advantage minus North Kansas City
Hospital slash Maritas equals everybody gets a Humani plan because
they're getting divorced at the beginning of the year to
(09:17):
North Kansas City Hospital. If you're on United Healthcare Medicare
advantage or ATNA, you don't, they're not going to see you.
Now that doesn't apply to supplements as strictly Medicare advantage.
ATNA pulled out of cast County. Cast Counties just south
of the Kansas City area. They completely pulled out of
Caste County. Many of the Blue Cross Blue Shield if
it's across the country, are completely exiting the Medicare advantage
more it's it is the great egress.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
And I remember last year about this time we were
talking about you know, Blue Cross December thirty first at midnight,
you you don't have coverage and you have to do
something before then. Yeah, and so it's something every year
it seems like.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
It is, which you only gives us a stable job,
but you know, and to give you for instance, with
EDNA pulling out a cast County, if you you're on
a net and a Medicare advantage planning Cass County, Missouri.
You're guaranteed issue for a Medicare supplement if you want
to pay the premium, no health questions. So there's good
news and bad news. But what these companies are doing, Steve,
and I'm gonna call it out the way it is.
It's it's margins over members. They want to make a profit,
(10:16):
and I'm okay with them making a profit, but not
at the expensive members.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
It's just not a good thing. Okay, Mark, let's pick
that up on the other side, because we cannot forget
about the Senior Care Live Question of the Week. The
Medicare annual election period is from October fifteenth through December
thirty first, every single year. Does this statement true or false?
(10:42):
What do you think?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. For more information, visit seniorcare Live dot com.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
We'll have more with Steve coming up next.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Welcome back. You're listening to Senior Care Live on the
Senior Care Broadcasting Network. For more information, visit Senior care
Live dot com. Now back to the Senior Care Live
Question of the Week. The Medicare annual election period is
from October fifteenth through December thirty first, every single year.
(11:28):
Is that stay true or false? And the answer is.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Mark, Well, Agent ninety nine, you missed it by that much.
You're very very close. You just added twenty two days
to the season. Okay, No, the Medicare annual election period
is October fifteenth to December seventh.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Ah, yeah, not December thirty first. So if our audience,
if they were really tuned in, they would have heard
you say that earlier in the programs.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
And probably every time I've been on Senior Care exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, But that's okay.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
It's a good refresher, a good reminder because there are
people out there who do tend to wait till the
last minute, and the last minute of December seventh. In fact,
when they changed all this a few years ago, they
actually strategically use December seventh because of the Pearl Harbor
day mnemonic in there. Now, this year's December seventh is
on a Sunday, and we don't work Sundays, So hurry up,
(12:26):
give us a call, get on that schedule.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
As soon as you can.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I wanted to pick up from that statement. Of margins
over members.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Yeah, if that's okay, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
United Healthcare published a paper or an article where they
said they expect to offload six hundred thousand members this year.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Offload, offload.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Can you imagine a business that's for profits saying we're
just going to trim our customer base by six hundred
thousand this year so we can be profitable. Wow, They've
moved out of a number of counties across the United States.
This is happening all over the country, not just in
Kansas City. And another thing that's going on now, folks,
don't go get your box of tissues. You don't need
(13:08):
to cry for us. But what's happening is the way
agents or agencies like mind get paid. We can pay
the commission when we do an enrollment. Now, my agents
are salary based because I don't want them feeling pressure
if they're you know, I don't say if they don't
make a sale, they're not going to make their car payment.
So we're just salary based and it works really well
for us. But many of the Medicare advantage plans are
(13:29):
no longer commissionable agents. Now, they still want us to
write them because we will do what's right for the client.
That's you know, that's I'm a gardener. If I plant seeds,
I don't have to get my harvest immediately. Well, we'll
do what's right for the client because that's our mission
at the Medicare Whisper. But many of the Medicare advantage
plans are just not paying the agent's commissions. Or in
(13:50):
the case of United health Care, what they're doing is
if you're on a United Healthcare PPO and you stay
on that, the agent's going to get full renewal commission. However,
if they rewrite you onto a PPO, they get half commission.
But if you put them on an HMO Steve, you
get your full commission.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Oh so HMO plans will be pretty popular.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
That is, they're trying to drive the amot of care
beneficiary into an HMO plan.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Well, and like you said, there's no one size fits all.
It just depends on you, your preferences, your budgets, do
you travel, I mean all of the things.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
If you're a snowbird, that's something you need to pay
attention to. Yeah, and you know, some of the plans
have what's called a POS benefit, meaning if they have
a contracted Medicare advantage provider in another area, you can
still go and have coverage under an HMO. That works
great if you're going to place like Arizona, Florida, Texas.
Don't go to Wyoming because most of them don't have
a lot of providers in a play. Nothing against Wyoming,
(14:46):
Sarah Cheryl, if you're listening, I still love you. Yeah,
But here's here's something really big, Steve. And this just
came out. On Monday of this week, October thirteenth, United
Healthcare put out an announcement they have said mailings to
many of their Medicare supplement policy holders incentivizing them to
(15:06):
switch to a United Healthcare Medicare advantage plan. Now, the
letter does have the agent's name and phone number in it,
but it kind of has worded saying, Hey, call us
and we'll tell you about all the wonderful benefits of changing.
If you call United Healthcare directly and they put you
on a Medicare advantage plan, your agent is permanently out
(15:29):
of the picture and you can't get them back.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
That's kind of dirty pool right there.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
It really really is. Oh yeah, wait a minute, Margins
over members, that's right, that's what we say so. If
you get that letter, call your agent. Please call your agent, yeah,
to keep them in the mix. And again, Steve, we've
talked about it before. On a Medicare advantage plan, we
get paid more, a lot more than what we get
(15:53):
paid on a Medicare supplement. So if an agent is
recommending a supplement with a premium, it's not the pad
the commission.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
It is too.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Because it's fit for you. Absolutely, it is the right fit.
And for some people Medicare advantage is great. For some people,
Medicare supplement works a lot better. So you don't want
to lose your agent, and your agent doesn't want to
lose you. Because we love all of our clients. This
has been a rough year. We've lost about thirteen clients
that have passed away. It's been a rough year for us.
We have just one of our agents this year too,
(16:22):
and we miss all of them. But you know, don't
fall for this. If you get the letter and you
want to explore it, by all means, call your agent.
Don't walk you through it. If your agent's left the business,
and a lot of them have left the business this year,
give us a call. We'll be glad to walk you
through it. We're happy to help. And oh, by the way,
you do remember how much we charge for consultation.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Steve, Yeah, it's pretty much free of charge. It is,
it is, it is. And you might even get a
box of popcorn when you're visiting.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Actually, we have a new front desk person named Pauline,
and she learned to use the popcorn popper today.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
There we go, Yeah, there we go. And so if
that's I don't want to I don't want to gloss
over that one either. We're not trying to go out
and poach business. But guess what because of all of
these changes in Medicare, you know, taking the commission structure
away on tons of these products, guess what's happening there?
There is a mass exodus of a lot of Medicare
(17:13):
agents that say, look, I'm just not going to do
this anymore. If you don't have an agent, you have questions,
you would like to maybe find a new agent, and
you don't want to go this other route that Mark
has talked about. Reach out to Mark Squires. He's the
Medicare whisperer. Eight one six three four eight seven to one.
That's the phone number. Eight one, six three nine four
(17:35):
eight seven one. You could also visit Life with Medicare
dot com and UH and reach out to Mark and
talk to him and get a new agent. If your
agent's gone and they retired her, they're like, I'm not
doing this business anymore. You need a new one. Don't
go direct, don't call the one eight hundred number. Uh,
don't don't do that, call Mark Squires and Steve.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
I want to point out, you're right. A lot of
my friends, longtime friends of this business, have just said
I'm done with all the changes, all the you know,
the average agent spends eighty hours a year certifying just
just to do medicare, just to be certified, right, two week,
two business weeks certified, and they're just they're tired of it.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
A lot of my agent friends are you know, in
their seventies and they just supplement their social security doing this.
I want to make a very bold statement here the
Medicare Whisperer team, we're not leaving the business. Deed, We've
made promises to thousands of our clients that we will
be here for them, and as long as I own
the company and it's not for sale, we're going to
honor our commitments. It's one of the reasons I think
(18:33):
you and I get along so well. We're cut from
that same cloth. Will we make a commitment, even if
it is not the best for us personally, we're going
to honor the commitment.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Well, it's called integrity, and unfortunately, I think a lot
of people in our society lack that component. And that's
that's a really sad statement, but that's what I see.
