This episode on the Dr. Friday Show: We already know that October 15th is coming but did you know that Medicare open enrollment season is also coming? Thank goodness Medicare Insurance specialist Nathan Wright is in the house! Together with Dr. Friday, he discusses the following topics:
- Medicare Open Enrollment for this Year
- What Open Enrollment Means?
- Difference Between Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplements
- What’s a “Donut Hole”?
- What is Plan C and Plan D?
- How You Want to Pay your Medicare? Am I Paying Too Much?
- Why You Need a Medicare Agent?
- Mileage for Work Experiences
- Vision and Dental Add-ons
- Medicare Agent Fees
- What to Bring During Your Medicare Agent’s Appointments
Transcript
Announcer 0:01
No, no, no, she’s not a medical doctor, but she can share cure your tax problems or your financial woes. She’s the How to girl. It’s the Doctor Friday show. If you have a question for Dr. Friday, call her now. 737-WWTN. That’s 737-9986. So here’s your host, financial counselor and tax consultant Dr. Friday.
Dr. Friday 0:29
Good day I’m Dr. Friday and the doctor is in the house. That’s right. It’s a fabulous Saturday out there. Hopefully you guys are enjoying down in Spring Hill they’re having one of those touch the truck things. Oh, my God, traffic is horrible down there guys just to let you know. I remember as a kid, we always enjoyed that. I have been blessed, I should say honored to have one of my friends here. And his name is Nathan Wright. This guy is awesome. And something big kind of happens in October for me. October 15, especially is a big day because that’s the day tax returns for all those procrastinators. Individual tax returns, we usually do on the 15th. I think it’s the 16th this year, but because of the holiday, but it’s only thing I think about. But you know what? Nathan says, hey you know what else happens at that time? What else happens in October for other people?
Nathan Wright 1:13
So that’s going to be the actual open enrollment that happens from October 15 through December 7th for Medicare insurance.
Dr. Friday 1:21
All right. And so that’s what Nathan is an expert at. He is a person that is certified and licensed to represent Medicare insurance. So you don’t think about that when you’re in your 50s necessarily, you know, so that date didn’t ring a bell. But you know, many of my friends actually help out with their parents. So when we talk about Medicare in this open enrollment, I guess I’m thinking Wait a second, we signed up for Medicare back when we were 65 for my parents or thereabouts and they were on Medicare. I didn’t realize that every year, we should have been looking just like my own personal health insurance every year to you should revisit this particular. So why don’t we talk a little bit? What does open enrollment mean? And why is it so important for us to be thinking about that when it comes up, Nathan?
Nathan Wright 2:06
So you know, open enrollment is a time when you can actually review your plan, whether you have a Medicare Advantage, or a Part D prescription drug plan, that’s the time of the year that you may want to look, because you should have gotten an annual notice of change by now. And when you get that annual notice of change, you will see that there is changes with your plan. And you may want to review that and see if there’s something better for the next year.
Dr. Friday 2:33
Yeah, and that’s I mean, I’ll be honest, a lot of times, it’s like when the credit card company send you those changes or your insurance company, most of us like what can’t change it. I mean, it’s not like they’re giving me a vote to say yes, I would accept this or don’t accept it, they really pretty much says this is what’s going to change in your plan. So I don’t think a lot about it. But in this case, every year someone could go back and say so let’s start at the top for all of us naive people because again, we’re not talking tax law here. So I’m not going to claim to be an expert at all. So let’s talk a little bit about let’s start out with Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplements. Is there a difference? And if so, explain that difference to us.
Nathan Wright 3:10
Okay, so there absolutely is a difference between Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplements. So your Medicare Advantage plan is going to be it’s going to operate more like your traditional insurance. There are HMO networks, there’s PPO networks, there’s co-pays, there are deductibles. Although unlike your traditional insurance, most Medicare Advantage plans have either a zero deductible or a very small deductible like $100 deductible, but you’re going to have small co-pays when you see a doctor or hospital etc, etc. Many times a Medicare Advantage plan has a very low monthly premium, and many have a zero monthly premium.
If you turn on the flip side to that a Medicare supplement or sometimes known as a Medigap Plan, that is where you actually have where there are no co-pays or networks per se, you work with Original Medicare. And there is a higher monthly fee to get the plan. But in turn, you do not usually have to pay for services like doctor or hospital visits, although many Medicare supplement plans have a very small deductible. So I kind of summarized in a nutshell,
Dr. Friday 4:28
Yeah, make it simple.
Nathan Wright 4:29
In a nutshell, Medicare Advantage plan, you pay low monthly premiums, but you pay when you use it. So it’s a pay as you go type plan. Okay, Medicare supplement plan, you pay a monthly premium plus you have to get a drug plan. So you’re going to pay a higher monthly premium, but you’re not going to have to pay as much when you go to the doctors and hospitals.
Dr. Friday 4:49
Okay, so something hit me when you’re talking about that. And I have a lot of my clients because they come in, there’s something called a donut or that means something. I mean, that seems like there’s a gap between where Medicare and it’s like they hit this the section of insurance not being there for them or something and then they end up going over it. And then they’re like, on the other side of it. Is this ringing any bells?
Nathan Wright 5:11
Yeah, absolutely.
