Medicare and Foreclosure
Ilyce Glink Radio Show Notes November 14, 2010
Today on the Ilyce Glink show we had two great guests. In the first hour, award-winning journalist, columnist and author Mark Miller joined us to talk about Medicare, Medicare Advantage and open enrollment season.
In the second hour, Sean O’Toole, a foreclosure investor and founder of ForeclosureRadar.com, joined us to discuss what’s happening with foreclosures all over the country. It was a terrific discussion. Some highlights of the shows follow.
Mark Miller, RetirementRevised.com
This time of year, there are decisions you need to make. If you’re enrolled in a managed care option, like Medicare Advantage, you’ll have from November 15 (tomorrow) through December 13th to make your decision about next year’s health care plan, but your mailboxes are probably filling up right now.
Mark thinks it’s a good idea to shop your plan each year because you could save hundreds or thousands of dollars. There are a couple of ways to do that:
Medicare.gov. Use the Plan Finder
Put in your Medicare number and specific prescription information and the site will come back with a list of plans that are available to you in your area.
You can also try your State’s health insurance program. this is a nonprofit that gets partial funding from Medicare. They’ll help you figure out the different plans.
For a small fee of $200 to $300, you can work with a for-profit company that helps figure out the plan information also.
If you sign up for a plan and then realize it’s a mistake, you can make some changes to your coverage from January 1 to February 15, 2011. But the timeframe is short and will get shorter in the next few years.
Extra Help Programs
If you as an individual earn $16,000 or up to $22,000 as a married couple, you might qualify for a 100 percent prescription drug subsidy. You should have received something form Social Security if you qualify, but if you didn’t, contact the Social Security Administration.
Helpful Links and Resources from Mark Miller, RetirementRevised.com:
Medicare Plan Finder – an authoritative tool at the Medicare website for selecting plans
State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs) – a network of non-profits providing free Medicare counseling services.
Medicare Rights Center – non-profit, free plan selection assistance via telephone (toll-free) 1-800-333-4114
Allsup – example of a for-profit company that can help for a fee
Sean O’Toole, ForeclosureRadar.com and ForeclosureTruth.com
Sean dropped out of college at 18 and build and sold several software companies. He then started buying foreclosures to fix and flip, and would up buying about 150 foreclosures, getting out before the collapse. He then started ForeclosureRadar.com to provide indepth information about foreclosures to investors.
Sean believes that the banks are delaying putting all of the folks through foreclosure because of a “pray and delay” mentality. They’re delaying foreclosure while praying everything is going to somehow turn out okay. He suspects that the QE2 (second round of quantitative easing) is happening because the banks can’t afford to write off all of the debt they have.
We had a great conversation. Listen to the whole show to find out more, and be sure to start reading Sean’s blog, ForeclosureTruth.com
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Ilyce
I really like your program. Regarding today’s discussion with your guest on Medicare – Most of the conversation involved Medicare Advantage and plan D drug coverage. Little was said about “Medigap” coverage.
I am 83 and my wife is 80. I have been on traditional Medicare and plan F, Medigap with AARP since going on Medicare in 1992. My wife tried the so-called “Advantage” plan but after a short time switched to the AARP medigap. No one tells us who to see or where to go. This costs us 180.00 per month each plus what medicare deducts from our social security check.
“Advantage” to us represents only an advantage insofar as the taxpayer is picking up part of the tab so that the insurance companies can get a little more gravy. (The govt pays 1.14 for 1.00, dollar for dollar).
The extras of “Advantage” include the boondoggle, complicated plan D (another bad addition to Medicare).
Things like dental care coverage are small comfort since they include checkups and cleaning only).
My wife and I apparently are in a minority since my working life never included a company or government health insurance plan. I had my own business and could afford catastrophic coverage only. I often encountered slack-jawed disbelief when inquiring at a doctor’s office as to the cost of a visit or procedure. We raised five children and actually paid hard cash for our medical care !
A change in basic approach is needed. Users of care should be selective. Don’t be afraid to second-guess your doctor when he prescribes a drug. It may not really be needed and if it is, not the drug he prescribes. The average busy, underpaid doctor who accepts Medicare has no interest in the cost of the drug. I speak from experience.
My doctor looks for heart problems and has been trying for fifteen years to put me on a popular drug even though I have no heart problem.
Many if not most older people are on more drugs than they can keep up with and unfortunately whether they have a primary care physician or not, no one is monitoring the interaction of these drugs.
Plan D has a monthly fee to add to your drug expense. Their formulary has a much higher price on many drugs in common use that can be had at any grocery store pharmacy for 10.00 for a 3 month supply. For instance, Omeprazole, the over-the-counter acid-reflux drug, can be had for less than 50 cents a day as opposed to the latest heavily advertised brand that costs several times that price.
Our drug expense runs less than 1,000.00 per year TOTAL. This is a good thing since we live off social security and fabulous interest from savings.
I see a corollary between today’s use of health-care and how most Americans plan for retirement.
The average American is no more prepared to properly navigate his own health-care than he is to invest for his retirement. Thank God the previous administration was not able to privatize Social Security !
Bob