Not everybody, of course, but a lot of people that's
becoming old fashioned and it's all about what can you
What have you done done for me lately? What can
you do for me? You scratch my backall scratch yours?
(19:03):
And how much is it worked to me? How much
money we talking about?
Speaker 3 (19:06):
That's what's in it for me and this, like I've
said before, it's a mission. We do this because God
gave me this mission and it's to take care of people.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
And I'll rely on him to take care of the money. Yep. Absolutely,
he is Mark Squire's the Medicare Whisper. If this is
if this is resonating with you, pick up the phone,
give him a call eight one sixty three nine nine
four eight seven one or online at Life with Medicare
dot com and coming up next, we're going to get
(19:35):
into the prescription drug coverage. It's depart d plans. You're
gonna want to hear this. Don't go away.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. Have a question. This is Seniorcare Live dot Com.
Stick around.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
We'll have more with Steve coming up next.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
A recent Internet search for nursing homes in Kansas City
provided thirty two million results. It's daunting to think that
there are over three hundred and fifty senior care communities
to choose from in the Kansas City metro and on
average you'll spend fifty to one hundred hours trying to
find a place for your loved one. If this sounds overwhelming,
that's because it is. I invite you to reach out
(20:24):
to Senior Care Consulting. We've been serving family since two
thousand and two. With our premium service, we do most
of the work for you.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
You'll spend just.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
A few hours of your time finding the best place available,
and you can trust us to be objective because we
don't receive reimbursement from any provider.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
We work for you.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
To learn more, call Senior Care Consulting at nine three
nine four five twenty eight hundred nine nine four five
twenty eight hundred, a placement service with integrity at Seniorcare
Consulting dot com.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Welcome back. You're listening to Senior Care Live on the
Senior Care Broadcasting Network. For podcasts of the program, visit
Seniorcare Live dot com. And before the break, we talked
about we're going to talk about Part D plans and
there's a lot of information we want to cover. But
here we go again.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please, this is a consumer alert.
Consumer alert, all right.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
So, market seems like every time here on the show
there's a new they're like the scam of the day,
or the week, or at least the month, there's there's
another one going around, and it sounds pretty pretty concerning. Yes,
it's like the wheel of scams. Just spin it and
we'll find a scam to talk about. Yeah, exactly exactly,
And that makes me sick by the way. There they're
(21:54):
praying on elderly people who may trust the caller, and
my mom's one of them, and her radar is up
pretty I've got her her radar set pretty high, but
it's it can happen to anyone.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Oh, it does, and we get calls all the time. Here,
here's a really fun one. And they've I really I
won't say I appreciate, but they've refined this one. It
happens every year this time. The scammers start calling, and
here's how the call goes, Hi, can you hear me?
And you of course say yes, yes, and that's where
(22:26):
it starts, and they run you through a cadence to
keep saying yes. But they start out with I'm calling
to make sure you've received your upgraded Medicare card.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
You're upgraded.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
You're upgraded because this is available to all Medicare beneficiaries,
but only the ones who recruit recrest we request it
will receive it. And this card, it's a special upgraded
Medicare card that will give you extra benefits not available
to the people who have.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
The normal Medicare card.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Gosh, it's right, And they're there to help you sign
up for your upgraded Medicare card. And it's only available
for a limited time every year. Guess what that time is.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Steve, Probably during the annual election until December seventh. Isn't
that amazing? Yeah, Yeah, that's just a coincidence.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
So if you would like to get some some dental
coverage by Medicare and maybe some eyeglasses or hearing aids,
you can do that by getting your upgraded Medicare card.
And before you know it, you've said yes about ten
or twelve times, and they're going, well, to we want
to get this in the mail to you right away.
And so what we're gonna do is we're gonna we're
(23:33):
gonna get your your address, and I'm gonna just verify
your Medicare information and we'll get that out to you. Now,
that goes on every year, but here's what they've added
this year. To get your upgraded Medicare card. There's a
small shipping fee of four dollars and ninety five cents.
I just need your bank account information or a credit
card to do that.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
So they're combining the two.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
So while you're waiting for your upgraded Medicare card, your
bank account is getting siphoned. Now if you give me,
if it's credit card number, you've got the federal protections.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Unless you give me a debit card. That's a.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
That's another story with another guest, but I'm telling you
it happened a couple of things I like to point
out if you've made it to the age where you're
on Medicare and you haven't figured out yet that there's
no such thing as a free launch, Yep, it's time
for you to learn. And Medicare will never ever call, text, email,
(24:29):
or otherwise message.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
You, especially now.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
They're not even open the government checkdown as we're recording
this now. If somebody hears this in an archive, you know,
six months from now, Oh I hope they're not still closed.
But they won't do that. And you hear us say
this time and time and time again. If you get
the AARP magazine every month, they tell you at least
twice in every magazine, Medicare social Security.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Will never call.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
And furthermore, Medicare calls you, they already know your Medicare number.
They don't need you to tell them what it is. Look,
we all want something free, we all want some and more.
It's just the nature of an American is to want
more for less. Don't fall for it. And if you
get that call and you want to verify, say, okay,
I'm going to call one out of Medicare and ask
(25:13):
them about this, or you can call us we'll walk
you through it.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Well, if you challenge them, they're just gonna go click
and they're going to move on to easier prey. Basically yeah. Yeah.
So so look, here's here's the message. Here's the consumer alert.
If you get a call from someone out of the
blue asking you about if you'd like to sign up
for the new and improved Medicare that the up technically
(25:37):
is the upgraded Medicare card, there is no such thing.
Don't take debait.
Speaker 5 (25:45):
Proceed with caution. This has been a consumer alert brought
to you. Buy Senior Care Live.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
All right, So I'll tell you what mark that kind
of stuff. I mean, you know, my mom's eighty three
and she's as she's totally with it and in great
you know, thank the Lord. But a lot of people
are not. If you have a little bit of dementia,
maybe a lot of dementia, or maybe just a very
trusting person, and a lot of people in this age
(26:11):
range they are, They're very trusting. They come from that
generation they get taken advantage of. It makes my blood
boil and I want to I want to I want
to do everything I can to try to protect these folks.
I appreciate you, and I know you do too, so
I appreciate bringing that to our attention. So what about
this Part D medication prescription drug cost no bo business?
(26:32):
Oh boy?
Speaker 3 (26:32):
So, first I will tell you that Medicare Part D
started twenty years ago on November fifteenth. November fifteenth of
two thousand and five was the very first day people
could roll in Medicare Part DY prescription drug plans. So
Medicare party is getting a little long in the tooth
and it's starting to get some health problems.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Let's just say it that way.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Last year, we told you that a company called Wellcare
just terminated all the agents, just canceled all of our contracts,
meaning we lost our renewal commission, so that we couldn't
write any business. Other party companies have decided to take
their lead and they're doing the same thing. To give
you an example, United Healthcare made all of their drug
(27:14):
plans non commissionable. They didn't terminate our contracts because they
still want me to want us to write the business form.
Just last week, Human put a letter out to all
the agents that said, effective November ninth, you're no longer
permitted to write any human drug coverage. In fact, they've
pulled their coverage information off all the platforms except medicare
(27:36):
dot gov because they can't pull it off of there.
And they said, if you do write it, you won't
get paid. But we have rules to follow, Steve, the
government Medicare CMS gives us rules, and one of those
rules is if we are not contracted with an insurance
company and certified to write their prescription drug coverage, we
(27:59):
put our.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
License at risk if we do it. Wow.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
No, we don't mind advising people. You know, we can
point and we could give somebody a weblink to sign
up on their own. Most of these companies won't let
you sign up on the phone. But as much as
we want to help, we're not going to put our
livelihood at risk by getting our licenses canceled because we've broke.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
The rules and they've completely just cut you out. Yeah,
they've just literally kind of said, we're seeing people to
go to a website to sign up.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
The one of the most critical decisions you can make
as a person age sixty five or older is your
medicare and your drug coverage. Yeah, and agents like me
and my team at the Medicare Whisperer and a lot
of my colleagues in this business. We're the ones who
are on main Street, who are helping mom and pop
main Street make these decisions, make the plans work for them,
(28:44):
understand the plans four months later when they forget what
the plan's doing, because we're always here for them. So
your alternatives. If your agent isn't able to write a
Medicare partner prescription drug plan one, you can call. You
can go to Medicare dot gov. You you can go there,
do their plan finder, put in your drugs'll it'll give
you a list of plans. And human nature is to
(29:06):
pick the one that says it's the cheapest right. Might
not be the right one, but hey, it was the
cheapest right. Every state has what's called a ship that
was ship with a p state health insurance program, and
you could speak with a volunteer.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Who gets about an hour and a half of training. Boy,
but here's the thing.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Neither a Medicare employee nor a SHIP volunteer can make
a specific recommendation. All they can do is tell you
what is available. You have to make the decision. And
what's going on with this is a direct result of
the Inflation Reduction Act, and there are some nice things
in the Inflation Reduction Act, especially if you're taking a
(29:45):
large amount of drugs, or you're taking a couple of
major brand name drugs. So last year we had the
two thousand dollars cap on prescription drugs for everybody. Okay,
This year that amount goes up to twenty one hundred dollars.
