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Lighthearted Medicare advice and opinions from longtime expert Douglas B. Jones, CLU, RHU. Drawn from his book: Medicare for the Lazy Man (an Amazon best seller), Doug's advice provides a simple road map to the best Medicare insurance protection available on the market today!
Episodes
5 hours ago
5 hours ago
In The MA Minute:
Medicare Advantage Plans Need More Oversight; Less Overpayment!
Do you dream of bariatric surgery? Wonder whether Medicare will pay for it? Apparently it depends on the extent of your obesity. We pay a visit to "Your Medicare Benefits 2024" to find out.
ACCENDO, an Aetna subsidiary providing Medicare advantage plans, appears to be drastically reducing the number of states in which it will do business in 2025. What might the consequences be?
One client needs Evenity injections for a year. Her thought is that she will be writing big cost-sharing checks due to her Plan HDG. My thought is that her savings over the past few years, if stashed away, will help to defray this extra expense.
Finally, another client discovers that he under-reported income which might have resulted in a modestly larger IRMAA penalty. He wonders if it would be best to turn himself in to the IRS or should he wait for them to hunt him down like the cur that he is.?
Contact me at: DBJ@MLMMailbag.com
(Most severe critic: A+) Visit us on: BabyBoomer.ORG
Inspired by:
"MEDICARE FOR THE LAZY MAN 2024; Simplest & Easiest Guide Ever!" on Amazon.com. Return to leave a short customer review & help future readers.
Official website: https://www.MedicareForTheLazyMan.com.
3 days ago
3 days ago
In our Medicare Advantage Minute for today we take it to the enemy with, "Medicare Advantage Star Ratings Fall Again!"
An excerpt from "Your Medicare Benefits 2024" explains the coverage available for Medicare participants who need artificial eyes or limbs.
Evidence of inflation in the health insurance arena: a list of the Medicare plans which have filed for rate increases in various states.
Finally, Jim checks in again with advice from his employer's group insurance agent. Good advice, generally speaking!
Contact me at: DBJ@MLMMailbag.com
(Most severe critic: A+) Visit us on: BabyBoomer.ORG
Inspired by:
"MEDICARE FOR THE LAZY MAN 2024; Simplest & Easiest Guide Ever!" on Amazon.com. Return to leave a short customer review & help future readers.
Official website: https://www.MedicareForTheLazyMan.com.
5 days ago
5 days ago
We lead off with the Medicare Advantage Minute article:
"Senate Report Slams MA Insurers for Using Tech to Deny Claims"
Three apparent culprits are: United Healthcare, Humana & CVS!
In the "Your Medicare Benefits 2024" segment we delve into the exciting world of anesthesia. How is it covered and how much of it is paid for?
One of the most confusing and difficult elements of this subject concerns the ability of a disabled person who is under age 65 to deal with the system if they lack knowledgeable advice.
Contact me at: DBJ@MLMMailbag.com
(Most severe critic: A+) Visit us on: BabyBoomer.ORG
Inspired by:
"MEDICARE FOR THE LAZY MAN 2024; Simplest & Easiest Guide Ever!" on Amazon.com. Return to leave a short customer review & help future readers.
Official website: https://www.MedicareForTheLazyMan.com.
Wednesday Jan 08, 2025
Wednesday Jan 08, 2025
Medicare Advantage Minute:
Humana's profit prospects dim as star ratings drop off a cliff! Their clients in four+ star rated plans fall from 94% to 25%.
The exciting excerpt from "Your Medicare Benefits 2024" addresses Ambulatory Surgical Centers.
Finally, a discussion of one source of potential food contamination devolves into a wide-ranging discussion of the state of freedoms in America.
Free association? You be the judge!
Contact me at: DBJ@MLMMailbag.com
(Most severe critic: A+) Visit us on: BabyBoomer.ORG
Inspired by:
"MEDICARE FOR THE LAZY MAN 2024; Simplest & Easiest Guide Ever!" on Amazon.com. Return to leave a short customer review & help future readers.
Official website: https://www.MedicareForTheLazyMan.com.
Sunday Jan 05, 2025
Sunday Jan 05, 2025
Ambulance services and, under certain circumstances, even helicopter rides can be provided by Part B of Medicare. This according to the latest government publication: Your Medicare Benefits 2024.
In the Medicare Advantage Minute we hear sickening reports of the billions of $$ that have been siphoned off by this program as well as the pathetic efforts used to collect overpayments from the miscreants.
How about some special enrollment opportunities? Listen to a lengthy, albeit confusing, array of periods in which certain rules of enrollment welcome certain segments of the Medicare eligible population to snatch their opportunity!
Contact me at: DBJ@MLMMailbag.com
(Most severe critic: A+) Visit us on: BabyBoomer.ORG
Inspired by:
"MEDICARE FOR THE LAZY MAN 2024; Simplest & Easiest Guide Ever!" on Amazon.com. Return to leave a short customer review & help future readers.
Official website: https://www.MedicareForTheLazyMan.com.
