Examining Medicare: Extra Help, Veterans Benefits, and Everything In Between

Welcome to finishing well brought to you by Cardinal Drive, certified financial planner belongs at Shiloh best-selling author and financial planners helping families finish well for over 40 years of finishing well will examine both biblical and practical knowledge to assist families in finishing well, including discussions on managing Social Security, Medicare, IRA, long-term care, life insurance and investments and taxes. Now let's get started with finishing well well today on finishing well were going to go where no man is confusing issue for me personally is Medicare and you know how to we finish well with Medicare and undiscovered jump out here Hans with this situation with my mother.

Those who know me well know she passed away last year gone the summer she had a real struggle with breast cancer that became lung cancer. She was put in the hospital and next thing I know they were like well Medicare can't pay for this because of some crazy thing where over a period of time.

She had to be making progress. Otherwise they stop paying for an and literally my mother and going home to die because she didn't have that inner inner plan said, I'm so sorry about your mother and you what what generally happens with folks with Medicare is folks assume that they're gonna get some long-term care benefits out of Medicare in their extremely limited. So the rule on getting long-term care benefits is first you have to be in the hospital for three days or more, and it sounds like she met that now okay then they transfer you directly to the skilled nursing facility or some folks will refer to that as rehab. So she went there right Medicare is going to keep on paying there. Very they have to write a plan care for her. That shows that it's acute care and that she's getting better again that they're treating her.

And then she's getting better, which was your mother wasn't getting better. She was getting worse off. And so after a week or two or three. They just said weird D certifying her. That's what I think happened is right and that's exactly what happened and then now organ or just put her in intermediate or custodial, which doesn't look that much different than skilled still room got a bed in it yet. I mean, is pretty much the same thing. It's in the same facility probably different wing and now you gotta pay us $200 a day, $300 a day.

If she wants to stay here and be careful right and as it was, you know, hospice got called and she went home which actually is in some ways for our family was a blessing. Yes, but it was just unthinkable as we thought we had Medicare so what was that part ABCD what would we talk, that was part of a okay we were talking about part a of Medicare part B of Medicare would be where they're actually treating her, taken her medicines, or the other doctors, to see her with her doing x-rays of the you know that's can be part B. I misspoke there are dear Medicare is the medicines so the very first thing Medicare is very confusing at part a part B, part C, part time, half the and you know in my book complete Cardinal guide to planning for living in retirement which this whole show is based upon both of my books, I suggest in their and and I do this actually in the book is teach you about what part is what part B is part C is and what part D is and for those of you that are already on Medicare if you're not pretty fluent on those then I would before you make any changes or anticipate things I would suggest to some good education on the fourth. I have met. How easy is this really. I know because I've been your website is Cardinal guide.com you go there and if you look at the seven worries.

The second one is Medicare and you can go to that and there's a PDF of the workbook right there. People can get education absently free. While there listening to the show today, but also in a while you're there you can click on those books and and I did want to mention to you that if you happen to buy the books Adamic at either the workbook or the book that Amazon you know the new authors such a big deal for you to go back and do a review after the after the fact to say I liked it. I didn't like it next time include this or don't include that whatever you say. Feedback is invaluable to somebody who step out in ministry and trying to help. Yeah rehab. I'm glad you said it I you know have trouble asking for those myself. No look. If you never buy a book for me. I want you to get some of the learning out of the book were you listen to the radio show you.

I put all the chapters of the book by subject and the workbook by subject in a given away for free in a download of a PDF so you can download the Medicare chapter of basic book you can download the Medicare chapter there all right there side-by-side the ham for free and you can actually construct the whole book without buying it off of the website. If I don't sell a lot of books which which we are selling. Actually, a lot of them are a really want people to learn from this book and I have the book is about two dollars to fix a couple out there but if you if you get the galaxy and get the e-book which is all that I use anymore, but move along and on the whole idea of Medicare. My mother-in-law has something she calls extra help. What the world is not.

It's a wonderful program that folks need to learn more about it just so when you're on Medicare and you have Medicare insurance you have to pay for part B and you have to pay for part D of Medicare just of the government talk about the supplemental insurance yet you know in that money is going to be $140 a month and some change. A lot of folks don't see it because they take it right now. Your Social Security check. And then you have to pay for part D, which is your drug plan. They take that write out your Social Security check so you got a couple hundred bucks a month that's being withdrawn from your Social Security check. What extra help is is the very first thing extra help is going to do is again pay that for you okay and extra help means that your income and your assets are not so low that you can get Medicaid but there kind of in the in between zone where you can now get the government to pay your premiums for okay for Medicare part B and part D then there an approach on a special part D program that has very very small out-of-pocket costs and, incidentally, we can help people with that we can help guide you through that and by wants to give me a call. Find us on the website.

