Foulds Health Insurance Brokers

10/16/2023

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Health Insurance News     Medicare   Medicare 2024 Premiums and Deductibles Medicare has just announced the Medicare Part B premium and deductible amounts for 2024. The increases were about what we

09/11/2023

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Enrollment Period Countdown     Medicare Annual Enrollment Period   It is Okay to Ignore All the Hype! There is always a lot of noise around Medicare Enrollment Period. Insurers and Marketing companie

07/17/2023

Medicare drug coverage news.
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Health Insurance News     Medicare Monday   New drugs added to formularies Cigna and Express Scripts have announced new "bio similar" meds added to their formularies. These means generic versions of s

06/20/2023

Our weekly update for Medicare and Health Insurance

Health Insurance News     Medicare Monday   How Would Single Payer Affect Your Medicare? Will your Medicare now be re-assign to a state insurance plan? For years, one organization in California has be

06/13/2022

Travel Time
Summer heat is here which means many of us leave the area. Please remember to take your Health Insurance ID cards with you wherever you travel. If you stay within the United States, check provider networks in the area, locate Urgent Care facilities and Emergency Rooms, before you might need them.

To be sure they accept your insurance, you can do the following:

If you have Medicare and a Medicare Supplement, call the Urgent Care and ask if they accept "Original Medicare." Some might call it just medicare, or traditional Medicare. Those all mean the same thing. Remember, there is NO NETWORK for your Medicare Supplement. If they accept medicare, they must accept your supplement as well.

If you have an Advantage plan, or Under 65 individual plan, call the number on the back of your ID card and ask for help finding an Urgent Care or Emergency Room in that area. identifying the providers before you need them will save valuable time and money in an emergency.

If you are leaving the country, please consider Travel Health Insurance. we do provide quotes, and you can get your quote an even self enroll, here.

https://www.geobluetravelinsurance.com/product_overview.cfm?link_id=116888&personalized=y&header=y

GEOBLUE Traveling outside the USA? We highly recommend Travel Health Insurance from GeoBlue. You can choose coverage from $50,000 up to $1,000,000. Coverage includes; Plan Highlights Ideal for international leisure, missionary or business travel. Coverage of COVID-19 testing and treatment. † Post-...

04/28/2022

Do Medicare Advantage plans delay your care? It has long been our impression through anecdotal evidence that yes, they do. But a recent report confirmed it.

Today, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report showing that Medicare Advantage (MA) plan use of prior authorization sometimes delayed or denied beneficiary coverage or provider payment for Medicare-covered services. Such delays or denials can c...

04/26/2022

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Health Insurance News Medicare Monday Do We Need Travel Insurance? Let's look at how your Medicare and other health insurance work when you travel. Within the USA With any health insurance you have em

04/24/2022

Let's look at how your Medicare and other health insurance work when you travel.

Within the USA

With any health insurance you have emergency coverage nationwide. There are approvals necessary, and rules to follow but, within the United States, you can at least be assured you will have some coverage.

If you have a PPO or HMO, call the insurer at the very first opportunity to alert them to your emergency. You can also call us for guidance through the process.

With a Medicare Supplement, you have the same coverage you have at home. No networks or co-pays. But the provider must accept traditional Medicare. There is no need to call your insurer, just ask the hospital if they accept Medicare. If they do, they must also accept your supplement.

On a Cruise
Medicare and your Medicare Supplement coverage on a cruise ship are contingent on a few things, mainly the ship is in U.S. territorial waters, is no more than 6 hours away from a U.S. port and the doctor seen must be allowed to perform medicine on a cruise ship.

Outside the USA
Some Medicare Supplements, especially Plans, F, G and N, cover 80% of emergency benefits outside the country, to a lifetime maximum of $50,000. Most PPO and HMO plans do not have any international coverage at all, not even for Mexico or Canada.

What to look for in Travel Insurance
Trip Cancellation Coverage is not the same as Travel Health Insurance. covers your health emergency while out of the country, plus it can also cover medically supervised return home (medical evacuation) or, worst case, cost of flying your body back home if you die while out of the country (repatriation of remains).

To get a quote for your travel health insurance, click here and choose either single trip coverage or, multi-trip coverage which is good for an entire year of travel.

Blue Cross Blue Shield offers comprehensive international health insurance. Visit GeoBlue to review travel medical plans for travelers, expats, crewmembers, and missionaries.

04/18/2022

Your Health Insurance, no matter what type you have, is unlike any other type of insurance. The likelihood of you having a claim, is very high. So, is it really even insurance?

There are three basic types of insurance. Learn more at FHI65.com.

04/15/2022

What if I Move?

A common concern when someone moves is, what about my health insurance? Is it still good? What do I have to do? The answer depends on your type of insurance.

Learn more about Medicare portability here.

What if I Move? News & Updates A common concern when someone moves is, what about my health insurance? Is it still good? What do I have to do? The answer depends on your type of insurance. Medicare If you have Medicare, you will need to notify Social Security of your new address. We recommend not do...

04/04/2022

Finding a Doctor

We are often asked for primary care doctor recommendations.

The four main reasons you might be looking for a new doctor are,
new to the area,
want to or have changed your health insurance,
have put off healthcare and have not had a doctor in years or,
are unhappy with current doctor.

Each of these situations will mean you will need an appointment with a doctor who is accepting new patients.

You are probably aware of the severe provider shortage we have in Southern California and most of the United States. Currently, the federal guidelines call for a ratio of 750 patients to every Primary Care Provider. The state average is currently 1200:1, and Riverside county is among the worst at 2300:1. This means we have half as many doctors per resident in our county as the state average, and one third the number that the federal government recommends.

What this means to you is, you might need to accept primary care in a different way. Many of us are used to always seeing an MD. But, a lot of practices now have Physician’s Assistants and Nurse Practitioners on staff, and these healthcare professionals are more than capable of being your primary care provider. Our local hospitals also have residency programs in which physicians in training are closely supervised in primary care. Many of our clients currently use the Eisenhower Residency Program as their primary care and are very satisfied. We have also had many clients report that their family practice allows them to see an NP much faster than they can get in to see the MD or DO.

If you are one of the few who cannot accept less than an MD as your primary care, Eisenhower offers the 365 program which gives you access to a provider with a smaller patient load. There is an annual fee for this service and the providers accepting new patients in that program fill up quickly. There are also private concierge level providers who charge a much larger fee for exclusive access.

If you are sure you want to give up your current primary care provider and seek a new one, please wait until you have found a new provider, then ask the new provider how they would prefer to receive your medical records. this can be electronic or hard copy. Either way, you will probably be charged a fee from your last provider for copying and providing the records. this cost is not covered by Medicare or other insurance.

One final note. the shortage of primary care in our area is not expected to improve significantly in the next 20 years.

Birthdays

Don't forget the Birthday Rule
California law allows you to make a change to your medicare supplement in the 60 days following your birthday. The change must be to a same level plan, or lesser level plan. Otherwise, you must answer the health questions and you can be denied.

We have found that for most people, the G plan continues to be the appropriate level of coverage. However, at age 70 or over there can be significant monthly savings by moving to a "high deductible" G plan. You will pay more out of pocket, but there is a maximum of $2,490 (for 2022, it increases each year). Many save $100 per month or more when changing to this plan.

For example: at age 72, an average G plan premium is slightly more than $200 per month. The High deductible plan average is $72. That's a savings of approximately $130 per month or, $1560 per year. You do risk more out of pocket, however. You pay the Medicare part B co insurance of 20% for all medical services. and, if you change your mind and want to return to a G plan, your application can be declined for per-existing conditions.

Call us or email us for a birthday review.