So at the point that at all of your out
of pocket drug expenses reach twenty one hundred dollars, you
will be done paying.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
For drugs for the rest of the year.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Okay, Okay, so you know, take them if you got them.
Still keep capping insulin at thirty five dollars, okay, if
it's on formulary. Not all insulins are on formulary for
all companies. Some of them just have eliminated their drugs.
One of the companies I won't name the name, their
Tier one generic has a whopping eighty six drugs listed
(30:28):
on it, eighty six out of several hundred. So there
has also been a massive reduction in the number of
plans available. Look Medicare, party drug plans are not profitable
for the insurance companies. Now, let's don't shed a tear.
They're making money. They're doing fine, so they're going to
find ways to not sell these things and try to
get you to advantage.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Okay, I remember, well the last few years that we've
been you know, might take my mom to see you
every year, and we have that review. So I just
want to demonstrate for our audio it's how valuable a
broker is. So you asked my mom questions, do you
have a particular pharmacy that you're like, well, yeah, we
live in spring Hill and I like to go to
(31:09):
Price Choppers just right down the street is where I
get my groceries. And you said, almost verbatim, that's one
of the really important relationships that you have regarding your healthcare.
And so let's look and not all of them we
know worked with that particular pharmacy. So here here's the
bottom line. You need to work with a Medicare brooker.
(31:32):
I would strongly recommend Mark Squires at eight one six
three four eight seven one online at Life with Medicare
dot com. We will have much more coming up.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. To contact Steve or a guest of his show.
This is Seniorcare Live dot com. We'll have more coming up.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Hello, this is Steve Keeker, president of Senior Care Consulting.
I'm so excited to announce that we are expanding nationwide
by awarding Senior care Consulting franchises. We help our clients
find the right senior care community, including assistant living, memory care,
long term care, and continuing care retirement communities. We are
(32:23):
not another run of the mill free referral service. We're
very different. We offer replacement service with integrity. Owning a
senior care consulting franchise offers many benefits. Our market is
not affected by the economy. Operate from your home office
and enjoy work life balance. Pour your passion into a
business you can be proud of. For more information about
(32:46):
owning a senior care consulting franchise, call eight three three
seven two two three seven two six eight three three
seven two two three seven two six or visit Seniorcare
Consulting dot com. Welcome back. You're listening to Senior Care
(33:13):
Live on the Senior Care Broadcasting Network. Have a question,
visit Senior Care Live dot com. All right, we're visiting
with my friend and special guest in studio, mister Mark
Squire's you know him as the Medicare Whisperer. Reach out
to Mark and his excellent team eight one, six three,
nine nine four eight seven one or online at life
(33:35):
with Medicare dot com and Mark on the break. You
were talking about one of the kind of a really
a new kind of creative plan. Tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Well, here's a pop quiz, Steve. Let's say that we're
in a room and there's fifty people in there arguing
vimently about whatever topic, religion, politics, whatever, yright and you
and I stand up and say we have a question
for you, and that is, if the worst case scenario
presented itself and you had to have extended care, medical
(34:07):
and home assistance of some kind, would you rather do
that at a nursing home or in your own home?
What do you think the answer would be.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
In your own home? Of course? And AARP did an
extensive study in ninety percent of respondents said in home. Okay,
so I'll surprised it wasn't closer to one hundred.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
But anyway, well, there's you know, statistical anomalies, right, yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah. But if we were in that room in
fifty out of fifty people come into alignment and so
oh no at home definitely right, And you realize that
Medicare does pay for some home health care, it's pretty limited.
They pay for no home or non contracted home aid
(34:45):
at all. You need somebody to do your dishes or
do some grocery shopping, lighthouse cleaning, keep your company, play,
play checkers.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Medicare is not going to pay for that. Yeah, they
do not pay for non medical in home assistance. I
refer to that just generally as home care home care. Right,
So we have a new plan that it's called a
home health care plan. Now, I didn't come here to
pitch a plan, Steve, I just want to let the
listeners know about this is very creative. Yeah, it really is.
I love how they've done it.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
So it is what's called a reimbursement policy in the
official Old Church from it's indemnity. And there's different levels.
I'm going to talk about the entry level on this one.
It runs about twenty five dollars a month for most people.
And what it is that you have about one hundred
and fifty dollars a day to spend on various things
(35:31):
like homemade home health care. And I'm not getting into
all the specifics. We'd be glad to discuss it with you.
If you want to give us a shout, I give
us a call. It starts at about twenty five dollars
a month, yep. But here's one of the pieces that
has built into it, and that is a prescription drug
reimbursement benefit. So about the end of the year, you
go get a print out from your pharmacy of all
the drugs you bought for the year. You send it
(35:53):
in and they send you a check.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
Now, it's a specific amount for generics, a different amount
for brand names, and ninety day thirty days. There's you know,
some pieces to that. But if you're taking you know,
as you know Steve, I had open heart surgery about
three years ago, so I take a few medications, right,
and so for me, I have bought the plan. Now
I bought a higher level plan, but I bought the
plan because at the very least I'm going to have
the coverage and I'm going to get my money back
(36:16):
in a prescription drug reimbursement.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Yeah. So you know, it's not a hocus pocus thing.
It's just built in there, and that makes it at
the end of the year possibly a net zero cost.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
I'm not going to say you make a profit on it,
but yeah, it could be a net zero out of cost.
And for the for my clients I've talked to about this,
it's been that case almost every time. Now, if you're
perfectly healthy and not taking any medications, it's a little
bit different story. So there's different levels available, but I
would encourage you to, you know, reach out through the website.
We have a form there you can fill out. You
can give us a call eight one six three ninety
(36:47):
eight seventy one. Of course, it's Saturday, it's the weekend.
We're not there right now, but if you leave a message,
I promise we will call you back and let me
give you some information about it. And you know me,
I'm not a I'm not a predatory salesperson, but I'll
give information and help you make an educated decision. But
wouldn't it be wonderful if that situation presented itself and
you had the peace of mind of knowing you could
(37:09):
get that extra help at home?
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yeah, and that's that's Uh. I've never heard of such
a thing. And that's a very very creative plan right there.
It's I think it's I think it's a great, great idea.
I do too.
Speaker 3 (37:22):
When I first read about it, I was pretty skeptical.
I did a lot of due diligence. Yeah, I studied
it for about six months, and then I sold it
to myself.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Yeah, you bought it, so yeah, so if I'll buy it,
that's a pretty good endorsement.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
Yeah, because I'm pretty tired. I don't like to spend money.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
So all right, so let's just go through just a
few of the of the main points of you know,
some of the benefits of working with a brooker like you.
The Medicare Whisperer, you know, Steve.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
First, I have to point out the Medicare whisper is
not a kitchy little marketing name.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
We came up with.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
Actually one of my clients several years ago. Her name
is Denise. In fact, I just talked to her the
other day. She's in Texas, uh now, and she gave
me that name. In fact, there's a there's a video
out on the YouTube channel if you find it, that
talks about Denise and her story. But you know, so
this isn't just a kitchen name. I we wear that
name with pride because Denise gave it to us.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
And that's quite a compliment. Somebody calls you the Medicare whisper,
that's a heck of a compliment. Yeah. I even got
a hug that day, so that will see, all right,
I'm not stupid.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
So but you know, one of the things that makes
us different is most agents are straight commission based. They
eat what they kill. My agents are salary based. Now
we have a commission pool and everybody shares in it,
but we're their salary base. They know they're going to
get a paycheck every two weeks, so there's no pressure
to make a sale. And if it's a situation where
(38:42):
you call with some questions and you decide I want
to think about it, okay. Just remember, if you sit
on the fence too long, you wind up with splinters
in places you don't want them. Okay, but we'll let
you do that. We're not going to pester you. We
got plenty to do. Believe me. We have multiple companies available,
you know. There if there's a company that has a
Medicare product available, we have a contract with them. We're
not a one and done. We're not just working for
(39:02):
the green company, the purple company of the blue company.