Dr. Friday 5:13
And these people sign up for this advantage or supplement to eliminate that or no, they’re still there still this…
Nathan Wright 5:19
They could be subject to the donut, it’s called the donut hole.
Dr. Friday 5:23
Donut hole. Okay, I knew it sound like the black hole, basically, what I was picturing in my head, but I knew I had something to do with food. So but so it sounds like I mean, because obviously, when you hit 65, you’re going to probably have more prescriptions more possibly, you know, I mean, some people are lucky than others. But I’m assuming Medicare A and B, we’ve talked about this before the show, and maybe we should go ahead and get that in. Let me throw this out here really quick. Nathan is live here in studio. So if you’re in or you’re dealing with your parent’s situation, or you’re getting ready to go on Medicare, and you’re not sure Should I go A, B, C, D, or what is all that mean is as letters of the alphabet.
This guy’s an expert and it’s free right now, guys. So you might want to think about picking his brain while we can. You can call us live in the studio 615-737-9986. 615-737-9986 if you’ve got questions, because, again, I’m not going to share if I will get all this so let me go back. So we were talking a little bit about the Medicare Advantage and the Medicare Supplement. And then, you know, does that have anything to do with this doughnut hole or whatever? It may be confusing the entire conversation. So bring them back if I’m not. But when we first started, we were talking about AMB when before the show started. So maybe I should bring you backwards a little bit. When I hit 65. I think it’s actually 66 and a half or something when I’m actually going to fit into the full Medicare or whatever. Full social security medicare. When I hit that, I’m going to have a choice of what ABC and D
Nathan Wright 6:58
Well, let me let me bring you back just a little bit. So you are eligible for Medicare when you turn 65.
Dr. Friday 7:04
Oh, okay. Perfect. Okay, that brings his website in place. So now I understand that. Yeah,
Nathan Wright 7:08
Absolutely. So you don’t have to take Medicare if you have credible coverage to your job and you plan to keep working. You can opt to keep your work insurance, but Medicare, you can enroll in actually three months before your 65th birthday. Okay, so Medicare Part A you get it’s what you paid into your entire working life as long as you’ve worked 40 quarters in your lifetime, you get Medicare Part A okay. And Medicare Part A has to do with your hospital insurance just to keep it simple, right? Medicare Part B has to do with your doctor’s insurance. Okay, now that is an extra cost for part B.
Dr. Friday 7:49
That’s the one I see when I do people’s taxes. And I see where it’s coming out. So A is automatic no cost when B… And you have to take A and B when you hit Medicare though, right? You don’t do that opt in to take B?
Nathan Wright 8:01
You don’t have to take me. It is highly suggested
Dr. Friday 8:05
I think I know what you mean. I’m thinking why would you not? Because even the amount that comes out of for Medicare, the cost of insurance would be a lot higher in most cases for that situation. So I’m will actually drop you off. We’ve got Wade that’s joined us and has a question about Medicare supplement. So let’s see what we can bring on. Hey, Wade, thanks for calling.
Caller 8:22
Hey, thanks for having this call. hope you can hear me okay.
Dr. Friday 8:26
So far so good.
Caller 8:28
Okay, great. The question is, my mother who worked for the US Attorney’s Office federally for many, many years has that retirement but also is required, evidently, to have Medicare. And she’s been relatively confident and understanding. But at 83, can you give me a core basic approach to getting the process to sit with her and help her understand? Sounds like I need to call you but in the meantime, just to get my hands around it, what would you recommend as a starter because she did mention there are some changes that are coming out and I’m embarrassed to say I’m outside of my company,
Dr. Friday 9:16
that’s where I’d be too. Go for it, Nathan.
Nathan Wright 9:18
So let me ask you this. So does she have Medicare now or?
Caller 9:22
Yes, but it’s a and I’m embarrassed to say this, forgive me. You know, make sense to say what does she have? And if I wish I knew but in the federal government provides. My understanding is the core…
Nathan Wright 9:40
That’s correct.
Caller 9:41
That’s in there is a supplement that she’s required to get. And I don’t know if it’s good for A, B, C, etc.?
Nathan Wright 9:50
Yeah, so I can address that. So the core is going to be the A or and the B. So most folks have A and B both as a core. But when you’re talking about Medicare, it only covers about roughly 80% of everything. So you’re going to either need to go with a Medicare Advantage plan or Medicare Supplement plan. And those are done through private insurance companies. That’s kind of where you’re probably missing there. And depending on what she wants to do, Medicare…
Caller 10:23
Is it Tricare? And I apologize for interrupting you but Tricare, does that sound something you’re familiar with?
Nathan Wright 10:29
Yeah, absolutely. So Tricare is through basically through military service. You will have Tricare if you’ve had she have Tricare?
Dr. Friday 10:39
Yes, sir.
Caller 10:41
Yes, sir. And there are different levels to Tricare. So that would be definitely something that we probably want to talk to one on one, because there are certain levels that you don’t want to do anything with it, just leave it like it is. There are other levels, though of Tricare that I can definitely help out with. And you can fill in some gaps that good coverage that she may not be getting.
Nathan Wright 11:03
Okay, that sounds great. Thank you for your help. Dr. Friday, before we go, I have one for you. Am I allowed to do it? Or…
Dr. Friday 11:07
Yeah, go for it Wade. Go for it.
