Medicare Essentials

You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome to finishing well brought to you by Cardinal God� Certified financial planner belongs to Schild, best-selling author and financial planners helping families finish well over 40 years of finishing well will examine both biblical and practical knowledge to assist families in finishing well, including discussions on managing Medicare IRA long-term care life insurance and investments and taxes. Now let's get started with finishing well is welcome to finishing all day in order to finish well. Start well so so go starting well today are shows Medicare essentials so when you think about Jesus, you know, I asked the rich young ruler if he could give us the essentials of the of the Bible so you know you know how to the law. How do you read it you know, one of the one of the big factors in and he pulled it down to two witches can have a lot to do with today show. We boiled down to two NL. There were originally 10 and he's like love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind with all your soul, spirit and love your neighbor as yourself. You did that for me couple months ago and very helpful. So it is fascinating how you can take all 10 actually the first five have to do with the first love the Lord your God, and the second five have to do with love your neighbor as yourself. But interestingly, when it comes to Medicare. It really is about loving your neighbor, and I think it was God because we knew when we get to these essentials. I think you will be surprised.

I really do on how cool this really is and really goes way back to the Blue Cross Blue Shield days which I can't see you know stuff that was really helpful to really boil the stuff down but yeah I mean I when I wrote both my books and specifically the first one I went back to a lot of things in the beginning of Medicare and beginnings of Social Security and then I started my career in this business in 1970 60 I'm able to go back to the beginnings of my career and really look for how dull the stuff could start and when you get specifically what were talking about today is Medicare you know you really have to go back and like what are they thinking. If you're somebody that is first being exposed to Medicare right now in 2020, and you're sitting down your reading the books your calling people in your homework doing this on the phone in your trying to get Medicare part a part B, part C, part D plan G and you just know I spent the hundred and some radio shows and I spent really the modern department for 2010 on where I been a financial planner and own my own business and really taking control this messaging ultimately wrote the book. This is been a sticking point to me is is that I don't necessarily think that I have been doing that. Great job of getting the essential points across that people need to learn about Medicare to make good decisions coming me and the rest of the industry.

We just make the stuff to confusion because it is confusing when you got for moving parts of Medicare and the distinctly are part a part B, part C, part D and then you then you have you still name of ABC DG for the supplements.

Never thought I had a name and the same thing. Many people are just lost and try to do today is were going to try to just boil it down to the essentials and try to do that were going to and and I find it actually quite helpful to go back to the 60s and think about what health insurance look like you know when I was small child. You know my dad worked for General Motors in our health insurance back then was for blue claw group Blue Cross and Blue Shield and I've always called it Blue Cross Blue Shield but some people to call it Blue Cross but it ain't just that right hello you so so in the beginning when you first had health insurance you had Blue Cross which was an association of the hospitals and it was hospital insurance or hospital associations. All the hospitals got together and all the people in the community and the businesses some of them paid into a fund so that when one of them went to the hospital they would pay the hospital bill out of the funds. It was like pre-funding hospital insurance that's Blue Cross. They later all came together in one Association and became national. It's Blue Cross and then you had Blue Shield and Blue Shield completely different symbol is to be a different company that's medical insurance. That's all the doctors banding together and so you used to have two policies.

You have a hospital policy in a medical policy and so that's really since the 20s and 30s and on up and Medicare came out for people 65 and over in 1965 I read about this in my book and so with Medicare is natural that it has two parts to it. As part a and part B yeah and so you might be shocked not that part a is like Blue Cross it's for the hospital and part B is like Blue Shield it's for the doctors yeah and then expanded to include outpatient, which used to be 9065 is just the doctor's office was outpatient or the emergency room where you didn't actually go sleep in the hospital but they did stuff to you without putting in their will. That's expanded to the point where most of the stuff that you used to stay in the hospital for is done on an outpatient basis. So it's going to be under part B, so I think if we go back and we just for today's purposes and understanding were going to just forget about part C Medicare advantage plans recently them off the table and the prescription drug plans. The part D, which can get that out of the picture and were only going to talk about part a and part B right which enough for me because interestingly my daughter was doing her final exams at eight Calls me on the phone you know 11 about it I could come outside.