We have them all.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Well, and you know, I think there's something to say
about that too. I'm always a fan of a broker
that can shop the field because it's not a one
size fits all. And if you talk to and it's
nothing against them, they're trying to do their job. But
if you talk to you know, ABC company, their plan
is the greatest plan for you, and it may not
be or maybe they're just they're trying to sell their plan.
(39:25):
So and I'm not mad at them, but go with
a broker, and it's it's always a better situation for
the client.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
So and you know, and I've told you before, we
get paid commission. In my case, the agency gets paid
a commission and then you know, we we pay the
salaries out of that. But that's how we get paid.
So we don't charge for medicare consultations. There is some
change of foot right now that is prohibited by Medicare.
But there is some change a foot with that and
that could be coming soon but right now and we're
(39:53):
not planning on it, but we don't charge for Medicare consultations. Again,
we plant seeds and we let them hark, we harvest
it when it's time. We are a local point of contact.
And you know I say that, but if we've got
a listener in another state where we're license, we're still
local in that. When you call us in March, we're
going to answer the phone. We're going to help you.
We're going to talk to you and you.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Can help people over the phone, or you could do
a zoom or some sort of a virtual meeting too.
We do we do.
Speaker 3 (40:18):
We do teams, teams and works really well. We do
U in person in our office. We'll do over the phone.
We don't do house calls. We just we stopped doing
that years ago. We were one of the leading ones.
When COVID came we it didn't bother us. We already
knew what we were doing. We're very flexible. We'll give you
information on several different you know, things you can look
at and make a decision. Uh, if you need to
(40:39):
change coverage, we'll walk you through that. Understand the strengths
and weaknesses of your plan ability sometimes to find money
and risk protection programs. You know, sometimes we can get
you extra help with prescription drugs. You know that kind
of thing. And I love this part. Steve lifetime claims
support as long as you are our client, and you
have a claim problem, we speak Medicare, so you don't
(40:59):
have to let us carry that burden for you and
help you with it.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
That's why you reach out to Mark Squires. He is
the Medicare whisper at eight one, six, three, nine, nine,
four eight seven one online at Life with Medicare dot com.
And look, I take my own mother to see Mark Squires.
That's how much I believe in him. I've seen everything
that he does. He treats her so well, he's so thorough,
(41:24):
he's so kind, he is very professional. Mark. Thank you
for the great job you do for my mom and
all of your clients, and thanks for being with us
here today providing all of this super important information. I
appreciate you. Thank you, Steve. It's good to be here
all right. I'm Steve Keeker, and I wish you grace
in peace. May God bless you and your family on
this day and always join me next week. Right here
(41:47):
on Senior care Line.
Speaker 6 (41:52):
Does your business serve the elderly and their caregivers in
our area? There are hundreds of thousands of people either
receiving or providing senior care, and they need to know
about you. A unique and successful radio program called Senior
Care Live is the perfect opportunity to let your target
audience know about your amazing products and services. Senior Care
(42:12):
Live is currently adding a limited number of partner sponsors,
and if you're aligned with their mission, they want to
talk to you. They're interested in partnering with hospital organizations,
physician groups, home care providers, estate planning and older law practices,
financial advisors, insurance companies, real estate brokers, home health agencies,
and other providers serving the elderly and their caregivers. Senior
(42:37):
Care Live has a limited number of partner sponsor opportunities,
so call now at nine one three nine four five
twenty eight hundred nine one three nine four five twenty
eight hundred or visit seniorcare live dot com seniorcare live
dot com.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
Quid pro quo a Latin phrase that means an exchange
of goods or services where one transfer is contingent upon
the other. Here's an example. I'll recommend your senior care
community if you'll pay me a huge kickback from my referral.
The free referral services have a vested interest in you
choosing one of their business partners. That's how they make
(43:14):
their money. Does this paid recommendation sound objective or credible?
Of course not. I'm Steve Keeker with Senior Care Consulting.
I'm so proud to say we have never received a
single penny from any provider. Ever. We offer a placement
service with integrity for help finding the right senior care community,
without conflict of interest and without the quid pro quo
(43:38):
called nine one three, nine four five twenty eight hundred
nine one three nine four five twenty eight hundred Replacement
service with integrity at Seniorcare Consulting dot com
Are you caring for an aging loved one? Are you
a senior searching for answers? Welcome to Senior Care Live,
a program dedicated to you, providing information, education, and resources
for seniors and their caregivers. And now America's Senior Care consultant,
Steve Keecker, Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
And welcome to Senior Care Live. I'm Steve Keeker. You're
Senior Care Consultant, and I really appreciate you tuning in today.
We have an excellent and i'll say important program today
with my friend and special guest in studio. You know
him as Mark Squires and you also know him as
the Medicare Whisperer and Mark, welcome back to Senior Care Live. Hi, Steve,
(00:47):
it's been a minute, it's been a minute or two.
I'm glad, glad this worked out today and you were available,
because what time is it, Mark.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Well, it's not open season on seniors, but that's the
way my industry treats it sometimes.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, well, let's let's not have open open season on you.
I'm hunting seniors. No, it's it is.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
The Medicare annual election period started the other day on
October fifteenth, just like it does every oh By the way, Steve,
did you hear Thanksgivings on a Thursday again this year? I?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
You know, I didn't. I don't think I heard that yet. Yeah, yeah,
it is.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
It's amazing, just like the last every Yeah, anyway, every year,
on October fifteenth, we go into what's called the Medicare
Annual Election Period. It's not open enrollment, but that's for
another episode. The annual election period lasts from October fifteenth
to December seventh every year, and that is the time
of year when people who are on Medicare can review
(01:43):
their Medicare advantage plan or their standalone Part D prescription
drug coverage, take a look at what's going to be
available for the next year, and decide if they want
to make a change or not.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
That sounds really easy, doesn't it, Steve. Just simple as
as could be.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah, just very very simple. Now, like I said, it
applies to Medicare advantage plans and prescription drug plans, now,
hear me. If you're turning sixty five after February first
and twenty twenty five, relax, enjoy your last year of
not dealing with Medicare right now, because you don't need
to do anything you're going to hear this universal consciousness
of medicare, the commercials on TV. People are going to
(02:19):
be calling you. You're going to get mail. If you're
turning sixty five after February first, relax, call us will
set up a review appointment for you, teach you all
about medicare. But you don't need to do anything right now.
Just enjoy yourself, enjoy the beautiful fall weather and the
holiday season.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So no need to deal with this stuff. I just
want to just touch on that again. If you're turning
sixty five February first of twenty twenty six or later
sometime that year, right, you don't have to sweat it.
You can deal with this closer to your brain.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
You got plenty of time and we will be glad
to educate you. Just give us a call. We can
set up you can call us now. We can set
up appointments a year in advance if we want to.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Well, let's provide the contact information for our listeners. You
can reach out to Mark Squire's and his excellent team.
He is the Medicare Whisperer. Eight one six, three, nine
nine four eight seven one. That's eight one six, three,
nine nine four eight seven. One could also visit his
excellent website online Life with Medicare dot com. And I'll
(03:20):
tell you what you're some of your the folks that
work with you in your office are almost full. They're
almost booked full. I mean, it's the good capacity is
going to be a problem here. So I would not wait.
I would call immediately and get on the calendar. Oh
please do.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
We've got seven agents plus me, and my lead agent
is about ninety two percent booked. He's been he's been
booking appointments since June. My number two agent is in
the high eighties book. We will make room for you.
Don't get me wrong. We're not saying we're too busy
for you. However, the longer you wait to call, the
last chance you have.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Of getting in.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Now you know we can do in person, we can
do on the phone, or we can do a team's
meeting or zoom.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Whatever you prefer.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
So, I mean, if if, if you're you know, a
little ways away from where we are in Kansas City,
we don't expect you to drive for long. What if
you want to come see us. We'd love to see
in our brand new office, but you know we can,
we can accommodate you. Now, I want you to remember,
each listener, I want you to remember what I'm.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
About to say.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
The biggest danger we have is that our industry tries
to make Medicare a one size fits all. Now, I
know we're on Radio Steve and people cannot peer through
their radio through my microphone and see. But I have
absolutely huge hands, so buying gloves for me is difficult.
So when I see gloves, if I go to a
(04:41):
store and says one size fits all, yeah, that's not work,
I'm oj you know it's not going to fit this handy.