Caller 11:09
Okay. So here’s a situation. So we have a two-person LLC. We just got a contract with a big healthcare company. But the way we got the contract was by going through a recruiter who got us into the company, but the recruiter didn’t want to run us as an LLC. So it’s going through my partner’s normal personal social security. So the way the income will flow is to my partner, and they’ll hold out the holdout taxes. So in order for us to split the income 5050. Since she’s receiving income and paying taxes on all the income, so to speak,
Dr. Friday 12:01
No, all she would do is she would take the income totally in and then she would 1099 you 50% of it, after expenses.
Nathan Wright 12:10
So not take it through the LLC?
Dr. Friday 12:12
I mean, with LLC defeat, the shield for the purpose of the LLC is not being protected, because the money is not going through there anyway. So now it’s just an extra step at this point, she can certainly throw it in there. But then you would have to, she could basically take it on to her schedule C and do 100% to the LLC, do the distribution and K-1 through there, then she would have a K-1 and you’d have a K-1, that’s the way I would do it. But when you initially said she’d be paying the taxes, what that means she’s not doing any distribution, she’s gifting you the difference, which doesn’t make any sense.
Nathan Wright 12:44
So she’s gonna pay tax on her personal income and then make a capital contribution to the LLC. And then when it comes out, we pay I would pay tax based on that. Is that right?
Dr. Friday 13:00
No, because then you’re double taxing the same money.
Understood.
So all I mean, the simplest thing would be for her to basically just run the 1099 through a Schedule C and take 100% and 1099 the LLC and put all the money into the LLC. So just the zero effect on her personal tax return. Then prepare the LLC, you do K-1s, and whatever the profit or loss is split 5050 she’ll have a K1 and that that’s what she’ll pay her share of taxes off of.
Nathan Wright 13:33
So what she needs to do is to tell them not to withhold any tax.
Dr. Friday 13:37
Absolutely.
Caller 13:39
Okay. Don’t withhold any taxes from this personal contribution. Okay.
Dr. Friday 13:43
Yeah, you got it.
Caller 13:45
Thank you. Thank you for your help. You guys are awesome. Dr. Friday, thanks for this show. You really are doing a service for all of us neophytes,
Dr. Friday 13:52
No worries, I’ll give you a minute here. I’m going to give out Nathan’s information really quick. And then we’re going to get John and then we’ll take a break just so John doesn’t have to wait through it, but Nathan’s phone number is 615-823-1322. That’s the direct number to Nathan 615-823-1322. You can also contact me later and I will give it out again. Let’s go hit John real quick. Hey, John.
Hi, good afternoon. My question is, my wife and I are both 59. She hasn’t worked much outside the home. Lord knows being a homemaker. She’s taking care of business here. But anyway, she worked from approximately went from age 16 to about age 21, 22. But she hasn’t, hasn’t worked outside the home since then. And as we approach retirement age, you know, I’m concerned about Medicare for her. I mean, she’s talked about going back out, back out to the workforce prior to that point in time, but what was what’s available to us?
Nathan has some good news? I think I know the answer. But I’ma let Nathan jump into this if he doesn’t know. We’ll see.
Nathan Wright 14:58
Absolutely. So she should be covered under your working history actually on that one.
Dr. Friday 15:07
Yeah. So just Social Security when you sign up for it, and since you guys are so close in age, when you sign up for it, then she’ll automatically be able to obtain half of your Social Security along with full Medicare protection.
Okay. Very good. All right. I appreciate your time. Have a great day.
No worries. Thanks. All right. We’re gonna take a quick break. When we get back we’re going to have more questions for Nathan Wright, our specialist in Medicare. So if you’re dealing with Medicare yourself, or Medicare for a family member, parents, this is the show you want to keep listening to because we’re going to understand a lot more about Medicare than I ever thought I needed to. We’ll be right back.
Alright, we are back live in studio. I’m Dr. Friday, an enrolled agent license with the Internal Revenue Service to do basically one thing and I’m really good at one thing. Taxes, taxes and representation. So that’s what you like to deal with, you’re crazy like I am. And I do want to bring on. we have now gone to a new age people for the Dr. Friday Show. We are now podcasting Dr.Friday Radio Show and Dr. Friday Tax Tips on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts. Just search for Dr. Friday tax, that’s Dr. Friday tax and you will find me out there.
So if you don’t get enough me on Saturday, I can be repeated and repeated and repeated, you’ll never get enough of me apparently. Like, really, I think an hour every Saturday is probably more than enough for most of my listeners. Alright, we are still live here in studio. Nathan Wright, my Medicare specialist is here. He’s been doing this for a number of years, guys. So this is a guy that if you’ve got questions on Medicare, and you want to know, when should I be looking at it? Why is this time? Why is Friday even got this guy on the show? Because we have an open, what’s it called again, open enrollment period. And it starts basically he can start as of this next coming week as far as talking to people getting it going, but it opens on the 15th and it closes…
Nathan Wright 17:10
December 7th.
