Do you know the difference between the “parts” of Medicare — Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D? There are many important facts you need to understand about Medicare prior to enrolling to make sure you get the most out the available Medicare plans and benefits.
Background on MedicareMedicare is a federal health insurance program that pays for a variety of health care expenses. It’s administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). Medicare beneficiaries are typically senior citizens aged 65 and older. Adults with certain approved medical conditions (such as Lou Gehrig’s disease) or qualifying permanent disabilities may also be eligible for Medicare benefits. Similar to Social Security, Medicare is an entitlement program. Most U.S. citizens earn the right to enroll in Medicare by working and paying their taxes for a minimum required period. Even if you didn’t work long enough to be entitled to Medicare benefits, you may still be eligible to enroll, but you might have to pay more. There are four different parts to the Medicare program. Parts A and B are often referred to as Original Medicare. Medicare Part C, or Medicare Advantage, is private health insurance, while Medicare Part D offers coverage for prescription drugs. The details below tell you more about Medicare insurance plans, with an overview of the four parts. The “parts” of MedicareThe types of Medicare programs are often referred to as Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D. Here’s a rundown of what each “Part” is about. Medicare Part AMedicare Part A is hospital insurance. Part A covers inpatient hospital care, limited time in a skilled nursing care facility, limited home health care services, and hospice care. Most Medicare Part A beneficiaries don’t have to pay a monthly premium to receive coverage under this part of Original Medicare; this is called “premium-free Part A.” Generally, if you’ve worked at least 10 years (40 quarters) and paid Medicare taxes while you worked, you’re eligible for premium-free Part A. Otherwise, you pay a monthly premium. Medicare Part A typically doesn’t cover the full amount of your hospital bill, so you will probably be responsible for a share in the cost. You will also have to pay a deductible before Medicare benefits begin. Medicare will then pay 100% of your costs for up to 60 days in a hospital or up to 20 days in a skilled nursing facility. After that, you pay a flat amount up to the maximum number of covered days. Your Medicare Part A benefits cover some of the costs for a total of 90 days in a hospital and 100 days in a skilled nursing facility. Medicare also covers up to 60 “lifetime reserve days.” These are days you stay in a hospital longer than 90 days in a row. You get a lifetime total of 60 reserve days. Medicare Part BMedicare Part B is medical insurance. Part B benefits cover certain non-hospital medical expenses like doctors’ office visits, blood tests, X-rays, diabetic screenings and supplies, and outpatient hospital care. You pay a monthly premium for this part of Original Medicare. The fee can be higher for people with high incomes. A different government program, Medicaid, can help cover Medicare Part B premiums for low-income beneficiaries. Medicare Part B beneficiaries are usually responsible for a portion of their health care costs. You’ll have to pay a deductible each year before your Medicare Part B benefits kick in, and then you’ll generally pay 20% of the bill when you go to a participating Medicare doctor. Medicare pays the full cost of many lab tests and services requested by your doctor. Medicare Part CMedicare Part C, or Medicare Advantage, insurance often includes every type of Medicare coverage in one health plan. It’s offered by private insurance companies contracted through CMS to provide a Medicare benefits package as an alternative to Original Medicare. Enrolling into a Medicare Advantage plan is optional, but to obtain this private insurance, you must also have Original Medicare, Part A and Part B. You also may have to continue to pay your Part B premium if you have a Medicare Advantage plan. While Medicare Advantage plans are required to provide all Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B benefits (except hospice care), plans can also include different additional benefits, which vary among the individual private health insurers. Many Medicare Advantage plans include prescription drug coverage known as Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans. Some plans might have a lower deductible, while also allowing you to pay a smaller share of the remaining costs. Medicare Advantage plans may even cover certain health care services that Original Medicare, Part A and Part B, does not cover, like eye exams, hearing aids, dental care, or health care received while traveling outside the United States. Medicare Part D Medicare Part D is optional prescription drug coverage. Medicare Part D is available as a stand-alone prescription drug plan through private insurance companies, and the monthly fee varies among insurers. You will share in the costs of your prescription drugs according to the specific plan in which you’re enrolled. Those costs can include a deductible, a flat copayment amount, or a percentage of the full drug cost (called “coinsurance”). If you want prescription drug coverage, you can get it through a Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plan if there’s one in your area that offers this coverage. You can use the simple form on this page and enter your zip code to view a list of Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans in your area. If you have limited income and cannot afford your medications even though you receive Medicare Part D benefits, you may qualify for the Extra Help program, which offers financial assistance for your monthly premium, deductible, copayment, or coinsurance.
