Hello,
I hope you had a great Christmas and New Year’s. Cathy and I did. This letter is just to give you a couple of updates and some of the latest scams to watch out for. But first we need your help with something. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the news media do not distinguish between brokers like us and the call centers that drive you crazy. Cathy and I try hard to provide you with valuable information to make informed decisions about your healthcare options. If you value the ability to work with us, we would like you to tell CMS and your legislators why we are important to you. Please go online to fill out the 5 question survey at https://votervoice.net/NABIP/Surveys/11551/Respond. If you would like us to email you the form, please send us your email and we will email the form to you. This needs to be completed by February 7th as it will be shared with your legislators at a conference in late February. We may also put some of it on our website.
Good news for those who have Anthem Blue Cross and use Summa hospital or doctors, they settled on 12/31/2024. So those using Summa can continue as normal. Ohio State facilities (which includes part of Rootstown NEOMED) unfortunately dropped Anthem for next year. Anyone using those doctors will need to either switch doctors or call me for a plan Ohio State will accept.
Prescriptions. Please remember January could be an expensive month for prescriptions for those on an expensive drug like Eliquis or Ozempic. The good news is the maximum out-of-pocket (MOOP) this year for prescriptions is $2,000 and with the way they calculate it, most people won’t actually spend that much. You can use other discount prescription cards which may help you save money on certain drugs compared to your actual insurance. If you use those cards, the prescription costs do not go towards your $2,000 MOOP.
Just as a reminder if you end up on a new drug that’s not currently covered by your plan, you can ask for a formulary exception which means the insurance company will cover your drug even though it’s not on their list. You can also ask for a utilization exception which can waive coverage restrictions or limits on your drug. Your doctor will have to help you get an exception but generally the decision is made within 3-5 business days.
Extra Help Those whose income and assets are low enough can qualify for extra help for prescription drug costs. There are different levels to it and if you qualify some levels will pay your Part B premium. For single people making under $1,900 a month and couples making under $2,600 per month with assets under $17,000 for an individual and under $35,000 for a couple you should apply. Go to Medicare.gov and search extra help or type in https://secure.ssa.gov/i1020/Ee001view.action.
Scams There are many new and updated scams to watch out for. The most common scams are Investment scams and business impostor scams where they pretend to be from Amazon or Microsoft or any other type of business or social media. You need to look at all digital communication (emails, texting etc.) with skepticism if you did not initiate contact with the people requesting information from you. When in doubt, call the company directly to verify that the e-mail or text was legitimate. Do not use the phone number they give you, look it up on your own. These scams include credit card decline problems (buying online), utility companies, and those companies who send you an e-mail offering you a free scan because your computer is infected. A new one is toll road scams. Since most retirees are not opening new credit cards or applying for loans, it’s a good idea to seriously consider freezing your credit. Go to equifax.com, experian.com, and transunion.com to initiate the credit freeze. If you ever need to apply for a new credit card or any type of loan, you can always log in to unfreeze your credit. Google “AARP scams to avoid” and read up on many of the new scams and how they work.
Please remember the government (IRS, Medicare etc.) does not call you directly unless you’ve called them first and are working through a problem. I know this is common sense but if someone contacts you – IGNORE them. Don’t give them your birthday, Social Security number, Medicare number, nor policy number. Anyone legitimately calling you should be able to give you that information and ask you to verify whether it’s correct or not. We need to be more careful than ever with the AI that is out there. Scammers are using it, and it makes things seem more legitimate than ever. If something just doesn’t strike you as right, trust your gut and call someone for their opinion. Call your kids, friends, or even me or Cathy. We will be happy to help you if we can. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Another scam going around is stealing a deceased spouse’s identity to open up credit cards. Be sure to call the spouse’s credit card companies and request to close the accounts. Also call the three major credit reporting companies Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Good news for those who have a government pension like teachers and state/city retirees. The Social Security Fairness Act was just signed into law which eliminates the laws from the 1980s that substantially reduced Social Security benefits to those who paid into Social Security and government pension plans. So sometime down the road those people should be getting a nice increase in their Social Security checks. More good news – people turning 65 years old have a life expectancy of age 84 for men and 87 for women.
Your Social Security is increasing by 2.5% for 2025. Then they’re going to take $10 a month back out of that for the increase in your Part B premium which is going to be $185 a month for most people.
Cathy and I will be holding Medicare 101 meetings at the Horseshoe Diner down the hall from us on March 25th and March 26th at 6 pm. If you know anyone who’s going to be NEW to Medicare, we would appreciate you passing along this information to them. Just have them call us to register.
Thank you so much to those who passed out our business cards and gave us referrals! We had many new clients in large part because of the referrals. Please keep them coming. Also, if for some reason you are unhappy with your plan, let us know before April 1st and we may be able to do something for you.
Cathy and I have been very busy with work, the farm family, church etc. but we are doing well. Our grandkids are growing like weeds. Micaiah turned 1 at the end of November and she’s walking like a pro now. Her three-year old brother Azariah loves Spiderman outfits and playing with puzzles. His big brother Elijah will be 5 next month, and he likes drawing and playing with his trains. They both dote over their little sister and take good care of her – for the most part. Andrew and Allie are expecting their first in March and things are going well in their preparation. Andrew just finished his Master of Divinity so he is finally done with his education. Our family is very blessed.
Stay warm and I hope you have a great new year. Thanks again for the referrals and please remember to fill out the Medicare survey and get it back to us by February 7th.
Take care,
Chris and Cathy