Dr. Friday 17:11
December 7th, that’s a very fast period. So you’re really expecting people to be right on top of it. And I mean, I’m thinking there’s only so many agents at least that are as qualified as my guy. So if you need to make an appointment and keep in mind if you have a regular insurance agent, they may not specialize in Medicare because this is all Nathan does. Nathan is a Medicare specialist. Okay. So it’s not like he’s out there selling life insurance on Monday selling health insurance on Tuesday. And then oh, yeah, I’ll do Medicare this week. No, this is what he does like, I do taxes, Nathan does Medicare insurance. So this is someone you might want to get a second opinion with. So I’m good. There are two ways you can get to him. Maybe three, I might think of another way, but the first way would be phone number 615 823 1322. That is a direct line to Nathan.
But if you want to know more about him the website MEDI 65. Think about it Medicare 65 medi65.com. All right, Nathan, I’ve done enough talking here. Let’s get some more questions answered. Because I think we kind of confused or maybe I did. And I do that. People know listening to my show, I go in circles sometimes I circled back to. So let’s start at the beginning. Again. I am 65 and I have just signed up for Medicare. And the choices I’ve made, if I was doing it probably A and B automatically. But then there’s C and D on here. Now knowing Friday, I would probably just check all of them because it’s like I better be sure so let’s just check them off. And there’s a reason I might want to check D but I don’t know if I’m right. So why don’t you explain a little bit about see what it is and then D what it is? And if we should or shouldn’t check it?
Nathan Wright 18:46
Sure. Absolutely. So can I reverse it a little bit, I will do D first. So D is really easy. It’s for prescription drug plans. It’s a standalone prescription drug plan, you’re going to want one of those, especially if you take prescriptions. But another reason is, they do penalize you if you do not take a prescription drug plan. And they are done through private insurance companies, there are a ton of them. And then the C is what’s called a Medicare Advantage plan. Now there’s a reason C is in between A, B and D. Because the C actually can tie all four of the letters together. And you can get a nice little package called a Medicare Advantage plan. And most of them have a zero premium, and then through all the major insurance companies, but most of them have a zero premium, and they tied all together in a nice package to get your health insurance. They have prescription drug plans built-in, vision dental hearing built-in.
Dr. Friday 19:44
Okay, so so that’s what someone’s going to come and talk to you about. Either the Advantage plan or the Supplement plan. Um, and really what you said earlier in the show that really the biggest difference is how you want to pay. Do you want to pay a set dollar amount every month or do you want to pay maybe a little lower? But every time I see a doctor, I might have to pay more and more for visits or whatever, depending on the situations and you’re going to explain that to individuals one on one problems, I’m assuming all that comes. So how do I know if I’m paying too much for insurance? I mean, you know, how much is Medicare going to cost me? How do I know I’m not paying [too much]?
Nathan Wright 20:19
So when it comes to Medicare, your part B is going to be a flat fee. For most people $135.50 a month, that’s Medicare Part B, when it comes to how much you’re paying a month, it depends on really if you’ve got an advantage plan. Like I said, there’s zero-premium Medicare Advantage plans. There’s some that have small premiums like $25, or what have you. But typically, most folks that I’ve talked to you are in a zero-premium Medicare Advantage plan. Now if you want a Supplement plan, so without confusing everybody, there are so many different letters when it comes to Supplement plans. There’s Fs, there’s Gs, there’s Ns..
Dr. Friday 20:57
I didn’t realize that. Of course, yeah. Let’s keep it simplified.
Nathan Wright 20:59
There’s all kinds of different letters for Medicare Supplement plan. So basically, though, I’m going to… My favorite is a Plan G. Okay. So if you have a plan G with x company, and a plan G with y company, they have to cover federal government guidelines. They have to cover the exact same thing on a plan G. So there can’t be any differences from company to company. They can do one thing differently though. They can charge different prices.
Dr. Friday 21:29
Same package, but they can make it sound better on this one versus this one depending on how it is. But it’s really the exact same. is the same
Nathan Wright 21:35
It’s the same thing. Absolutely.
Dr. Friday 21:36
I love that. You know, so it’s like buying canned food, you find out that you know Hunt’s and this other one both made it same factory, just different labels. Yeah. Alright. So don’t you love that? Alright, so if you have a question, you can call us here in the studio. Again, Nathan is live here. 615-737-9986 is the number in the studio. 615-737-9986. Okay, so why should someone use an agent? Why not just sign up ABC and D and let it go?
Nathan Wright 22:06
Well, so as far as when it comes to using an actual agent, whether it’s me or someone else, I definitely recommend…
Dr. Friday 22:13
Him.
Nathan Wright 22:13
Yeah, definitely. So, but the agent has the expertise in the different companies. We attend all the trainings and everything through each individual carrier. But as I was saying before a G is a G. So as long as it’s not a small upstart company, I’m going to put you with any big box reputable company, you’re really just looking at the price. So and we have the ability to shop all the prices and get the lowest cost Medicare Supplement premium out there on the marketplace.
Dr. Friday 22:44
So one of the reasons I’m thinking out of the box, again, when I’m thinking is, as I get older or whatever different prescriptions, different things happening. So how often should I be reviewing? I mean, every year this this this open enrollment happened every single year? And is it something that I can review every year? Would you suggest that?
Nathan Wright 23:00
I would definitely suggest doing it once a year because especially when it comes to prescription drugs, either you’re in a Medicare Advantage plan with a prescription drug built-in, or you’ve got standalone prescription drug plans, and each company changes the formularies annually. So I guess what that means you should review that annually and make sure your prescriptions are going to be the lowest cost co-pays on your prescriptions.