She wanted some help with this exam and there was a picture of this of the Blue Cross Blue Shield card with a little Blue Cross that little Blue Shield and her question was that she was struggling with and it was a PPO. She said this this represents shared risk that meant well by understanding the sheriff know it doesn't, but it really dead and I probably helped her with that question on her final but this this understanding part a and part B from the standpoint of Medicare has everything to do a share grant sure as it as I learned from const today after I'd messed up my daughter. Okay, so part of a is simple. So part a unit were to leave off the skilled nursing burden talk about than another show you leave off the special psychiatric benefits and the limits of that were just to talk about what most part, a money goes toward his pain people's hospital and so for the first 60 days in the hospital okay 60 days is a long time spent in the hospital get a copy will interesting 60 minute muster and I got to stay one time 30 days at a brain infection so but other than that it's hard to get there will where you think your hospital bill would be if you were in their 60 days following physicist take a guess. All it would be $250,000 if you were there 60 days on certain yeah and if you only had Medicare part a and you had a $250,000 hospital bill.

He didn't have a supplement she had nothing else. You just only rely on part a will you think your shared risk would be what you think. How much of that $250,000 bill. Do you think that you without I don't think I know because I've been trained it's it's $1408 K. That's what I want everybody to understand. So understand part of a witches sister hospital bill. You have a lot more to pay than just us $250,000 or if we took a more realistic example like we did earlier we were talking about somebody that was in there for seven days. What will you think your hospital billing we could come up with $30,000.

It doesn't really matter whether it's 30,000 or 250,000 year only expense if you only had Medicare would be $1408 and 2020 K. That's pretty good sized number and it in a work work work in a come back in later and talk about a Medicare supplement that can pay that. But what were trying to do today is just understand Medicare. So, I think, understand what you just took me through my part of the risk on that 30,200 $50,000 is 1490. I'm sharing the risk of Medicare my deductible is $1408.

If I don't have a supplement or anything else. I'm just what the government is giving me a Medicare which is marvelous when you think about if you're in there one night. You know, $1408 if you're in there seven nights you can know $1408 if you're in there 60 nights you know $1408. So if all you had to worry about was hospital bill you would be able to decide whether you want to have a supplement that's that's pretty good insurance right there now with these hospital bills you have a bunch of doctor bills and a bunch of lab tests and a bunch of things that are filled separately. That ambulance going ambulance ago and that lab tests even have follow-up visits to the doctor. I go to just outpatient and have people come see you that you're never going to meet and labs that things are to be sent to rehab.

Yeah, just relieving that out that were just so when you're in the hospital. We came up with a bill of 30,000 or 250,000 or 5000 if it was just overnight more talking about now is the stuff of falls under part B and part B is still simple. It's just a little more complicated than part a part a is really easy to understand.

You going hospital spend the night. You know, 1408 packs that matter all the way up to 60 nights and we can talk in another show or no time what happens after 60 days you have an annual deductible of 198 bucks. It would've been nice if it just made 200 easy to remember. But that's hundred 98.I thought too many cars and always 1995. You never do. 2001 trip to the doctor during the year.

The first trip to the doctor. You can eat up that hundred 98 bucks and under Medicare part B, which is all your doctor. Now patients can pay nothing till he gets on a 98 bucks and when we go through our examples were assume you met that earlier in the year after the part B deductible. Medicare pays 80% of your approved charges 80% so your shared risk of chemically 20%. When we come back for the next segment of finishing well which is today show Medicare essentials to begin all into that.