We can if this is your parents or you or whoever it is, we can we can help point you to the right resources and actually help you with that and glad to do it so it's a it's a program for the elderly, for people on Medicare that have some resources that are not Medicaid but they're not so much that is a strain to access those pay for those pay for the supplemental insurance and is going to give you help with, and so you mentioned another word that is confusing to me is if okay your income is such that you view you really are, buried with Medicare and this extra help Medicaid. What moral case of Medicaid is a program to provide healthcare benefits to people and long-term care benefits to people who really have expended all the resources and actually to access Medicaid. You need to expend all your resources. They have a thing called spend down under long-term care which is basically means you pay for with all you got to get down to a level of a couple of thousand dollars in assets. Now the government puts you on a program where they basically pay for is not as pretty is what I just explained because they are now in charge your care. So there can affect the nursing home that you go to.

They're going to pick just how and when, where, and all that kind of stuff so you may be here in Winston-Salem you may be going to a nursing home in Knoxville or down in Lexington or something because they haven't available Medicaid beds so I don't get too far off on track. Medicaid and Medicare are completely different programs. Would there be a story on Medicare that you feel like would be helpful to share with our listeners were that you walk through some things that were complicated for the client. Oh yeah, I mean your run-of-the-mill Medicare client is client is complicating.

So when you folks used to call me up and you want us to do some planning, some assessment from one that's can be complicated and manages not because working to give a complicated explanation is most people have really never sat down and done the homework to understand exactly what it is they're buying and that sort of thing Norm writing the book. I didn't write the stories in the book around just, average people possess what what is said such can be complicated within a talk for 45 minutes half an hour and talk again and apply for something, and that is can work real well so that that that's not much of a story to put in a book, but in my Medicare chapter.

There's a story of a couple and the lady they both had Medicare supplements with us. They both had part D plans they had regular Medicare everything sailing along just fine. They didn't have long-term care and they really couldn't.

We talked about it, but they just couldn't afford and they were pretty much can be on Medicaid. Pretty quick if they were ended up meeting long-term care. One of them says this from their clients for a few years and the lady was in excellent health. Very sharp very much a person of the Lord, she would pray over the work we would do when we help her and some other heirs wonderful lady and she with the assumption was is that he was going to get sick first and that's actually what happened and then he was ultimately gonna die.

We are handling life because he was older than her. But anyhow as it is worked out in the end of the story. She passed away before he did and he's now actually in an assisted living facility over in Greensboro living with the sun they were living as a couple down the Wilmington area when the coast became clients. The reason I bring them up is a lot of folks look at Medicare and they look at the supplement they think will GI don't I don't really need a supplement that is all just pay the difference in their my story where this gentleman had a stroke.

He was in the hospital about 68 weeks and his bills under part B. The.

The 20% that you have to pay out a pot he would've had to pay out of pocket if he didn't have the medic were like $240,000. So the supplemental insurance paid 20% of that whole part of the charge and that's all outlined in my book and you have no stop loss on Medicare part, you know, in other words, when Medicare pays 80% of all your doctor and all your charges other than the actual hospital bill Medicare is can a pay 80% you're responsible for 20% and there's no So I'm sure he's not the biggest story that's out there when I was writing the book you had he not had good Medicare supplement coverage.

He would've been out on book again is the complete cardinal guide to planning for and living in retirement by certified financial planner Conseil you can find it cardinal guide.com as well as resource we talked about we come back working to find out how many in the ins assisted living when he was looking at like they were facing Medicaid Hyundai we come back. We hope you are enjoying finishing well brought you by cardinal guide.com is a cardinal guide.com for free downloads of preview shows including episodes about Social Security and Medicare, IRAs, long-term care, life insurance, investments and taxes as well as Han's best-selling book, the complete cardinal guide to planning for and living in retirement. Plus the accompanying workbook.

If you want to follow along with today's topic download free PDF cardinal guide.com by going to the seven worries tab of today's show topic to scroll down to useful documents once again for free resources past shows going to get Han's book the complete cardinal guide to planning for and living in retirement or the workload go to cardinal guide.com you have a question, comment or suggestion for future shows. Click on finishing well radio show and send us a word. Once again, that's cardinal guide.com cardinal guide.com now finishing well brought by cardinal guide.com welcome back to finishing well with certified financial planner on child and when we left our heroes Megan, Jason, Jason. Unfortunately, Megan had passed away.

