However, if you receive a letter stating your Gila County health plan is leaving the area and will not be renewed for 2010, you have a Special Election Period (SEP) and do not have to wait until November 15th to designate your 2010 plan. You can do so now, if you wish.

Medicare Part C Advantage plans are fewer in number in Gila County, Arizona for 2010. Several companies, including Health Net and Coventry/Advantra have decided to not renew their Advantage plans in Gila County for 2010. Fortunately, when a carrier leaves an area, this triggers an open enrollment for a traditional Medicare Supplement of your choice. With your Special Election Period (SEP) you are guaranteed issue the plan of your choice, at the preferred rate, and do not have to answer health questions to get it.

When a company leaves our Gila County area with their Part C Advantage Plan, it does NOT mean they wlll leave the area for their Part D Rx Prescription Plan. In fact, both Health Net and Coventry/Advantra will continue offering their Part D Rx plans in Gila Country for 2010.

Please note that the Part C Advantage Plans continuing to offer coverage in Gila County have all increased their premiums for 2010. It could be wise to compare carefully with traditional Medicare Supplements. Our independent agency carriers the Advantage Plans offered in Gila County, and several high quality Medicare Supplement plans, including Mutual of Omaha, American Republic, Blue Cross and AARP (underwritten by United HealthCare). We make it easy to compare and save.

Call us for a personal meeting in our convenient office behind Fargo’s Steakhouse. There’s never a fee to sit down and talk about your options. We’re glad to assist.

Cordially,
Tom Russell

Sometimes a really practical and important book on financial planning arrives to provide important new guidance, especially in times of turmoil. So many people dwell in serious confusion today regarding their investments, and what to do next after all the upheaval. Just such a book is Buckets of Money by Ray Lucia. Go here for an extended excerpt.

Each of his “buckets” represents a different component to a comprehensive retirement plan. One bucket is for the immediate term financial requirements. Other buckets are for midrange and long term requirements. This system finds the balance between risk and reward with a wholistic approach.

The idea is to arrange your investments to place time on your side. I strongly encourage you to order yoru copy of Buckets of Money: How to Retire in Comfort and Safety through Amazon.com or through your library. Financial education is crucial, since leaving everything in the hands of a financial planner has proven to often be precarious. The more you know the better your questions, and the more comfortable you will feel going forward.

Life-expectancy in the United States is now 80.4 years for women, and 75.2 years for men. Since a longer life increases the odds of needing long-term health care at some point, the choice to self-insure, or transfer the risk to an insurance company, is one of the most important financial decisions we’ll make.

The risk of needing care and filing a claim are high. For example, odds of your home catching fire are 1 in 1200, an automobile accident is 1 in 240; however, the chance of needing long-term care at some point in your life is 1 in 3.

Who should NOT own long-term care insurance?

The State of Florida, where the senior population is large, offers a wealth of consumer guidance on long-term care insurance. The State of Florida recommends against spending more than 5% of one’s yearly income on long-term care insurance premiums. They also recommend that people with assets less than $200,000 (which includes their home) decline the insurance, since there is the Medicaid program. MediCAID is not to be confused with MediCARE. Medicare does not pay for long-term care, and MediCAID requires a “spend-down” before qualifying for care. Your assets are used first, then the state steps in to pay.

One reason people decide NOT to acquire a policy is concern over never needing long-term care, and having thus wasted the money for the premiums. However, I’ve noticed that those who do purchase the insurance (now four million people in the United States) usually have a firsthand experience with a friend or loved one who needed long-term care. They witnessed the severe financial and emotional stress a long-term care event can cause the entire family. Perhaps they have been caregivers and do not want to see that burden fall on their children. When the experience of long-term care is close and personal, it seems the possibility of “wasting” the premium payments, if a claim is never filed, is now something that can be tolerated.

Another important consideration is that a change in health can prevent one from qualifying for a long-term care policy. You cannot get it when you need it. The decision to insure can only be made when one is relatively healthy and insurable. Also, the longer you wait the higher the premiums.

How do you investigate long-term health care insurance?  See the extensive educational resources in “Our Services” at this website, under “Long-term care.”

Tom Russell is a health insurance specialist serving the Rim Country since 1993, and author of the book “Navigate the Maze of Long-term Care Insurance.” He can be reached at 474-1233.

Although their financial and emotional ties to their previous spouses have generally been severed, frequently both parties want the assets they are bringing to the second marriage to provide a legacy for the offspring of the first one. Vividly aware of the potential for divorce, many of these couples choose to keep totally separate bank accounts and harbor the illusion that by doing so, they are limiting their financial responsibility for their second spouse.

But what these couples frequently do not realize is that the arrangements set forth in the prenuptial agreement only serve their purpose if either spouse requires little or no medical care.

Couples entering second marriages need to understand that under current law, their assets are no longer separately categorized and protected as originally intended in the prenuptial agreement. As in any marriage, all assets are considered as belonging to the couple as one entity, regardless of who brought them into the marriage, and therefore are to be used by either or both persons to cover the costs of LTC should the need arise.

For this reason, it is imperative that couples entering second marriages carefully redefine their respective goals and immediately set up a new, well-designed LTC plan to diminish or eliminate this risk. By carefully selecting suitable insurance benefits to offset some or all of potential LTC costs, couples can preserve and protect their individual assets, and those set aside for children of their previous marriage, as they originally intended when drafting their prenuptial agreements.

