Monthly premiums for Medicare Advantage plans can be as low as $0 per month, not including the Part B premium. This strategy would cost around $7,000 per year including premiums and co-pays for care, representing savings of $13,000 per year.
How To Find The Right Option
While this example uses a law firm partner, the same analysis applies to any client who is a high earner and owns all or a portion of their business.
These clients are typically shocked when they discover they could get coverage equal to or better than their existing group plan for thousands of dollars less per year. What keeps these clients from making this transition on their own? They simply don’t know that they have more affordable options than their group plan, and are often concerned that cheaper coverage means worse health care, even though this isn’t true.
By helping clients work through those misconceptions, you can provide advice in an area of high concern for clients, and position yourself as a comprehensive wealth manager.
Here are the steps to take to help clients work through these comparisons.
1. Create a drug list on Medicare.gov on your client’s behalf. This will help you evaluate Medicare Part D versus Medicare Advantage plans that include prescription coverage.
2. There are 11 types of supplements labeled A through N. The most comprehensive supplement is called the “F” plan.
3. Ask your client what their preferences are in utilizing healthcare. Do they tend to rely on their primary care physician for referrals? If they were diagnosed with cancer, would they prefer to visit a local oncologist or would they be willing to travel for treatment? These questions will inform which Medicare strategy and which carriers, will be the best fit.
By becoming familiar with the different Medicare strategies, advisors can provide guidance in an area where advice is often scarce, and help clients save thousands of dollars per year in the process.
Ryan McCostlin leads efforts to help individuals and families with health care through partnerships with financial advisors and healthcare providers at benefits advisory firm Bernard Health.