Joshua Wood, Medicare Insurance Broker

Answer: Medigap plans and Medicare advantage plans are both great tools to use to help with your exposure to health care costs. They work differently and have very different cost structures but theres no right or wrong answer. It's important to understand what your goals are for your health coverage while using medicare and what you're comfortable with paying for and your budgetary constraints. Often times when you identify those a clear answer will present itself on which plan structure is what is best for you not your neighbor. It doesn't stop there though. You then need to identify company and plan benefits that accompany that. Always use a broker to assist with those needs that is independent and represent all or most of the top rated carriers in your area!

Answer: Part A is the hospital part of medicare. Think of Part A as everything with inpatient hospitalization. There are a few other items like short term skilled nursing care, home health care and hospice that are also covered under Part A but have requirements in order to be covered. If you have worked and earned your 40 quarters in most cases there is no premium for part A unless you are a high income earner. If you do not have your 40 quarters this could also trigger a premium. So while access to Part A is often free or no cost usage is not free. Part A utilization has copays with no annual maximum or cap. This is why it's important to know your options and often have a supplement or advantage plan to remove those exposures or costs.

Answer: Your income won't dictate youre eligibility but it will dictate what you pay for your access to medare parts A and B. If you are a high income earner or if you sold a business or other real assets and had to realize a significant amount of money as income this could affect your cost. The good news is if your income changes or if you had a large income year, this can be reviewed and set back to normal limits should your income fall into range where medicare no longer charges additional premiums for higher income earners.

Answer: Medicare advantage plan carriers are subsidized from the federal government when they handle your benefits. A large portion of your Part B premiums is actually paid to the insurance carrier youre with to manage your care and provide the benefits under that plan. This is done because under medicare advantage they are the primary benefits administrator for all your health care needs not the medicare system any longer.

Answer: That's a trick question and relies heavily on what your goals or even your benefit level with the VA is. If you live near a VA location or maybe you have Tricare the answer could be no you dont need to enroll in medicare. However if you receive limited benefits and do not have easy access to a VA location or maybe you want more private access to doctors and specialist versus government employees, you may want to get Medicare parts A and B and potentially even enroll into a Part C or medicare advantage plan. This doesn't remove your ability to go to the VA for care or prescriptions but can actually enhance your healthcare benefits and provide some really important benefits you may not be getting like dental, vision, gym memberships and so on all at no cost in most cases.

Answer: Medigap premiums increase annually with age in most cases. There are companies who don't but its very rare and they may not be in all states. Medigap policies are like using a toll road. You're going to pay for that convenience of not having to worry or work within specific networks. The last 3-4 years these plan premiums have seen significant increases annually and a lot of people are feeling that. It's not that you made a mistake choosing a medigap plan. The mistake could be not reviewing it annually. All medigap plans cover the same way, meaning a Plan G with ABC insurance company covers the same way as a Plan G with XYZ insurance company. The only difference is the price you pay so a simple review with a great broker could save you thousands.

Answer: Information bias or plan bias is the only thing you should be concerned with any person youre working with for medicare planning. Medicare brokers should represent many different carriers and all plan types in your area if possible. As long as you do your homework to ensure they do, there isn't a disadvantage working with a broker at all, EVER. They're always no cost to you and Medicare depends on the broker model accounting for almost 75% of all annual enrollments. Find someone you can trust and who does what they say they're going to do.

Answer: Yes Medicare has approved the coverage for CGMs or continuous glucose monitors. Depending on your coverage you have in place this coverage could differ or have requirements on specific brands you must use to get them covered in full.

Example- You just started medicare and have been using ABC glucose monitors up to this point, but the insurance company you're with only covers XYZ glucose monitors in full. You may still be able to purchase and get some form of help for using ABC company but if you switch to XYZ company your insurance company will cover in full. This happens more frequently than you may think so it's always important to review what your CURRENT company covers.

Answer: Medicares deductible runs from January 1st through December 31st. It will always update or reset at the beginning of the year. The Part B deductible as well as other medicare costs typically increase over time so it's best to review with a licensed broker how this could affect you and your coverage goals or gaps.

Side note, if you're someone who uses original medicare and a supplement like a plan F, G, N, etc, changing your supplement will NEVER reset your deductible! Replacing your supplement should only lower your monthly premium for that supplement.

Answer: They definitely can. The real answer is going to depend on the tax qualification of the investment account you're are taking distributions/withdrawals from. It is important to work with a knowledgeable team for all your retirement needs like our clients at our firm do. From tax advisors, investment advisors, insurance advisors, and Elder Law we can help you toe the line between protection, quality of life, and asset protection.

Short answer- too much of the right type of income can dramatically increase your medicare costs for years.

Answer: There are so many but I'll give you what I believe to be the top 3 assuming your'e working with a tenured and well connected agent.

First. There are so many rules, regulations, and nuances with medicare that unless you're living it every single day like a full time agent it would be impossible for you to know how to navigate thru it all. This could lead to making a wrong decision costing you 10s of thousands over a lifetime.

Second. Well connected Agent/brokers have relationships within the community with Dentist, Medical providers, medical equipment providers, etc. which make your life with your healthcare 1000 percent easier. Ive personally been able to help my client skip the line and go right to the front to get help with the dental, medical, hearing, and more they need because of the relationships I've built within the community.

Third. It's always no cost! Always! Great Agent/Brokers aren't just transactional in how they help their clients there is a service part of what we do also. This helps you to contact 1 knowledgeable person who you have a history with every time you need help instead of those pesky 1-800 numbers that are offshore and can be difficult to understand or get a straight answer.