He had had a stroke had this phenomenal coverage, supplemental policy right but you told me he ended up in assisted living facility when earlier you had said they were really facing Medicaid which is far from an assisted living is thinking but can you share with our listeners how that will first of all, Medicare is going to pay up to 100 days in what really is not assisted living its skilled nursing care okay. Allow 10 zero same facility but the only way Medicare is going pay for long-term care to go to the hospital first spend three days or more be released directly into skilled care which happened to Jason okay because he had a stroke had a heart attack and stroke.

It was a very serious thing and so he was in there and he collected for the whole hundred days and Medicare approved him because Shirley was a quite insistent person actually her name is Megan. I renamed all these people in the book just to keep them private. She was a very should should should should she work and she got my assistance. She going there and do it. So somehow we got them approved by Medicare for the whole hundred days.

We also got them on veterans aid and attendance because and he still on okay veterans aid and attendance because he was a veteran and their assets were so small in their income so small that we were able to get them approved for all that, so they been getting a check for that and they use their resources, they weren't completely next to Medicaid and they're using their resources right now to make up the difference of what the assisted living costs. So in the interim. Shirley passed away. Shirley was around well. He was being cared for through this hole. And then it was about a year after that that she passed away. So then they sold their home and they have the resources from that and they're just paying the difference between veterans aid and attendance and assisted living, and it was there some family connected with them on children or something that they have one son who lived in Greensboro, who I just met three or four months ago because he is over were doing some work for both he and his father in a really around that life insurance sure and that up to make sure that it's in effect and the premiums are paid in and checking in on the veterans aid and attendance, but the sun I was involved with him by phone. Through all this, but I really just never met him and I met him face-to-face.

He lives in Greensboro is taking care of his dad dad's a pretty cool guy brings up some.

We talked about the last show which the critical aspect of family and part of loving your family well. However that may look in which you know is very much a biblical principle, but when it comes to this Medicaid, Medicare part a BCD you know we talked earlier that as people get older they the quick want to face reality inmate don't open their mail and whatever. What happens if you don't open your mail when it comes to Medicare and life that's coming all the time and will I be you need to redo your part D plan every other year, you need to check in on it every year during that open enrollment season, so if people are not checking in on things you just kind of stuck with your part D plan of five years ago or whatever that may be out of touch. Sometimes they cancel part D plans and they send you a letter and they say you need to get enrolled in another one. During this period of time as all kinds of things that need maintenance around your Medicare planning the other one is your Medicare supplement and a lot of folks have not put any more research than buying from the first or second or third salesperson that came to their house years ago.

They just bought whatever they said been paying well which all Medicare supplements tend to pay well that that's a very low claim problem bribery case they just kinda ended up with whatever they ended up with because that's what that a person was offering and those things need to be maintained the need to be checked in on. They need to look at the price you're paying for it because you can change them. Yeah, I understand that you represent like 40 companies now I get to that in a minute and those 40 companies that want to miss that.

But before we get there. I want to go back just for a minute and say wow is this a discussion. I need to have with my dad. Is this a discussion. I need to have with my mom. Are you checking your mail mom is are you getting your Medicare stuff is there some I can help you with their aminos or discussions that his children in order to lever families well conversations that need need to take place.

I even think about a friend of mine, dear friend, but is blind now and and and his daughters taking care of them, and how does she know she supposed to keep up with all these things if she doesn't have many counselors were plan succeed, and that's where you fit in right absolutely so the answer to your first question is you need to be checking in on your parents with the stuff. Maybe the conversation will go that well if they're in their 60s or even 70s and very sharp and articulate as people age, they get less and less able to make decisions at the same time there trying to prove to you that they can still make him so nervous that this is going to be an easy conversation. But if you're going to be your parents power of attorney and you're going to look for them after them when they can't be looked after. You need to start checking into the stuff now and we will gladly meet with somebody and go through all the chapters that are in the book coming this book. Those seven worries and you know I listed them before all this to him again at the end of the show. That's kind of a list of the seven things you need to check in on and what were talking about today's Medicare arrived in back to those 40 companies like you said so many families they just took what seemed to be offered of the two or three that the guy offered but did there is a lot of stuff out there and they differ significantly by somebody who studies it like you did well for starters, the person that went out to their house probably didn't have two or three companies that had one because the stuff for years. I used to be a one company guy for for many many years. That's just how the business work that is you sold for this company and some would send in a card you come out to their house. The only thing he had offering was that one company so that for starters is a lot people that been the only people they shopper the next thing I want you to know is that by law on this. That is been a law since 1990. All Medicare supplement insurance carriers sell exactly the same policies to the word there called plan a plan B plan C plan D plan G plan half means that he gets even more back to the A's B's and C's again, but a plan half with Mutual of Omaha is exactly the same as a plan half with United healthcare ARP is exactly the same as a plan half with that mean they're they're identical they have to be.