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Investors have various ways to reduce risk – diversification, cash reserves, planning to hang tough through the dips. But experts say it pays to think outside the investing box and consider other tools, like insurance. "As we amass more assets, we have to protect those assets," says John Grace, president of Investor's Advantage Corp. in Westlake Village, California. Needs change over time, he says, as young investors need to protect children, while older ones must safeguard retirement income and a spouse. So assessing insurance needs is a lifetime project. Some insurance products are designed for investing. Annuities can provide income just like a portfolio of bonds and dividend-paying stocks, but with less risk. And some permanent life insurance policies like whole and universal life build cash value that can be tapped for emergencies or retirement. But plain vanilla insurance like homeowners and auto policies have a key role too, by reducing the danger of big unexpected expenses that otherwise might be paid out of the college or retirement fund. The trick is to be sure all the insurance products mesh with the investing strategy. If you know, for instance, that a deferred annuity will start providing income when you're 85, you might be able to spend more of your nest egg before then. You might opt to play it safer with your ordinary investments since growth wouldn't matter as much, or to gamble in hopes of leaving more to heirs, since the annuity would provide a safety net. As calls for radical health reform grow louder, many on the right, in the center and in the health care industry are arguing that proposals like “Medicare for all” would cause economic ruin, decimating a sector that represents nearly 20 percent of our economy.
While exploring a presidential run, the former Starbucks chief Howard Schultz called Medicare for all “not American,” adding, “What industry are we going to abolish next — the coffee industry?” He said that it would “wipe out the insurance industry.” A fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute wrote that it would “carpet bomb the industry.” David Wichmann, the chief executive of UnitedHealth Group, warned that it “would surely have a severe impact on the economy and jobs.” Robert Pear, a reporter whose understated demeanor belied a tenacious pursuit of sources and scoops during his 40 years at The New York Times covering health care and other critical national issues, died on Tuesday in Rockville, Md. He was 69. His death, from complications of a stroke, was confirmed by his brother, Douglas, his only immediate survivor. Mr. Pear went about his reporting meticulously and, to the wider public, inconspicuously. Appearances as a talking head reporter on cable news were not for him. Colleagues described him as an almost sphinxlike good listener, working in the Washington bureau newsroom standing up at a specially built desk that he had gotten used to after undergoing back surgery. Yet his reporting — exacting, authoritative and closely read, particularly in Washington — spoke volumes. Allan Dodds Frank, an Emmy Award-winning business journalist, described him in an email as “the most important reporter in Washington you have never heard of.” University of California workers went on strike May 16 at the school's 10 campuses and five medical centers to protest job outsourcing. The strike involves university professional and technical employees represented by the UPTE-CWA 9119, as well as members of AFSCME Local 3299, which represents the university's service and patient care technical workers. It is union members' fifth strike in more than a year, and it is focused on their concerns about outsourcing, according to The Sacramento Bee. In a media advisory about the walkout, the AFSCME claims that UC has acted illegally with its privatization plans that allow jobs to be outsourced to contracting companies. "The University of California has bypassed its workers at every turn, refusing to meet and confer about plans to outsource middle-class jobs in California to poverty wage contractors," said AFSCME Local 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger. "By cutting workers out of decisions about who will be providing the services that UC patients and students rely on, it’s clear that UC is focused on one thing — paying its lowest wage workers even less." For instance, union leaders contend UC administrators won't bargain over plans to outsource ongoing work at a joint venture: a new rehabilitaiton hospital in Sacramento, Calif., that the school will own and operate with Kindred Healthcare, a Louisville, Ky.-based private equity company. It’s not easy to close a real estate deal. Closing a deal takes patience, persistence, and excellent people skills. Once you close your first, it’s a moment you will always remember and a feeling you lust after to make the next sale. In order to achieve consistent sales success, you’ll need the knowledge to set you above the competition. So, regardless if you’re a new real estate agent or an industry veteran, here are some tips to close more real estate deals! 1. Be Goal-Oriented and Plan This one may seem like a no-brainer, but how many of the real estate agents out there actually set reasonable goals? Probably not that many. Why? According to the National Association of Realtors, 87% of real estate agents quit or fail within their first 5 years of business. That is a HUGE percentage and enough for many to shy far away from the real estate game. However, you can become the 13% that succeeds by setting SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-Focused and Time-Bound. For example, let’s say you have the goal to close two deals this month. Now, before we set this goal in stone, let’s ask ourselves the following questions in this pretend scenario to determine if indeed this is a SMART goal: Is it Specific? Yes, two deals are specific goals. Is it Measurable? Yes, by using Blitz, I will effectively track our sales pipeline and follow-up activities. Is it Attainable? Yes, considering I have enough in the budget for resources and am properly educated as a licensed realtor. Is it Results-Focused? Yes, by closing two deals, I grow my personal income, allowing me to make a living as a real estate agent. Is it Time-Based? Yes, I will close two deals in one month. Now let’s rewrite this as a SMART Goal: In one month, I will use Blitz to close two real estate deals so that I can make a living as a real estate agent. As you can see, SMART goals will set you off on a practical plan to help you close more real estate deals! 2. Don’t Walk the Path Alone Real estate is a grind, day-in, and day-out, which is why you should have an accountability partner on your path to close deals. Much of real estate requires self-motivation, so have a colleague help keep you accountable for your daily tasks and SMART goals. This person will give you the motivation needed to complete your goals and is someone you can turn to when the days are tough. Another way you can give yourself a competitive edge is to find a mentor in an established agent or broker. Look into your network or go out of your way to find a mentor. Learn how they have been successful and obtain valuable knowledge from their first-hand experiences. Then, apply this knowledge to your daily actions to shorten the learning curve! 