Is Your Medicare Plan Quietly Changing for 2027?

0:02 Welcome to the Ask Good Questions podcast, broadcasting live every Wednesday, 6 p.m. Eastern Time on W4CY Radio at W4CY. com. This week and every week, we will reach for a higher purpose in money and life, as well as a focus on health and wellness. Now, let's join your host, Benita Bell Anderson, as together we start with asking good questions. Hello and welcome to the Ask Good Questions podcast. My name is Benita Bell Anderson and I'm your host and we have got a super, super duper important topic today because it's the end of the year and we have Medicare and there's lots of people who are having to deal with Medicare issues and we have a lot of information that is new for this year. I have got a very special guest with me today. I'd like to invite her to the podcast stage. Hello, her name is Marsha.

1:11 Marsha has been on, it's been almost two years since Marsha was here last. And I think we need to change that, Marsha. I think there's enough crazy things going on that we need to have this be more often. Yeah. Sounds good. I'd love it. So let me tell you, for those of you that do not know Marcia, let me tell you a little bit about her. She has focused on helping people approach retirement with a clear head and the right information. She has a real passion for making details about Social Security and Medicare understood, which is so, what a relief today. With her practical experience working directly with financial institutions... As well as her relatable writing and approachable teaching style, she continues to make a difference for individuals facing these important life decisions. She has had recent publications that have sparked strong responses. especially for women who want a stronger voice in planning for their financial future.

2:14 She's got a reputation for honest advice and actionable steps, which we want to bring to the Ask Good Questions audience, helping those who are eager for clear answers in a confusing landscape. Is it confusing, Marsha? Benita, it's beyond confusing and getting worse every year. Well, you were last here in January of 2025, which I find hard to believe. We talked about Social Security primarily. That time. This time is all about Medicare. And not only do we have all kinds of crazy things going on, but we're coming up on the end of the year. A lot of people are meeting with Medicare agents right now and trying to figure out what to do. And everybody's getting letters from Medicare. What's changed in your world? That's an excellent question.

3:10 It seems like everything besides I'm getting older by the minute, my hair is getting grayer. Um, there's been, you know, a fair amount of change, but it came in strange with strange bedfellows, right? We have things like, I think last we got together two years ago, weapon GPO had. Just been repealed or social security. So our public workers get their pension and their full social security benefits and then social security went quiet except for the massive amounts of layoffs and cuts and hype and yeah and all that was when doge was doing all of its poking around And it really freaked people out. So what we've seen, I've gotten a lot more calls and concerns from consumers and advisors about that.

4:01 And people just, they are so scared. They just need to take their money now, even though it's not the best financial decision. Oh, that's too bad. Because I have always harped on, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. you know, at least until full retirement age, if you can wait after even better, but that's sort of unrealistic for most people, but don't claim it 62, you know, really making yourself very, well, that's the phrase I was coming up with also. Yes, you are. So there was just a lot of that unbelievable angst. And then this year's trustees report came out with reserve account is expected to run dry even a little sooner.

4:42 Q4, 2032. Oh boy. It was 34, I think, but even so 33 and now it's, you know, Q4, 32. So it's just unnerving people, us boomers who are right on that cusp. Like, should I, am I going to be protected if I take it now? You know, so lots of, lots of misunderstandings around social security and. It's, It's mean. It's mean that Congress hasn't bothered to do their job and to shore this up. They've been kicking the can down the road for many years. 30-plus years now. I mean, it's disgraceful. But I can't fix that directly. I do call my Congress people, though. The senators know who I am, and so does my congressman, Bill Keating. So that's what we have to do. Keep the pressure on Congress to change this thing. So that's the Social Security side. On the Medicare front, last year at this time during annual election period or open enrollment period, you know, this little window, these seven weeks, October 15th and December 7th, there was all kinds of mayhem. And I call it Medicare madness.

