Medical Insurance for Retirement Made Easy with NewLife
Editors Note: This article was originally published in September 2022 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Navigating medical insurance for retirement can be tricky. With all the Medicare plan options out there, it can be hard to be sure you’re getting the right coverage for your needs, let alone understanding all the fine print that comes along with it. NewLife Senior Insurance helps you enjoy your retirement by walking you through your choices and putting Medicare into simple and understandable terms, making the process stress-free for you. When partnering with NewLife Senior Insurance, we’ll help you secure your retirement by helping you make good insurance decisions, secure your assets by offering you solid protection, and secure your legacy by helping you make practical end of life decisions.
Senior Insurance Solutions:
Securing Retirement with Good Insurance Decisions
You’ve worked hard for your retirement and deserve to enjoy it to the fullest, without having to worry about healthcare coverage, which is why it’s important to choose the right Medicare insurance for you. Medicare is the federal government program that provides health insurance for those 65 years of age and up or for those under the age of 65 and on disability. This insurance is sometimes known as “Original Medicare” (Part A and Part B) and permits the government to pay directly for the health care services you receive. However, Original Medicare does not cover everything you need - this is where NewLife Senior Insurance can assist you. If you’re looking for a plan that helps with deductibles, prescription drugs, or gives you the option of receiving your Medicare benefits from a private insurance company, we can walk you through the following available plans to best fit your needs:
Medicare Supplements (Medigap Plans)
If you have Original Medicare, you might consider Medicare Supplement or, what it is often called, Medi-Gap coverage. These plans work with your Original Medicare to cover out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles and the 20% that Original Medicare doesn't cover.
The different supplements may look identical, but a Medicare expert can help you parse the nuances, and pick reliable coverage for your needs.
Why should you consider a Medicare Supplement?
Easy to budget on fixed incomes
Nationwide coverage with no networks
Low deductibles
Affordable premiums
Prescription Drug Plans (Part D)
Most people don’t know that Original Medicare does not cover prescription drugs outside of the hospital. This is a major gap in coverage for seniors and the biggest driver of personal cost. Prescription Drug (Part D) plans cover this gap.
When considering coverage, you should know that Medicare may penalize those who are eligible for a drug plan but aren't enrolled. It's critical you work with a Medicare expert to ensure your prescriptions will be covered by the Part D plan you choose.
Why should you consider a Prescription Drug plan?
Affordable premiums
Affordable co-pays
Avoid a lifetime penalty for time without coverage
9 out of 10 seniors over the age of 65 take at least two prescription drugs
Medicare Advantage Plans (Part C)
Medicare Advantage Plans are new to retirement coverage. With Part C, you have the option of receiving your Medicare benefits from a private insurance company.
These plans have networks (both PPO and HMO), deductibles, and copays. Even though these plans differ from Original Medicare they must offer the same level of coverage as Original Medicare.
You must have Medicare Part A and Part B to join, and part Part C benefits differ between states and counties. During your appointment, we'll determine your Part C eligibility and help you find an Advantage Plan that meets your needs.
Why should you consider a Medicare Advantage plan?
Premiums start at $0
Affordable co-pays
Limited out of pocket spending
Prescription Drug coverage
Dental, Vision, Hearing coverage
Paid gym membership
Dental/Vision/Hearing
Dental/Vision/Hearing plans cover a variety of services including eye exams, eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing exams, hearing aids, repairs and supplies, dental exams, fillings, extractions, and more. These plans provide immediate coverage for both preventive and basic services, with some policies even providing immediate comprehensive coverage.
Why should you consider a Dental/Vision/Hearing plan?
These types of services are not covered by Medicare at all (other than glaucoma and cataracts)
Immediate coverage for basic benefits
Some benefits grow over time, meaning your coverage increases
Hospital Indemnity Coverage
Hospital Indemnity Coverage is a supplemental insurance plan designed to help pay expenses for hospital stays and related expenses that occur with Medicare Advantage plans. This comprehensive policy pays you directly for hospital confinement and includes short duration hospital benefits, mental health benefits, and emergency room benefits.
Why should you consider Hospital Indemnity Coverage?
Pays you back for hospital stays with a Medicare Advantage Plan
Base benefits after 6 hours
Affordable rates
Unlimited amount of benefit restoration
Rates don’t increase as you age
Critical Illness Insurance
Critical Illness insurance policies help cover expenses associated with critical illness care. If you’ve suffered from cancer, a heart attack, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, or another critical illness, you know that the costs for treatment and recovery can be prohibitive. This type of insurance pays you cash benefits which can be used to take care of the costs of medical deductibles and copayments, prescriptions, experimental treatments, supplement lost income, assisted living, nursing home care, and more.
Some options for Critical Illness policies and their benefits include:
Cancer, Heart Attack, and Stroke
Gives you financial peace of mind and allows you to focus on your recovery
Cash benefits paid directly to you
Benefits available for experimental treatments, late state diagnosis, skin cancer, etc.
