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January 2021 Newsletter from Chris Boring Insurance

Hello,

I hope you had enjoyable and healthy holidays. Also, I hope you and your family have a healthy and more normal 2021. Here is some information to help make it a better year.

Changes. As you probably already know, your Medicare Part B premium went up to $148.50 a month (for most people). The Medicare prescription Part D donut hole that is now a 25% copay will begin after using $4,130 in drugs and not end until you hit the $6,500 out of pocket maximum. I thought it was interesting that you pay 25%, the drug company writes off 70% and the insurance company only pays 5% but that’s the way the government set it up.

LIS (Low Income Subsidy) or “Extra Help” qualifying numbers are changing. This “extra help” is to help people with their prescription drug costs who have a lower income. If you are single and have monthly income under $1,440 or married and its under $2,175 and your assets are under $8,000 (single) and $30,000 (married), you may qualify. If you are close to those numbers, you should apply because they make many exceptions. To apply go to www.ssa.gov. At the top right select “Extra Help with Medicare…” then select “Apply for Extra Help…” or try calling Social Security at 800-772-1213 M-F 7 to 7. Another benefit to getting the extra help besides lower prescription costs is that you can change your Medicare Advantage plan during the year if needed.

I am sure you have seen the commercials this fall urging you to call for free benefits and to get your Part B premium back (the $148.50). These commercials are deceiving and they are a “Bait and Switch” tactic. Only people on Medicare and Medicaid can get these plans. So, if you don’t have Medicaid, they tell you “sorry you don’t qualify BUT we can sell you something else”. Do not fall for it. They will sell you a plan that’s not as good as you have now.

Another note: The reason you are still seeing these commercials now that AEP (Annual Election Period) is over is because we are now in Medicare OEP (Open Election Period). OEP allows people on a Medicare Advantage plan to make one switch to another Medicare advantage plan or back to original Medicare during the first quarter of the year. You could also switch a prescription only plan once as well. So, if you know anyone who is not happy with their current plan – please have them call me.

A little good COVID news. A doctor recently told me they now know to treat covid patients so well that if a person ends up in ICU they stand a 93% chance of recovery compared to last spring when it was less than 50%. Not that COVID isn’t serious or that we shouldn’t take precautions but I thought some good news would make it a little less scary for some people.

Scammers They are now setting up fake shopping sites online to get your financial information. So be sure to shop at trusted sites. Also monitor your accounts and never use a debit card online. Personally, I recommend using credit cards and cash for everything as a debit card is an entry way into your bank account.

Be careful how much info you put on social media like Facebook. Scammers mine the info to help them crack security questions to gain access to your accounts.

Beware of text messages saying something like “You received a direct deposit of $600 from COVID-19 Treas Fund. Further action is required to accept this payment into your account”. It then links to a fake site where they will steal your information. Do not open the link. Report it to phishing@irs.gov.

As you probably know the IRS never calls you. So now you need to be on the lookout for fake letters from the IRS. There should be a barcode on letters from the IRS now. You can use a smartphone to scan the code for information or go to the IRS website. If the letter says you owe money and there is no barcode, its probably fake. Even if there is a barcode, I would verify with the IRS that it is a legitimate letter.

President Trump signed an executive order for a “Most Favored Nation” policy for 50 Medicare Part B drugs. These are drugs you get at the doctors office or the hospital. Rather than we taxpayers spending eight times more for a drug than they do in Europe, we will now spend the same. There will be legal challenges as the drug companies are very upset.

The IRS issued new life-expectancy tables to calculate RMD’s (Required Minimum Distributions) starting in 2022. They reflect the fact that people are living longer. This means the required amount to be withdrawn every year will be smaller leaving more money in the accounts to continue growing.

If you have not received your second stimulus check you can track it online at irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment. You will not receive a stimulus check if you are claimed as a dependent on someone’s tax return. Stimulus checks are not taxable (unlike the unemployment benefits which are taxable). Also, if you had a spouse that passed away in 2020 and you get a check for them, do not spend it. The IRS has not made it clear if this will be allowed and they could ask for the money back.

My family and I are doing well and staying healthy. My son Andrew took a job at a church in North Canton as a youth pastor last month. We moved him and his wife Allie before Christmas. He is very busy and likes it a lot. My other son Nathan and his wife LaRee have been doing well as new parents. Their son Elijah will be one year old next month and is still such a cutie (not that I am prejudice or anything). Its hard to believe it’s been a year already. I think the calendar is getting shorter as I get older. My wife Cathy is starting her busy tax season now. We are staying busy with the kids, helping on her dad’s farm and helping take care of my mom. Our church is having their Sportsman’s Dinner on January 30^th. If you are interested, you can attend in person or virtually online. We will have a speaker and raffle off dozens of prizes including guns, outdoor equipment, and raffle baskets. Tickets can be purchased online at portagechapel.com or in person at Portage Community Chapel on State Route 14 in Ravenna from 10-2 M-Th. Because this is a church event it will not be canceled.