So just remember when it comes to Medicare, especially when
it comes to Medicare, there's no such thing as one
size fits all. So look, if your neighbor, your bunco partner,
your aunt, your sister, whoever has Plan Q, whatever it is,
(05:01):
it's probably a great plan for them, but it may
not be right for you. Each person is an individual,
Each person's situation is different. So please, I implore you
set up a review. Let us take a look at
you as the individual, not as a product purchaser. Let
us review the coverage. If you already have coverage, if
it's right for you, you know what we're gonna say, Steve, Hey,
(05:22):
you did a good job.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
It's right for you. Yeah, don't change it, just walk
away and good for you. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And then if you know you have a reference point
in the future, if you have a problem or a question,
you know somebody you can call and say, hey, Steve, Stacey, Mark, whoever, Dwayne,
if you can call him and say, I have got
a question. And now it's somebody you actually have a
warm relationship with who is happy to answer whatever question
you have. Beyond oh, call the toll free number on
your card.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Oh yeah, good luck with that.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Well, I mean, you know, you do talk to somebody
in a place where they don't have consonants in their alphabet,
and you may hear a chicken in the background. Oh boy,
but you know that's okay. Nothing against those people they've
got to work to. But I you know, again, by
setting up an appointment with us, or if you're working
with another broker that you're like, then we're not trying
to steal anything. But please do your best to avoid
becoming prey. We're going to talk a little bit about
(06:08):
some scams here in a few minutes, but the best
way to do this have a relationship with a broker
that you know, if you don't have a broker, if
your broker's got out of the business, we're gonna mention
that in a minute, give us a call. We will
become that point of contact for you, and we'll do
our best to help you understand Medicare as it applies
to you, so that you don't fall prey to one
of the scams. And I'm not saying Medicare is full
(06:30):
of scams, but I am saying that if your Medicare
isn't built right, it can be very, very expensive.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Okay, And so this is maybe a little off the
beaten path. I just I just thought of it. I
have a client, she's going to be moving her mother
to the Kansas City area from I believe it's Virginia.
Will she need to change her Medicare plan when she
comes when she's a Missouri resident. So the answer to
that is it depends and maybe okay, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, So without knowing what she has in Virginia, if
she is on a Medicare supplement or medigapp policy, no,
she doesn't have to change, or we just have to
explain to her how rates work in Missouri. Because we're
one of the higher priced states. But if she's on
Medicare advantage, the minute Social Security finds out she's moved,
they're going to notify Medicare. Medicare is going to notify
her Medicare advantage plan, and they're going to say, you
(07:19):
have moved outside of the plans coverage area. Your coverage
will terminate in sixty days. You have sixty days to
choose a new plan in your new area.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
And you know, I think she does have an advantage plan,
and that's that's an advantage plan contracts with providers locally.
So she will need to make a move a change
at that point, at the very least review it so
she knows she has what she needs.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
You said, you're one of her family members is moving
her here?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Correct?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
And I want to point that out if if that's
a situation in the family, be involved in that meeting.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
As long as.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
The Medicare beneficiary says, yes, it's okay with me. We're
happy to meet your family members.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
And she would she and her daughter get along very well,
and so they could they could address that with you.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Oh sure, absolutely, a lot like you and your mom.
I mean, you come and hang out and we talk
to your mom and we probably talk about more than
Medicare and have a lot of fun together. So yeah,
anytime a family member wants to be a part of that,
as long as we have permission, we're good with that.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Perfect. I will have them reach out to you very soon. Okay,
I can't wait anyway.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You know, Steve, every year we've been friends for many,
many many years and work together and done a lot
of cross referring. Every year you hear me say this,
It's like, this is the most volatile year in medicare
I've seen since twenty ten. And I say it and
every year it's true, but this year it really is.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I mean it.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
This year, I just cannot tell you how much turmoil
is going on in medicare as I say, behold the
great Egress. Now we're talking about Kansas City. I know
we're all over the country, but Kansas City specifically where
we live. Prime Health and Humana have still not made up.
It's been over a year.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
And so if you are on a human Medicare advantage
plan and you're going to your Prime Health hospital that
would be Saint Joe or Saint Mary's. They're not going
to see if you're on Humana at an a Medicare
advantage plus United Healthcare Medicare advantage minus North Kansas City
Hospital slash Maritas equals everybody gets a Humani plan because
they're getting divorced at the beginning of the year to
(09:17):
North Kansas City Hospital. If you're on United Healthcare Medicare
advantage or ATNA, you don't, they're not going to see you.
Now that doesn't apply to supplements as strictly Medicare advantage.
ATNA pulled out of cast County. Cast Counties just south
of the Kansas City area. They completely pulled out of
Caste County. Many of the Blue Cross Blue Shield if
it's across the country, are completely exiting the Medicare advantage
more it's it is the great egress.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
And I remember last year about this time we were
talking about you know, Blue Cross December thirty first at midnight,
you you don't have coverage and you have to do
something before then. Yeah, and so it's something every year
it seems like.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
It is, which you only gives us a stable job,
but you know, and to give you for instance, with
EDNA pulling out a cast County, if you you're on
a net and a Medicare advantage planning Cass County, Missouri.
You're guaranteed issue for a Medicare supplement if you want
to pay the premium, no health questions. So there's good
news and bad news. But what these companies are doing, Steve,
and I'm gonna call it out the way it is.
It's it's margins over members. They want to make a profit,
(10:16):
and I'm okay with them making a profit, but not
at the expensive members.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
It's just not a good thing. Okay, Mark, let's pick
that up on the other side, because we cannot forget
about the Senior Care Live Question of the Week. The
Medicare annual election period is from October fifteenth through December
thirty first, every single year. Does this statement true or false?
(10:42):
What do you think?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. For more information, visit seniorcare Live dot com.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
We'll have more with Steve coming up next.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Welcome back. You're listening to Senior Care Live on the
Senior Care Broadcasting Network. For more information, visit Senior care
Live dot com. Now back to the Senior Care Live
Question of the Week. The Medicare annual election period is
from October fifteenth through December thirty first, every single year.
(11:28):
Is that stay true or false? And the answer is.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Mark, Well, Agent ninety nine, you missed it by that much.
You're very very close. You just added twenty two days
to the season. Okay, No, the Medicare annual election period
is October fifteenth to December seventh.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Ah, yeah, not December thirty first. So if our audience,
if they were really tuned in, they would have heard
you say that earlier in the programs.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
And probably every time I've been on Senior Care exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, But that's okay.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
It's a good refresher, a good reminder because there are
people out there who do tend to wait till the
last minute, and the last minute of December seventh. In fact,
when they changed all this a few years ago, they
actually strategically use December seventh because of the Pearl Harbor
day mnemonic in there. Now, this year's December seventh is
on a Sunday, and we don't work Sundays, So hurry up,
(12:26):
give us a call, get on that schedule.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
As soon as you can.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I wanted to pick up from that statement. Of margins
over members.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Yeah, if that's okay, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
United Healthcare published a paper or an article where they
said they expect to offload six hundred thousand members this year.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Offload, offload.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Can you imagine a business that's for profits saying we're
just going to trim our customer base by six hundred
thousand this year so we can be profitable. Wow, They've
moved out of a number of counties across the United States.
This is happening all over the country, not just in
Kansas City. And another thing that's going on now, folks,
don't go get your box of tissues. You don't need
(13:08):
to cry for us. But what's happening is the way
agents or agencies like mind get paid. We can pay
the commission when we do an enrollment. Now, my agents
are salary based because I don't want them feeling pressure
if they're you know, I don't say if they don't
make a sale, they're not going to make their car payment.
So we're just salary based and it works really well
for us. But many of the Medicare advantage plans are
(13:29):
no longer commissionable agents. Now, they still want us to
write them because we will do what's right for the client.
That's you know, that's I'm a gardener. If I plant seeds,
I don't have to get my harvest immediately. Well, we'll
do what's right for the client because that's our mission
at the Medicare Whisper. But many of the Medicare advantage
plans are just not paying the agent's commissions. Or in
(13:50):
the case of United health Care, what they're doing is
if you're on a United Healthcare PPO and you stay
on that, the agent's going to get full renewal commission. However,
if they rewrite you onto a PPO, they get half commission.
But if you put them on an HMO Steve, you
get your full commission.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Oh so HMO plans will be pretty popular.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
That is, they're trying to drive the amot of care
beneficiary into an HMO plan.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Well, and like you said, there's no one size fits all.