Dr. Friday 23:27
All right, let’s get Chris before we take a break. Hey, Chris, can I do for you, sweetie?
Well, before last year, I would say that I claim my mileage like I’m in technical sales, and I was able to claim some of my mileage for work experiences. And then with the tax changes last year that changed. And because I wasn’t above the 24,000 limit where you know, my wife and I filed jointly. And I didn’t know if there was anything to do to try to work out to be able to claim that deduction again or?
It has not come back on the books. There has been a lot of communications, a lot of things saying certain industries, we’re going to get it because one of the biggest ones I got hit with my truck drivers that were employees, but you know, actually drove, you know, a lot of their own vehicles and things for delivery purposes. And as since their employees, they’ve lost the 2106 or the non reimbursed employee expense thing. There is nothing in particular. If as long as you’re a W-2 person, you’re not going to have enough. If you get 1099 you can put the mileage on your Schedule C but it’s not going to happen for employees, unfortunately.
Okay, yeah, I know some people that are in the same industry with me but kinda either had, you know, they’ve worked it out where they started their own LLC or something.
I have a couple do the same thing. Yep. So they can work for the same companies. Yes, sir.
But I wasn’t sure about the legality of that, or how you, you know, how you go about doing that, or what?
Well, I will tell you that the Tennessee Department of Labor, or the Federal Department of Labor, very likely may say that these people are legitimate employees, and therefore, the companies cannot sub out their drivers just because. Because they’re not driving for anyone else, right? I mean, most of my drive in that situation, a lot of times that person’s only working for one company, and they’re subbing it out because they want to be able to, you know, get a better tax advantage. And also, you know, it’s a catch 22. Your employer pays half your Social Security and Medicare, when you’re self-employed, you pay it. So there’s just some exclusions that may not work out to be as good as they think it is. So I probably if I were you, I would just have a little bit extra, come out of my check and move forward. Hopefully in the next few years, they’ll change that. But at the moment, that is one of the biggest things on Capitol Hill right now that everyone’s whining about, which is good, because they should it’s not something that should have fallen off the tax code.
Caller 25:53
Okay, very good. I will just wait and rather do that than maybe take a risk of doing something. Maybe get audited later on or something.
Dr. Friday 26:00
And pay more penalty and interest later. Thanks, Chris for this call. Appreciate it.
Caller 26:04
Thank you.
Dr. Friday 26:04
All right, we’re gonna take a quick break here, get caught up on the clock. You can reach us here in the studio at 615-737-9986. 615-737-9986. Taking calls about Medicare questions you might have about Medicare or taxes. We’ll be right back.
Alrighty, we’re back live in studio. I’m Dr. Friday, an enrolled agent licensed by the Internal Revenue Service to do taxes and representation. And if you want to join the show today, time is flying, guys! You better pick up the phone 615-737-9986, 615-737-9986. I do want to push that October 15th, for all of us people in the tax business it’s a big one. If you haven’t filed your taxes, you need to file. It’s important, okay? And we’ve only got what 10 days thereabouts. And that includes another weekend. And all I’m saying is think taxes. Also, though, at the same time, you’ve got to be thinking insurance. Wow, they got a blonde and I’ll just let it all go through. Okay, we’re gonna go right to the phones. I’ve got Nathan right here and Medicare specialist, and we’re going to take the phone call from Joe. Hey, Joe.
Hi, how you doing? Dr. Friday. Thank you for taking my call. I got a quick question for Nathan. With regards to the cost of Medicare Supplement and a Medicare Advantage, I know on the Medicare Advantage plans, they collect the part of the that you contribute for the Medicare, that monthly amount that you contribute to the Medicare. Do they also do that on the Supplement plan?
Nathan Wright 27:45
So yeah, just to make this kind of simplified a little bit, you’re going to pay a Part B premium. Regardless if you get an Advantage or Supplement Plan. Okay, if you get an Advantage Plan, you’re going to most likely pay a zero premium on an Advantage plan. If you get into a Supplement plan, typically, when you’re first starting out, I’m just kind of ballparking here, you’re around $100 a month.
Dr. Friday 28:10
Right. Okay. Yeah, that helps me out. I was looking at some policies, and I haven’t been able to see where that is indicated on those policies. But I did notice it was on the Advantage plans, but it wasn’t necessarily on the supplement. So…
Good to know. Thanks for your call, Joe.
Caller 28:27
Thank you Dr. Friday. Bye, bye.
Dr. Friday 28:30
Okay, we’re gonna go right keep the phones. Is it Vanessa?
Caller 28:35
Yeah.
Dr. Friday 28:36
Hey girl, what can I do for you?
Hey, we do have a Medicare Advantage plan. We only pay that minimum $135 each comes out of our Social Security. And I think we do have ABCD coverage but I don’t think we have vision and dental. Do we do it have to pay extra for that?
Nathan Wright 29:02
So a lot, not all, but a lot of Medicare Advantage plans have vision dental hearing built-in. Now some of them have a little bit or you can pay a little bit more and get extra but there are plans. So if you aren’t in a plan now that doesn’t offer that you definitely want to take a look at that and try to get that added.