Let me know if you have questions on anything. And please keep the referrals coming as this is the main thing keeping my business moving with covid closing many other avenues of business.

Have great new year,

Chris
330-774-1341
cboring@neo.rr.com

2020-2021 Medicare Savings Programs (PDF)Download

January 2020 Newsletter

Hello,

I hope you had a great Christmas and New Years. It would have been nice to have some snow but I am not complaining about the warm temperatures we have had although I am afraid we will pay for it later. There are several things I want to cover so here goes.

The Big News is I am moving my Ravenna office to Main St. about three blocks from where it is now. I have enclosed a map. The new address is on the new business cards I enclosed – one for you and one to hand out. Let me know if you would like more. The new location is 250 West Main St., Suite 208 just down from the jewelry store (it used to be the old Picciones’ Jewelers). The office is larger and will be open on February 1^st. Parking is available on West Main St and in the back on West Locust St. I will still have the use of other offices in Norton, Warren and Independence.

New tax return for seniors, the Form 1040-SR, will be available this year. For those who prepare their own returns, it will have larger print and less shading to make it easier to read.

Be very skeptical of new videos on social media, especially as the 2020 election heats up. New computer generated videos can make a real person do or say anything and are so real only a forensic expert can tell the difference. Unfortunately, Congress and the tech world have no near-term solutions for this.

The new year 2020 – Remember to get into the habit of dating all your signatures with the full year 2020 and do not abbreviate it as just 20. Someone could add two numbers at the end of your 20 and change the year of your signature. This leads to other fraud warnings to be aware of: People calling from “tech support” telling you your computer is infected with a virus. They ask you for remote access to your computer to remove the virus. Never do this as they have access to everything on your computer. Also, beware of the old Romance scam where someone supposedly from your past calls up and may spend weeks or even months building a relationship over the phone and through emails. They eventually ask for money for either health bills or money to come see you. I know of a few smart, but lonely people, who have fallen for this.

Remember any unsolicited caller who is aggressive or initiates a request for your credit card number or social security number or other personal information or any other form of money is up to no good. FYI – prepaid gift cards are the most frequent way to scam people. Look for the latest warnings at www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud or www.consumer.ftc.gov under scams and www.fraud.org.

Medicare Minute Calendar. I will start doing 20-30 minute meetings on various Medicare topics in February. You are welcome to come anytime and to bring a friend. Locations and times are enclosed. If you know of anyone looking for a speaker for a meeting and would like a Medicare topic, please let me know.

Prescriptions – If you are on an expensive one, check out needymeds.org to find out if there is a patient assistant program for your drug. If there is, it could save you some money.

Personal note – my family and I are doing well. My wife, Cathy, is starting tax busy season. Our son, Andrew, and his wife, Allie, are starting their last semester of college and they will be looking for a job as well (hopefully somewhere closer to home). They were in after Christmas and we had a very nice time. Our other son, Nathan, and his wife, LaRee, are expecting their first child next month. We are all excited. I still help out with the local Lions Club and our church’s Christian Service Brigade (kind of like a Christian Boy Scouts) and I am helping out with the Church’s Sportsman’s dinner raffle this Saturday, January 25^th at 6490 St Rt 14 in Ravenna. There will be good food, various raffles for guns, fishing trips, and all kinds of gift cards. The speaker this year will be talking about food plots for wildlife as well as giving his testimony. Doors open at 5 pm and tickets will be sold at the door for $15.

Well, stay healthy and warm. Thanks again for your referrals and please keep them coming.

Chris Boring

Social Security, Medicare could cause economic meltdown

Social Security, Medicare could cause economic meltdown

Future generations will be crushed by the federal government’s growing mountain of debt

By Truth in Accounting, News Partner

Aug 8, 2019 12:42 pm ET | Updated Aug 8, 2019 12:56 pm ET

Social Security, Medicare could cause economic meltdown (The Blue Diamond Gallery)

In 2018, the federal government paid $357.3 billion in interest on the nation’s fiscal operating debt, $61 billion more than the previous year. That is more than seven times what it spent on education, and enough to build 27 aircraft carriers. The combined interest payments of the four years from 2015 through 2018 total $1.2 trillion. That figure exceeds each of the State Data Lab‘s top three categories of federal spending which are: Health and Human Services at $1.1 trillion (primarily includes Medicare and Medicaid), Defense & Veterans Affairs at $1 trillion, and Social Security at $1 trillion. The interest payment is projected to more than double by 2025, reaching $725 billion.

