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Crowe & Associates will holding a number of seminars for Untied Health Care Medicare Advantage plans  and AARP branded Medicare supplement plans.  The meetings will run from 10:30 am to 12:00 and will provide a review of the Medicare offerings by United Healthcare for 2013.  The review will include basic information on Medicare A and B and, reviews of the United products and the enrollment rules for 2013.

THIS IS AN OLD POST: CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT MEETING DATES

The sessions will be presented by Edward Crowe and Paul Smith of Crowe & Associates. There will be ample opportunity to ask questions before and after the presentation.  The meeting dates, locations and times are listed below.  You must call or email in order to reserve a seat at one of the meetings.  

You may call one of two numbers 860-992-4494,  203-241-7261 or email Edward@Croweandassociates.com to reserve your seat.

Location:  304 Federal Road,  Suite 107,  Brookfield, CT 06804

Dates:  Tuesday, October 2, 2012  –  Tuesday, October 9, 2012 – Tuesday, October 16, 2012 – Tuesday, October 23, 2012 – Tuesday, October 30, 2012 – Tuesday,  November 6, 2012 – Tuesday, November 13, 2012 – Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Time:  All meetings are from 10:30 am to 12:00 noon

Location: Danbury Library (170 Main Street, Danbury, CT 06810)

Dates: Tuesday, October 2, 2012  –  Tuesday, October 9, 2012 – Tuesday, October 16, 2012 – Tuesday, October 23, 2012 – Tuesday, October 30, 2012 – Tuesday,  November 6, 2012 – Tuesday, November 13, 2012 – Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Time:  All meetings are from 10:30 am to 12:00 noon

Call or email to reserve you seat(s) today!

Crowe & Associates will holding a number of seminars for Untied Health Care Medicare Advantage plans  and AARP branded Medicare supplement plans.  The meetings will run from 10:30 am to 12:00 and will provide a review of the Medicare offerings by United Healthcare for 2013.  The review will include basic information on Medicare A and B and, reviews of the United products and the enrollment rules for 2013.

The sessions will be presented by Edward Crowe and Paul Smith of Crowe & Associates. There will be ample opportunity to ask questions before and after the presentation.  The meeting dates, locations and times are listed below.  You must call or email in order to reserve a seat at one of the meetings.  

You may call one of two numbers 860-992-4494,  203-241-7261 or email Edward@Croweandassociates.com to reserve your seat.

Location:  304 Federal Road,  Suite 107,  Brookfield, CT 06804

Dates:  Tuesday, October 2, 2012  –  Tuesday, October 9, 2012 – Tuesday, October 16, 2012 – Tuesday, October 23, 2012 – Tuesday, October 30, 2012 – Tuesday,  November 6, 2012 – Tuesday, November 13, 2012 – Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Time:  All meetings are from 10:30 am to 12:00 noon

Location: Danbury Library (170 Main Street, Danbury, CT 06810)

Dates: Tuesday, October 2, 2012  –  Tuesday, October 9, 2012 – Tuesday, October 16, 2012 – Tuesday, October 23, 2012 – Tuesday, October 30, 2012 – Tuesday,  November 6, 2012 – Tuesday, November 13, 2012 – Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Time:  All meetings are from 10:30 am to 12:00 noon

Call or email to reserve you seat(s) today!

We receive calls everyday from clients looking to purchase dental insurance on an individual basis.   They usually do not have access to group dental insurance and want some way to control the costs of their dental care.   Finding an individual dental plan of value is tricky but possible.

We work with a number of dental plans such as Anthem BCBS Individual dental,  Golden rule Dental, Delta Dental and a number of others.     Many people focus on the max benefit of the plan which is usually $1,000 to $1,250 a year.   The out of pocket max is important but the key element is to make sure you dentist will accept the plan and also to know what type of coverage you can get on major services.  Overall monthly premium is a factor as well because you need to make sure your preventative coverage is worth what you are paying in premium. If you cant break even on the cost with the preventative care alone, it may be wise to look at other plans.

You need to look at plan that cost $26.00 or less per month per person.  Over that amount makes it difficult to get your money’s worth out of the plan.

Anthem BCBS offers a plan for $15.00 a month but it coverage preventative benefits only which hurts the value.   Golden Rule (United), Ameritus and Delta (AARP Dental) have plans with nice benefit offerings but they are all priced in the $30 to $50 a month range.

We recommend the Humana Individual dental plan at $22.99 a month and the Carington discount dental plan and vision plan at $14.95 a month.  Both offer a reasonable premium and worth while benefits.

A number of our clients want to know how a Medicare Advantage plan works and how it is different from Medicare A and B and/or a Medicare Supplement plan.  The fact is that Medicare Advantage plans are very different from standard Medicare A and B and a Supplement.

A Medicare Advantage plan is offered by a private insurance company.  The plan takes over for Medicare A and B and is your primary insurance.  When you have an advantage plan, you show the advantage plan card.  The provider you see will then bill the advantage plan instead of billing traditional Medicare.  This is not a good or bad thing.  It is simply a different way to obtain you health and drug coverage.   Your own unique health care needs will determine if you should go with a Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare Supplement with a drug card.  Here is a quick overview of the strengths and weaknesses of an Advantage plan.   Read our Medicare Guide for more information CLICK HERE FOR MEDICARE GUIDE

Wikipedia also provides a good summary of Medicare Advantage plans along with multiple government links CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE

Medicare Advantage Plans – Possitives

• $0 monthly premium on most plans
• Drug Benefit is included with the plan
• Preventative care is covered in full with no copays
• Works very well for those with VA coverage
• Extras such as Dental, Vision, Silver Sneakers, Etc…
• A number of plans and companies to choose from in most areas

Medicare Advantage Plans-  Negatives

• The plans have networks that you need to use.  Some plans allow in and out of network but the cost go up if you go out of network.
• You pay copays for services.  Copays are higher for more expensive services such as Hospitalization or major medical tests.
• There are pre authorization requirements for some services

If you doctor does not participate or if you are receiving high volume care, you may be better off with a Medicare Supplement Plan.