Thursday Jan 02, 2025
Thursday Jan 02, 2025
The story on the state of the Canadian system made reference to one Greg Price. He was a 31 year-old pilot from Alberta who was allowed to die in 2018 from testicular cancer due to the ineptitude inherent in their single payer Communist health system.
Take a peek back in the crystal ball at AEP 2024. Pundits predicted turmoil and they were right!
In the new book "Your Medicare Benefits, we read about alcohol misuse evaluations.
In a related story, I describe an encounter with an Arizona doctor who has a blind spot where one particular affliction is concerned.
One would-be client wonders if he has missed the fall "open enrollment" deadline or can he still purchase a Part D drug plan.
Thanks to my scientific search process, a client is able to purchase a drug plan that will be completely free of charge all year as opposed to the more expensive plans with which a less dedicated agent might have stuck her.
Contact me at: DBJ@MLMMailbag.com
(Most severe critic: A+) Visit us on: BabyBoomer.ORG
Inspired by:
"MEDICARE FOR THE LAZY MAN 2024; Simplest & Easiest Guide Ever!" on Amazon.com. Return to leave a short customer review & help future readers.
Official website: https://www.MedicareForTheLazyMan.com.
Tuesday Dec 31, 2024
Tuesday Dec 31, 2024
Medicare Advantage Minute headline:
HCA Medical System sees way too many prior authorization denials!
This Nashville based health system (with 186 hospitals and 2400 care sites in 20 states and the UK) is fighting back against the intense Medicare Advantage pressure of prior authorization service denials: trying to beat them at their own game!
From the government publication "Your Medicare Benefits" comes a description of how Medicare covers Advanced Care Planning.
Finally, the plaintive plea for help from our new client arrives. This sets in motion a plan to use the "Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period" to disenroll from the problematic Medicare Advantage plans the husband had been sweet-talked into joining.
Contact me at: DBJ@MLMMailbag.com
(Most severe critic: A+) Visit us on: BabyBoomer.ORG
Inspired by:
"MEDICARE FOR THE LAZY MAN 2024; Simplest & Easiest Guide Ever!" on Amazon.com. Return to leave a short customer review & help future readers.
Official website: https://www.MedicareForTheLazyMan.com.
Monday Dec 30, 2024
Monday Dec 30, 2024
In the "Medicare Advantage Minute" segment, the headline is:
"Hospitals Sick of Fighting for Medicare Advantage Dollars!"
This article lists a few more hospitals giving up the struggle[e and resigning from Medicare Advantage networks (notably United Healthcare).
Also, spend some time learning about abdominal aortic aneurisms, the problems they cause and the way Medicare covers the diagnostic testing for them.
Contact me at: DBJ@MLMMailbag.com
(Most severe critic: A+) Visit us on: BabyBoomer.ORG
Inspired by:
"MEDICARE FOR THE LAZY MAN 2024; Simplest & Easiest Guide Ever!" on Amazon.com. Return to leave a short customer review & help future readers.
Official website: https://www.MedicareForTheLazyMan.com.
Thursday Dec 26, 2024
Thursday Dec 26, 2024
It's the "Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period" when you may escape from that MA trap and return to original Medicare if you like!
Smart government authorities would authorize enrollment into Medicare MSA plans during this period. Maybe under the next administration!
In The Medicare Advantage Minute: star ratings are taking a big hit as the scores are revised downward. One source is quoted as saying, "The quality of Medicare Advantage Plans ain't what it used to be"!
Humana is bleeding providers to such an extent that the government is allowing some of their members to escape to new plans without a formal SEP! Two recent Humana heartbreakers are Sanford Health and Avra Health.
Contact me at: DBJ@MLMMailbag.com
(Most severe critic: A+) Visit us on: BabyBoomer.ORG
Inspired by:
"MEDICARE FOR THE LAZY MAN 2024; Simplest & Easiest Guide Ever!" on Amazon.com. Return to leave a short customer review & help future readers.
Official website: https://www.MedicareForTheLazyMan.com.
Tuesday Dec 24, 2024
Tuesday Dec 24, 2024
In the "Medicare Advantage Minute" segment, we hear that the government plans to establish new guardrails on MA prior authorizations and marketing.
New government best selling thriller: Your Medicare Benefits!
In other health news, 200 Voodoo practitioners were slaughtered in Port-Au-Prince by a gang whose leader assumed they caused his son's illness.
Rick, husband of a blackjack dealer, has worked out a complex health insurance plan for the first year of retirement. Fingers are crossed that neither of us overlooked any important details.
Finally, client Paul is very pleased with the coverages selected for him but let an important deadline slip past. He mistook AEP rules with a Pearl Harbor Day deadline for ACA rules that have a December 15th deadline.
Contact me at: DBJ@MLMMailbag.com
(Most severe critic: A++) Visit us on: BabyBoomer.ORG
Inspired by:
"MEDICARE FOR THE LAZY MAN 2024; Simplest & Easiest Guide Ever!" on Amazon.com. Return to leave a short customer review & help future readers.
Official website: https://www.MedicareForTheLazyMan.com.