Announcer:
It’s time now on KROS for Financial Focus, brought to you by NelsonCorp Wealth Management. The opinions voiced in this show are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Any indices mentioned are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. Registered representative securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research Incorporated, a broker-dealer member FINRA SIPC. Investment advisor representative Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Incorporated, a registered investment advisor. Cambridge and NelsonCorp Wealth Management are not affiliated. Cambridge does not offer tax advice. Now, here’s today’s Financial Focus program.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Good morning, and welcome to this week’s Financial Focus, brought to you each and every Wednesday morning right here on KROS. Well, this is Nate Kreinbrink. I have Mike Steigerwald with me. It is hard to believe this is the fourth Wednesday of May.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Next week is June.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah. It’s supposed to get warm, I think next week.
Nate Kreinbrink:
It’s supposed to get warm. I’m just still in disbelief that the year has flown by as fast as what it is.
Mike Steigerwald:
It’s almost half over, it’s crazy.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Almost half over. I know a few of the area schools are on summer break. It’s officially started in my household. Still new, so it’s happy times.
Mike Steigerwald:
Happy times for all the students.
Nate Kreinbrink:
We’ll see how that goes. I know some of the area schools are finishing up, I think either later this week or early next week, and it’ll officially be summer. As you said, temperatures will warm up, they will get here. The Clinton LumberKings kicked off last night, they had opening night.
Mike Steigerwald:
Love it.
Nate Kreinbrink:
You see action down at the ballpark, at NelsonCorp field. It feels like summer then.
Mike Steigerwald:
Oh, yeah.
Nate Kreinbrink:
They got a commanding seven-to-nothing victory.
Mike Steigerwald:
I know, good start to the year.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Can’t win them all if you don’t win the first one. Again, getting into the show today, I know Mike and I, usually the fourth Wednesday of every month, try to focus a little bit on Medicare. Had Andy Ferguson on last week, talking taxes and some of those changes coming in.
When we look at Medicare, obviously this time of year for those already on Medicare, a lot of times they don’t think there’s a lot for them to do or to look after, or whatever, with the open enrollment period coming up later this year. But that’s not necessarily the case, as we’ve seen throughout the past couple of years at least, that there’s changes sometimes that get implemented sometimes midyear. Or looking at what may be coming down the road, as far as what you have, change in prices, change in coverage, change in networks. A lot to still keep up with with Medicare. Whether you’re going with a supplement and a drug plan or you’re going the Advantage plan, there are some changes that happen occasionally and you want to stay up-to-date with that.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah. Often times this time of year, Nate, you’ll see some communication from your insurance carriers, again, regarding upcoming changes. Again, not much that you could do at this point if you’re already on Medicare, but something to keep in mind and just pay attention to. Because, for example, changes in networks, that’s a big deal if you’ve got to potentially look for new providers, new doctors, new networks, things like that. Changes in premium often times are announced during these summer months, depending on your carrier, if you have a supplement plan and/or drug plan. Just really paying attention to those things because, again, not that you can do a whole lot right now, but should be a nice reminder that later this year, looking at all of your options.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Right. I think when you’re looking at it too, for what you pay for whatever Medicare coverage that you have with whatever company, certain companies do offer extra perks or extra discounts. Understanding what those are and are you taking full advantage of them. Some of them are just as simple as if you have someone else in the household on the plan or just in the household, you get a discount on your premium. You want to make sure that you’re taking advantage of that. Other ones have some different type of perks with whatever it may be, just throw in for example gyms memberships, or discounts on certain products or certain areas, or whatever the case it may be. A lot of the times, you’ll have that, you’ll have a log in, you’ll have something to be able to go down the list and see exactly what it is that you all qualify for with that plan.
Again, it comes with what you’re paying for, it’s not anything extra. Again, if you can utilize it and have that take care of something that you may be paying for on your own. Again, you want to understand what is all offered and take advantage of all that stuff when you can.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah. Those discounts, Nate, that is a big deal. The way those typically work is at the time of application, so it may be seven, eight, 10, 12 years ago that you first applied and you’ve carried this same plan for years, and years, and years. If this was never implemented, it could be just money that you’re paying unnecessarily and they offer a perk to you that you’re just not aware of. Inquire about it. Depending on your plan, again, Nate mentioned pretty easy now, all the carriers are going to have an online portal that you can create a login, and really navigate around your plan and find the ins and outs of it. Again, during these when we say boring type of summer months where there’s not a lot of activity, we don’t know specifically what the plans will look like for the following year yet, but really getting a handle on what you have and what’s available to you is important.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Well, two, when we’re looking at midsummer, I know last year there was a company that had a change in network coverage that came out sometime in midsummer like this. Those are the type of things, other companies they have their price increase or any price adjustments go into effect in July to do that.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah.
Nate Kreinbrink:
You would be, in the next probably month or so, getting a notification that it is going to be changing or adjusting, depending on whatever company you have, and again, the type of coverage that you have. Again, it’s all stuff, they’re always going to be doing it. At the end of the day, the general rule of thumb is just have an understanding of what it is that you have and any changes that you do.
Another thing to look at when you go into this is maybe your health situation changed. You went onto a new prescription or a new doctor that you have to go see. Again, if it applies, is it still in your network? Is it still covered? Is it still part of what you’re looking at? Or, again you can’t make a change now, but keep it on the priority list to say, when we have this open enrollment period coming up, you want to make sure you’re looking at it to see is there another plan out there that may be better suited because my situation changed based off of what my coverage is needed now.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah. Certainly with the drug plans, that’s key. Those Part D plans, standalone prescription drug plans that change their formularies year-to-year. Again, we don’t have the details yet. That’ll be later on, about October, when we really find out what drugs are covered under what plans. But if you’re taking something new, even if you’re not, it’s certainly worthwhile noting what your prescriptions are and doing that homework come October to make sure that the drugs are still covered.
Often times, we’ll meet with people and they’ll say, “Oh, yeah, I’ve had this for years, and years, and years,” think that it’s their only option for a drug plan. The reality is is that with as frequent as those plans change, it’s really important to stay up-to-date on that. It could end up saving you quite a few dollars.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Well, two, I think when you’re looking at this, it’s understanding what you’re going to pay, understanding what coverage you currently have. What are your options moving forward? A lot of times, we see it where, again, someone may be retiring, a spouse may be retiring in the future, and they think automatically they have to go to Medicare. If you have the option to have coverage in another place during that time period, you don’t necessarily have to go to Medicare when you turn 65, or whenever that case may be.
Case in point would be you’re looking to retire, but you have coverage through a spouse. That spouse is still continuously going to work. You don’t have to go onto Medicare when you turn 65. If it makes more sense from a financial, from a coverage, whatever it may be, for you to stay on the spouse’s plan if it allows you to, then stay on it. Then you just look at it, you don’t have to switch. You would just have to switch whenever that spouse would be off their plan or you would need coverage then.
Again, its understanding when it is you have to apply and when you don’t necessarily have to apply. Again, sometimes we’ve looked at plans where it’s more financially efficient to stay on the plan where they’re at.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Sometimes they file for their Part A, decline their Part B if they’re on Social Security. But again, then stay for the coverage and the drug plan on their company plan or a spouse’s company group plan until they need it.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah. With that being said, just a reminder in that type of situation that you would be asked to provide proof of that coverage.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Yes.
Mike Steigerwald:
Prior to applying for Medicare past 65. If you have a spouse that’s working and you’re on their plan, and you’re 67 before you enroll in Medicare for the first time, they will ask for some verification that you’ve had credible coverage for that time period to avoid any late enrollment penalties.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Again, it’s a lot of stuff that gets thrown out there. When you look at Medicare coverage, healthcare coverage in general, often times it’s misunderstood or people don’t necessarily understand all the options to them. If retirement or losing coverage is on the horizon in the next year or so, you need to sit down and talk to somebody. Again, not that we can necessarily do anything right now, but what we can start looking at is looking at what your options are, what you’re paying now, what it would essentially cost to get that same coverage through the Medicare system, through their program. Part A and B is through Medicare. If you go with an Advantage plan, or any supplement or drug plan are through private insurance companies. Again, that pricing fluctuates a little bit and having an understanding of if I go this route, this is essentially what I’m going to pay and what I get covered. If I go this route, this is the differences in that.
Again, a lot to understand, a lot to unravel. The closer you get to 65, just had a gentleman in the other day that will be turning 65 here in a couple months, he has already started the bombardment of stuff in the mail. He just is like, “It all looks great. Which route do I go though?”
Mike Steigerwald:
Right, right.
Nate Kreinbrink:
There’s obvious differences and it’s confusing with, again, parts, and plans, and letters, and all this type of stuff.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah.
Nate Kreinbrink:
What’s covered, networks, non-networks. It’s not the most efficient system.
Mike Steigerwald:
It’s a lot to take in. A lot to take in, certainly.
Nate Kreinbrink:
A lot of questions, give us a call, we’d be happy to help out and assist whenever we can and whatever way that deems for you. Before I do run out of time here, I do want to mention that every Friday, NelsonCorp Wealth Management is wearing jeans for charity. The money raised in the month of May will be donated to the Tapestry Farms Program in Davenport.
Mike, appreciate you joining me today.
Mike Steigerwald:
You bet. Thanks, Nate.
Nate Kreinbrink:
It’ll be June, still not into that. Again, Nate and Mike bringing you this week’s Financial Focus. Thanks for tuning in and have a great rest of your week.
Announcer:
Financial Focus is a production of NelsonCorp Wealth Management in Clinton and Davenport. The opinions voiced in this show are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Any indices mentioned are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. Registered representative securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research Incorporated, a broker-dealer member FINRA SIPC. Investment advisor representative Cambridge Advisor Research Advisors Incorporated, a registered investment advisor. Cambridge and NelsonCorp Wealth Management are not affiliated. Cambridge does not offer tax advice. For more information, visit our website at www.nelsoncorp.com.