Getting ready to turn 65 and you are just starting to think about your health care Coverage After 65 and Beyond…!!!
Now is the time to start thinking about the “A”, “B”, “C” and “ D’s” of Medicare and the following are eight do’s & Don’ts that you need to be aware of and follow the advice of the author, Patricia Bary as she stated in her article related to the Medicare Starter Kit…
by: Patricia Barry, from: AARP Bulletin, Updated May 7, 2012
Top Eight Do's and Don'ts of Medicare…!!!!
1. Do give yourself time to learn about Medicare: It's a system with many choices and deadlines. Being informed is the best way to avoid mistakes that cost money.
2. Don't expect to be notified when it's time to sign up: Unless you're already receiving Social Security benefits, you must apply for Medicare. But you won't get any official notice on when or how to enroll.
3. Do enroll when you're supposed to: To avoid permanent late penalties, enroll at age 65 if you're not working, don't have employer insurance or live abroad; or, beyond 65, enroll within eight months of stopping work — even if you continue to receive COBRA or retiree health benefits from an employer.
4. Don't despair if you haven't worked long enough to qualify: You may qualify for Medicare on your current or former spouse's work record. Or you may be able to buy into the program.
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Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15 – December 7. Review your medical and prescription drug coverage options
5. Don't worry that poor health will affect your coverage: If you qualify for Medicare, you receive full benefits. You can't be denied coverage or charged higher premiums because of current or past health problems.
6. Do remember that Medicare is not free: You pay premiums for coverage and copayments for most services, unless you qualify for a low-income program or have other, extra insurance.
7. Don't assume that Medicare covers everything: It covers a wide range of health services (including expensive ones like organ transplants), prescription drugs and medical equipment. But there are gaps.
8. Don't expect Medicare to cover your dependents: Nobody can get Medicare under age 65, except those who qualify through disability. Medicare has no family coverage.
For further information and the options of Medicare’s ABCD’s, Please contact John W. Collier, LUTCF, FSS at 775-829-1221 for an appointment to discuss your needs for the future and the best plan for you… Either Call 775-829-1221 or Email John@nvsilver.com or go to my “GreatWebsite” www.nvsilver.com and get a competitive Quote for your medicare Supplement, Part “D” Plan or your Medicare advantage plan…..
Income Protection in the event I get sick and can’t work for an extended time Or I have a totally unexpected accident and cannot return to work, WHO PAYS MY BILLS, THE RENT AND PUTS FOOD ON THE TABLE
As a professional Insurance agent I come in contact with a lot people as I meet new people and talk with new business owners & individuals everyday…Whenever the subject comes up about disability coverage for them comes up to the level of discussion, everyone always says that is a great coverage, but their budget just will not handle the cost of this coverage, along with all the other insurance coverage premiums they have to pay so they usually choose not to purchase the coverage when I first present it…
Being the persistent type, and from my experience the last 24 years as a independent Life and health insurance, I have grown to appreciate the value of an individual or small business owner having in place four basic coverages themselves, their families and employees, if they have employees….
The FIRST and most important coverage I believe is vital to have before any other coverage is a great “Disability or Income Protection Plan”….!!!
I will discuss the Second, Third and Fourth life and health coverages I feel are important for individuals and small to have in place as soon as their finances will allow them to obtain these coverages in my future Blogs….Call for a quote today for your Income Protection Plan for 2014, John W. Collier, LUTCF, FSS, 775-829-1221, or email john@nvsilver.com“A Classic True Story” why a Family needs life Insurance on Everybody in the family to be prepared for the unexpected turnoff events in your life….!!!!
1998 found me driving 50,000/year all over Northern Nevada and primarily in western Nevada in Washoe, Lyon, and Churchill, Storey, Carson City and Doulas counties… During that time I was doing a lot of face to face “Cold Calling” on small businesses and in Lyon County I came across a family owned and run business that specialized Drilling water wells…. This business was a solely owned by the dad who had two young son’s newly married working in the business with him and they had never had any Health insurance or life insurance on any of them… The father had a medical condition that had prevented him from qualifying for life insurance, but his wife, 2 sons and their wives were all in good health and would readily qualify for Coverage…
The first coverage which they were the most concerned about was Health insurance and so I found a good small group plan that met their medical needs and concerns and most importantly, their Budget…!!! Following the placement and issue of their coverage, I immediately started talking with them about their need for life insurance coverage for themselves and protection for their wives and young families and subquently I was able to place in force, a $100,000 term insurance policy on each son, their wives and a $250,000 policy on the owner’s wife.
Approximately, 6 years later, one of the sons was driving home from a drilling site pulling a trailer full of pipe and had a head on collision with an 18 wheel Mack truck killing him instantly and leaving his wife and four small, young children without a father and breadwinner of the family… Hence the saying I always use since this accident, “what happens if your spouse becomes the Grill on a Mack truck coming home some evening, How are you going to survive financially in the future”????... Fortunately the proceeds from the life insurance policy enabled his wife to survive financially and make a smooth transition for her family…
Two years later the owner’s wife had a lung collapse and she had to utilize specialized drugs to maintain her immune system and prevent any infection o the remaining lung…. This went on for about 4 more years, until one early September day she was working in her garden and was bitten by a mosquito, developed west Nile virus and with 12 days of being bitten she passed away due the west Nile virus overcoming her weakened immune system…. Needless to say her passing was a traumatic event for this family, however the Term Life death benefit, enable her husband to move forward and maintain his lifestyle and keep his business functioning….
The moral to this story is simply, you don’t know when the unexpected id going to happen in your life so you need to”Be Prepared” for what life has in store for you before it happens….
The first year I started selling life Insurance, I was an agent for New York Life in 1989 and 1990 and my first assignment was to develop a list of 100 people I knew, contact them for an appointment to tell them what I was doing now and determine if I could assist them in repositioning any of their assets to help them better maximize their returns…
This strategy also helped them to visually see & determine where there were gaps in their coverages and allowed me to present approiate life insurance products that could fill those gaps… One of my first Life Insurance Sales was to a young man who I been associated with in my previous career for a $100,000 Term Policy to provide a benefit for his mother and two children in the event something happened to him… He had just recently gone thru a “bitter” divorce with his wife and had gained custody of his two children who were being carried for by himself and his mother, who also worked full time at one of our local hospital’s in the Housekeeping department…
Six months after I had delivered his policy, I received a call from his brother, inquiring if his policy was still in force….!!!! The very first thing I asked politely was why he was inquiring as that type of information is confidential and not given out to anyone except the insured or owner of the policy… The brother then told me that the insured, His brother had a motorcycle accident and had been killed two months previously and he was trying to help settle his brother’s affairs…
At that point, I immediately checked to make sure the premium had been paid a the policy was still in force and informed the Carrier, New York Life, of the insured death and instructed them where to send the death Claim paperwork that has to be filed along with a “Certified Death Certificate” in order for the Claim to be processed… Because he had been riding a motorcycle The Carrier in turn investigated the claim and fornatuately this Hazardous activity had been indicated on his application the claim was honored two months later and his primary beneficiary, his mother Received a Check for The $100,00 plus interest for the two months delay in delivery of the claim…
Needless to say this was more money than his mother had ever seen in her entire life, as she was 66 at the time this event occurred and she was overwhelmed with what to do with the money…. Her daughter at time that was assisting her in settling her deceased brother’s affairs and I met with both of them when I delivered her check…. They both looked at me in bewilderment and simply inquired what I thought they should do with the money…
I suggested four options for their consideration:
