Last week was the Capitol Conference in Washington D.C. for the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU). Doug and I had a great trip lobbying for several key legislation priorities with our Congressmen. We think it is important to keep you informed of these activities so you are aware and can help lobby your local Congress People regarding these key topics. NAHU has a list of 8 key legislation priorities that are the focus for 2016. At Senior Advisors, all of these issues are important, but we further prioritized the list to summarize the top two issues that we are pressing from a Medicare perspective. COBRA as Credible Coverage – This is an issue we see too frequently and falls into our #1 Biggest Mistake People Make on Medicare. If someone is Medicare eligible (65+) and takes Cobra Coverage from a former employer, this coverage is not considered “Credible” Coverage. Thus, the individual will pay a 10% penalty on Part B Premiums, if they do not sign up for Part B within 8 months of the Cobra start date. Additionally, Medicare is the primary payer when someone is on Cobra so the individual needs to have Medicare Part B since Medicare will pay first on claims. This is not fully understood by the Cobra participant, or by HR departments around the country. This results in claims not being paid, people getting penalized when they go to sign up for Part B, and delays in Part B coverage up to 15 months. Unfortunately the bill is not yet drafted to address this issue, but it should be drafted in the coming months.
Medicare Advantage Open-Enrollment – Years ago, individuals on Medicare Advantage plans were given a one-time opportunity to make a plan switch 90 days after the beginning of each calendar year. This allowed for individuals who selected the wrong plan, or found out their doctor or prescription weren’t covered by the plan – to have an opportunity to get into a different Medicare Advantage Plan.This rule was changed a few years ago, based on a concern that brokers would switch client’s policies to game the system in the first 90 days of the year. This logic is faulty since there is only a one-time switch option available and advance commissions already paid on the prior policy would be charged back to the broker. We would like to restore the rule that provided more flexibility for people who want to change their plan in the first 90 days of the year.
If you have any questions about the pending legislation or getting involved to help support these key issues, let us know. Best Regards, Doug & Justin
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We hosted our first Medicare Webinar yesterday and received very positive feedback from the folks that were able to attend. To make this information more accessible to everyone, we uploaded the recording of the Webinar to YouTube, which can be found below. We hope you enjoy this video and most importantly, that you learn something so you can avoid the Top 5 mistakes people make on Medicare! We are excited to announce the Stoler Report taping is now available on YouTube. Check out the video here with our President, Douglas Lubenow providing the Medicare expertise. I had four calls just last week with people that made this mistake!In our Free guide of the top 5 mistakes people make on Medicare, the top mistakes are sorted based on volume of situations we encounter and the impact the mistakes have on individuals. In the last week alone, I had four calls from individuals that were making the #1 Biggest Mistake and the impacts are significant for these folks. Check out this short video below to find out more about the #1 biggest mistake and the specific examples from just last week. Navigating the Maze of Social Security, Medicare & Long Term Care We are very excited to announce that our President, Doug Lubenow, was selected by Michael Stoler and his team to be the Medicare expert on his upcoming show: Navigating the Maze of Social Security, Medicare & Long Term Care. The show was videotaped this morning in NYC and will debut on February 16 airing 8 times in NYC on CUNY TV and then air over the following three months on the more than twenty university, educational, community and public access television stations, the six internet sites, and the Stoler Report App. When the show gets published we will send out more information on how you can access the show! Live Medicare Webinars - Now Available!![]() We have had great success and overwhelmingly positive feedback from our Medicare Workshop - What Baby Boomers need to know about Medicare. In an effort to reach a wider audience, we are very excited to announce that we are extending the same live content to the internet with Live Medicare Webinars for FREE! For folks that can't make it to the physical locations of our workshops, this is a great opportunity to obtain the same knowledge in a live format from the comfort of your home (or office). At this Webinar, you will learn:
This FREE Workshop is appropriate for:
Some recent feedback from our workshops...
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