3. The Automated Approach Automation is what has allowed countless industries to revolutionize, such as automotive manufacturing and construction. Why? Put simply, automation helps save time and money so you can grow your business in other areas. Real estate agents who use Blitz to automate their sales follow-up activities save hours upon hours writing emails, scheduling appointments, or sending reminders. In today’s day and age, it’s hard to imagine when you had to do the manual follow-up approach and risk leads and referrals slipping through the cracks. For years, automated sales follow-up was only a dream of salespeople but has since become a reality. Another way that you can use automation to your advantage with your cold calls is through the use of a compliant automated dialer. At one time or another during the course of your real estate career, you will cold call. The good thing is that this task is much easier than ever before. By making up to 90 calls an hour, you can mine the gold nuggets within a lead list to cultivate a sale! 4. Keep a Schedule In real estate, days can be long. However, these long days are avoidable with careful planning. Designate an hour a week to plan out the upcoming week. This will save you time and headache later on. Write or type your upcoming tasks, then look and evaluate them. Ask yourself: Which ones are time sensitive (such as a scheduled appointment)? Which ones are simple? Or, which are most important (like a deal pending documentation signatures)? By asking yourself these questions, you can then prioritize tasks and add them to your calendar. Then, once they are done, mark them complete with satisfaction! This weekly practice will save you time and stress, so you can spend more time closing sales. Close more real estate deals than ever before by signing up for a Blitz subscription or schedule a free demo to learn more! What are your thoughts on these 4 tips? Comment below or share your expertise on how you’ve been able to close more real estate deals! Have Your Clients Chosen to Protect Their Pooch with Dog Medical Insurance Did you know that 68% of American households have pets and of that percentage, over sixty million are dog owners? As an insurance professional, that’s a lot of barks that you can turn into bucks! So, what does dog medical insurance en-tail, and how can you sell it to your clients and prospects? This post will answer the questions you’ve always wondered and more! What is Dog Medical Insurance? Dog medical insurance is a premium that covers your pooch from a variety of unpredictable instances including, but not limited to: injury, illness, surgery, medications and hospital stays. As long as policyholders meet their annual premiums and deductible, most events are covered. Like any insurance policy, make sure your clients are educated on what is and what isn’t covered in the policy! This will provide you with peace of mind in knowing that your clients’ furry friends are protected. Why Do Your Clients Need it? Just as human health care has progressed over the decades, so has veterinary care. This means that pets are living longer. That’s why according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the increase of life longevity in pets correlates to age-related health issues. However, while these are treatable, they do come with a price tag. Recurring medical expenses for a dog are on average $235 a year; however, these can skyrocket into thousands for a diagnostic test, which can be more common as dogs’ age. In addition to age-related coverage, dog medical insurance can also cover accidents. So if Buster gets into the cookie jar while you were at the store and is now sick, rest assured he’ll not only be treated with care but his bill will be fully covered. By offering dog medical insurance in your agency, you’ll quickly become the hero agent who saved your client money and heartache! What Do I Need To Sell It?Pet and dog medical insurance is classified under property and casualty. Be sure to check with your state laws and ensure that you have the proper requirements, including licensure. Also, if you belong to a specific insurance company, it may already be available for you to offer to clients. Do your homework and watch the learning pay off! How Do I Sell It? Once you are able to sell medical insurance for dogs, look for this as an opportunity to cross-sell. Look into your Blitz account for cross-sell opportunities, reach out, and set the appointment. Prospects and existing clients may have come to you for a homeowner’s policy, but by building a relationship with your client and asking good questions, you may determine that dog medical insurance is a good fit. Another way you can market your services is to volunteer at or partner with a local animal shelter. For example, when a dog is adopted, new dog owners are sent home with a folder of information provided by shelters. Create a handout for the folder that congratulates new canine owners and promotes your services to protect their beloved pup. Don’t forget to include your business card! Go Fetch Yourself Blitz During your next prospect or client meeting, be sure to throw your clients more than just a bone! Offer peace of mind and protection with dog medical insurance. Then, as you gain new policies, let Blitz automatically track those premium opportunities so you can manage all the pooches in your sales pipeline! Frederic Rolando, the head of a labor group for U.S. postal workers, says the retiree health benefits funding problems at the U.S. Postal Service may be more manageable than they look. Rolando — the president of the National Asociation of Letter Carriers — is one of the witnesses who testified Tuesday at a House Oversight and Reform Committee on the financial condition of the Postal Service. A federal law, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA), has made the Postal Service the only employer in the United States required, by federal law, to pre-fund its retiree health benefits, rather than simply waiting for the bills to come in and hoping it will have enough cash to pay the bills. “The Postal Service has defaulted on more than $40 billion in payments owed to pre-fund retiree health care expenses,” according to a hearing notice prepared by the staff of the committee, which is now controlled by the Democrats. Rolando argued that the Postal Service situation is not as dire as it looks, and that there are still ways for the Postal