In the meantime you mail out wow I bet their stuff to read about this in Hahn's book that he talked about complete cargo guide to planning for and living in retirement. You get that a cardinal guy.com and we come back. What is all this year is partly an exalted above and Hans and I would love to take our show on the road to your church and Sunday school Christian or civic group. Here's a chance for you to advance the kingdom through financial resources and leveraging Hahn's expertise and qualified charitable contributions veterans aid and attendance IRA Social Security care and long-term care. Just go to cardinal guy.com and contact Tom to schedule a live recording of finishing well at your church Christian or civic group. Contact time to cardinal guy.com that's cardinal guide.com welcome back to finishing well, a certified financial planner. Hahn's silent day show Medicare essentials and is psyched about essentials and and actually a little history lessons help us back to why is it simple and you know for me now I think about what I knew about Medicare two years ago and it was woefully like no clue, but you deductible it, which is now hundred $98 when I started in 1976 was $25 and after you met your deductible still paid 80% of the 80% hasn't changed in going on 50 years for some years and I don't guess it is going to change so you pay your part B deductible, which is small and after that you get 80% coverage in your thinking will man uncovered what one needs anything more for well there is no On the 20% that is your out-of-pocket so most group insurance has it's called a stoploss herd as a it has a Know it says that so you pay your deductible and then it pays 80%.

So mom now pay 70% and 60% of the just misuse 80% that's what Medicare does and then after you have so much out-of-pocket or your bills or a certain amount then it goes to hundred percent will Medicare never does that. So the 20%, which is your share of the cost has no limit on so you really the thing that drives the need for insurance and why people need Medicare supplemental insurance is really this 20% under part B, with the are no out-of-pocket that's your biggest liability under Medicare. Your biggest shared risk and that's what were looking at primarily with mentors and you know what I would tell you is, most people that I went into that. The only information that they really know are the only experience I've had with Medicare when they're just coming onto. It is through people that are older than them or perhaps their parents that use Medicare and most of them don't know any of these numbers mean they just they and they just there many times the people that are talking or just looking at small bills and they're just looking at you know a $500 bill you know a bill we had outpatient and had cataracts and so you know if all you ever going to have a small bills you really would need to buy a supplement. You'd be better off just keep the money. The premium and just pay in the small differences in the out-of-pocket yourself. But it's this 20% that is unlimited that you really need to have insurance and when you look at $1400 Allison, your budget right this minute. It's kind of scary to yeah that was I was thinking so if you were to get a Medicare supplement, and you had partying at part B you going to the hospital with most of the supplements you sell. It's gonna pay the 1400 1408 bucks and the 20% to 20% which unlimited and we take the normal in a one-week stay in hospital at $35,000 $30,000. Make it easy to not pay $1408 on Medicare part a pain three grand and not 20% it would cost you. So if I didn't have this I would probably my share of liability with Medicare would be $4408 on this $15,000 bill we use is an example. Then the supplement is also been pay the better supplements. If you get the plane. Geez, if you go to a doctor there won't work on Medicare's 80% so you can have some doctors who don't take Medicare assignment. The Celtic Medicare. They just don't agree to accept as payment. The amount Medicare allows they can do a thing called excess charges or balance billing and the plan G supplement pays that to so there's a lot of little fine points that if her bonnet down to the essential is that most supplements are going to cover the party deductible to $1408 and there to cover the 20% that you owe no matter what it is and then if you have one of the better supplements you can get on approved charges. If you go to specialist or something I need to be careful when you're buying these things because a lot of these people selling Medicare supplement insurance. There gonna be just selling for one company, and when they're selling for that one company, they may be charging more than the other companies charge so they can have. Perhaps movie over to some plan is not real common and is going to have some holes in some stuff. So when I'm in a tell you is Medicare supplemental policies are standardized and this is all in my book that all the insurance companies have to sell exactly the same thing. So if you get a plan G from Mutual of Omaha or you get a plan G from heartland financial or you get a plan G from Blue Cross or any other company AARP United healthcare. All plan.

Geez, offer exactly the same benefits they paid exactly the same way so somebody say all I have the best supplement going will know you don't you get a supplement that is the same as everybody else's supplement, no matter what company they have now. The pricing can be different, so that's why I encourage people to shop and to get a bit educated on this as were were working on providing on the show is just giving people a framework to understand and make decisions about it and if I'm buying the stuff. I'm gonna want to buy from somebody that represent several insurance companies so they don't really have an incentive to steer me into their one particular one than they can go ahead and offer me you the lowest price.