It just depends on you, your preferences, your budgets, do
you travel, I mean all of the things.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
If you're a snowbird, that's something you need to pay
attention to. Yeah, and you know, some of the plans
have what's called a POS benefit, meaning if they have
a contracted Medicare advantage provider in another area, you can
still go and have coverage under an HMO. That works
great if you're going to place like Arizona, Florida, Texas.
Don't go to Wyoming because most of them don't have
a lot of providers in a play. Nothing against Wyoming,
(14:46):
Sarah Cheryl, if you're listening, I still love you. Yeah,
But here's here's something really big, Steve. And this just
came out. On Monday of this week, October thirteenth, United
Healthcare put out an announcement they have said mailings to
many of their Medicare supplement policy holders incentivizing them to
(15:06):
switch to a United Healthcare Medicare advantage plan. Now, the
letter does have the agent's name and phone number in it,
but it kind of has worded saying, Hey, call us
and we'll tell you about all the wonderful benefits of changing.
If you call United Healthcare directly and they put you
on a Medicare advantage plan, your agent is permanently out
(15:29):
of the picture and you can't get them back.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
That's kind of dirty pool right there.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
It really really is. Oh yeah, wait a minute, Margins
over members, that's right, that's what we say so. If
you get that letter, call your agent. Please call your agent, yeah,
to keep them in the mix. And again, Steve, we've
talked about it before. On a Medicare advantage plan, we
get paid more, a lot more than what we get
(15:53):
paid on a Medicare supplement. So if an agent is
recommending a supplement with a premium, it's not the pad
the commission.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
It is too.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Because it's fit for you. Absolutely, it is the right fit.
And for some people Medicare advantage is great. For some people,
Medicare supplement works a lot better. So you don't want
to lose your agent, and your agent doesn't want to
lose you. Because we love all of our clients. This
has been a rough year. We've lost about thirteen clients
that have passed away. It's been a rough year for us.
We have just one of our agents this year too,
(16:22):
and we miss all of them. But you know, don't
fall for this. If you get the letter and you
want to explore it, by all means, call your agent.
Don't walk you through it. If your agent's left the business,
and a lot of them have left the business this year,
give us a call. We'll be glad to walk you
through it. We're happy to help. And oh, by the way,
you do remember how much we charge for consultation.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Steve, Yeah, it's pretty much free of charge. It is,
it is, it is. And you might even get a
box of popcorn when you're visiting.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Actually, we have a new front desk person named Pauline,
and she learned to use the popcorn popper today.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
There we go, Yeah, there we go. And so if
that's I don't want to I don't want to gloss
over that one either. We're not trying to go out
and poach business. But guess what because of all of
these changes in Medicare, you know, taking the commission structure
away on tons of these products, guess what's happening there?
There is a mass exodus of a lot of Medicare
(17:13):
agents that say, look, I'm just not going to do
this anymore. If you don't have an agent, you have questions,
you would like to maybe find a new agent, and
you don't want to go this other route that Mark
has talked about. Reach out to Mark Squires. He's the
Medicare whisperer. Eight one six three four eight seven to one.
That's the phone number. Eight one, six three nine four
(17:35):
eight seven one. You could also visit Life with Medicare
dot com and UH and reach out to Mark and
talk to him and get a new agent. If your
agent's gone and they retired her, they're like, I'm not
doing this business anymore. You need a new one. Don't
go direct, don't call the one eight hundred number. Uh,
don't don't do that, call Mark Squires and Steve.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
I want to point out, you're right. A lot of
my friends, longtime friends of this business, have just said
I'm done with all the changes, all the you know,
the average agent spends eighty hours a year certifying just
just to do medicare, just to be certified, right, two week,
two business weeks certified, and they're just they're tired of it.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
A lot of my agent friends are you know, in
their seventies and they just supplement their social security doing this.
I want to make a very bold statement here the
Medicare Whisperer team, we're not leaving the business. Deed, We've
made promises to thousands of our clients that we will
be here for them, and as long as I own
the company and it's not for sale, we're going to
honor our commitments. It's one of the reasons I think
(18:33):
you and I get along so well. We're cut from
that same cloth. Will we make a commitment, even if
it is not the best for us personally, we're going
to honor the commitment.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Well, it's called integrity, and unfortunately, I think a lot
of people in our society lack that component. And that's
that's a really sad statement, but that's what I see.
Not everybody, of course, but a lot of people that's
becoming old fashioned and it's all about what can you
What have you done done for me lately? What can
you do for me? You scratch my backall scratch yours?
(19:03):
And how much is it worked to me? How much
money we talking about?
Speaker 3 (19:06):
That's what's in it for me and this, like I've
said before, it's a mission. We do this because God
gave me this mission and it's to take care of people.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
And I'll rely on him to take care of the money. Yep. Absolutely,
he is Mark Squire's the Medicare Whisper. If this is
if this is resonating with you, pick up the phone,
give him a call eight one sixty three nine nine
four eight seven one or online at Life with Medicare
dot com and coming up next, we're going to get
(19:35):
into the prescription drug coverage. It's depart d plans. You're
gonna want to hear this. Don't go away.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. Have a question. This is Seniorcare Live dot Com.
Stick around.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
We'll have more with Steve coming up next.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
A recent Internet search for nursing homes in Kansas City
provided thirty two million results. It's daunting to think that
there are over three hundred and fifty senior care communities
to choose from in the Kansas City metro and on
average you'll spend fifty to one hundred hours trying to
find a place for your loved one. If this sounds overwhelming,
that's because it is. I invite you to reach out
(20:24):
to Senior Care Consulting. We've been serving family since two
thousand and two. With our premium service, we do most
of the work for you.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
You'll spend just.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
A few hours of your time finding the best place available,
and you can trust us to be objective because we
don't receive reimbursement from any provider.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
We work for you.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
To learn more, call Senior Care Consulting at nine three
nine four five twenty eight hundred nine nine four five
twenty eight hundred, a placement service with integrity at Seniorcare
Consulting dot com.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Welcome back. You're listening to Senior Care Live on the
Senior Care Broadcasting Network. For podcasts of the program, visit
Seniorcare Live dot com. And before the break, we talked
about we're going to talk about Part D plans and
there's a lot of information we want to cover. But
here we go again.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please, this is a consumer alert.
Consumer alert, all right.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
So, market seems like every time here on the show
there's a new they're like the scam of the day,
or the week, or at least the month, there's there's
another one going around, and it sounds pretty pretty concerning. Yes,
it's like the wheel of scams. Just spin it and
we'll find a scam to talk about. Yeah, exactly exactly,
And that makes me sick by the way. There they're
(21:54):
praying on elderly people who may trust the caller, and
my mom's one of them, and her radar is up
pretty I've got her her radar set pretty high, but
it's it can happen to anyone.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Oh, it does, and we get calls all the time. Here,
here's a really fun one. And they've I really I
won't say I appreciate, but they've refined this one. It
happens every year this time. The scammers start calling, and
here's how the call goes, Hi, can you hear me?
And you of course say yes, yes, and that's where
(22:26):
it starts, and they run you through a cadence to
keep saying yes. But they start out with I'm calling
to make sure you've received your upgraded Medicare card.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
You're upgraded.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
You're upgraded because this is available to all Medicare beneficiaries,
but only the ones who recruit recrest we request it
will receive it. And this card, it's a special upgraded
Medicare card that will give you extra benefits not available
to the people who have.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
The normal Medicare card.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Gosh, it's right, And they're there to help you sign
up for your upgraded Medicare card. And it's only available
for a limited time every year. Guess what that time is.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Steve, Probably during the annual election until December seventh. Isn't
that amazing? Yeah, Yeah, that's just a coincidence.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
So if you would like to get some some dental
coverage by Medicare and maybe some eyeglasses or hearing aids,
you can do that by getting your upgraded Medicare card.
And before you know it, you've said yes about ten
or twelve times, and they're going, well, to we want
to get this in the mail to you right away.
And so what we're gonna do is we're gonna we're
(23:33):
gonna get your your address, and I'm gonna just verify
your Medicare information and we'll get that out to you. Now,
that goes on every year, but here's what they've added
this year. To get your upgraded Medicare card. There's a
small shipping fee of four dollars and ninety five cents.
I just need your bank account information or a credit
card to do that.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
So they're combining the two.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
So while you're waiting for your upgraded Medicare card, your
bank account is getting siphoned. Now if you give me,
if it's credit card number, you've got the federal protections.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Unless you give me a debit card. That's a.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
That's another story with another guest, but I'm telling you
it happened a couple of things I like to point
out if you've made it to the age where you're
on Medicare and you haven't figured out yet that there's
no such thing as a free launch, Yep, it's time
for you to learn. And Medicare will never ever call, text, email,
(24:29):
or otherwise message.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
You, especially now.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
They're not even open the government checkdown as we're recording
this now. If somebody hears this in an archive, you know,
six months from now, Oh I hope they're not still closed.