5:54 You know, what's new for it that time? 2026. Well, this year it's Medicare madness. What's new for 2027? And Benita, I thought last year was terrible. Until I started getting the phone calls before even October 15th. Wow. And people are so upset. They got letters. We got an annual notice of change. They got their letter. From their Medicare Advantage company saying, hey, the plan is shut down after 1230. I'm one of them. I was so surprised to hear that. And I'm so sorry. Yeah. I mean, it's a blessing and a curse, really, because it's an opportunity. If your company has canceled the insurance, you.

6:43 Have this special window of opportunity to just be able to buy a Medigap plan. Move out of Medicare Advantage entirely and move into Medigap in a standalone Part D. And you have time for that. And you have extra time if you didn't think it applied to you. So that's not the worst thing ever. But the worst thing is, Bonita, if you're 89 or 97 or your hands are so arthritic you can't type, and the solution is always go online and figure this stuff out. Yeah, well, that's pretty much what they say. Just go online. Yeah.

7:24 Even this year's Medicare and You book, there's an annual book that CMS puts out, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, that they're the administrators of Medicare and Medicaid, which hence their name. And their Medicare and You book has a big medallion on it for 2027. And it says in all caps, GO DIGITAL. It's like, oh my God, if ever there were people who missed the mark. Why if you know somebody some editor there should be like a 70 year old editor that's what looking at what they're writing on those books yes because some some older people are very savvy when it comes to computers but i know that there's a lot that don't want anything to do with the computer Absolutely. And I put it at 80-20 right now. 20% are comfortable. But, you know, they like it to hop on Facebook to see their grandkids.

8:25 Or, you know, they like to maybe do a little bit of watching YouTube and such. But they don't know how to hop on and go figure out the Medicare tools. No. And so this is such a disservice to our seniors, our most important people who built the last century of the country. And it's like, yeah, well, just hop online. You'll figure it out. No. You know, it's just unfathomable that this is what is allowed to go on. Well, let's talk a little bit about, you know, like some core philosophy things. You say Medicare isn't set it and forget it. And I think you've just answered that pretty much. You can't set it and forget it because it's like shifting sands. It keeps moving.

9:16 Yeah. It's so hard because you need to be, you need a PhD in public health. You need to be an insurance expert, you know, and you need to be a lawyer all rolled into one. So it's unfortunate that we can't just set it and forget it. And I tell you, a lot of people. Moving into Medicare, I work with a lot of people just before 65 into about 75, if they've still worked and then they transition into Medicare a little later. And to a T, Bonita, everyone says, wait, I don't want to work this hard. I'm retiring. I'm signing up to become an insurance expert or a lawyer like why is this so hard.

10:02 Well i could do this myself if i really wanted to but i don't want to i've got a medicare agent Because I want him to take care of all the details. I don't want to deal with this. Right. If this isn't where you want to spend your time, and if you haven't spent your time here for decades, you know, moving along with those shifting. Sands, this hits you like a ton of bricks. Yeah. I mean, it's nuts. So there's a little elephant, maybe it's a pony in the room, but what I want to say is, If somebody doesn't do anything during open enrollment and they have a problem, what happens to that person? Well, this is bad if you don't do anything. So let's set the table for a minute first. So with Medicare, there are four parts and pieces to Medicare. There's Medicare Part A, Medicare Part B, Medicare Part D, and then a Medigap.

11:02 There's also Medicare Advantage. We'll talk about that in a minute. But everyone needs these four parts in some form. You get into Medicare A and B one time whenever you're entering Medicare, usually around age 65. Those you do nothing with. If you have a Medigap plan, a supplemental plan, usually it's plan G. You do nothing with that. You bought it. It's a 30-year decision. Go enjoy retirement. Right. But that little pesky plan D, that's your prescription drug coverage. That's what you have to reshop every year. Yeah. Because if you don't, Odds are getting increasingly high that something is going to have happened. The things that happen, a drug that you're getting coverage this year becomes a non-covered drug next year. So you go from paying $ 4 a month to.