Service to provide the retiree health benefits it has promised. Excluding the effects of the PAEA retiree health benefits funding obligations, the Postal Service has been doing much better in better recent years, according to a written version of Rolando’s testimony. Minus the effects of the health benefits funding requirement, the Postal Service generated $700 million in earnings in 2018 on $71 billion in revenue, Rolando said. Congress has aggravated the effects of the highly unusual PAEA retiree health benefits pre-funding requirement by requiring the health benefits fund assets to be invested in low-yielding Treasury requirements and with other restrictions, Rolando said. Rolando said one barrier to repealing the PAEA pre-funding requirement is federal budget scoring rules. Under those rules, he said, the Postal Service itself is an off-budget agency, but the payments into the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund are treated as if they were tax revenue. That means eliminating the pre-funding mandate would increase the federal budget deficit, Rolando said. Rolando suggested four ways to ease the retiree health benefits pre-funding problem:
Rolando said that, even if the Postal Service went out of business, it has assets it could use to meet the vested retiree health benefits obligations, such as real estate with a total value of about $85 billion. Genworth Financial Inc. is posting stronger net earnings than it was a year ago, partly because of better results at its U.S. mortgage insurance unit, and partly because of better results at its long-term care insurance (LTCI) unit. The Richmond, Virginia-based company is reporting $230 million in net income for the first quarter on $2.2 billion in revenue, up from $165 million in net income on $2.1 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2018. The company has been trying for more than two years to arrange to be acquired by China Oceanwide Holdings Co. Ltd. of Beijing. The companies have received all required approvals from U.S. regulators but are continuing to seek approvals from other regulators in other countries. Genworth noted in its earnings release that it and China Oceanwide have postponed the deal completion deadline, in part because the companies are still waiting for approvals from regulators in Canada. “The merger agreement extension allows us additional time to continue our pursuit of regulatory approval in Canada, which is taking additional time and involves the complexities associated with national security related issues including the safeguarding of our customers’ personally identifiable information,” Genworth President Tom McInerney said in a statement about the deadline extension. Results by UnitThe company’s U.S. mortgage insurance unit is reporting $124 million in net income for the latest quarter on $223 million in revenue and $9.6 billion in new insurance written, up from $111 million in net income on $200 million in revenue and $9 billion in new insurance written for the first quarter of 2018. The company’s LTCI unit is reporting $42 million in net income on $1.1 billion in revenue, compared with a $27 million net loss on $1 billion in revenue. Net investment gains at the LTCI unit increased to $80 million, from $6 million. The life insurance unit earned $5 million on $372 million in revenue, compared with $3 million on $372 million in revenue for the year-earlier quarter. The fixed annuities unit earned $13 million on $159 million in revenue, down from $26 million on $182 million in revenue for the year-earlier quarter. TaxesThe LTCI unit is the only major Genworth life and health unit with income taxes that increased. It accumulated $19 million in income tax obligations in the first quarter. For the first quarter of 2018, the company was expecting to get about $1 million back on its income taxes. Risk-Based CapitalAn insurer’s risk-based capital ratio, or RBC ratio, is a rough measure of the amount of resources a company has to meet its obligations. Genworth says the consolidated RBC ratio at its U.S. life insurance companies fell to 195% during the quarter. That was down from 199% in the fourth quarter of 2018, and down from 279% in the first quarter of 2018. Life insurance policies provide cash relief and financial support for the loved ones that you leave behind. Insurance agent, Anthony Steuer, explains: "Life insurance is designed to replace income for someone or something that is dependent upon the insured." Types of Life Insurance PoliciesLife insurance policies can protect your family from financial hardships in the event of your death. The proceeds received from life insurance can help your beneficiaries pay for funeral costs, medical bills, and other debts that you may have left behind. This money also ensures that the household, mortgage costs, and other bills can be maintained in your absence. If you are interested in acquiring life insurance coverage, there are two basic types of life insurance policies to choose from: Whole Life Insurance Whole Life Insurance gives you coverage for as long as you live providing you make your premium payments. The best part about this type of life insurance is the fact that you can accrue additional money based on investments the you make. Investments may be in bonds, money market instruments, or stocks. After the policy has built cash value, you can borrow against it if you need to. However, you should keep in mind that borrowing against the policy lessens the amount of money paid out to your beneficiaries in the event of your death.The amount that you pay in premiums for whole life insurance coverage depends on your age and health at the time that you purchase the policy. In general, whole life insurance premiums do not fluctuate and may be quite reasonable if you purchase the policy when you are young. The type of whole life insurance coverage that you choose also affects policy rates. Common types of whole life coverage include:
Term Life Insurance is exactly what the name implies: life insurance for a specific term or amount of time. With term life insurance, you can purchase insurance coverage for a specific term or number of years. The premium for term life insurance policies is based on your age and health at the time of purchase, as well as the length of the term. Because term coverage is often much cheaper than whole life insurance, it is the preferred type of life insurance for most people. However, there is no investment potential. You cannot increase the cash value of your term life insurance policy by making investments, nor can you borrow against it. Shopping for Life Insurance Policies When purchasing a life insurance policy, it is very important to shop around prior to making any decisions. The cost of a policy can vary significantly depending upon the policy terms and where it was purchased. If you are looking for low cost life insurance, you may want to check with your employer to see what type of life insurance benefits you are eligible for. You can also speak to some of the associations and organizations that you belong to. Many of these groups offer low cost life insurance plans to their members. You can contact various insurance agents and groups to see what your options are. If you decide to go this route, make sure you get at least three quotes, so you can make comparisons properly. How Do You Choose a Life Insurance Company? Consider Anthony's advice in choosing a life insurance company: While determining your life insurance needs and the type of life insurance coverage are the first steps, it is critical to choose the life insurance company wisely. Life insurance, even a ten-year term policy, is a long-term proposition. You have to take into consideration whether your life insurance company will be around to pay the claim. This can quite a challenge as there over 1,600 life insurance companies offering thousands of life insurance products to residents of the United States. Fortunately, there are some common sense guidelines that will help you narrow the field to a more manageable selection of companies and products. Let's cover briefly how to evaluate a life insurance company from a financial perspective. Many "net-savvy" consumers are pros when it comes to looking up and analyzing financial data on stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Performing insurance company due diligence, however, presents a new challenge. Fortunately, many of the leading sources of information make their ratings and "analysis" available to the online public and almost all of it is free. Most likely this will change as the rating services will view this as an income stream. Don't get caught in the trap of simply comparing two companies and choosing the better one. Instead, hold each company up to a pre-determined set of benchmarks. If an insurance agent wants to sell a particular company or product, it is not uncommon for the agent to offer two or three alternatives that look worse than the one the agent wants to sell. Finally, don't assume that it costs more to purchase insurance from a top-rated company. Remember, product illustrations are poor indicators of how a policy will perform. Since insurance companies generally have comparable expenses, reserve requirements, and overall investment strategies, buying from the best does not necessarily result in higher premiums. When selecting or evaluating a life insurance company, a logical place to begin is by reviewing the ratings given by the five major insurance company rating services. In a rating, the rating company or agency expresses its opinion of the life insurance company's financial soundness and creditworthiness. In some cases, the life insurance company will ask one or more rating companies for an evaluation and rating, and the company will then pay a fee ($25,000 to $30,000 is common) to the rating agency. Generally speaking, this fee does not compromise the rating because rating companies are extremely protective of their reputation for objectivity. Without public credibility, a rating is useless, so rating companies strive to maintain their credibility. Not all insurance companies are rated by each agency. Each agency employs its own techniques for determining a given insurance company's rating. Areas of consideration may vary and these include financial leverage, management stability, recent performance, and the rated company's overall financial situation. External factors such as competition, diversification, and market presence may also be considered. Each rating agency provides a description of its analysis and defines the meaning of each rating from the highest to the lowest. Since there are differences between rating agencies, this can make a fair comparison between different ratings somewhat confusing. Information on how to contact each rating service will be found below (including some useful links). The chart at the end of this report compares the ratings given by each agency. To obtain the latest ratings, please check with the appropriate rating service. Since whole life insurance or variable life insurance policies can be worth a significant amount of cash to the policyholder, you may wonder how to check values of old life insurance policies. Luckily it is pretty easy to do, especially if you can still get your hands on at least some of the paperwork. Aging Policies There are several reasons why you may want to take advantage of this fact. First of all, even if you haven't paid premiums on the policy for a while, it's possible that the policy hasn't lapsed. If it hasn't, you may be able to either take out a loan on the policy or redeem it for its cash value, whichever is more beneficial to you. If the policy has lapsed, you might be able to reinstate it, especially if it has lapsed for less than five years, thus allowing yourself to further increase its worth and to take advantage of lower premiums than you would end up paying today if you began a new policy. How to Check Values of Old Life Insurance Policies The easiest way to answer the problem of how to check values of old life insurance policies is by contacting the company that issued the policies. If you have the paperwork handy, look at the front page, which is also known as the declaration page. The issuer's name should be listed there. If you're missing that page you may have to do some detective work, but you should be able to figure it out using your name and policy number. Once you find it, you can simply call the customer service number and inquire about an in-force illustration. An in-force illustration is a computer generated chart mapping the gains on your policy since you originally purchased it. Once you have the document, you can check the values of the policy by year. The current year's value is what it is worth right now. If you can't get access to an in-force illustration, there is an additional document that may be able to help you. Request an end of year insurance statement. If your policy has a cash value, it should be listed here. The amount you are looking for will be labeled the surrender value, which means how much money you'll get if you essentially turn the policy