But they won't do that. And you hear us say
this time and time and time again. If you get
the AARP magazine every month, they tell you at least
twice in every magazine, Medicare social Security.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Will never call.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
And furthermore, Medicare calls you, they already know your Medicare number.
They don't need you to tell them what it is. Look,
we all want something free, we all want some and more.
It's just the nature of an American is to want
more for less. Don't fall for it. And if you
get that call and you want to verify, say, okay,
I'm going to call one out of Medicare and ask
(25:13):
them about this, or you can call us we'll walk
you through it.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Well, if you challenge them, they're just gonna go click
and they're going to move on to easier prey. Basically yeah. Yeah.
So so look, here's here's the message. Here's the consumer alert.
If you get a call from someone out of the
blue asking you about if you'd like to sign up
for the new and improved Medicare that the up technically
(25:37):
is the upgraded Medicare card, there is no such thing.
Don't take debait.
Speaker 5 (25:45):
Proceed with caution. This has been a consumer alert brought
to you. Buy Senior Care Live.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
All right, So I'll tell you what mark that kind
of stuff. I mean, you know, my mom's eighty three
and she's as she's totally with it and in great
you know, thank the Lord. But a lot of people
are not. If you have a little bit of dementia,
maybe a lot of dementia, or maybe just a very
trusting person, and a lot of people in this age
(26:11):
range they are, They're very trusting. They come from that
generation they get taken advantage of. It makes my blood
boil and I want to I want to I want
to do everything I can to try to protect these folks.
I appreciate you, and I know you do too, so
I appreciate bringing that to our attention. So what about
this Part D medication prescription drug cost no bo business?
(26:32):
Oh boy?
Speaker 3 (26:32):
So, first I will tell you that Medicare Part D
started twenty years ago on November fifteenth. November fifteenth of
two thousand and five was the very first day people
could roll in Medicare Part DY prescription drug plans. So
Medicare party is getting a little long in the tooth
and it's starting to get some health problems.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Let's just say it that way.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Last year, we told you that a company called Wellcare
just terminated all the agents, just canceled all of our contracts,
meaning we lost our renewal commission, so that we couldn't
write any business. Other party companies have decided to take
their lead and they're doing the same thing. To give
you an example, United Healthcare made all of their drug
(27:14):
plans non commissionable. They didn't terminate our contracts because they
still want me to want us to write the business form.
Just last week, Human put a letter out to all
the agents that said, effective November ninth, you're no longer
permitted to write any human drug coverage. In fact, they've
pulled their coverage information off all the platforms except medicare
(27:36):
dot gov because they can't pull it off of there.
And they said, if you do write it, you won't
get paid. But we have rules to follow, Steve, the
government Medicare CMS gives us rules, and one of those
rules is if we are not contracted with an insurance
company and certified to write their prescription drug coverage, we
(27:59):
put our.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
License at risk if we do it. Wow.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
No, we don't mind advising people. You know, we can
point and we could give somebody a weblink to sign
up on their own. Most of these companies won't let
you sign up on the phone. But as much as
we want to help, we're not going to put our
livelihood at risk by getting our licenses canceled because we've broke.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
The rules and they've completely just cut you out. Yeah,
they've just literally kind of said, we're seeing people to
go to a website to sign up.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
The one of the most critical decisions you can make
as a person age sixty five or older is your
medicare and your drug coverage. Yeah, and agents like me
and my team at the Medicare Whisperer and a lot
of my colleagues in this business. We're the ones who
are on main Street, who are helping mom and pop
main Street make these decisions, make the plans work for them,
(28:44):
understand the plans four months later when they forget what
the plan's doing, because we're always here for them. So
your alternatives. If your agent isn't able to write a
Medicare partner prescription drug plan one, you can call. You
can go to Medicare dot gov. You you can go there,
do their plan finder, put in your drugs'll it'll give
you a list of plans. And human nature is to
(29:06):
pick the one that says it's the cheapest right. Might
not be the right one, but hey, it was the
cheapest right. Every state has what's called a ship that
was ship with a p state health insurance program, and
you could speak with a volunteer.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Who gets about an hour and a half of training. Boy,
but here's the thing.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Neither a Medicare employee nor a SHIP volunteer can make
a specific recommendation. All they can do is tell you
what is available. You have to make the decision. And
what's going on with this is a direct result of
the Inflation Reduction Act, and there are some nice things
in the Inflation Reduction Act, especially if you're taking a
(29:45):
large amount of drugs, or you're taking a couple of
major brand name drugs. So last year we had the
two thousand dollars cap on prescription drugs for everybody. Okay,
This year that amount goes up to twenty one hundred dollars.
So at the point that at all of your out
of pocket drug expenses reach twenty one hundred dollars, you
will be done paying.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
For drugs for the rest of the year.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Okay, Okay, so you know, take them if you got them.
Still keep capping insulin at thirty five dollars, okay, if
it's on formulary. Not all insulins are on formulary for
all companies. Some of them just have eliminated their drugs.
One of the companies I won't name the name, their
Tier one generic has a whopping eighty six drugs listed
(30:28):
on it, eighty six out of several hundred. So there
has also been a massive reduction in the number of
plans available. Look Medicare, party drug plans are not profitable
for the insurance companies. Now, let's don't shed a tear.
They're making money. They're doing fine, so they're going to
find ways to not sell these things and try to
get you to advantage.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Okay, I remember, well the last few years that we've
been you know, might take my mom to see you
every year, and we have that review. So I just
want to demonstrate for our audio it's how valuable a
broker is. So you asked my mom questions, do you
have a particular pharmacy that you're like, well, yeah, we
live in spring Hill and I like to go to
(31:09):
Price Choppers just right down the street is where I
get my groceries. And you said, almost verbatim, that's one
of the really important relationships that you have regarding your healthcare.
And so let's look and not all of them we
know worked with that particular pharmacy. So here here's the
bottom line. You need to work with a Medicare brooker.
(31:32):
I would strongly recommend Mark Squires at eight one six
three four eight seven one online at Life with Medicare
dot com. We will have much more coming up.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. To contact Steve or a guest of his show.
This is Seniorcare Live dot com. We'll have more coming up.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Hello, this is Steve Keeker, president of Senior Care Consulting.
I'm so excited to announce that we are expanding nationwide
by awarding Senior care Consulting franchises. We help our clients
find the right senior care community, including assistant living, memory care,
long term care, and continuing care retirement communities. We are
(32:23):
not another run of the mill free referral service. We're
very different. We offer replacement service with integrity. Owning a
senior care consulting franchise offers many benefits. Our market is
not affected by the economy. Operate from your home office
and enjoy work life balance. Pour your passion into a
business you can be proud of. For more information about
(32:46):
owning a senior care consulting franchise, call eight three three
seven two two three seven two six eight three three
seven two two three seven two six or visit Seniorcare
Consulting dot com. Welcome back. You're listening to Senior Care
(33:13):
Live on the Senior Care Broadcasting Network. Have a question,
visit Senior Care Live dot com. All right, we're visiting
with my friend and special guest in studio, mister Mark
Squire's you know him as the Medicare Whisperer. Reach out
to Mark and his excellent team eight one, six three,
nine nine four eight seven one or online at life
(33:35):
with Medicare dot com and Mark on the break. You
were talking about one of the kind of a really
a new kind of creative plan. Tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Well, here's a pop quiz, Steve. Let's say that we're
in a room and there's fifty people in there arguing
vimently about whatever topic, religion, politics, whatever, yright and you
and I stand up and say we have a question
for you, and that is, if the worst case scenario
presented itself and you had to have extended care, medical
(34:07):
and home assistance of some kind, would you rather do
that at a nursing home or in your own home?
What do you think the answer would be.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
In your own home? Of course? And AARP did an
extensive study in ninety percent of respondents said in home. Okay,
so I'll surprised it wasn't closer to one hundred.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
But anyway, well, there's you know, statistical anomalies, right, yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah. But if we were in that room in
fifty out of fifty people come into alignment and so
oh no at home definitely right, And you realize that
Medicare does pay for some home health care, it's pretty limited.