11:55 Paying $ 4, 000 for the year. Which is insane. Insane. The other thing is premiums have gone up everywhere. So let's take WellCare. By and large, across the country, except for a few states like Massachusetts in 2026, WellCare has had for the last four years, three or four years, $ 0 monthly premiums to buy the WellCare Value Script Part D plan. Tons and tons of seniors are now in that plan. Except they're no more $ 0 monthly premiums. They've jumped from $ 0. To $ 5, $ 5. 30 for 2027. Now, that's probably not a deal breaker for most people, but it is for some. And if you don't know that and you don't set up a payment system for January to get those premiums paid, you're going to lose your Part D plan. Yeah. And then aren't you going to get penalized? Yes, because then you can't get in.

12:56 If you figure this out in March, oh, shoot, I was supposed to pay premiums. You're out of luck for all of 2027. At the end of 2027, next year's open enrollment period, and now you're stuck with a 12% permanent penalty on the premium. Permanent. Permanent. That doesn't seem fair either. No. Really, everything. I mean, I want to say sort of the intention is not a bad thing, which is we all need to just sort of suck it up and understand that we're prepaying for a lot of what we're going to need when we're really old. So in order to make the mechanics work, if you're an insurer, you need.

13:40 Healthy people in to pay. For the sick people. And then when you're sick, you need the healthy people in. Okay. If we understand that, it's not that bad of a thing. However, we're talking about the oldest people in America. And just because you were super sharp and capable and mentally all there and physically all there at 65, does not. Mean that's who you are at 80, 85, 90, and 100. Yeah. Unfortunately, we know that. Yeah. We see it. We live it. We have clients, parents, you know, and no one cares. Clients, parents, clients, husbands. I'm dealing with a client and her husband. Wow. Dementia? Yeah. Yeah. He doesn't know what's going on. No.

14:26 And if the spouse isn't there any longer. You know, so the good news is if you do nothing, you're not kicked out of a plan, right? The plan will continue so long as you're paying your premiums. Yeah. But if you're 90 and you have no one else helping you and you didn't know to do this, you're going to get screwed. Yeah. Pretty much the nicest way I can put it. This is just not favorable. And sadly, the insurers know that. So let's talk about the, I knew that, you know, time is going to go so fast. Let's talk about the biggest Medicare changes coming in 2027. Let's kind of do a short little list for this.

15:09 Okay. It's a long list. It is a long list, but let's kind of pick it apart by part. So part A, there's nothing changing about part A. It still covers hospitalizations and skilled nursing and hospice. There'll be an increase in the annual. Deductible, the benefit period deductible, and the day rates if you stay in the hospital or skilled nursing for a long time. But it's normal. We're expecting about a 3% or 4% regular inflation increase. Part A, not a problem. Part B is the part of Medicare that pays for your doctors and outpatient services. And it comes with a monthly premium. And can I insert something here? I always, when I was first... dealing with medicare uh both as a professional as well as a consumer the way i remembered part a and part b it was i always went oh dr b because i had a dr b at one point and so that's how i remember that b is doctors so i love it i just wanted to insert that dr b for for Yes.

16:13 Because they don't line up, right? Except for Part D for drugs. Part A for hospitalization. Well, that doesn't rhyme. And Part B for doctors doesn't rhyme. But Dr. B, that's cute. I'm going to have to use that. Yeah, so Part B comes with a premium, a monthly premium. The standard premium this year, 2026, is $ 202. 90, $ 202. Let's just call it $ 203 to round up. Right. And I used to remember, I remember telling clients, mark my words, someday it's going to be $ 200. Well, now we're like even beyond that. Right. And we now have IRMA, which came about in about 2007. It was implemented. So IRMA is Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts or Means Testing. Okay.

17:00 So higher income retirees get less of a federal subsidy. What's the threshold for that? 218,000 married filing jointly. Okay. 109,000. If you're a single filer in this year, 2026, we are waiting with bated breath for the new numbers to come out for 2027. What we have is the trustees report that, The Medicare trustees, like Social Security trustees, they publish a massive report and compendium every year about in June. And they changed significantly between last year's trustees report and this year's. They were anticipating about a 3.6% increase. So up to from 202 to 208 or 9. 9%.