One or close to so my case did on turning 65 in October at which you know at an end. So at this point in time when I go to shop for supplements. If I'm looking at the supplement which probably will on Medicare part a and part B those things are standard.

Once the words that standardized. That means that I get the cheap deal because because I don't have any experience or whatever. What it wouldn't you want a family.

Once you been on Medicare for whatever period of time. You don't have the standard issue or whatever the good guaranteed issue area enrollment so people like you write that are turning 65. Going on Medicare for the first time you have a thing called open enrollment which allows any insurance company that sells Medicare supplement in North Carolina has to offer people new to Medicare their policy with no health questions. That's the that's the key right so when I'm gone turn 65 in fact, I've had lymphoma are the nondiabetic or any that stuff you know all those are not relevant, not relevant and so this is my window of opportunity, not open enrollment smart window of opportunity to get in a policy issued without all the hell stuff but attached to it right is also important to make a good decision because this for. If you have some serious which is the stuff you have is serious but you could buy a Medicare supplement if your health is change. Two years from now if the one you pick this year, you know like if for some reason you want me to change it to another one. Two years from now, unless you had something recurrence or something you could do that, you know, we have people that are on kidney dialysis.

They couldn't buy the stuff for me and they come into this open enrollment. We get somebody like that we impress upon them. It's important that you make a good decision right now because whatever plan you pick during that open enrollment you be stuck with the rest your life because you're not can be able to change it. Five years from now or three years from now.

So it's a nice thing you can buy from anybody any insurance company and whoever's offering the best price they can ask any health questions but the downside of that is where you buy from your stuck with point that out to people when you're in a partnership malware. Yeah, that's probably sounds better than insurance company and women like me saying he stuck in II try to put things in terms that really people understand what I'm saying is sitting out part I understand is that wow this is a critical time as you just first go on Medicare to go okay and now is open enrollment now know there's no health questions. Now I get an opportunity to to save some money that would keep me now that's a gift that keep on giving for a long time sure does this look at this from another perspective list talk to the person who's 70 or 75 7880 they've had a supplement for all these years, it's gone up in price significantly.

Maybe they haven't even noticed because her take another checking account and even if they have noticed, they're fine with it because these things pay so well I mean they whatever they've used it. They've gotten it all paid in all the deductibles and so they're just happy with it and they don't want to rock the boat when I'm telling you is as if you got even major health conditions, and you got them under control.

There are 40 other companies that sell exactly the same thing to the letter that you have now and if you can answer health questions and we might even pick the company, according to the health questions you might be able to knock 50 bucks a month hundred bucks a month. Offer your price and when these companies take you new and they ask you the health questions they have to cover you for whatever is wrong with you that the regulation of the stuff is all slanted toward the customer and so the end of all that stuff is if you're paying a lot. It's probably a good time even though these people have paid off well to just take a look coming. We can give you a print out. You just send me an email or give us a call.

Send us your email address: Cardinal guy.com send us a message and tell us how old you are with your ZIP Code is and we can send you a price listing for all the plan geez available in your ZIP Code event consortium like for yeah to change from all plan G all same thing you gotten just 40 different front, we represent most of and we do that, so they were not biased of sliding everybody into one company and we want you know we want people to pay for this.

We also want our customers to understand what they have is part of why I'm doing the radio show because we do want us to finish well which is doing so. Remember, you got a Cardinal guy.com. There you can email Hans those questions or asking just enough the book you will send it out to you absolutely free of charge.

The important thing is that you get somebody to take a look at it you know to see what advantages that that you know Medicare can happen.

It really is a godsend. A lot of people so nonsense and that's a key essential in finishing well thank you. We hope you enjoyed finishing well brought you by Cardinal guy.com visit Cardinal do I.com for free downloads of the show previous shows on topics such as Social Security, Medicare and IRAs, long-term care and life insurance, investments and taxes as well as ponds best-selling book, the complete Cardinal guy to planning for and living in retirement and the workbook once again for dozens of free resources past shows what you get.

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