in. Redeeming Your Life Insurance Policy With a whole or variable life policy, you don't have to wait until the policyholder's death to obtain the money, in most circumstances. To find out for sure, you need to read the underwriting paperwork. Once you determine that you can cash in the policy, you should visit your insurance agent in person, if at all possible. After you have filled out the required paperwork, you should receive a check in the mail. Before deciding to cash out a life insurance policy, be aware that you could be losing an investment. Since some life insurance policies become more valuable every year, this is not a decision that should be taken lightly. You could end up losing out on substantial dividends if you cash it out before you need to, even if you do end up with a good one-time windfall. Advisors helping clients plan for retirement should focus not only on accumulating assets but also on projected liabilities, according to David Blanchett, head of retirement research at Morningstar. “Think about assets and liabilities separately,” said Blanchett, who spoke at this week’s annual Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago. “What will assets earn and what are the liabilities, spending needs, over 30 to 40 years.” The traditional 4% withdrawal rule from retirement funds may not be appropriate for future retirees, said Blanchett, explaining that the rule is based on historical returns for U.S. stock and bond markets, not future return projections, and assumes a constant income increased for inflation over 30 years, which is “not reality.” U.S. large caps, for example, are not likely to return the 10% average annual gains that have prevailed since 1926 and the 10-year Treasury is unlikely to maintain its historical 5.5% annual yield. “We have to adjust our expectations,” said Blanchett. A reasonable annual return for U.S. large caps over the next 10 years is 0.95%, said Blanchett, adding that for international equities Morningstar’s projection is 5.4% annually and for small caps 2.88%. The retirees who will be most affected by these relatively low expected returns will be those closest to retirement, either five years from or five years into retirement, said Blanchett. “You have to incorporate lower returns” in retirement plans today. “The 4% rule is not as safe as the historical data shows.” On the spending side in retirement planning — the liabilities — Blanchett recommended that advisors focus on realistic expectations. The assumption that they will spend more as they age, above the inflation rate, is wrong, said Blanchett. “Retiree spending doesn’t rise above inflation because spending evolves.” They will spend more on health care as they age but less on travel and other activities and items as they slow down, and this applies to wealthy retirees as well, according to Blanchett. “The average retiree spending $100,000 a year at 65 spends $75,000 by age 95.” Another major consideration in retirement planning is longevity risk, whether retirees will outlive their assets. Here, too, Blanchett warned against using conventional analysis of average life expectancy, which have been rising. “Your clients are not average. Consider the unique risks today for wealthy Americans.” Males in the top 1% today will live to about 90 on average versus 80 for the remaining 99% and longevity for the top 50% of earners is rising much faster than the longevity of the bottom half, said Blanchett. “Where are your clients on this spectrum?” As for guaranteed income for life, Blanchett said only annuities can provide that and Social Security is the best example of that. He also reminded the audience that in the worst case scenario, when they appear to be running out of money, retirees can usually adjust their discretionary spending. Do you want to know more about health insurance companies in pa then please contact us and send your queries regarding this. Lawmakers in California and at least seven other states want to provide state income tax credits for families that need help with home caregiving. Gloria Brown didn’t get a good night’s sleep. Her husband, Arthur Brown, 79, has Alzheimer’s disease and had spent most of the night pacing their bedroom, opening and closing drawers, and putting on and taking off his jacket. So Ms. Brown, 73, asked a friend to take her husband out for a few hours one recent afternoon so she could grab a much-needed nap. She was lucky that day because she didn’t need to call upon the home health aide who comes to their house twice a week. Paying for help isn’t cheap: The going rate in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the Browns live, ranges from $25 to $35 an hour. Ms. Brown estimates she has spent roughly $72,000 on caregivers, medications and supplies since her husband was given his diagnosis four years ago. “The cost can be staggering,” said Jim Patterson, a Republican state assemblyman from Fresno who is the author of a bill that would give family caregivers in California a tax credit of up to $5,000 annually to help offset their expenses. A 2016 study by AARP found that the average caregiver spends $6,954 a year on out-of-pocket costs caring for a family member. The expenses range from $7 for medical wipes to tens of thousands of dollars to retrofit a home with a walk-in shower or hire outside help. AARP, a lobbying organization for people 50 and older, is pushing similar bills in at least seven other state legislatures this year, said Elaine Ryan, the group’s vice president of state advocacy and strategy integration. Arizona, Illinois, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin are considering legislation, and AARP expects measures to be introduced in Florida, Massachusetts and Ohio. In Wisconsin, two Republicans and two Democrats are behind that state’s tax credit measure. “We need a whole discussion about how we can best keep people at home and meet their needs,” said state Representative Debra Kolste, a Democrat who explained that most people know someone who is caring for a family member. She hopes the measure can make it through the Republican legislature and be signed by Wisconsin’s Democratic governor. New Jersey approved a state income tax credit in 2017 specifically for caregivers of wounded veterans. However, efforts in other states have failed, including in Arizona last year and Mississippi and Virginia this year. At the federal level, bills that would have created a federal income tax credit of up to $3,000 never got out of congressional committees last year. “Whether I’m in Billings, Mont., or in Mississippi, the