Usual, Customary and Reasonable Charge (UCR) is the amount paid for a medical service based on what providers in a geographic area usually charge. Those are sometimes used to determine the “allowed amount” for payment of claims on health insurance plans from your employer, individual and family plans as well as Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans […]
Combating Waste and Fraud in Medicare: President Trump’s choice for Secretary of the Department of Labor, is Alexander Acosta. There is consensus among both Democrats and Republicans that this is a good choice. He has been described as “just a mild-mannered law school faculty member.” Allison Bell, in an article for LifeHealthPro. In reality, from […]
Compared to individual or group health insurance plans, Medicare is unique in that it has no out-of-pocket spending limits. That’s why most people purchase a solid Medigap [Medicare Supplement] policy that will fill in all the gaps in Medicare and give you 100% of first dollar coverage for medical expenses. The alternative is enrolling in […]
Now that we are in the New Year there are some things you should remember about your Part D prescription drug plans. In the fall (September and October) of each year, the Part D insurance companies send out a letter called ANOC. This acronym means ‘Annual Notice of Changes’ with emphasis on ‘Changes’. The companies […]
You have two basic choices in Medicare to take care of your hospitalization, doctor visits and laboratory tests – Medicare Advantage (also called Medicare Part C) and original Medicare (comprised of Medicare Parts A and B). Original Medicare is often coupled with a Medicare supplement plans A through N. The majority of Medicare Advantage plans […]
The C.O.L.A. (Cost of Living Adjustment) was announced by the Social Security Administration. It will be .3% for 2017. That’s pretty small and not much better than 0% which was the C.O.L.A. for 2016. To put this in perspective, if a retiree were receiving $1000 per month in Social Security benefits, a 0.3 % increase […]
As you know, education is a crucial part of my work and I was very honored to be a guest speaker to over 200 agents who attended the annual Los Angeles Association of Health Underwriters. I shared the duties with my friend and colleague Harry Thal. The audience just loved the marketing tips, jokes and […]
The 2016 Medicare Open Enrollment started October 15th and continues till December 7th. During this time Medicare eligible people are able to enroll in, or change their current Medicare Advantage (MAPD) HMO/PPO, or stand-alone Part D/drug plan. Remember, if your current plan or employer/ retiree coverage is renewing in 2017 and you are satisfied with […]
July seemed to be a quiet month. Everyone’s on vacation. However, there were a couple of special things that went on with our family in July and August. As you know, my daughter’s Cupcake Business, Hapa Cupcakes has been growing over the past 3 years. There was something special I was not supposed to tell […]
In the April and June I wrote about four Medicare mistakes to avoid. Here are mistakes 5 and 6 that can trip you up. #5 Misunderstanding Enrollment Periods: You may have read about ‘Open Enrollment’ and gotten the idea that this is the only time you can sign up for Medicare. Not True! In Medicare, […]