Dr. Friday 29:24
That’s good news! Sounds like you should be able to maybe get that added for no additional cost for the basics or for a very minimal
Nathan Wright 29:31
In many cases, yes.
Dr. Friday 29:33
Okay, I need to research that then make a change during this…
Yes, during this big enrollment period, the 15th to the 7th girl, don’t let it slide by.
Nathan Wright 29:43
Absolutely.
Dr. Friday 29:44
Thank you guys.
All right. And this again, Nathan Wright is in studio. He’s a Medicare specialist. And we’re going to go and give his number out here real quick. 615 823 1322. And again, if you got want to email me or give me a call, I will give you this number. A lot of people are driving not easy. So she hopefully uses hands-free. Maybe not the best time to give me a phone number out 615 823 1322. Nathan Wright is here in studio. And also we are a couple more calls. So hit Eric. Well, we have another call coming in. Hey, Eric.
Hi.
What’s good? What’s happening, bud?
Caller 30:22
I love your show, by the way, I listen to it whenever I have a chance. So you’re my first person to call, I have 2017 and 2018 taxes to pay. And I have no clue where to start.
Dr. Friday 30:37
You can do simply as simple as a 9465. And just send them in a payment plan. And normally, they’ll just take whatever the total amount, including penalties and interest divided by 72. As long as you can make that payment. It’s pretty simple. You can also go to irs.gov and click on payments. And they have them online as long as it’s less than 25,000. I believe.
Okay, yes, it should be less than that. Okay, well, that’s good to know. So they can make a plan. All right. Well, thank you for your help.
You might and I don’t know, but you might want to ask them if they’ve charged you for late filing or anything when if you want to go ahead and do a two-hour phone call, you could request. They probably would waive one of the penalties for you.
I may be calling you on Tuesday for a little additional help.
No worries. I’ll be in.
All right. Thanks so much.
All right. This is fun. I like this. Okay, so I like to learn, you know, I mean, even though because a lot of times, I’ll be honest with you, people will walk in and they’ll say, Well, here’s this or whatever. And I know nothing about Medicare at all. So when they bring up the subject, I’m pretty much gotta go call this now I have Nathan, which I can just send people to and say, Well, you know what, but this is so important, because even if I send them to you during tax season, you couldn’t help them until now, when it’s time. I mean, you know, I’m saying, because you only have this small window to really be able to say, now you can change your advance plan.
Now maybe you could add a vision or dental that you didn’t have. Because if you haven’t looked at this a number of years, things are changing, like you say every single year, there are different events, or maybe now you have a prescription that you weren’t taking a year before. This is something you might want to even consider guys for mom and dad. Many of my clients at least help their parents with their finances or whatever, and you need to maybe double-check to make sure they are on. And again, I’m such an IP on an advantage plan or a supplemental plan. And it’s not easy to tell the difference, is it? I mean, you really have to have that conversation with them. Or is it simply as Oh, they’re paying money? So they must be on this kind of plan where they’re not paying money or not really?
Nathan Wright 32:41
Yeah, I can usually from a five-minute conversation determine whether on advantage or supplement that the simplest way I usually ask is What is your co-pay when you see a doctor. If they have no co-pay, chances are they’re almost up a monthly plan. If they have a copay, chances are they’re on an advantage plan. So
Dr. Friday 32:59
Is there any penalty if we decide not to do anything? Just if I don’t enroll for Medicare on time if I don’t click any of the boxes?
Yes there any penalties
I’m shocked. The government has a penalty.
Nathan Wright 33:11
For A and D. But I should mention, though, if you are going to stay on your work coverage then that’s credible coverage. That’s the key You will not incur that penalty if you’re staying on your work insurance.
Dr. Friday 33:22
Okay. My mom elected she didn’t want. My mother didn’t believe a lot in government assistance. So she chose not to take any and she covered her own insurance. And I was always fearful because she worked for my company. And so she passed in. Because if she had to sign off that she would never go on Medicare when she chose not to go on Medicare at this time. This was 10 years ago, whatever, 15 years ago. And I’m like, What if I go by [inaudible]. So I mean, those are kind of scary decisions. So theoretically, she had to opt-out of Medicare at that time, and they said she would never be able to go back into Medicare. I don’t know if it’s still true or not. But all I’m saying is, that’s a scary thing to have to do when you’re thinking about all that. Okay, we here have someone. T is calling about company insurance. Hey, T, what can I do for you?
Well, I appreciate you taking my call. I’m working full time. I am 78 years old. And I do have Medicare A and B, I’m probably going to get the drug plan really soon. But I would like to ask Nathan, what he would suggest I do concerning a supplement or an advantage. It’s not clear to me what’s the difference in those two would be. But the real question I have is if I get one of these privately provided insurance plans, do I have to qualify for that plan?
Nathan Wright 34:55
That’s a great question. So it does depend on if you decide to go with that supplement plan or an advantage plan. The Advantage plan has no qualifications whatsoever. Although a supplement plan does have what we call health underwriting, so we have to go through that. There may be special circumstances though, where we could get you a guaranteed issue Supplement Plan without the health underwriting questions. So and then to kind of address the differences between really always think about, you know, if you get an advantage plan, you’re going to be paying it when you use it. You could pay a $10 co-pay when you see your doctor. You could be paying a $300 co-pay if you stay overnight in the hospital. Whereas on the Supplement plan, you’re going to be paying a monthly premium, and maybe 100, maybe 125, depending on the company you go with. And you’re not going to be subject to those co-pays, although they do have a very tiny deductible on the supplement plans. But you’re not going to be worrying about co-pay. So it’s really in a nutshell, you do you want to pay upfront monthly or behind when you use it is the difference between an advantage and supplement plan?
