There are tons of available information available online and in book stores, but finding information that’s tailored to one’s unique situation isn’t always readily available, Mary Koffend said. She noted that the Aging Life Care Association is a resource for finding an aging life care professional.
She also suggested an outfit called SilverBills LLC, a New Rochelle, N.Y. company that provides bill paying services for seniors.
Medicare
When and what to sign up for regarding Medicare can be confusing, the Koffends said, adding that Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage) plans can be particularly problematic because each year plans can vary the list of prescription drugs they cover.
As such, Mick Koffend said, automatically signing up for the same Part D plan from the prior year without reading the fine print could result in several thousand dollars in out-of-pocket drug costs.
“Encourage your clients every, or at least every other year, to examine the appropriate [Part D] plan for them given their current circumstances,” he said.
Health-Care Transitions
Transitions, or hand-offs in health care when an individual is transferred from one health facility to another, “are a place where a lot of people die,” Mick Koffend said. “The reason that they’re deadly is that there has been a historic lack of communication among health-care organizations. My theory is that as we’ve got more specialized in providing health-care services, it’s the old story of getting to know more and more about less and less until you know nothing about everything.”
He added that the Affordable Care Act helped improve the communication between health-care facilities to some degree, but that it’s still a major source of concern.
At the very least, Koffend said, financial planners can provide a valuable service to clients by being aware of this situation and bringing it to their attention to help guide families during a health-care transition.
Driving