Medicare Grace Period vs. Deadline

Welcome to finishing well brought to you by Cardinal guy.com certified financial planner Schild best-selling author and financial planner helping families finish well over 40 years on finishing well will examine both biblical and practical knowledge to assist families in finishing well, including discussions on managing Medicare IRA long-term care life insurance and investments and taxes. Now let's get started with finishing well well let me tempt you with this thought today show well with five financial planner Hans Schild Medicare grace. Versus deadline and I don't know if you've ever thought about the word grace.

But you know a lot of people Christian community would say we live in the age of grace for right now, you can still accept Christ in and live in eternity in heaven. So were were kind of in this age of grace, but there is certainly a deadline for coming to make right of that because certainly the last thing I would want anybody to have to experience is to not make the deadline for the period of grace that that we currently live under. But if you don't accept Christ pride prior to either your death or to his return.

That's that's an eternity without love and eternity without God in a true unthinkable things all the things that you really enjoy in life are not going to be there for eternity, however, is similarly right on with the idea of Medicare. I found out recently just by article from the New York Times that there is a grace. When it comes to signing up for Medicare and boy there deadline is costly. If you don't make that and it really I had no concept of what would happen if you didn't act during the period of time that you can have open enrollment. We arrived Ivan: on people turning 65. Since July 1976 yeah and going on Medicare means that the people I first called on during my first month they were born in October 1911.

That was their first year and then I was calling them up on the phone when the standard turn 65 and going on Medicare you excited about that okay and I've been doing it ever since. And I for the first 20 years or so, I worked in the business. The Medicare business was pretty simple. Just part a sure hospital, part B, which is your doctor and outpatient and then you would buy a supplement to fail the caps. That's what I would sell you in the process that I explain all this Medicare stuff to in a pretty good living doing that until the turn around and they came out with Medicare advantage plans. They came out with Medicare part C Medicare part D came out in 2005. You had people of recent working past 65 years to never have people people sign up for Medicare as soon as they could get just everybody in the government would just mail your card just get it and you nearly didn't have to read it, but now you get people still working in their 70s and you have people working in covered under group insurance. So it's a it's a much more complicated world.

And as we meet new customers. We meet a lot of people right and that there born right now. 1954 much. From March through September, we used to give those people call we don't do that anymore and we mailed him letters and cards to have them respond.

Now we put a video I put a video on Facebook I send those all over the United States explaining some of these basic things to people even warning them about the penalties that's all we meet people and and so what we give them instead of a Medicare sales pitch or a Medicare supplement sales. We give them an education or a lesson in Medicare and we do that and when we finish without a lot of people end up buying their Medicare insurance from us but before working to do any of that.

We got to really educate these folks on Medicare and I think when you talk about this article, I was the one that sent you the New York Times article was just in this weekend's edition it really profiled several people that relate enrollments in part B and part D and the penalties are now paying for now is downright clear of all, I had no not been doing the show for a while I thought I had little understanding. I read this article this poor guy.

He was continuing to work at age 65. So he thought he probably got a little bit information he had. This one piece of thing that if if I am still working at age 65 and I'm on a group plan. I don't have to sign up for open enrollment because I'm still on insurance, and he thought he understood that what unfortunately happened to them. A month before he turned 65. Was he lost his job and he thought oh no problem. Ongoing cobra and I still have a group health plan that cobra is the same as a group health plan and the next thing he knows is he's eat� You note this cobra and now he can't get I mean worse than the penalties that he's gonna pay now for the rest of his life, which seems totally unfair, but he's going to pay a penalty for the rest of his life. It took him over a year to get Medicare because he missed the open enrollment period. Yeah it's it's it's very penal. Yeah. Remember, they agree to these things before they put them in force and I'm not so sure how long the penalties of been around it's been quite a while, so they negotiate all that and then nobody ever looks at it again mean so that's what happens to people.

I warn people about in my video system and frankly if you sign up for Medicare right at your 65th birthday and you sign up for part D plan where you get a free part D plan is included as part of your part C plan within you don't need to worry about these penalties. So if you got proper Medicare coverage from the beginning, but there's many people this that doesn't apply to them. We don't give them advice is love people. We advise no you need to wait until such and such to sign up for being in the center for D but we only do that when we understand we understand all the facts and make a recommendation which scares me are the people that just read about this talk to some friends talk some people in the same situation that they just act like those people in the article the end up with without coverage for a period of times can be serious, and then they end up paying big penalties for life.

I think in the article Batman was panned an additional for her to spark me hundred and $39 a month and it was going up almost every year, not only with 39 to begin with a month but then he was in a pan of you know increase in those penalties and it never stops growing. Yeah, and you get over the part D and part D works the same way as if you didn't sign up when Medicare said you were supposed to sign up so you went without drug coverage, then the length of time that you went without it, cumulates a penalty in the penalties finally enforced it last for life. Well, you know, these are the things that where talk about all the time here on finishing well and certified financial financial planner Hongqiao acquisitive retirement today are in the Medicare worry at the seven arrays tablet cardinal guide.com where you can get a PDF of the Medicare and the supplement insurance chapter of Hans's book the complete cardinal guide to planning for living in retirement wedding. Just email you want to get up, get the book for free you going to cardinal guide.com indicate that you listen to the show.