Dr. Friday 36:04
That’s a tough one. But it sounds like this guy’s really healthy if he’s still working at 78.
Nathan Wright 36:08
Yeah, it is a tough one. And I don’t advise either way. There are some agents that push you into one or the other, I just kind of do you know, advice you…
Dr. Friday 36:17
Here are the two different options or three different options. And he deals with all the major insurance brands. So you’re going to give them different policies from different insurance companies is
Nathan Wright 36:25
That’s correct. Yeah.
Dr. Friday 36:26
Does that help at all, T?
It does. I may have not been clear. I’m only seven zero years.
Sorry. Still, working at 70 is still impressive, my friend, I hope to be doing it myself at that age. But so but you’re still full time, right? You’re still fully working.
Yes. And I work for a small company. In fact, one of the issues I’ve had in the last six months, having had to have some therapy is to is the primary. And the company actually was less than 20 employees until about the middle of July. And I cannot tell you the pain that I have gone through and the hours waiting on the phone that I have done trying to get it straight as to who’s going to pay for my therapy. But Medicare has been very good about paying for therapy. But there has been a lot of you know you have other insurance, so we’re not inclined to want to pay for it. And apparently there are some very tricky rules when companies are small. Yes. Still working too low. So I thought that might be used to Nathan to know that sort of thing.
Nathan Wright 37:42
Yeah, absolutely. And I would tell you to just kind of take a look at the differences between your work plan and because you can opt-out of the work plan and go straight on to a Medicare Advantage or Medicare supplement plan in place of I have a lot of folks that do that because the Medicare is actually in their favor.
Caller 38:01
Okay, I will certainly give that some thought.
Dr. Friday 38:04
Thank you T. I appreciate the phone call.
Okay, have a good day.
Thanks, sir. All right, we’re gonna take our last break. If you want to join us here on the show, you are going to have about eight minutes. So if you’ve been holding your breath will first take a breath then give us a call. 615-737-9986. 615-737-9986 is the number here in the studio. Nathan and I will be right back with the Dr. Friday show.
Love it. Alright, we are back live in studio. I’m Dr. Friday. With me, Nathan Wright, a Medicare specialist. And if you want to join the show, 615-737-9986. 615-737-9986. And we’ll go right to the phone line. We have Donna on hold. Hey Donna!
Caller 38:56
Hey, Dr. Friday, how are you?
Dr. Friday 38:59
I am awesome. So what can we do for you today?
Well, I have a question about Nathan’s, or a person such as Nathan’s fee. What would be the fee for his services?
That’s a great question.
Nathan Wright 39:14
Actually, I’m glad you asked this question because you don’t have to pay anything to use services from a person such as myself. Yes, yes.
Dr. Friday 39:24
So he gets paid, he gets paid by the different companies, just as your broker or anyone else probably, you know. But the fact is he’s not selling any particular product. He’s not signed up for any one thing. That’s why he says so often people, I guess push like Advantage plans or whatever because that’s all they really are signed up. He signed with all the major insurance companies. So he’s looking for the best deal for each client because he wants to keep you year after year after year like my tax people.
Nathan Wright 39:50
Yeah. And our visit every year to you know, just to make sure you’re in the right plan year over year.
Caller 39:57
Fantastic. How far are behind are you on appointments?
Nathan Wright 40:01
Give me a call. I’ll be glad to make an appointment with you. My books are filling up. But I’ve got room in my appointment book for sure.
Dr. Friday 40:07
He’s got room for you, Donna. It sounds like he’s liking it. All right. I’ll give his number out for everyone in just a second. Donna, thank you so much for your phone call. That’s a great question. Appreciate it.
Thank you, Dr. Friday, and we love your show.
Thank you, sweetie. Bye-bye. All right, again, we’re going to give out his information. And we’re going to talk a little bit about what should someone bring to a meeting with you. So let’s say I’ve made my appointment, what would be helpful for them to have in their little portfolio? What should I have in hands when I come into your office? Is there a check-off that might be helpful?
Nathan Wright 40:37
Yeah, absolutely. So the primary thing I won’t be looking at is what is your primary doctor? And what are your specialists? And then it would be helpful if you brought a list of prescription drugs.
Dr. Friday 40:50
Okay, awesome. So all my doctors, my prescriptions that you’ve been on for the last year or something because it could need it again or whatever, if you’re not on it right now. And that’s it.
Nathan Wright 41:02
That’ll be pretty much it. Your Medicare card obviously would be a very helpful thing
Dr. Friday 41:07
Because it gives you information on Medicare. Okay. I was trying to figure out how does he know which plan or whatever so the Medicare card would tell.
Nathan Wright 41:13
Yeah if you’ve got Medicare and you’re also your current carrier, your current companies card, that would be great.
