The author and his wife have enlisted the help of a free consultant to guide them until Medicare’s December 7th deadline.
My wife and I have been covered by traditional Medicare since we each turned 65. In addition, we have had a secondary insurance plan that was heavily subsidized by my wife’s former employer. Similar to a supplemental plan, it mostly covered what Medicare did not fully pay for. And the amount we paid for the premium was significantly less than what we would have paid for a supplemental plan because of the subsidy from her former company.
Times have changed, our premium rose significantly, and now it would be cheaper for us to get a supplemental plan instead of the secondary insurance from my wife’s former employer. Interestingly, the less expensive supplemental plan would actually provide better coverage for less money.
Seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, no. Because at this juncture, we are now considering switching out of traditional Medicare and enrolling in a Medicare Advantage plan. On the surface, it looks to us that we’d save a lot of money in premiums and get the same amount of coverage. Or even better!
But deciding which plan and with what company is a big decision. And there are many factors we have to consider. So we enlisted the help of a health insurance expert, a consultant who was recommended to us by our financial advisor. We met with Janice Scarinzi, a certified Health Insurance Broker from Red Bank, NJ, and together we reviewed our unique situation. We discussed our current health, our previous health issues, the medicines we currently take, and the individual doctors we currently see on a regular basis and whom we want to keep seeing.
“Navigating the Medicare process is challenging however there are valuable resources out there to help,” Janice told me. “A good Agent will know both the market and the products and will advise you accordingly.”
She definitely did. For no cost to us (I repeat, NO COST TO US), Janice analyzed our situation, took into account all that we had discussed, including which doctors are aligned or in-network with each possible health insurance plan, and came up with the options that would be best for our particular situation. From there it was an easy leap to selecting the plan that would provide the most complete insurance for us at the lowest price.
Janice is not unique. There are many other professionals who offer this kind of service. The National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals provides a search engine to help you select an agent. In addition, many of the insurance companies have professionals who will provide the information and will even get down to recommending a particular plan once they know enough about your situation. I’ve spoken with a few of them and feel no hesitation in recommending you speak with some of them.
As best as I can tell, the major difference between Janice and the consultants who represent individual insurance companies is just that — they don’t necessarily represent multiple companies. Obviously, then, their allegiance will be toward the company they work for. Janice has no such allegiance and gets paid by any of the companies we decide to select.
But the fact is, most of the Medicare Advantage and Supplemental insurance companies offer basically the same plans. The major difference is in whether the doctors you see are in network versus out of network. That’s where you save money.
But buying insurance is not just about money. It’s about trust and security. You want to know that you’re choosing the right plan for your unique situation so that if there’s a major event you’ll be covered and you aren’t compromising your health. It’s a big decision, and one that you should not take lightly. Nor should you just continue to do what you’ve always done without looking at the options. Evaluating those options can be daunting. And that’s where Janice Scarinzi helped us. She gave us confirmation that we were choosing the right plan and the right company.
Big decisions don’t have to be made alone. This is one decision for which you can get professional expertise and guidance at no cost to you. Don’t pass up this opportunity.
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