Social Security is the only one of those categories that has risen every year over the past decade. Between 2008 and 2018 Social Security expenditures rose by $247.2 billion when adjusted for inflation. As demonstrated by the chart below, Social Security spending exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in 2018, and HHS spending for the first time in 2015. The Social Security Board of Trustees say the program is on track to become insolvent by 2035, when the “trust fund” will be completely depleted. If or when that occurs, the Board will automatically impose a 20% cut in benefits to all program recipients. The government’s projected insolvency of Medicare is less than seven years away, in 2026. Analysts say that achieving financial stability will be much tougher for Medicare than Social Security because health care costs fluctuate sporadically as new medicines and procedures enter the market.

These programs are even more unstable than they sound, in part because they do not meet the Treasury Department’s own definition of a trust fund, which includes, “In the federal budget, the term ‘trust fund’ means only that the law requires a particular fund be accounted for separately, used only for a specified purpose, and designated as a trust fund.” Although worth keeping an eye on, Truth in Accounting considers the government’s projected insolvency of entitlement programs to be an insufficient yardstick because the politicians and bureaucrats who oversee them do not adhere to the most basic standards of accounting. According to the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, “Until benefits become due and payable, there is no binding commitment over which a worker has control and so no liability can be recognized.” That probably sounds like Latin to most people, but what it means is that the government does not acknowledge its obligations to pay Social Security benefits beyond the checks it has to write for the current month.

The three aforementioned categories are the primary drivers of America’s $22 trillion fiscal operating debt, as they comprise the bulk of the $4.5 trillion in total federal expenses for 2018. I use the terms “national debt” and “fiscal operating debt” interchangeably, but prefer the latter because we at Truth in Accounting believe that the most precise measure of our nation’s debt should include the unfunded promises to entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. By that metric the true national debt is $118 trillion, or $774,000 per taxpayer, as indicated by the debt clock on our website. The ratio of fiscal operating debt to GDP is currently 104 percent, the highest peace-time debt in American history. This is a daunting reality, but history offers a glimmer of hope.

The debt to GDP ratio surged from 48 percent in 1942 to a peak in 1946 of 119 percent, spurred by World War II. The silver lining is that within ten years the ratio was nearly halved, dropping to 61 percent by 1956. That debt was much easier to reduce because the underlying federal spending increases behind FDR’s New Deal programs, World War II military expenditures, and the Marshall Plan were mostly temporary. By contrast, spending for the entitlement programs that are driving our modern national debt shows no signs of slowing down. The prospect of the United States growing its way out of the current national debt is dubious and wishful thinking.

As the conservative radio host Mark Levin has frequently pointed out, the laws of economics are not unlike the laws of physics. Absent any serious entitlement reform, often deemed the third rail of American politics because of how controversial it is, the laws of economics will eventually crush political promises to Social Security and Medicare. At some point in the future, perhaps within the next half century, interest on the national debt will eat up the federal budget to the degree that paying off any substantial portion of the debt will be unfeasible and fighting a large scale, multi-year war will become fiscally impossible.

Millions of disabled Americans rely on Social Security to survive. Millions of workers expect to eventually receive what they were forced to contribute and promised would be paid back in dividends to supplement their retirement. Fulfilling these promises will require a massive increase of the payroll tax.

Republicans have made a few noteworthy attempts at entitlement reform to avert such dire circumstances. The most significant was President Bush’s failed effort to reform Social Security by transitioning it toward a system of individual accounts for future beneficiaries instead of one large trust fund. In 2011 Paul Ryan floated a proposal that would’ve transformed Medicare into a voucher like system. The Graham-Cassidy Bill of 2017 came the closest to passing but died in the Senate. It would have turned Medicaid into a system of block grants, limiting the funding each state could receive. President Trump campaigned on a promise to refrain from making any cuts to Social Security or Medicare, and has so far kept that promise. Unfortunately, the trajectory of spending on those programs and the debt they incur pose a grave threat to the stability of the world in which our children and grandchildren will live.

Jason O’Day is an online marketing and social media intern at Truth in Accounting, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago that researches government financial data.

Newsletter – October 2019

Hello, Oct. 2019

I hope you had a nice summer. I know it went by fast. It seems like the older I get the faster time goes by. I want to thank you for the referrals this year. My business has been growing thanks in large part to your referrals so please keep them coming.