Dr. Friday 41:19
insurance cards, a list of doctors list the medications that would be something you should. And if the person you’re going to hasn’t asked you for those, I’d be a little nervous because that sounds like because it will last thing you want to do is sell someone or change somebody I should say into a new insurance and find out their doctors not listed or find out that they’re gonna be paying a lot more for prescriptions, even though they’re saving on something else. I mean, that would be and then you can’t change. Come on people. We got this little window. We want the right person to make the right decision for us.
Nathan Wright 41:47
Yeah absolutely. And I want to also mention too, I have an office in Hendersonville, I also do old fashioned house calls. So if you want a personal service
Dr. Friday 41:55
Wow, that is kind of, yes. Personal service. I started my business that way 20 years ago. My clients listening now you’d know, you have to come to me. So I’m sorry to say, yep, it gets a little harder as you get more and more. But okay, so here’s the deal. Nathan Wright. Like W-R-I-G-H-T, like the Wright brothers. I was going to go there but I, you know. Okay, Nathan Wright. His phone number 615 823-1322. 823-1322. He does house calls, people. Come on, what’s better than that? And there’s no cost. Once you go through the initial conversation, give them a call, he’s going to tell you if you’re the right fit for him and then he’s going to set up that appointment and find out if he can save you money and it may not even be saving money maybe it’s going to be saving money by not having pay so much on prescriptions. Maybe you’re paying a little bit more here. I mean, that’s insurance in any way you look at it. It’s always going to be what’s the best match for you as an individual because if it’s anything like my tax clients, Nathan it’s always well my neighbor gets this or my neighbor has this and next thing you know you’re sitting there trying to explain why the neighbor will have something and you don’t because of this and this you know?
So you don’t want to use your neighbor as an example is all I’m going to tell you. Doesn’t work for taxes I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work for insurance and making sure you have that right match. And if you got a great insurance person again I can’t tell you enough Nathan does one thing good, okay? Sell Medicare insurance just as I do one thing good taxes. He… he’s an awesome dad. He’s got four kids, a beautiful wife. Outside of that, working-wise, he does Medicare insurance. And that’s all he does guys all year round. So it’s not something that’s going to be Oh, I’m just going to take a quick course here and now I’m on Medicare. This guy is doing this all the time just like I do taxes all the time. So he’s going to stay on top of those that little niche in the insurance market instead of trying to sell multiple types of insurance throughout the year. So, phone number 615-823-1322 and as website is MEDI, kinda like Medicare 65 dot com (medi65.com). If you want to know more about this guy anything you’d like to tell them as a final exit from the show before I start giving out all the final blah blah blah I have to do here anything you think you should leave them thinking about maybe there’s a something witty you can add to this?
Nathan Wright 44:23
Well, I don’t know about anything witty!
Dr. Friday 44:27
Oh my god.
Nathan Wright 44:27
But yeah, I mean, there is a short window of time and you know, I never thought that we’d be here in October. But December 7th will be here before you know it and don’t wait to get somebody whether it’s me or someone else.
Dr. Friday 44:43
So and I guess that brings up a really quick question. If I come and see you on December 6th, can we have a program going by December 7th?
Nathan Wright 44:49
Of course. It doesn’t start until January 1st.
Dr. Friday 44:51
Right but you have to have the papers signed by December 7th right? I’m assuming or whatever?
Nathan Wright 44:56
Correct, it has to be signed by midnight
Dr. Friday 44:58
Okay, so you don’t want to be – it’s kind of like tax day or whatever. You don’t want to be waiting for that last day because most of the time you’re not going to find a great deal or you’re not going to get the service. But if you start now to make the appointment, he’s got time before the open enrollment really hits to start talking about offers and deals and what’s best for you. What’s your [inaudible] what you’re looking for in the long run. Again, one more time his numbers 615-823-1322. You guys need to give him a call. Alright, so I am Dr. Friday. As you guys all know, my favorite show. Dr. Friday Tax and Financial Show is now on podcast. So if you guys are doing Apple, Google, Spotify, just type in Dr. Friday tax you will find this podcast and also my tax moments.
So if you guys don’t hear them, my one minute moments are out there. So sometimes you’ll hear it on the radio you like oh, I don’t want to go back to the podcast. You can hear it repeat over and over and over. Probably more than you want to hear. So I do love podcast sometimes because you know no commercials you get to hear someone you really think is funny or something. I don’t think I’m really that funny. So I’m not really sure how that’s going to work. So anyway, if you guys need help with the IRS, maybe you’ve gotten love letters, maybe you haven’t filed taxes in a number of years. You guys know that is where I am just a specialist right? I can help you with the IRS. As an enrolled agent. I am licensed to represent you I was kind of like a little shield between you and the IRS. So if you want to reach me (615) 367-0819 again (615) 367-0819. Check out the web, drfriday.com or email me because sometimes it’s just easier to email than do anything else. friday@drfriday.com it all works out. Again (615) 367-0819 or drfriday.com. Check out the new website. Check out the podcast. If you need help with the IRS. I am the person that’s going to help you. Nathan, thank you for being on the show
Nathan Wright 46:54
Thank you for having me.
Dr. Friday 46:56
Alright, so if we have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask. And if you want to know more about what we can do for you with the Internal Revenue Service, all you have to do is pick up the phone. Call you later!