10/30/2020
The Needs Approach to Medicare
The year before I turned 65, I received nearly 40 phone calls and countless mailings from companies marketing Medicare insurance alternatives. All marketing a single company, theirs, implying they were the best solution to my healthcare needs. They didn’t even know, or ask, what my needs were, they just told me they had the solution. Do you see the problem here for consumers, like yourself? How do you find out what is best for you when:
• You do not have a clear picture of what your needs
• You do not have a method of comparing the alternatives
• You don’t even know what to compare
Here is where my approach is markedly different from the “Salesmen” who are trying to get you to buy their product. Before I can provide a solution for your Medicare needs, I need to know:
• How you access your healthcare. Do you go to the hospital frequently and have special medical needs or critical care requirements, or do you avoid doctors and treatment?
• Do you have existing provider relationships that are important to you?
• Do you have income restrictions, or do you have unlimited income that can affect your decision?
• Where you live and how much you travel are important to what you choose.
• The specific medications you take and the pharmacy you buy them from has a dramatic impact on cost. Do you use brand, generics, do pill splitting? Do you know that a 40 Mg tablet cost the same as a 20 Mg tablet?
I take information like that, illustrate EVERY available Medicare alternative in your geographic area (Medicare supplements or Gap Plans, Advantage plans, Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs)), and illustrate each category, graphically representing their benefits and cost, so you can make an intelligent decision on what is best for you. We discuss subjective issues like, carrier renewal histories, service, underwriting, drug formulary changes. I educate you on what Medicare covers and how the different alternatives interact with Medicare.
The outcome from this process provides you with an education on Medicare so you can better understand the alternatives available to you. We address your specific needs and how each alternative meets those needs. And through the process we can find the best, and most cost effective, solution for your healthcare. It’s very simple process that few employ, and I’ve been doing it for 35 years.
Call me at 972-977-4759, or email: [email protected]
Jay A. Huminsky, RHU, REBC