Give us your address will send the book out to you for nothing. Yeah, because that this stuff, you know, it seems really, really complicated but actually it is learnable at the smartest guy in the room I threw in over a period of time. I've been craving a little bit of a grip on what part a part B, part B, part C and part D is and I even when I read this I could I could see what exactly it happened that you know if you're working when you're at age 65. You don't necessarily have to sign up if you're in a group at the two tricks are number one. You gotta be in the right kind of group right in and you gotta know what that is, which again is you'll find in the book, but also you know this is one of the reasons I just personally rather talk to you on the safe. Here's my idea. What idea. The sad part about this is like the guy that went on cobra 65. If he didn't know what it would cost him just say okay so I lost my job, lost my group sign up for part A, sign up for part B sign up for part D and pay a premium and limited by a supplement if you put all that together his out-of-pocket cost. My guesses were been way less than the cobra. Anyhow and then secondly, he would've had better coverage. Medicare with the supplement is one of yeah yeah and so you know you got other stories of people that I guess and it would've been me. By the way, who slept through the open enrollment the grace. The open enrollment period that you know or maybe I think about this to be a good place to explain that open enrollment.

Yeah so you're eligible for Medicare. On the first of the month of your 65th birthday. So in other words, if you were born in February 1954. You are eligible for Medicare. February 1 is that simple. Now if you were deemed disabled by the Social Security Administration is a bunch of rules that you could've gotten on an early but that's about 8% of the people some of the you folks if you want to call me for an explanation for the rest of the folks coming up your first eligible on that day in a generally after the break here working to get into which to do about that this situation would give some general advice, but I really don't want anybody acting on my advice unless they call me because it's just that it's general advice in order to discover something about them when I get in touch with us, that we missed like the poor guy does little bit of karate and go that the respect is not good and well will we come back we got stories. We got that back brace that. In six months, my right after your friends, and was out.

We got way more common and certified letter on John Hans and I would love to take our show on the road to your church, Sunday school, Christian or civic group. Here's a chance for you to advance the kingdom through financial resources and leveraging Hans expertise and qualified charitable contributions veterans aid and attendance IRA Social Security, Medicare, and long-term care. Just go to cardinal guide.com and contact Tom to schedule a live recording of finishing well at your church Christian or civic group. Contact Tom to cardinal guide.com that's cardinal guide.com where back with today show on finishing well grace. Versus deadline we been talking about the Medicare grace. And kind of some issues along those things it really. I just was not aware of until I read this article in the New York Times that when we left our hero hauntings about how long is this grace. Okay so for part a which you don't have to pay for. So you want to sign up for that. When you're 65.

Even if you have group insurance is no out-of-pocket for that it only covers your hospital in skilled nursing the muzzle sign up for three months before your sit the month your birthday, the month of your birthday in three months after while. That's the open enrollment for our right okay. Part B. Same thing three months before your 65th birthday month of three months after the Civil War, you go over those different you do have to pay for part B, so this is the one where people will choose to defer if they have other and I'm not sure if the government invented this murder not it's called creditable coverage. So if you have other creditable coverage which namely would be group insurance providing your group is over 25 people then you would have the option of delaying or signing up for part of delaying your enrollment.

So if you delayed it and retired it like 68, then whatever your retirement date is then you have three months before that retirement date month you retired and three months after that day. Sign operating the same goes for D so the periods are the same. You get a little confused was six months. There's another open enrollment. But it's not with Medicare.

It's with the insurance companies, Medicare supplemental insurance, which is what we sell. That's the plan asked the phalanges defined in another show. So if we start get into them wouldn't be here for a week. But one thing that about the creditable I don't know how to say that word like you did. Even though I'm an area that the creditable insurance is that one of the ways that you get hung according this article is if you're in a group that's less than 20 people that your insurance company could come back after you missed the three month you know after your birthday and say all you could've, you would've been eligible for Medicare were dropping you and oh by the way your dropped and now you don't have you missed the enrollment period to actually Medicare doing that your church know they said the insurance company could drop you as a said you qualified for Medicare so we won't cover you anymore and so then now you can drop by insurance company go back say well okay well I get Medicare well now you missed the open enrollment. You know when and he senses so that you even the downside of this is you can end up with a coverage of the creditable coverage applies to whether you can have to pay penalties are not and you know it's been my experience that the government doesn't really have a very good enforcement procedure for what's creditable and what's not and they basically take the People's word for replying so that is one way to wiggle around these coverage coverages is to say to the government to be able to show that you had insurance and that it was present. So where this really applies is on the part D plans because a lot of people when there signing up for Medicare to get down to the part D.