They pay for no home or non contracted home aid
(34:45):
at all. You need somebody to do your dishes or
do some grocery shopping, lighthouse cleaning, keep your company, play,
play checkers.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Medicare is not going to pay for that. Yeah, they
do not pay for non medical in home assistance. I
refer to that just generally as home care home care. Right,
So we have a new plan that it's called a
home health care plan. Now, I didn't come here to
pitch a plan, Steve, I just want to let the
listeners know about this is very creative. Yeah, it really is.
I love how they've done it.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
So it is what's called a reimbursement policy in the
official Old Church from it's indemnity. And there's different levels.
I'm going to talk about the entry level on this one.
It runs about twenty five dollars a month for most people.
And what it is that you have about one hundred
and fifty dollars a day to spend on various things
(35:31):
like homemade home health care. And I'm not getting into
all the specifics. We'd be glad to discuss it with you.
If you want to give us a shout, I give
us a call. It starts at about twenty five dollars
a month, yep. But here's one of the pieces that
has built into it, and that is a prescription drug
reimbursement benefit. So about the end of the year, you
go get a print out from your pharmacy of all
the drugs you bought for the year. You send it
(35:53):
in and they send you a check.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
Now, it's a specific amount for generics, a different amount
for brand names, and ninety day thirty days. There's you know,
some pieces to that. But if you're taking you know,
as you know Steve, I had open heart surgery about
three years ago, so I take a few medications, right,
and so for me, I have bought the plan. Now
I bought a higher level plan, but I bought the
plan because at the very least I'm going to have
the coverage and I'm going to get my money back
(36:16):
in a prescription drug reimbursement.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Yeah. So you know, it's not a hocus pocus thing.
It's just built in there, and that makes it at
the end of the year possibly a net zero cost.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
I'm not going to say you make a profit on it,
but yeah, it could be a net zero out of cost.
And for the for my clients I've talked to about this,
it's been that case almost every time. Now, if you're
perfectly healthy and not taking any medications, it's a little
bit different story. So there's different levels available, but I
would encourage you to, you know, reach out through the website.
We have a form there you can fill out. You
can give us a call eight one six three ninety
(36:47):
eight seventy one. Of course, it's Saturday, it's the weekend.
We're not there right now, but if you leave a message,
I promise we will call you back and let me
give you some information about it. And you know me,
I'm not a I'm not a predatory salesperson, but I'll
give information and help you make an educated decision. But
wouldn't it be wonderful if that situation presented itself and
you had the peace of mind of knowing you could
(37:09):
get that extra help at home?
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yeah, and that's that's Uh. I've never heard of such
a thing. And that's a very very creative plan right there.
It's I think it's I think it's a great, great idea.
I do too.
Speaker 3 (37:22):
When I first read about it, I was pretty skeptical.
I did a lot of due diligence. Yeah, I studied
it for about six months, and then I sold it
to myself.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Yeah, you bought it, so yeah, so if I'll buy it,
that's a pretty good endorsement.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
Yeah, because I'm pretty tired. I don't like to spend money.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
So all right, so let's just go through just a
few of the of the main points of you know,
some of the benefits of working with a brooker like you.
The Medicare Whisperer, you know, Steve.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
First, I have to point out the Medicare whisper is
not a kitchy little marketing name.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
We came up with.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
Actually one of my clients several years ago. Her name
is Denise. In fact, I just talked to her the
other day. She's in Texas, uh now, and she gave
me that name. In fact, there's a there's a video
out on the YouTube channel if you find it, that
talks about Denise and her story. But you know, so
this isn't just a kitchen name. I we wear that
name with pride because Denise gave it to us.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
And that's quite a compliment. Somebody calls you the Medicare whisper,
that's a heck of a compliment. Yeah. I even got
a hug that day, so that will see, all right,
I'm not stupid.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
So but you know, one of the things that makes
us different is most agents are straight commission based. They
eat what they kill. My agents are salary based. Now
we have a commission pool and everybody shares in it,
but we're their salary base. They know they're going to
get a paycheck every two weeks, so there's no pressure
to make a sale. And if it's a situation where
(38:42):
you call with some questions and you decide I want
to think about it, okay. Just remember, if you sit
on the fence too long, you wind up with splinters
in places you don't want them. Okay, but we'll let
you do that. We're not going to pester you. We
got plenty to do. Believe me. We have multiple companies available,
you know. There if there's a company that has a
Medicare product available, we have a contract with them. We're
not a one and done. We're not just working for
(39:02):
the green company, the purple company of the blue company.
We have them all.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Well, and you know, I think there's something to say
about that too. I'm always a fan of a broker
that can shop the field because it's not a one
size fits all. And if you talk to and it's
nothing against them, they're trying to do their job. But
if you talk to you know, ABC company, their plan
is the greatest plan for you, and it may not
be or maybe they're just they're trying to sell their plan.
(39:25):
So and I'm not mad at them, but go with
a broker, and it's it's always a better situation for
the client.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
So and you know, and I've told you before, we
get paid commission. In my case, the agency gets paid
a commission and then you know, we we pay the
salaries out of that. But that's how we get paid.
So we don't charge for medicare consultations. There is some
change of foot right now that is prohibited by Medicare.
But there is some change a foot with that and
that could be coming soon but right now and we're
(39:53):
not planning on it, but we don't charge for Medicare consultations. Again,
we plant seeds and we let them hark, we harvest
it when it's time. We are a local point of contact.
And you know I say that, but if we've got
a listener in another state where we're license, we're still
local in that. When you call us in March, we're
going to answer the phone. We're going to help you.
We're going to talk to you and you.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Can help people over the phone, or you could do
a zoom or some sort of a virtual meeting too.
We do we do.
Speaker 3 (40:18):
We do teams, teams and works really well. We do
U in person in our office. We'll do over the phone.
We don't do house calls. We just we stopped doing
that years ago. We were one of the leading ones.
When COVID came we it didn't bother us. We already
knew what we were doing. We're very flexible. We'll give you
information on several different you know, things you can look
at and make a decision. Uh, if you need to
(40:39):
change coverage, we'll walk you through that. Understand the strengths
and weaknesses of your plan ability sometimes to find money
and risk protection programs. You know, sometimes we can get
you extra help with prescription drugs. You know that kind
of thing. And I love this part. Steve lifetime claims
support as long as you are our client, and you
have a claim problem, we speak Medicare, so you don't
(40:59):
have to let us carry that burden for you and
help you with it.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
That's why you reach out to Mark Squires. He is
the Medicare whisper at eight one, six, three, nine, nine,
four eight seven one online at Life with Medicare dot com.
And look, I take my own mother to see Mark Squires.
That's how much I believe in him. I've seen everything
that he does. He treats her so well, he's so thorough,
(41:24):
he's so kind, he is very professional. Mark. Thank you
for the great job you do for my mom and
all of your clients, and thanks for being with us
here today providing all of this super important information. I
appreciate you. Thank you, Steve. It's good to be here
all right. I'm Steve Keeker, and I wish you grace
in peace. May God bless you and your family on
this day and always join me next week. Right here
(41:47):
on Senior care Line.
Speaker 6 (41:52):
Does your business serve the elderly and their caregivers in
our area? There are hundreds of thousands of people either
receiving or providing senior care, and they need to know
about you. A unique and successful radio program called Senior
Care Live is the perfect opportunity to let your target
audience know about your amazing products and services. Senior Care
(42:12):
Live is currently adding a limited number of partner sponsors,
and if you're aligned with their mission, they want to
talk to you. They're interested in partnering with hospital organizations,
physician groups, home care providers, estate planning and older law practices,
financial advisors, insurance companies, real estate brokers, home health agencies,
and other providers serving the elderly and their caregivers. Senior
(42:37):
Care Live has a limited number of partner sponsor opportunities,
so call now at nine one three nine four five
twenty eight hundred nine one three nine four five twenty
eight hundred or visit seniorcare live dot com seniorcare live
dot com.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
Quid pro quo a Latin phrase that means an exchange
of goods or services where one transfer is contingent upon
the other. Here's an example. I'll recommend your senior care
community if you'll pay me a huge kickback from my referral.
The free referral services have a vested interest in you
choosing one of their business partners. That's how they make
(43:14):
their money. Does this paid recommendation sound objective or credible?
Of course not. I'm Steve Keeker with Senior Care Consulting.
I'm so proud to say we have never received a
single penny from any provider. Ever. We offer a placement
service with integrity for help finding the right senior care community,
without conflict of interest and without the quid pro quo
(43:38):
called nine one three, nine four five twenty eight hundred
nine one three nine four five twenty eight hundred Replacement
service with integrity at Seniorcare Consulting dot com
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.