caregiver tax credit is something that people are asking for,” Ms. Ryan said. “All they’re asking for is a little financial help to offset these costs.” A tax credit, said Ms. Brown and other caregivers, would be welcome relief to the estimated 4.5 million family caregivers in California who care for a loved one with a chronic, disabling or serious health condition. Nationwide, the AARP estimates there are about 40 million people caring for family members. The Browns, who have been married 51 years and live in San Mateo, Calif., have good medical coverage, but like most seniors, they live on a fixed income. As her husband’s disease progresses, Ms. Brown expects costs to escalate. For instance, she wants to install bars in the bathroom to help prevent her husband from falling, and anticipates she will need more professional help. “I think we’re just moving into that stage where I’m going to see the dollars going out for things that will help to make things easier for him at home and more comfortable,” Ms. Brown said. “It’s a cost you just hadn’t anticipated.” Long-term caregiving has emerged as one of the major issues in California’s Capitol this year, with proposals ranging from naming a state “Aging Czar” to funding a new cash benefit for long-term care services. In his State of the State address last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a master plan for aging. “I’ve had some personal — and painful — experience with this recently,” Mr. Newsom told the joint session of the legislature. Mr. Newsom, whose father had dementia and died last year, also has tapped former first lady Maria Shriver to lead a new Alzheimer’s Prevention and Preparedness Task Force, and has asked lawmakers to approve $3 million in state funds for Alzheimer’s disease research. Mr. Patterson’s bill would provide up to a $5,000 state income tax credit to family caregivers for five years, starting in tax year 2020. They would be reimbursed for 50 percent of eligible expenses, such as retrofitting a home, hiring an aide and leasing or buying specialty equipment. The credit would be available to individuals who make up to $170,000 a year, or joint income tax filers who make up to $250,000. Mr. Patterson, a Republican in the minority, is hopeful he can convince his colleagues that giving people a tax credit is financially sound because it would enable caregivers to keep their loved ones at home rather than relying on more expensive government services. “If members of the legislature and the governor would look through the eyes of their own families, friends and neighbors … I think it can be passed and be signed,” Mr. Patterson said. But the measure faces competition for a slice of California’s $21 billion surplus, from proposals by the governor and lawmakers to increase funding for education, health care, housing and dozens of other programs. For Pam Sogge of Oakland, Calif., a tax credit would allow her to hire a home health aide for an additional three hours a week. Her husband, Rick Sogge, 61, has early-onset Alzheimer’s and becomes frantic when left by himself. Sometimes when she leaves him alone in another room of their home, he searches for her every two minutes. Because Mr. Sogge is still physically healthy, most of the couple’s caregiving expenses are for part-time help to take him on outings so his wife can work, run errands or go to the doctor’s office. “You have a very uncertain financial future. You don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know how long it’s going to take. So you’re very conservative,” said Ms. Sogge, 56, who has been caring for her husband for five years. “A tax credit, in a way, it’s permission and encouragement to get some help.” Do you want to know more about health insurance in pa then please contact us and send your queries regarding this. WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s surprise decision to press for a court-ordered demolition of the Affordable Care Act came after a heated meeting in the Oval Office on Monday, where the president’s acting chief of staff and others convinced him that he could do through the courts what he could not do through Congress: repeal his predecessor’s signature achievement. Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff and former South Carolina congressman, had spent years in the House saying that the health law should be repealed, and his handpicked head of the Domestic Policy Council, Joe Grogan, supported the idea of joining a Republican attorneys general lawsuit to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act. That suit, and the Justice Department, initially pressed to nullify only the part of the law that forces insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions as well as a suite of health benefits deemed “essential,” such as pregnancy and maternal health, mental health and prescription drugs. But a district judge in Texas ruled that the entire law was rendered unconstitutional when President Trump’s tax law brought the tax penalty for not having health insurance to zero, and the administration faced a choice: stick with its more limited intervention or back the judge’s decision. Mr. Trump has declared that he has kept his promises, Mr. Mulvaney and Mr. Grogan argued, and as a candidate he campaigned on repealing the health law. His base of voters would love it. Besides, they argued, Democrats have been campaigning successfully on health care, and Republicans should try to claim the issue for themselves. This could force the matter. Among those with concerns was Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, who shared that the new attorney general, William P. Barr, opposed such a move. Vice President Mike Pence was worried about the political ramifications of moving ahead without a strategy or a plan to handle the millions who could be left suddenly uninsured if the suit succeeded. The health and human services secretary, Alex M. Azar II, was on speakerphone during the meeting and also voiced concern about the move, people familiar with the call said. And Marc Short, Mr. Pence’s chief of staff, suggested that it was risky for Mr. Trump’s administration to be at odds with so many Republican attorneys general on such a key issue. But Mr. Trump had been sold, and on Monday night, the Justice Department issued a letter saying it supported the Texas judge’s decision. The blowback has been severe. Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Republican leader, who is close with Mr. Trump, had privately warned the president not to interrupt the “victory lap” he should be taking after the delivery of the report by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. Mr. Mueller, according to a letter by Mr. Barr, found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. The reaction was even more intense in the Senate. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, had planned to use the week to publicize his floor vote to force Democrats to take a stand on progressives’ Green New Deal — an important party-building exercise for Republicans after Mr. Trump’s decision to declare an emergency at the border sparked an insurrection in their ranks this month. Members of Mr. McConnell’s leadership team were incensed at Mr. Mulvaney and allies like the acting White House budget director, Russell Vought, for rekindling a fight that served Democrats so well in 2018 and could harm vulnerable incumbents in 2020, according to two senior aides with direct knowledge of the situation. The maneuver may make it much less likely that Mr. Vought, the chief of staff’s handpicked successor to head the Office of Management and Budget, will be confirmed by the Senate, the aides said. And Democrats pressed their advantage. “The equivalent of a nuclear bomb fell on our country when the president said what he said this week,” Representative Anna G. Eshoo, Democrat of California, said Wednesday as her House subcommittee began pushing through health care legislation. “This is deadly serious.” But Mr. Trump doubled down while talking to reporters in the Oval Office. He predicted that the Texas decision would be upheld by the appeals court, then go to the Supreme Court. “If the Supreme Court rules that Obamacare is out, we’ll have a plan that is far better than Obamacare,” he said. White House press aides did not immediately respond to a request for comment. And one official, who asked for anonymity to speak about the meetings, insisted that Mr. Mulvaney had simply been convening people with various views so that the president could make his own decision. But Mr. Mulvaney was described as leading the charge to back the suit, in an account of the two meetings that was described by a half-dozen people with knowledge of what took place. Politico first reported that Mr. Mulvaney pushed Mr. Trump to get involved in the suit. Mr. Barr did not favor the move but did not object to the White House decision once it had been made, people familiar with what took place said. And one White House official said the administration faced a deadline imposed by the court if it wanted to support the suit. But the decision to thrust Mr. Trump’s administration so directly into the lawsuit caught several people inside the White House by surprise, and took the focus off what was arguably the best weekend of the Trump presidency. Mr. Trump did not seem to care about shifting the political focus toward an issue that Democrats far preferred to the aftermath of the Mueller report. He charged ahead at a Senate Republican luncheon, telling reporters as he went in, “Let me just tell you exactly what my message is: The Republican Party will soon be known as the party of health care. You watch.” But Republicans in Congress have no obvious road forward on legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act that could pass the Democrat-controlled House. And House leaders have little political incentive to bow to Republican wishes on health care, an issue that they believe delivered their House majority and that they are eager to campaign on in 2020. The Trump administration has tried to minimize and contain the Affordable Care Act over time. The president has been in favor of previous efforts to end the law. And Mr. Mulvaney has over time built up his internal political capital, and grown his team of loyalists. Mr. Mulvaney is the first ideological purist who has served as Mr. Trump’s chief of staff. His critics inside the West Wing say he has tilted the voices Mr. Trump hears in favor of those who will back his own views. As Republicans pointed fingers, House Democrats began moving legislation on Wednesday to ensure safeguards for people with pre-existing conditions and to hold down the costs of health insurance and prescription drugs. Ms. Eshoo, the chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, said the bills were needed to counter what she described as “a monstrous attack” on the health law by the Trump administration. Several Republicans on the panel distanced themselves from the administration’s position. “I’m not with the president on eliminating pre-existing conditions,” said Representative John Shimkus, Republican of Illinois. Republicans, he said, believe in protecting people with pre-existing conditions. The subcommittee approved a bill that would provide $100 million a year for insurance counselors known as navigators who help consumers enroll in health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act. The Trump administration “has slashed, practically eliminated, funding for the navigators,” said Representative Kathy Castor, Democrat of Florida. Several Republicans said insurance agents and brokers were enrolling more people at a lower cost than the navigators, so the additional money was not needed. The panel also approved bills to outlaw two practices that have been used by brand-name drug companies to stifle competition and delay the sale of lower-cost generic medications. One measure would prohibit makers of brand-name drugs from paying off generic companies to delay sale of the less expensive products. Banning such “pay for delay” arrangements could save consumers billions of dollars over a decade, economists say. Another bill approved by the House panel would require brand-name drug companies to provide samples of their products to generic drug makers. Generic drug developers need samples of brand-name drugs to show that a generic copy is equivalent to the original. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, has called on the industry to “end the shenanigans” that prevent consumers from getting access to low-cost generic drugs. The House panel also approved on a party-line vote a bill to provide federal money to states to help pay the largest health insurance claims. Democrats said such “reinsurance” programs would lower premiums, as shown by the experience of Minnesota, Alaska, Maryland and several other states. Republicans said they worried that federal funds would go to health plans that covered abortion. Do you want to know more about virtual care then please contact us and send your queries regarding this.
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