17:51 And I don't really believe that number. Because I think it was 209 that I saw. That was a guess. It's a guess. Because we don't know yet. We're waiting. But to only have a 3% to 4% increase in Part B is not... sustainable every other year is in the six seven and eight percent increases oh so it would not surprise me to see 202 jump to 210 to 212 wow but like everyone else i'm waiting for cms to put the reporting out and just to remind everyone that if you're taking your social security check that is going to be deducted from your social security check No choice. That's right. If you're not, if you're still working, then you better be prepared to pay out of your own checking account. Yep.

18:47 And did you do that at a time? I did. I did that for a while before I went on, on social security. Yeah. Yep. And you get it, but it was a pain getting it all set up. Yes. It's much easier now though. They have really good E systems. Now, again, you have to be comfortable with your computer and you need to understand that we all have to work in the internet land and AI world now. So put your checking account number in there and it's as protected as it can be. And then pay attention. So setting up these. Auto pays, because if you skip a premium, you're kicked out of part B. It's the same thing as part D. You cannot just get back in. You have to wait and now you have no insurance. Like that is the worst nightmare for me.

19:33 This is what I lose sleep over is that a client could do something wrong and not have their full compliment of those four parts. Can you, the Irma thing for people with higher incomes, can you appeal that? You can, but only if you have a trigger event first. So it's in the year you retire, or if you go from full-time to part-time. So your income is, Say you had an Irma, Social Security determined you have to pay because you're higher than that $ 218, 000. But you know going forward, you've gone part-time, you're not going to have that same income next year. You can appeal that year.

20:14 You can appeal if you got married when you had not been married or if you got divorced or when you become a widow. There are a couple other ones, but those are the biggies. But you have to pay. And, you know, for the same people who are typically saying, well, the federal government is running a massive deficit here. We have a huge problem with our debt. And yet they want all the best benefits. Subsidies the federal government. Has to offer when they're higher income even if they don't feel like they're high income like you can't have it both ways this now the reason you get irma is because there's less federal tax dollars. Paying your health insurance.

20:56 Right you know it's okay okay i think i think probably the biggest thing we need to make sure we cover today is part d Because that's what... I mean, this is like every day people are getting prescriptions. Every day people are dealing with paying for their prescriptions. That out-of-pocket cap is going to $ 2, 400, right? Only for covered drugs. So you first have to know that the drug is still covered on a plan. Okay. Yes. If it's covered, the cap jumped from $ 2, 100 to $ 2, 400. Yes. And then the deductible goes to $ 700 from what? $ 615, was it?

21:37 From $ 615. Yes. Well, what does that mean for someone that's on several prescriptions? Maybe nothing. So let's look at how prescriptions are priced. Most people are on a handful of generic drugs. They pay their monthly premium to a plan. They pick a preferred pharmacy and they. Pay zero dollars for their drugs. So in the case of WellCare ValueScript, they're going to pay five dollars and thirty cents for their plan instead of zero. And they still pay zero for their drugs. Full stop. We're done. They don't pay the deductible because there is no cost to their prescriptions. Lots of people.

22:21 I would bet 80% of the retirees fall in that group. The other 20, though, do have prescriptions that are in Tier 2, Tier 3, Tier 4 pricing, these pricing bans, and they have a cost associated with their drug. If that is the case, they have to pay the first $ 700 at the retail cost. Then insurance kicks in and then pays the large share up to $ 2, 400. Yeah, because some of those drugs are ridiculous. Oh, my God. Maybe you know, maybe you don't. I track a number of these high-cost drugs. What do you see advertised? She has a blog, and I will make sure that I note that in your flyer that I have on my website, too.

23:11 But it's great because you talk about that. The cost of some of these drugs is ridiculous. Terribly insane. There's one particular insulin that was $ 4, 000 or $ 5, 000 or $ 7, 000. Dupixent is $ 55, 000. It's the retail price. You know, I thought we were, I thought Trump was getting all these drug companies to lower their prices. On some drugs. Okay. But yeah, no, it's an incredibly complicated. Yeah. But we could probably also argue that even though there's tons of R and D and we have to pay the scientists and we paid the manufacturing, blah, blah, blah. Yes.

