By Ulla-Undine Merritt (Dee) National Producer Number (NPN) 8853366
Especially during Hurricane season make sure you always keep your medical insurance cards on you. Do you understand your plan benefits? Most HMO plans have a limited network locally and require your primary care doctor to refer you for services and specialist. In case of a Medical Emergency, you should be covered to stabilize you. PPO’s have in and out of network benefits, so if the provider you want to see is not in network and they are willing to accept the plans conditions you can see them but at a higher cost. During hurricanes many of us evacuate and leave the plans service area.
Also, during this time of the year, we have Medicare Annual Enrollment Period which runs from October 15th to December 7th for January 1st effective. The Marketplace/Obama Care Open Enrollment runs November 1st to December 7th for January 1st effective.
Make sure you don’t leave your plan selection up to the last minute. Deal with a local agent that represents all/most of the insurance carriers in your service area. It is illegal for an insurance agent to call, text, knock on your door or even talk to you about Medicare without prior permission from you. If you receive this call don’t just hang up or not answer your phone. Put an end to those calls by asking them for their National Producer Number, you will more than likely hear a click, if not get the number and tell them you are going to report them to Medicare. My clients & I do so, we don’t get those calls anymore.
Travel Insurance – Did you know that most health insurance does NOT cover you outside of the country and that includes a cruise, in international waters (4 miles out). Travel insurance is not just about trip cancelation but most importantly what if you got sick or had an accident on your trip. Medical Trip insurance is very important and most of the time not very costly when you are out way the benefits.
Life Insurance – You are never too young to have life insurance, and many types offer living benefits. As an example, I purchase life insurance for my grandchildren almost as soon as they are born. Their policy continues to build cash value that they can use during their lives, for education, wedding or even a 1st home purchase. The younger you are the lower the cost. There are many types of life insurance, and it is important to understand the differences between them. You also have payment options, such as 10-Pay, this type of policy you can pay the premium in full in 10 years, there are other terms available as well.
Long Term Care Insurance – Overall, 48.7% of older adults with ADL difficulties (or an estimated 3 million persons aged 70 and older) reported needing some sort of personal assistance with one or more ADLs, and, of those individuals with need, 20.7% (or an estimated 629,000 persons) had an unmet need. Long Term Care Insurance helps pay for in-home or facility-based needs, such as assistance with acts of daily living or help with paying for a facility. Start shopping for this insurance in your 40’s, but it’s never too late to try. Your overall health will play a major role in the cost of the plan’s premium. The sooner than later for affordability. You have payment options such as a single payment, 10-Pay where the premium is paid in full in 10 years. You also get a discount with most companies doing a joint policy with your spouse. Remember Medicare is NOT meant for Nursing Home Care/Skilled Nursing.
Have you moved
Special Enrollment Periods – You moved out of your plans service area, New to Medicare, Retiring and coming off your employer group plan, Going into or out of Skilled Nursing, Medicaid and other’s may apply.
We offer Free Medicare Seminars in Lee & Collier County please e-mail info@logicalinsurance.com to register or call 239-362-0855 for dates. Medicare’s website is www.Medicare.gov.
Logical Insurance Solutions is a SWFL Insurance Broker that works with most of the carriers, we are happy to help you through the maze. This is what we do daily, it is second nature to us. We offer virtual seminars, one on one Webex, phone and in-person appointments.
To learn more about your options call to schedule an appointment contact: Logical Insurance Solutions for all your insurance needs, I am licensed in 36 states.
www.Logicalinsurance.com
info@Logicalinsurance.com