Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy.
Welcome to Reyna Retirement. Reyna Reyes has dedicated her career to helping people make smarter financial decisions. Reyna Retirement is all about breaking down complex financial concepts into language you can actually understand.
Now here's the co founder of American Federal Benefits Consultants, Reyna Reyes.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Good day and happy day to you. I think we all remember the song from back in the day goes something like I want money, lots and lots of money.
I want to fly in the sky, I want to be rich. And if you want to keep your money, you probably want to reduce the cost of Medicare Part B.
And the time has come to for real do some inventory on the plan that you currently have because the plans are changing vastly. We used to see just Medicare plans saying hey, we can cover Medicare part A and B and some drugs and we'll give you some extra benefits like a gym membership and over the counter benefits. And we. And then they were all fighting over this value proposition is what they call it, to give you better benefits and incent you to pick their plan.
And that's why you get a mailbox overload every October, November and December because they're all saying use me, pick me, pick me. We're better, we've better, we've better. We're awesome. We're awesome.
So what you want to start really looking at this year because open enrollment is happening for all of my Medicare beneficiaries and again, it's never going to stop. Every September, October you're going to start getting mail like a banshee. Well, what do you want to start looking for? What makes the most sense for you? Remember Medicare itself, All these Med Advantage plans, which is the most common mail you're going to get. All these Med Advantage plans are they've got to be as good as Medicare and then add extra benefits. And then they're handled of course by a private company. Some people call them Medicare replacement plans because instead of pulling out your Medicare card, you're going to pull out your card of the company the that you chose to manage your stuff and then they're going to have CO pays for pretty much everything. Not everything, all of it. Some things are going to be CO insurance like a percentages. Now the cool thing I like about a copay is that I know exactly what the cost is going to be for the different service. So I know I pay a say a 0 copay to my primary or 10 bucks. But if I go to my specialist it's $35 or 45. I know exactly what the cost is.
Same with surgeries, even hospital stays. You know what the cost is going to be depending on where you go and get it. Unlike co insurance where they say oh you're going to pay 10% or 20% or whatever of that actual cost. Well if I get into a major, you know, five car pile up accident and I'm going to have a two hundred thousand dollar bill, I'm not excited about what my 20% is going to be. Right, so you get a little nervous.
But of course then there's max out of pockets. You've got the most you can spend in a year. Commonly that could be as low as a couple thousand dollars, as high as seven or eight thousand dollars. It just depends. But I'm giving you some quick bullet points of some things to look at. I always say look at what the monthly premium is. Most med advantage is going to be zero.
Does it have a copay for the primary, for the specialist? What's your daily cost? If you go into the hospital?
A lot of these will be 300 bucks a day for the first six days or 250 for the first seven days or whatever.
And then are your doctors in the network? Duh, let's start there. Can you continue to use your people? Right, and that's a big part where a lot of people make assumptions on different types of plans. Some people say oh for example, in HMO you can only stay within the network. If you go out of the network you're going to pay cash.
Well that's not necessarily bad if you're already in the network. If you're using the network anyway, why not maybe save some money. HMOs can be less costly for sure.
So just it's worth checking. If you're already within the network then you may not be broken. But if you're going all over town and seeing all different kinds of doctors from all different hospital groups and things like that, then you may consider PPO because you want to go in and out of network and you've got want that freedom if you're traveling a lot, stuff like that, that may be a good idea for a PPO type of plant.
Now what I do want you to be very aware of the big thing last year and is continuing into this year, the value proposition has teetered A little bit, little teeter totter to where they're saying remember on my I want money, lots and lots of money. They're trying to save you money up front. And there's this thing called the part B give back or a part B reduction.
So some companies say hey, you're going to spend next year 2026. We're looking at a little over $206 a month per person for Medicare Part B.
And in order to have an advantage plan you got to have A and B.
So you're pet you're like okay, I'm paying 206 per person. So if you're married that's whatever 412 and some change per month to show up to have the plan.
There are some plans that will reduce the cost of Medicare Part B. Here's an example. I'd like to show you the monthly premium for some of these plans. Many of these plans is going to be no cost, no cost because you have Medicare Part B. But a lot of these will reduce your cost by some dollar amount. This is just one example from what they call a summary of benefits where you it's telling you hey, you got to have part B.
But if you enroll in this we're going to reduce what Social Security and Medicare are charging you by in this example 174.70 well that used to be the cost of Medicare Part B back in 2024. So that was the maximum. It would have been free if they just kept the same price for Medicare part of me but they went up to 185.
So instead of 185, this person's spending what, $10.30 a month.
Pretty significant savings.
And then of course you have co pays and max out of pockets and a lot of these will trade a little bit where maybe there's a deductible on the medical.
So you know, maybe the first couple of months you end up spending when you get services.
Everything is a trade. Life is a teeter totter, right? The more I spend up front, the less I spend on the back end everything.
So these are the things you want to consider when you are looking for your Medicare plan. So just wanted to show you that. So that's neither here nor there but it's worth making some checks because sometimes a plan will give us and then the rest of the plan will take it away and you want to see what it's going to give you. And then also look at the other side of the teeter totter what you're going to have to Amy up. So quick notes on how to look for some plans. If you need some help, reach out. Been handling Medicare since 201314 and I have team members that have been specialists as well for as long if not longer than me as well. So if you need help, reach out. We can help you through these trying times of the annual enrollment period. We'll look forward to talking with you soon.
[00:07:23] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to Reyna Retirement. With a strong commitment to ethical standards, Rayna works hard to find the right solution for each individual or family who reaches out. For advice. To contact Reyna directly, call 850-450-6500. That's 850-450-6500. Or to reach the team at American Flag Federal Benefits Consultants, call 1-800-872-8857. That's 1-800-872- 8857. You can also go online to americanfederal.org not affiliated with the United States Government. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. These opinions are not intended as investment advice, nor do they predict future performance of any product. All information provided is believed to be from reliable sources. However, we make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of any statement. Statement the information is intended to be educational in nature and does not provide a guarantee or specific result. All copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. American Federal Benefits Consultants is an independent organization, not a government agency or affiliated with the Federal government or any state government. The terms CSRs, FERs, FELI, and FEHB are all registered trademarks of the U.S. office of Personnel Management, American Federal Benefits Consultants, Agents, Consultants, or any independent company contractors do not provide tax, legal or investment advice and do not engage in the solicitation or sale of securities. Consult with your tax advisor or attorney regarding specific situations.
