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January 2022 Newsletter from Chris Boring Insurance

Hello,

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s. Looks like winter’s finally settling in. I don’t know about you but I’m already ready for spring. Thank you so much to those of you who sent me referrals. I had a very busy Annual Election Period (AEP) this fall and it was due mostly to your referrals. So, thank you very much. They keep me in business.

I would like to remind you that even though I only talk about a few different Medicare companies I examine all of them and I am licensed with all the major companies. So, if you hear of a company that sounds really good and you think you might be interested, just give me a call.

I also want to let you know that although AEP is over, we are now starting a new time period called Open Enrollment Period (OEP) where those people with a Medicare Advantage plan can make one switch to another Medicare Advantage plan or back to original Medicare if they want to. They can do this in January, February, or March. The OEP is for people who made a switch in the fall and discovered it’s not what they expected. So, if you made a switch and want to go back to the plan you had either due to a doctor not being in network or some prescription coverage not being as good as you thought or for any other reason, just let me know. As long as the paperwork is done by the end of March, the new plan can start April 1st. Please keep this in mind if you have a friend or family member in that same situation.

Prescription Savings. For most of you this is a reminder, but I want to let you know that you do not have to use your prescription drug card when you go to the pharmacy. You can ask them what the cash price is or use a GoodRX card or some other discount prescription card. This is because your insurance card is not always the cheapest way to go. There are even price differences for the same prescription at the different “preferred pharmacies”. If you’re really trying to save money on prescriptions, it does pay to occasionally call several different pharmacies and find out what their costs are for your prescriptions with your insurance card, find out what the cash price is, and then also look them up on GoodRX, RX Saver, and GeniusRX. You’ve heard me talk about GoodRX before because it saves people money. There are also a few other cards out there, one being RxSaver (it uses Drug Mart ) that is frequently a little bit cheaper than GoodRX. If you’re on any Tier 3 or 4 drugs, you should definitely do a lot of price shopping on those. At the GeniusRX website, you can get new prescriptions or refills if you can’t wait for your own doctor. You can actually talk to a doctor online there. Just go to geniusrx.com or you can call them at

800-964-9654. Another way some people save on prescriptions is to talk to the doctor and see if the pill can be cut in half. If the doctor can double the milligram prescription, it’s usually the same price for the prescription. Cutting the pill in half is like buy one month get the second month free. I also have people getting their drugs out of Canada. They use canadadrugsdirect.com so you can check that one out as well. Don’t forget to give a 90 or 100 day mail order a try for at least one or two of your prescriptions. It will definitely save you some money on Tier 1 and Tier 2 drugs. For anyone interested, Walmart does have its own brand of insulin for $45 for a 6 pack of vials. Of course, you have to check with your doctor but this might help those of you who hit the Donut hole near the end of the year.

Medicare has a new drug regulation out now on disposing of old prescriptions. Medicare wants you to take your old prescriptions to a take back site. There’s no way Medicare is going to enforce correct drug disposal but they are now strongly encouraging it. Most of your CVS stores and some of your Giant Eagle and Walmart stores have take back sites where you can drop off old drugs. To find other collection sites you can go to bit.ly/take-back-sites or call 800-882-9539.

For those looking to save some money on cable and Internet bills, Kiplinger magazine recommends shopping around at broadbandnow.com. This site makes it easy to compare plans, prices and customer ratings for internet providers. You can also call during a weekday afternoon when they’re not too busy and ask for the cancellation department. They suggest being nice and instead of complaining about the high price just say “I would really like to stay with your company but my new rate is out of my price range. Is there anything you could do for me?” They recommend that you do not take the first offer they give you but to push back a little bit. If they can’t give you a better price, ask them if there’s any extra perks they could give you like maybe six months of free HBO or something like that.

Scams. There are a ton of scams out there so continue being careful. The FBI estimates that seniors lose more than $3 billion a year to scammers. The top four most common scam topics are travel and timeshares, online shopping, romance and investments. Another common one is people overpaying you for something whether it’s on Craigslist or a job or anything. Anyone who “accidentally” overpays you for something should be an immediate red flag. This is because the scammer then asks you to pay that back quickly so that they have time to cancel your original overpayment and you end up losing money. If you’re looking to purchase something online from a company you’re not familiar with, type the company name in the search engine and then type in scams or reviews or complaints to see how legitimate the company is.

To help protect yourself from scams and people hacking into your phone or computer, first of all be sure to use strong original passwords for each different account. Make sure you have two factor authentication on your accounts. Also, do not let yourself be rushed into making a decision. One of the best protections we have is a gut check with a family member or friend. So, before you make a purchase or send money, ask someone you trust what they think. If you don’t have anyone to ask you can call AARP helpline at 877-908-3360 and they can give you advice as well. To research more on your own, you can just search “latest senior scams” and find many sites that will list recent scams.

Since I was so busy this AEP, I didn’t get a chance to review benefits with a lot of people. So, I have enclosed the extra paper as a review of your benefits along with contact information to help you use those benefits. Those of you with a Medicare supplement there is no paper since your benefits have not changed.

My family and I are doing very well. My wife, Cathy, left her job this fall to help me out with my business and also help out her dad on the farm. My son Andrew is doing very well at his youth pastor job at Mission View Bible church and his wife, Allie, likes her new job at PNC Bank. The big news is I am a grandpa again! My son Nathan and his wife LaRee had their second son in October. God is good as it was another healthy boy and they named him Azariah. Big brother Elijah will be turning 2 in February. Nathan has also started a new job and seems to be doing well and likes it. So overall my family and I are very blessed. Also, for those interested our church is doing another Sportman’s Dinner Raffle on Saturday January 29^th at 5:00. Tickets will be sold online at protagechapel.com and the raffle can be viewed there as well if you are not comfortable going to a public place like that.

We updated the mailing list so if you know someone who should have received a letter but didn’t, please have them call me. If you want to change the way you receive your letter (email or paper) just let me know.

Thank you again for your referrals and please keep them coming. I really appreciate the trust you have in me to take care of your medical needs. Please keep in mind that if a need ever arises regarding life insurance or IRA or 401K rollovers I can help there as well. Stay warm and have a great new year.

Sincerely,

Chris Boring

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.

330-654-5894

January 2022 Newsletter from Chris Boring Insurance

Social Security, Medicare could cause economic meltdown

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