Great health. It will take any drugs they take one drug in its generic get a cheaper at Walmart are deeply religious, channel 1. What we always warned him about these penalties because if you if you go along and all of a sudden your 75 years old. Now you have this knows my buddies say become bad sick. He was bad civic comments and then you have a whole bunch of drugs you want to get on it first. You can have a delay in getting on it and then you can have to pay a penalty for those 10 years that you didn't have part D coverage because you didn't think you needed his dignity as you are in good health so you know what you do about all this just in it yet because are some people that are Sano man-hours, a fellow between the cracks, what, where, what's my next step. You know what I would say is, give me a call going cardinal guide.com just send me a message and tell me that you know that you're in a world of hurt with Jerome with your part being your part D and the penalties in the enrollment periods and will see what we can do to help you out of rehab I got a couple stories of these come to us at least one a month and this last month I've had to people just sleep right through the open enrollment period for years. The first when I was telling you is a doctor of Pennsylvania and is his spouse says she's been the biggest nurse in the person that assists him and they run a real specialized practice and he called me because he was referred to me his accountant and his accountant phone calls L values paying $4500 a month Obama. As for the two what I discovered is she was already 66 so I said what about Medicare for my shoes eligible and they never signed up for Medicare, Social Security card, a part B in long story short, I helped him wiggle through it. If we use the Obama care is the creditable coverage and I think to the state got a lot of penalties, and rolled up, supplement, and that he still paying half that is easily 61 or 62 cities got three more users of paying very hyperbolic, I can't do much about that but at least we cut it in half and would've been much worse. If this is gone for another year. The second couple this guy was seven is 73.

The lady is 69 turn 70 and she really originally came to me for long-term care advice about her mother and stepfather and then we passively talked about long-term care for them through shooing a crisis with the parents and it took us six months to really get into their insurance income to find out she's been on Medicare for just six months he's been on Medicare for about a year and 1/2.

I think they got out of the penalties on the part in the part D because they had group insurance so but they had never bought a supplement and they let the group insurance lapse. So they are out of the creditable coverage and they were in an open enrollment. Another one of the coverage sickness going on, and so we were able to figure all that out there to have patient penalties but at least we were able to open a special moment. So it is really hard to go into too much detail on these and what would scare me as you would hear what I did and then you think that that same thing is going to work for you and then you would rely on that is. This is really highly specialized of just going through all the Medicare rules we study them a lot and really study them now through just all the work and cut it for somebody that's in on their 50s or 60s like me because I have no personal experience with Medicare, 63, so I decided it you know I sometimes find an out of all about part a and part B and all at stuff that I would get with Hans with my dad stuff and and come to understand and this was months before he got bad sick so you know I had.

When he got bad sick.

I know he had a that he has plan F and I have a good understanding of what that is but also knew that my mother-in-law who also you know is this part of our caregiving plan right now and she had married tenant Medicare advantage and is she saw some of the advantages. My dad was getting in with his plan F with his Medicare supplement. She was like wow how come I didn't get that and I knew as well. Like well you have Medicare advantage and it doesn't have all the things that the Medicare supplement has but that came from really investigating what are your parents on one of the people that are in your life that are on Medicare and you really understand what they have an and again that chapter in this book is really invaluable. I think cons that her because you know ABCD alphabet soup like you call it, and you know because there's so many letters involved in it and so many little different things. But it's right there@cardinalguide.com seven hours Medicare supplement insurance get the PDF for free or get the whole book and its it's definitely worth investigating what the people are that are in your life that you may end up being responsible. That's the thing. If your your 40s or 50s, or even younger early 60s and your parents are still alive or your in-laws are still alive maybe there in their 70s and pretty hardheaded know it all about the stuff in here you are. You don't know much. You start inquiring about your dad was that way 15 years ago. If you would been asking him about his Medicare.

I know who knows what he was sent to you, but the reality is you need to push through a little bit because you are going to be responsible for the stuff for them at some point.

Just you just are here and be down dealing with Medicare dealing we have children of aging parents bring the stuff in doesn't bring their parents and us all the time. It's a big part of our practice is just fixing things so I don't want to over alarm. It will run into much that we can't fix and patch up we can do a lot for people that are in their 80s and nothing. I don't want to not say even our run out of time is veterans. There's a lot for veterans in this that's worth investigating if that's you know in your family is all right, well, it is with the veterans if you're eligible, you may never want to go to the veterans but we can use the fact that you could go to the veterans hospital to get John some of these penalties and so we always ask people that because that is creditable coverage, since you're a veteran. Since you are eligible, you can use that fact to show that you did have coverage and replacement of Medicare open up a special enrollment and some we can do for all veteran tight again worth a call. Don't you know don't try this at home. You can either you can end up doubly write an article I near the lake.

Remember Cardinal guy.com. You gotta put the guide after the Cardinal which is like the bird and there you will see certified financial planner Hongqiao he would love to hear from you maybe about a future topic for show something that you a lot along those lines.

Again, remember the real grace.

As were talking about this in the show is right now that you can accept Jesus so that you really have talked about Medicare you have a long-term plan. This unit while you're in the real grace. Thank you for listening times. What fun we hope you enjoyed finishing well brought you by Cardinal guy.com visit Cardinal.com for free downloads of the show previous shows on topics such as Social Security, Medicare and IRAs, long-term care, life insurance, investments and taxes as well as cons best-selling book the complete guide to planning for and living in retirement and the workbook once again for dozens of free resources past shows to get Hans book go to Cardinal do I.com if you have a question, comment or suggestion for future shows.

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