Critical Cash
Choose who cares for you
Stop worrying about everyday bills
Have loved ones at your side
Focus on getting well
Precision Care
Access to revolutionary care and treatments, including genome sequencing
Highly precise and individualized plans
Get cash to cover out-of-pocket expenses
Consultations with TGen oncology experts
Securing Assets with Solid Protection
Contracting additional policies to help protect your assets isn’t always top of mind when navigating the retirement healthcare landscape but it can be an important element to your senior insurance solutions. Whether you’re looking to protect yourself from unexpected long-term expenses related to your care or simply want a safe and reliable source of income guaranteeing you won’t outlive your savings, NewLife Senior Insurance can help you choose the appropriate Long Term Care and Annuity policies so your assets stay protected.
Long Term Care (Traditional, Home, Short-Term)
Long Term Care policies are designed to help you pay for the care needed resulting from a surgery, accident, or sudden illness. They help to protect the retirement assets you took time to build by covering the costs arising from unexpected long-term care services. Instead of liquidating your retirement assets to pay for this care, a Long Term Care policy can help cover expenses associated with home health care, assisted living, and nursing care, ensuring you’ll be able to use your assets the way you planned.
Traditional Long Term-Care - This coverage provides for permanent stays in a nursing home or other long term care facility. You choose how long the coverage should last and how much per month you will receive. These policies often can be used for home stays as well as nursing home stays. This type of policy can include a State Partnership Program (State provides matching funds).
Recovery Cash - short-term nursing home care indemnity insurance. Provides you with skilled nursing facility and assisted living facility coverage, as well as the option to recover at home with assistance.
Home Care Secure - benefits for home health care to help you stay in your own home. This insurance will provide you with weekly cash payments (up to 50 weeks) to help pay for home care services. You’ll receive financial resources, support, and a plan.
Short Term Home Health Care - coverage for home health care needs, such as nursing care or therapy. For every day that you receive home health care services, you’ll be paid a daily benefit to help cover these costs, enabling you to recover in the comfort of your own home. (Prior hospitalization not required)
Why should you consider Long Term Care?
Best value
More comprehensive coverage
Benefits provide flexibility
Care coordination included
Benefits paid directly to you
Some policies include matching funds from your resident state
Annuities
An annuity is a contract with an insurance company in which they agree to pay you a regular income for the period of time you choose, which can include the rest of your life. When picking an annuity plan, there are two main types you’ll need to consider: immediate annuities and deferred annuities. Immediate annuities begin payouts as soon as you invest your money. These provide a reliable income stream you can’t outlive. Deferred annuities on the other hand, begin payouts after a deferment period and have the benefits of never declining in value as well as growing tax-deferred until you begin receiving payments.
Why should you consider an Annuities plan?
Never outlive your savings
Safe and reliable source of income
Flexibility - use your payments as you choose
Guaranteed growth rate
Securing Your Legacy with End of Life Decisions
No one wants to leave their loved ones with unexpected expenses and debts. While retirement insurance focuses on coverage for medical costs while you’re alive, life insurance is another important piece of the puzzle which protects your family from any costs you may leave behind after you die. With a variety of options available, NewLife Senior Insurance will walk you through your choices for life insurance, making sure you pick the policy that is right for you.
Life Insurance
Life Insurance policies guarantee a payment to your beneficiary/beneficiaries if you die while the policy is in effect. This benefit is provided in exchange for premiums paid before your death. There are several types of Life Insurance policies available for you to choose from:
Term Insurance vs. Whole Life Insurance: Term Insurance covers you for a limited number of years, whereas Whole Life Insurance provides lifelong coverage.
Renewable Term vs. Non-renewable Term: Renewable Term coverage can be continued, without having to reapply, at the end of the term, even if there’s been a change in your health. This may also include higher premiums which are updated as a result of your current age. With Non-renewable Term coverage, you won’t have this option to continue your coverage, meaning you’ll need to reapply if you wish to maintain your life insurance.
Whole Life vs. Universal Life: These two types of life insurance differ mainly in the way you pay for your coverage. With Whole Life, you’ll pay according to a set schedule, whereas with Universal Life, you can have a flexible payment schedule as long as you’re paying enough to keep your coverage active.
Variable Life vs. Non-variable Life: Variable Life policies impact your cash value directly and depend on the investments you choose. This option has the most potential to increase in cash value, but also the greatest possibility of losing cash value. Non-variable Life policies have guaranteed minimum cash value accumulation for some features and don’t retain the potential volatility of Variable Life policies.
Why should you consider Life Insurance?
Protect your loved ones from unexpected financial hardships
Cover funeral expenses, medical/nursing care, child care costs, etc.
Pay off debts
With this information, you’ve already got a great head start on navigating medical insurance for retirement. When you’re ready to get started, we’ll be here to help walk you through the entire process - securing your retirement with good insurance decisions, securing your assets with solid protection, and securing your legacy with end of life decisions. That way, you can spend less time worrying about your insurance coverage and more time enjoying your hard earned retirement.
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