Medicare Advantage Hacks
The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period ends on March 31. Existing Medicare Advantage policyowners can switch to another plan, once, and that period ends in a week.
If you like your plan and intend to keep it, here is a detail that many know, and many do not.. The “vouchers” that you may be awarded for OTC health products are very usually awarded on a monthly basis, and they do NOT roll into the next month. So some of our new people, who have rolled into new Medicare Advantage plans, did not know this (until we told them).
Last point: one reason that has not been mentioned frequently is that sometimes, the benefit of non-Medicare services is SO LARGE AND IMPORTANT to you, that this can be the reason to change (uh, dental anyone). And and and, if you switching to a new carrier, then your maximum benefit amount will reset to $0, and on top of that, most Medicare Advantage carriers will offer enhanced benefits for an extra premium. One of those enhanced benefits can be a higher maximum benefit amount. Better yet, the premium for enhanced “packages” is very usually less expensive than private-purchased dental insurance.
See that last paragraph? $1000s for someone that is paying attention.
No Crystal Ball Required, Book It
Medicaid has been extended to many without being checked as a result of the pandemic, and that is going to end. The CMS has sent out letters to states about it.
This is gonna get ugly: states are not prepared for the end of Medicaid to millions when the public emergency is declared to be over. People even less so. This is almost a certainty (link). The image below can be found everywhere, pretty much.
If someone you know who will be affected, and their income (even their estimated income) is within these levels, then they can still enroll in health insurance now. And $0 premiums will be available, with reduced deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.
There are two pathways.
Even if you are not on Medicaid, but you qualify as defined by the image above, then you can enroll now, you have a Special Enrollment Period (click here). Maybe I should’ve called this newsletter Money Sherpa, and not Jae’s Corner (dammit).
If ejected, then be sure to keep the letter that has informed you. You will also have a Special Enrollment Period.
Here’s your secret: the health would prefer this, and why? They get the insurance, and that person would not have to deal with Medicaid administration.
What The Auto Insurer Doesn’t Tell You
Term life is actually a bit trickier than you might think. The reason it is tricky is that everything rides on the termination date of the policy. If you pass away one day prior to the date, then the beneficiary gets 100% of the benefit. If you pass away one day after that date, the beneficiary gets 0%. It’s “binary,” there are no shades of grey. Put yourself in the shoes of the seller, that means their risk rides on a single day. For $10,000 benefit, this isn’t a big risk to carriers, especially if you are Miss Perfect.
If something is not exactly perfect (including much larger benefit amounts), then that’s different entirely.
Scenario: you speak with your auto insurance agent (I hear that some people actually go into an auto insurance agency office, crazy). The auto insurance agent asks/suggests 10 year term life insurance. Again, be careful. Here’s what isn’t well-known.
Auto insurers, if they are the company issuing, have, in most cases, FAR STRICTER underwriting.
If your application is denied, that information is shared with other insurance companies.
That “might” be ok if their premiums were notably lower than other carriers. Nope. We can literally locate premiums that are an EXACT TIE across carriers. So you have applied for more costly insurance, with greater likelihood of being rejected? Hmmm.
So for us, the best is to avoid this by clicking the image, to get your quote. It is important to know that if you seek large benefit amounts ($100,000+), then this form is going to be FAR superior than the second image, because many of the most competitive carriers do not offer that amount online, at all.
But if you insist on doing this yourself, then click the image below (or click here).
Fire the Production Department!
Eh, crxp…An hour ago, this video was sent, but only to paid subscribers. That was unintentional. I attempted to change the status, not sure it worked.
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