23:56 It's an expensive industry to be in, but I bet we could find some room to cut some CEOs pay, for example. Right. And it seems like the cost of drugs overseas is not nearly what it is here in America. That's a whole nother discussion. Exactly. Let's just keep, yeah, I'm going down a rabbit trail. So it's so, it's so easy to happen, but let me just cover the things you need to look for. This is where I'm mostly concerned about clients this year. You personally, you cannot set it and forget it with part D if you have a part D standalone, or if you get your drugs under your part C, your Medicare advantage plan. You still have to reshop those drugs because there are fewer drugs being covered.

24:40 The deductibles and the out-of-pocket has gone up. I worry less about that. You need to pay attention to the premiums because it might not have gone from zero to five bucks. You might have inadvertently moved from a $ 12 product premium to a $ 75 premium. Wow. So you won't know until you get in that plan finder and figure it out. The other thing that's critical is you have to check the pharmacy that you are getting your drugs with that Part D plan. It's the plan with the drug with the pharmacy. It's a triangle. So you have to know if the pharmacy you want to use is preferred or preferred in network.

25:23 If it's not, the drugs aren't covered. Each company is going to be deciding... Who they're going to be covered under, right? That's right. So the Part D insurance company, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, your Publix, grocery stores, whatnot, they all decide who they're going to sleep with this year. Yeah. And sometimes- It. May not be the same people that they slept with last year. All right. That's right. So this is why I find it so insidious that we make, in America, we make our oldest people Hop online and figure this out. Yeah. It's crazy. It's worse than the Medicare Advantage plan space because not only are you checking your drugs, you have to check to see if your doctors and your specialists are still even taking the plan you're in.

26:16 Yeah. And lots of them aren't. Yeah. Yeah. I've experienced that. I've seen that. Yeah. Okay. So let's transition now. into Medicare Advantage. You promised that we were going to talk about that. Nearly 3.2 million people, I'm one of those, are losing their Medicare Advantage plan. Entirely. Entirely. I got the letter that said, hey, guess what? We're not covering you next year. Bye-bye. Yep. What do they do if they get that letter? Move quickly. So, I mean, don't wait until December 7th.

27:00 What you need to do is hop online and go shopping to see what else is available in your zip code. Now, here's where I said there's sort of a blessing and a curse or two sides of the coin to being kicked out of a Medicare Advantage plan. I actually think it's a blessing because this is In 46 states, your only chance to get into. A Medigap plan now. The Medigap plans, yes, you pay a monthly premium, but they are like your Medicare A and B. You just go to a doctor. So let's back up just a tiny little moment and remind people that you're either in a Medicare Advantage plan, which is like a privately held insurance company, or you're in Medicare Original Medicare. You're in original Medicare with the Medigap plan. Right. One or the other. Everyone's doing one or the other of those.

27:54 That's right. Because you have to have health insurance. Medicare is the only game in town once you're no longer working and you're 65 and older. So you had to pick a lane. What people think they understand is they can just switch between those lanes. This is not driving a car. This is insurance. You cannot switch lanes. You cannot go from a Medicare Advantage plan to Medigap after the first year that you tried it out. And when people want to switch from Medicare Advantage to Medigap is when they're older and they're sicker and they haven't been paying the premiums to their Medigap since they turned 65.

28:37 So no one wants you. You're old and sick. Why would you come into a plan and you know, when they need to be profitable, these insurance companies. So you cannot, the door only swings one way. So when your Medicare Advantage plan contacts you to say, we are no longer letting you be in this plan because we've shut it down, that is your one-time door open. It's a letter. Yep. That says, hey, you get to take advantage of that. Yeah. You know, this, you know, having to shop for networks and are your doctors in and all this shenanigans, you do not need this as an old person. And this is not the only year this is going to happen.

29:21 It will happen every year, just maybe not to you, but to someone. And it's really tough. And what I'm seeing, I actually made a top 10 list of issues I'm having with. Medicare Advantage plans this year. You got number one, which is 3 million seniors have been kicked off of the plan because they've down. It used to be it was only if you were in a rural area. Nope. It's rural. It's entire states. It's everybody. It doesn't matter. Urban areas. We have another 2 million who have been what they call crosswalked. So they had a PPO plan with a Medicare Advantage company. That plan is shut down. They moved you across the street with the crossing guard.