Well, regarding general changes in Medicare plans for 2020 – its mostly good news. In short, a few copays are going up and a few are going down and many are adding new benefits. Overall the plans are not changing much. So, if you are happy with your current plan then just stay put and let it roll into next year. If, however you are not happy or just want to compare your plan to one you may have heard about, just call me and we can do a review.

I want to remind you that if your plan has Dental coverage, eye exams and glasses coverage, hearing aids coverage, meals delivered after a hospital, Personal Emergency Response System, quarterly Over the Counter Catalog benefit, not to mention Silver Sneakers – be sure to take advantage of those benefits. If you are not sure if you have these benefits, call me.

Most of the Medicare Plan companies have added a “Community Resource” benefit. This is where you can call customer service for almost anything. If you need a handyman, a dogwalker, help with bills – anything (except maybe a winning lottery number), and they will connect you with a charity or some organization in your neighborhood to help you.

Latest SCAMS – Storm damage scams from hail to wind etc. Imposters claiming to be government officials to inspectors to utility workers claim immediate work is needed. Be sure to ask for credentials and do not give away financial info or money without checking them out. Get someone to help you check them out if you’re not sure like a friend, neighbor, or pastor. Look at www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/scam-alerts for tips to avoid these scams.

TAX SCAM – 2 versions. Scammer claims to be able to suspend your social security number (which they cannot do). The other threatens a taxpayer with bills from a fictional government agency like “The Burea of Tax Enforcement”. Call the IRS to report these.

Genetic Testing SCAM – Scammers offer free genetic testing claiming Medicare will cover it – so they can get your Medicare number and use it to commit fraud. Only a doctor can order this test otherwise Medicare will likely NOT cover it. So never try to do it through a telemarketer or a health fair or someone knocking on your door.

Did you know you could contribute to a Roth IRA for your grandkids if they earned any income this summer up to $6,000? Let that grow for 50 years at just 6% and they would have over $110,000. That would be one present from you they would never forget.

Veterans – Dept. of Veteran Affairs says you may now elect to receive healthcare in their community if a service is not available at a VA facility that is over 30 minutes away. There are other rules for this to work so go to www.missionact.va.gov or call 844-698-2311 for more details. Also beware that some Medicare Plans are offering cash back if you take their plan over your current plan. While it is true you can get cash back BUT if you need to use their plan benefits you will be limited on the doctors and hospitals you can use and many benefits are not as good as you currently have. Call me if you are approached about this and have questions.

Social Security COLA – Kiplinger Magazine estimates the increase will be about 1.6% for 2020 and 2% for 2021. (Whoohoo! Don’t spend all that extra cash in one place. That might get you a McDonalds coffee and an Egg McMuffin once a month.)

Funeral costs – Its hard to compare costs but a new website is helping – funeralocity.com. Enter your zip code and it will compare prices for things like a simple burial or full service cremation.

Medical Debt – If you or someone you know owes a lot of money for medical bills use the National Council on Aging Benefit checkup tool (www.benefitscheckup.org) to find out if you qualify for a Medicare Savings program or other health care cost assistance that may be offered in your area. Also, if you have a choice, get treatment from a nonprofit hospital like University Hospital. They have programs to help lower income people. Many people I know have had their hospital copay waived when they were an inpatient.

Save money on Car Insurance. Take a driver’s safety course. They are now available to older drivers. Its never too late to teach an old dog new tricks, right? Check with your insurance carrier to see how much they will reduce your rate for taking the class. Most classes are in classroom but some are online. Those of you who have GBU for life insurance or annuities can get reimbursed for the class after you take it.

Prescription coverage – Good news and bad. The good news is you now have $4,020 to spend on drugs before the donut hole starts. Also, if you hit the donut hole you will only have a 25% copay on your drugs (which I know can still be a lot of money). This is the last of the scheduled changes for donut hole copays. It will stay at a 25% copay into the foreseeable future. The bad news is they raised the max out of pocket to $6,350 before the catastrophic coverage starts.

On a personal note- Cathy and I have been busy working and adjusting to a quiet house with just the two of us. Weird how things stay clean for so much longer now that the last child has moved out. Speaking of him, he had a beautiful wedding in May and he and his wife Allie are back in Chicago for their last year of college. They used to love it there but are really looking forward to graduating and getting out of the city. (It may have something to do with driving there whereas before they walked and took the train.) Our oldest, Nathan and his wife LaRee just bought a house in the area this summer and are expecting their first child early next year. We are excited.

Thank you again for your trust in me and your referrals. Call me with any questions. I hope you have a nice Fall season and great holidays.

Take care,

Chris Boring

330-654-5894

Social Security, Medicare could cause economic meltdown

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