So why would you pay extra to one company. If you could if you could move to Aetna when you had something else and it was could save you hundred dollars a month to you'd want to change so this is another thing you need to look in with your parents and people just tend to pay or they just keep Panera's what it isn't. We have people that we can save them 5000 bucks a month just with the 20 minute deal. Again, it's conversations that aren't so easy, but it makes a huge difference when you're on a fixed income like so many of those families that $5000 a month. You know could mean whether not they can change the oil in their car and in those kind of things and it's not that hard to again discover the website Cardinal� Calm, you can get the free PDF of this chapter and begin that conversation or you know if it's your own situation, like me, now that I'm 68.

Admit that, but I guess I better be looking at this stuff gets sooner later. You know I'm I'm facing that will right now we are calling on the this is January were calling on the April 1953 birthdays, as you put your turn in 65 Ryan April 9 55 so I got a come see you get two more years, but the reality is we were calling and those people three months before they go on Medicare and we send in the book getting the automatic when you turned 16 again just pure ignorance over here when you're 65 there's no action whatever you're on Medicare now know you gotta do you go to sign up for a B or not.

If you're still working so it's not an automatic thing which is called because most people do sign up and enroll three months before they turn 65, but you really need to research this thing and you know when I'm turning 65.

I can sing like Paul McCartney but anyway I'm 64. But Eric is there some difference in election like there is with Social Security. What the ice if I wait longer that it's different, well you can want to wait longer if you're working and you have group insurance really probably okay if you're not paying a lot for that group insurance with you paying a lot for the group insurance, then you may want to sign up and get a supplement is your possibly get better coverage under Medicare. I mean every person situation is different, so more than likely you going to sign up for the stuff three months before your 65. However, you need to consult a professional like me mean anything, do more than just sending a few cards and wait for somebody to come out your house.

This is what we do we can do it all over the phone you have to drive to Raleigh or Greensboro or Charlotte are offices you can. We can do this over the phone and AE we can do it with a son or daughter and have the parent on the phone just to approve this, and we do it all by phone if that's your desire again is Cardinal guide.com and there you can see the resources including the book the complete Cardinal guide to planning for and living in retirement was certified financial planner Hans Schild and Sue were so blessed to have you, but I want to add a little snippet to that yeah you want a certified financial planner. I get that but there's nothing like knowing that you got a brother in Christ when you're sitting down with these kind of things because they have a different sense of the sanctity of life. They have a different sense of family.

They have different values and and they have a different sense of what it means to be a brother and and the love people well and so you know when you're looking for that certified financial planner and I'm not saying that there's a lot of gifted ones here that are Christians in this area, but you know that's something I consider is do a little fruit inspecting to see what's it like for people that are under this person's care and again. The neat thing with Hans is he go to his book and check it out because the stories are all there is the complete Cardinal guide to planning for and living in retirement and what you cannot ask you if you buy the book look at it. Go to Amazon and review it.

What it means for new authors to get those get that feedback and also if you listen to the show, which we really appreciate you.

We really really really appreciate you listening when I go to Cardinal guide.com and give us a suggestion on the topic you want to know about maybe want to talk about. Have Hans talk about this. Thanks. Are you got a question we would love for you to go to Cardinal guide.com you can see finishing well that's a radio show. There is a place there for you to send in your suggestions or comments or anything is feedback for people out there in ministry. It means so very much which whatever you do, if you listen to me hunting a person for any time.

You know whatever God gives you passion for becomes your way of thinking. You hear that enhances voice and thank you so much for the show today Hans and is really fun and I learned a lot thanks everybody for listening. We hope you enjoyed finishing well brought you by Cardinal guide.com visit Cardinal guide.com for free downloads of the show previous shows on topics such as Social Security, Medicare and IRAs long-term care life insurance and investments and taxes as well as ponds best-selling book, the complete Cardinal guide to planning for and living in retirement and the workbook once again for dozens of free resources past shows you get Hans book go to Cardinal guide.com if you have a question, comment, suggestion for future shows. Click on the finishing well radio show on the website and send us the word. Once again that's Cardinal guide.com Cardinal guide.com