30:04 Into a different plan. similar maybe, but all the costs are up and you're going to lose benefits. So in that case, you don't have always the opportunity to go into a Medigap. So you have to do your research. So what is it you do? You get on medicare.gov, the plan finder, and you start shopping in your zip code, but think seriously about moving to a Medigap plan. If you can still get an appointment with a shift Representative, these are the state health insurance assistance volunteers. Right. They're usually at your Council on Aging, Senior Center, Public Library. They are booked, but they are volunteers. They're very good at what they do.

30:49 And for no cost to you, you can meet with them and they can help you sort through the cell. Or you can go to a broker or an agent that sells Medicare plans. However, because my number, which number is it? Number, I don't know. I can't find it off the top of my head. Whatever number. Oh, number nine. The insurance companies that offer these Medicare Advantage plans, do not have to pay commissions on them. So understand that brokers and agents get paid. You don't pay hourly fees or something. You pay nothing. And instead, the insurance company pays the broker. But now you're saying that the broker, for all their time and expertise, they're not getting paid either. That is correct. Except for a handful of plans that the insurance company wants sold.

31:44 So what we're seeing in particular, you'll get paid on the HMOs, the health maintenance organizations, highly restrictive in a teeny tiny box Medicare Advantage plans. Right. Or you'll get paid for certain HMO POSs. This is still an HMO, teeny tiny network with a point of service option. It's not what you think it is. You cannot go out of network unless the very specific benefit is listed in the 189-page document that says, okay, you can go out of network for this type of specialty or for dental, let's say.

32:24 Well, speaking of dental, I'm losing my dental. Not only am I having to shop for a... you know, moving to original Medicare and Medigap, but I'm also having to shop for that drug plan. And I'm also having to shop for dental. Yep. So let's be clear, though. Dental is not insurance. Dental is a cost savings plan. Yes, you're right. A discount card. Yeah. So where people get really caught up on this dental thing, which I find fascinating because it's sort of a nothing, which is why insurance companies give it away for free. Yeah. Medicare Advantage plans, if it had any real value, it wouldn't be part of what they give away. So dental one does.

33:13 Not need, because what you're doing is you're paying when you go to a Delta dental or, um, oh, there's another one I forget, but their. Delta dental is one of the, yeah, it's a big retail. Yeah. You might pay $ 50 a month. Just paying for your teeth cleaning. So are you saying just do a savings account and save for your teeth cleaning every year? Yes, I am. Okay. Because you're going to pay $ 600 a year, $ 50 a month for a premium. Your cleanings, if you get two cleanings a year, give or take, it's $ 200 per cleaning. So now you've paid $ 600 for your $ 400 worth of cleanings. Why would you do that?

33:55 But you know that 13 years from now, you might need a crown. Okay. They're two grand. Save for it. You're not getting any big bargain. It's not like you're only going to pay 10% or you pay the first $ 200 and insurance picks it up. It's not insurance. It's a set dollar amount. $ 1, 000 a year or $ 1, 500 a year, these amounts do not roll over. I have seen dental offices that basically have a health savings plan where you pay every month. And that covers your cleanings and stuff. Well, maybe that makes sense. It's like layaway, right? Yeah, it's like layaway. Yes. Okay, that's valuable. That's valuable. So now, okay, let me ask this question. Original Medicare now requires prior authorization for some services in six states, including Washington State, where I have my plan. What should those listeners know? To not get too overly excited about this. It is unlikely to carry forward.

35:08 It is highly unpopular. And these six procedures are way out there. Very few people need them. Okay. This is not for your regular colonoscopy. You need a prior authorization like you do in Medicare Advantage. It's okay. But stay on top of it. While you're covering people. Anyway. Yeah. Not going to be seeking that out. Yeah. So what about things like, there's things that Medicare doesn't cover that people still get confused about, like long-term care, like routine dental, we talked about. Hearing aids is another one. How should people plan for that?