Carington offers a Dental and Vision plan through Aetna Healthcare.  The plan combines Dental and Vision and offers substantial discounts at a reasonable price. ($14.95 a month for the whole family)   Vision and Dental insurance rates can range from $20 a month to $50  per person depending on company offering the plan.  These plans usually have very limited networks which makes it difficult to find a dentist.

The Carington plan  offers discounts on all services for dental and vision.  The plan utilizes and Aetna dental and vision network which is a big improvement over most plans.

Medicare A and B provides coverage for most medical services.  Many seniors purchase a Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare Supplement to pick up the costs not covered by A and B. Medicare A and B does not provide coverage for Dental, Vision and Hearing.  In the past, many Medicare Advantage plans would also provide benefits for these services but in the past 2 to 3 years they have been dropping these benefits.

It is very difficult to find a stand along dental or vision plan for seniors let alone to find one which is worth the premium.  There is now a discount plan from Carington that provides substantial discounts on all these services and is available to those over age 65.  The plan provides discounts on Dental, Vision and hearing services ranging from 20% to 60%.  Carington has an online function that allows you to search providers and also allows you to see how much a service will cost and to what extent it is going to be discounted.  They utilize an Aetna dental and vision network for better access to choice of providers.

The plan is priced very reasonably at $6.95 a month for an individual up to $15.95 for a family.  Carington Plan Design and Rates Document

If you have questions about this plan, please contact Edward Crowe at 203-796-5403 or email at Edward@croweandassociates.com

We have provided a comparison of the three most competatively priced Long Term Care Policies Available.   This is a side by side comparison using Genworth, Med America and Trans America.  All three plans listed are partnership eligible and meet parntership requirements in all Partnership states. Read more

There are more people than ever looking to use a lump sum of money to create a guaranteed future income stream.  Fixed Indexed annuites are usually the most predictible way to do this and they also offer the highest future guaranteed life payouts.

As a result, there are a number of companies offering these types of products and there are even more people selling them.  This includes brokers, insurance agents, CPA’s and CFP’s.  The fact that they put their clients in anything other than the Securit Benefit Secure Income Annuity is disturbing.  Why do I say that?  The reason is that the Security Benefit product has the highest guaranteed payout.   Simply put, they pay a higher income payment than any other company. There is not a trick to the comparison. Its very simple, if you give a company an amount of money, how much will they pay you as an income stream at a future date?  Security Benefit always wins.

If a client is using a different company to create future income, they are not getting the best payout available. Most often this is because the client or the advisor they use are not familiar with Security Benefit. Other times, it relates to the fact that the advisor is not contracted to sell the product.

A Security Benefit illustration is attached. Security Benefit SIA example 100K 59 yr old This is an illustration for a 59 year old male, investing $100,000 and turing on income at age 65. The guaranteed  payout is $8,914  per year for life.  Challenge your broker, financial planner or insurance agent to find a higher payout. I promise you they will not fine one.

* Be aware that Security Benefit has two similarly named products. The Secure Income Annuity has the highest payout.   The Total Value Annuity does not pay out as well but is very unique in its own right but for different reasons.   For more information on the Total Value Annuity click here.

Call Edward Crowe with questions or concerns at 203-796-5403 or by email at Edward@Croweandassociates.com

When someone is shopping for an annuity for life, it can mean multiple things based on their understanding of annuities.  Usually they are looking for either an immediate annuity or a deferred annuity.

If someone is looking to put money into a product and start to draw income immediately, they would be looking for an immediate annuity.  With an immediate annuity, people give the insurance company money in return for a guaranteed income stream for life.  In the past this could be a bad deal for a consumer if they died prior to their life expectancy but now most annuites come with a guaranteed return of premium feature to avoid this problem.   The most competative immediate annuities change on a monthly basis but these companies usually are among the most competitive….. Genworth, The Standard, Lincoln, Equitrust, American Equity and Great American.  They commonly have some of the higher immediate annuity payouts

Take warning: the current interest rate environment is not friendly to immediate annuities.  As a result, you will be subject to very low interest payouts currently.

The second meaning of “annuity for life” is usually someone looking for a deferred annuity.  This means they want to put money in now for a guaranteed payout later.  There are many advantages to a deferred annuity two of which are the higher interest rate they earn and the predictability of them.

The best method for a deferred annuity is to use a fixed indexed annuity with an income rider.  The fixed indexed annuity market was very competitive at one time but it is currently dominated by Security Benefit.  If someone wants deferred income they should be using either the Security Benefit Secure Income Annuity or the Security Benefit Total Value Annuity.  They simply have the highest payouts, end of story. If someone uses a different indexed annuity to produce future income, they are making a mistake.  This sounds harsh but it is the reality currently. This could change any day if a different company comes out with a new product or if Security Benefit makes changes to both products.

This blog holds other articles specific to the Security Benefit products.   Click here for more info on the Secure Income Annuity and Click here for more info on the Total Value Annuity.  Feel free to call Edward Crowe at 860-992-4494 or email at Edward@CroweandAssociates.com

Trans America has applied for a national rate increase on all new long term care sales.  This will affect new business only and will not change rates for current clients.  The rate changes being applied for are substantial and are part of a trend for  LTC discontinuance and rate increase from most LTC carriers.  Genworth, Mutual of Omaha and John Hancock recently raised rates.  Met Life and Prudential stopped selling new plans going forward.    To see the average cost of long term care in Connecticut  (Click Here)

Read the Press Release below….