Mel's Insurance Services, Inc

09/26/2026

Understanding Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs)

A Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan (C-SNP) is a Medicare Advantage plan built around conditions like diabetes or heart failure. See how it works.

09/21/2026

🗓️ Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) is almost here!

Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, and now is the time to start getting ready.

✅ Review your current coverage and top providers
✅ Gather your medication list
✅ Watch for your Annual Notice of Changes in the mail this month. It outlines what's changing in your plan for 2027.

📝 The more organized you are now, the easier it is to make confident choices once enrollment opens.

Even if you’re happy with your current coverage, it’s important to review it each year. Costs, drug formularies, provider networks, pharmacy networks and benefits can change.

🗓️ Schedule a review with our team starting October 1. Appointments fill quickly!

09/20/2026

With so much information online, you might wonder: do I really need an insurance agent? 🤷 Here's the thing — a licensed agent brings something no search engine can: personalized guidance based on YOUR life, your health, your budget, and your goals. We take the time to compare options across multiple carriers so you're not stuck guessing which plan is actually the best fit.

And it doesn't stop once your policy is in place! If you ever need to file a claim, having someone in your corner who understands the process makes a stressful situation so much easier. Plus, life changes — new jobs, growing families, moves, retirement — and we're here to revisit your coverage along the way so it keeps up with you.

If you're wondering whether your current coverage still fits your life, let's talk.

09/17/2026

Medicare’s new GLP-1 Bridge program is creating another pathway for eligible beneficiaries to access certain weight-management medications.

The temporary program began July 1, 2026, and is scheduled to run through December 31, 2027. As of August 2026, it includes Wegovy, Foundayo and Zepbound (KwikPen only) for a $50 monthly copay. Ozempic and Mounjaro are not included.

Eligibility depends on both Medicare drug coverage and health criteria. Beneficiaries may qualify with a BMI of 35 or higher, or with a lower BMI plus certain conditions, such as prediabetes, uncontrolled high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, certain heart conditions, or a previous heart attack or stroke.

A standalone Part D plan isn’t required. Members of eligible Medicare Advantage plans with prescription drug coverage can qualify as well.

There are additional eligibility requirements and exclusions, so the best place to start is with a health care provider, who can determine whether the clinical requirements are met.

Have questions about how the GLP-1 Bridge fits with your Medicare coverage? We’re happy to help you understand your options.

09/15/2026

Reminder for employers: if you offer prescription drug coverage, you're required to send Medicare Part D Creditable Coverage notices to Medicare-eligible employees and their dependents by October 15, ahead of Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period.

These notices let recipients know whether your plan's drug coverage is as good as or better than Medicare's, information they need to avoid a late enrollment penalty. We're here to help. Let's make sure your notices are ready to go out on time.

09/13/2026

Mark your calendar: Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period is coming up on October 15. Now is the time to start thinking about whether your current coverage still fits your needs. Get a head start and reach out today to schedule a free Medicare review session with us, starting October 1. Slots fill up fast!

09/11/2026

A little generosity can go a long way. 💛 Whether it’s your time, kindness, or support, giving has a way of making life richer for everyone.

09/07/2026

Type your income into an online life insurance calculator and it will probably tell you to buy a million dollars of coverage. Type in a different income and it will often tell you the same thing.

That is the trouble with generic formulas. They do not know whether you have three kids or none, twenty years left on a mortgage or a paid-off house, a working spouse or a single income.

A better way to think about it is to add up four things:

- Debts, including your mortgage and any loans your family would inherit.
- Final expenses, which can reach several thousand dollars or more.
- Income replacement, usually a portion of your pretax income rather than all of it.Education costs, if you have children who may go to college.

Add those together and you have a starting number that came from your actual life. Then adjust for savings, a spouse's income, and any coverage you already have through work.

Most people are surprised by the result in one direction or the other.

Have you ever run the numbers on your own coverage? If you have not, or if it has been a few years, reach out. We will walk through it with you.

09/05/2026

You wake up feeling fine. Then you check your sleep score, see a 62, and suddenly the whole day feels heavier.

Sleep researchers have a name for this. In a 2017 paper, clinicians described patients so focused on improving their tracker data that the effort was making their sleep worse. They called it orthosomnia.

Here is the catch. Your wrist device measures movement and heart rate, then estimates the rest. It is reasonably good at total sleep time and much less reliable at telling you how much deep or REM sleep you got. Two devices will give you two different answers about the same night.

There is also research showing that people told they slept poorly performed worse on attention tasks, regardless of how they actually slept. The belief did real work.

If you want to keep tracking, read trends over weeks instead of grading individual nights. And notice how you feel before you look at a number.

The basics still do the heavy lifting. Same wake time, morning daylight, cool dark room.

Do you check your sleep score every morning? Be honest. 😅
Curious whether your plan covers a sleep evaluation? Give us a call.