35:52 Long-term care, I have seen be just a ridiculous, I mean, that's something that I think the best thing for long-term care is just to try to set aside some kind of bucket of money for that eventuality. I agree. It's really, really, really hard if you're not really, really, really rich. Yeah. plan to spend down your assets and Medicaid, which is the program, not Medicare, but Medicaid is our only safety net for when we are, you know, old and have run out of money or ill and have run out of money yeah then you you know get under the the protection of the medicaid services and they're incredibly valuable people don't like to think about it or talk about it but it's really tough most of us unless you bought a long-term care policy when you were 40 yeah you can't afford them no they're just they're way way too much out there Yeah. So way too little. Yeah. Um, let's talk about some kind of action plan because Marsha, as I said, this is going to go really fast.

37:09 So we have maybe eight or nine minutes left. Okay. What's your step-by-step checklist before December 7th? First thing set up your, my social security account online. If you haven't done so already. Second, set up your MyMedicare account. If you are in Medicare, you need your Medicare number. That's on Medicare.gov. So get your foundation set. Then if you're in Medicare already, Dig through your mail. See if your insurance company sent you a letter. See if your Part D plan sent you a letter and read it. Set up a file. I'm big on filing this stuff.

37:52 You're going to need these documents or someone taking care of you are going to need them. So set up a file. Put the letter in there. Go shopping. Do it before you put the turkey in the oven. You got two weeks, people. Make sure you're re-shopping your Part D plan. I have all kinds of people telling me this year, Benita, I've already switched. I've switched from Humana to WellCare. I've switched from WellCare to Silver Scripts. There is a ton of shifting going on. That's fine. Enroll in the new plan. You don't contact your existing Part D provider anymore. That all gets taken care of on the back end. You just need to pick your new provider that covers your drugs in a preferred pharmacy. So shop for that. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan and it's still here, you also need to reshop that.

38:43 That means calling every single doctor and specialist that you use to see if they are going to accept, not do you accept that my Blue Cross plan or my Humana plan, you have to have your plan number to see if they're accepting that particular plan anymore. Could be a PPO and they're not taking PPOs. They're only going to take the Blue Cross HMOs next year. If you're a cancer patient, you are the ones who. Scare me the most. If you're on a Medicare Advantage plan and you are in chemo or radiation, you have got to check with your oncologists. These are people, real people I work with who are freaking out this time of year because their primary care doctor will still accept their Medicare Advantage. plan for next year. The oncologists won't.

39:33 Wow. So hospital systems are breaking away from their associated cancer centers. There's all kinds of noise going on. It's up to you. If you picked a Medicare Advantage plan, get on that phone and call every single doctor and specialist that is important to you. Speaking of phones, what about scams? Is there any Medicare scams out there? Oh, sure. That's why I want you to set up your MyMedicare and your MySocialSecurity accounts. This helps prevent someone from stealing your Medicare number and your Social Security number. It's not foolproof, but it helps. Don't ever click on a link in an email. Yeah. I tell people that all the time.

40:20 Just don't do it. Don't do it. You know, if it's from your credit card company, it's like, no, but I thought it was my credit card company telling you something. No, call them. Call them or go to their website directly. Yeah. Don't click the link. Period. That needs to be the rule. Don't answer phone calls. When you look at your phone and it's got some number that you don't recognize, even though it's in an area code. That you know, don't answer it. It's not your kids or your grandkids. They don't need to talk to you. Or if somebody calls you, like I was just doing a cybersecurity thing where there are fake voice that sound like a relative of yours. Tell them you'll call them back.

41:05 And call that person and double check and make sure. So, yeah, the whole thing with scams and people are taking advantage of this time of year. This time of year, things are hectic. You've got to shop and you're looking at your insurance. And now it's going to be holidays and you're shopping maybe online and a lot of activity. And we're not paying attention because we have a lot going on. It's prime pickings. So yeah, if you don't know who it is and never click on a link, you'll be better off, not foolproof, but better off. Now tell me again where you're going to, where people can find those, uh, uh, the ship counselors, the free unbiased help, you know, that, uh, every state has a ship organization and you go to ship help.

41:57 S H I P P as in Paul. Not T as in Tom. So SHIPhelp.org. And then you'll say find a ship, locate your ship. Your state. And you go to your state, and then it takes you right to where you need to be. Great. Yeah. They're very helpful. So we need to start kind of summing this up. Where can listeners find you? And what's one thing you want every listener to do this week? Besides, I already know what you're, you know, it's like open up, get that. If you can't do that, if you can't get that account online, then have a grandson help you get that account online, right? Absolutely.

42:45 Or the ship counselor. Yes. There are people who help. it's just tough this time of year to get an appointment. Yeah. But that said, if you could only do one thing this week, I would read or listen to a podcast about Medicare. You can listen to KFF. They are an amazing organization that tracks all kinds of what's going on in healthcare land and Medicare. So pick a podcast from KFF. Or read one of their articles. Um, Get involved. The more you know, the better off you're going to be. And if you have an elder that you're trying to help, go help them this week.

43:32 Even when they don't want help, like my mother doesn't want help, but I'm calling her this week. And then you can read what I write about on boomerretirementbriefs.com. So my blog, long running blog, all my information out there is free for the taking. Worksheets are on some, in some of the, you're talking about how do you plan for all these costs that aren't covered in Medicare? Well, you need to know that you have to pay for them and budget for them. So I have a cost worksheet for Medicare and all the content out there on boomerretirementbriefs.com is free. And your website is mantellretirement.com, right? Yes, correct.

44:12 Okay. Her information is going to be on my guest downloads thing where I have information about guests. And so if you miss all of that, you can always go to my website and find that there for her as well. So, oh my gosh. Yes. So what are you going to do? I'm moving to original Medicare with a Medigap plan. Plan G? Probably, yeah. Okay, good. I will join my husband in original Medicare. And then you've kind of made up my mind about the dental. I've always kind of felt like dental is probably better just to do my own little savings account. Yes, it is.

44:57 And you can use some Roth IRA money if you have a Roth already. That's true. And take it out tax-free. Or you could save up a little bucket of. I have a healthcare bucket also. Yeah. Because we have to these days. It's not cheap. Yeah. The biggest thing that I'm not wanting to do, but I'm going to have to do, I'm going to sit down and do some more research is the whole Part D thing with the prescriptions and all that. Because you never, the thing is, you just never know. And if you ever have any other, like this next year, if I had any kind of medical procedure, there's going to be prescription drugs that are going to come along with that. Part D only really covers, though, those that you take on an ongoing basis.

45:40 Okay. If you need a run of penicillin, you just go buy that at CVS. Use GoodRx. Use the AARP discount card. You get it other ways. But your prescription drugs are those ongoing blood pressure meds, statins, insulin, those kinds of things. And you'll be fine because there's only one most economical answer. For each of us. Depends on the drugs you take, your zip code, and your pharmacy. And you're going to get the answer. No need to go further. They're going to tell you this is the best option, meaning least cost for you for 2027. It's the first answer.

46:22 So, Marcia, we have got to wrap up. All right. So good luck with getting through the next few weeks. You too. And I think all of us need to remember to write to our Congress people and tell them how we feel about Medicare and to get their act in gear. Yeah. And throw in Social Security too. Fix Social Security and stop this Medicare malarkey. Yeah. Medicare malarkey. So with that, thank you so much for joining us today, Marcia. And we will, we will do this on a regular basis because we need to be reminded about all that.

47:06 Cause this is not going to be the last time that there's changes. No, no. First of yet more to come. Yes. So with that, we need to wrap up for today. Thank you so much for joining us on the ask good questions podcast, and we will see you next time. Today's episode is over, but we did ask good questions again, didn't we? Don't miss out as we broadcast live every Wednesday, 6 p.m. Eastern Time on W4CY Radio at W4CY. com. Join Benita Bell Anderson next week for more conversations with experts on finances, retirement, behavioral finance issues, health and wellness, and more.

47:53 Until then, remember to ask good questions.