Most importantly, taking the time to address such possibilities, however remote they may seem at the start of a second marriage, helps avoid the intra-family and inter-family battles that can arise among children, siblings and previous spouses when one or both partners require LTC. Instead of families banding together when facing the enormous physical, emotional and financial stress of the need for LTC, a breach occurs.

The lack of coordination between the patient’s first and second families frequently serves to destroy rather than to preserve the bonds between them — bonds that may be tenuous to begin with. In the absence of proper planning, the prospect of LTC for a loved one often serves to tear old and new families apart.

Authored by: Vivian P. Gallo - Hartsdale, New York Long-term Care Specialists

1. How Things Are Now – Is the person you care about already facing challenges that you may not be aware of? Do you have a clear and realistic view of their current daily lives? Do they have any health problems? Are there things that can be done now to make life easier?

2. Option A and Option B – We all need a plan no matter what our age. If there is a crisis, how will this person get help? Who will call you and who will you call? Do you have contact information for relatives, neighbors, friends, doctors, lawyers, and local service providers? Consider creating a telephone checklist in case you need to make calls on anyone’s behalf. It’s a nice-to-have regardless.

3. Legal Issues – Pretty much every adult should have:
a. An up-to-date will
b. A durable power of attorney (giving someone the authority to make financial and legal    decisions on their behalf)
c. A living will (outlining wishes for end-of-life care), and a power of attorney for health    care (which is geared specifically toward medical decisions)
d. Be sure your loved ones have these documents, and make sure you know where    they are kept.

4. No Place Like Home – Most people want to stay in their own homes, but it’s not always an option. If necessary, can the house be made more accessible (first-floor bedroom, ramps, etc.)? Where would your mother want to live if she couldn’t stay at home? What if your father couldn’t live with other family members? What options are available? What matters most to them? The answers may surprise you.

5. The Cost of Care – Long-term care (at home, in an assisted-living facility or nursing home) can easily run from $50,000 to more than $100,000 a year, depleting your hard-earned savings. Some options to consider are long term care insurance and family and retirement planning and protection.

6. The Medical Maze – Make sure one doctor oversees and coordinates all care, especially as your loved one ages. As care becomes more complex, multiple doctors may inadvertently prescribe conflicting treatments. Get to know your parent’s physician and stay in touch. Know what health insurance policies are in place and how to access them.

7. Life’s Closing Scene – It’s a hard fact of life that many people end up confused and afraid, largely because family members weren’t prepared to make tough choices. The best way to avoid this is to talk in advance, both specifically and in some depth, about your loved one’s fears and hopes, and how they want decisions handled. Then brace yourself to follow those wishes.

This article from Genworth Financial’s new Let’s Talk website.

1. Obtained a qualifying high deductible policy. See our “Under 65 Health Insurance” page to review companies offering this type of health plan.

2. Once your high deductible policy is approved with an official start date, open your Health Savings Account (HSA). Apply online through this outstanding FDIC bank that has won numerous awards for low fees and efficient HSA services.

3. Manage your HSA account in any way you like. The only limits are maximum annual contributions — $3000 for an individual and $5950 for a family. See IRS 2009 rules. Your HSA account can grow as large as you wish. Yes, enjoy a very powerful tax savings opportunity.

   A few years ago Congress made “Health Savings Accounts” permanent. The program benefits all Americans under 65. However, to qualify for a tax-free Health Savings Account (HSA), you must acquire a high-deductible policy that does NOT have co-pay benefits for doctor visits or prescriptions

   Is this the best way for Arizona residents to own health insurance? The numbers tell an interesting story.

   Let’s say you and you and your spouse are both 50 years old. If you purchase a traditional co-pay plan with a $1000 deductible at the hospital, your total combined monthly premium (with a well known Arizona insurance company) would be $690. You can use your co-pay right away for doctor visits and prescriptions; you do not have to meet your deductible first.

   Now, staying with the same insurance company, if instead of a co-pay plan let’s say you opt for the HSA (Health Savings Account) high deductible plan. What happens? Yes, you lose your co-pay and your deductible climbs to $5500. This means your medical expenses are paid by you and accumulate toward your deductible. Once the deductible is met, the plan pays 100% of your eligible expenses for that year, including doctor visits and prescriptions. However, your total combined premium drops to $325 per month. This is a savings of $4280 per year in premium! What if you took all or just part of this $4280 savings and placed it in an HSA account? You would instantly get a tax deduction for the full amount of your deposit, and the account grows tax deferred.

   Once you acquire a policy that is “HSA Qualified”, where do you open your tax-free HSA account? It does not have to be through the insurance company that sold you the policy, but can be with the financial institution of your choice. As one example out of many, just do an internet search on “Wells Fargo Health Savings Accounts” or “Vanguard Mutual Funds Health Savings Accounts.”

   You can make a new HSA contribution every year with no upper limit on how high your account value can grow. The only limit is how much you can contribute in a given year, which is $3000 for an individual and $5950 for a family. Money dispersed from this account, when used for medical and dental expenses, is tax free. What happens when you turn 65 and go on Medicare? You can convert your HSA account to an IRA, or let it stay in the HSA for medical expenses during your retirement.

   HSA accounts also have 100% deductibility for long-term care insurance. Yes, your entire LTC premium can be paid from your tax free HSA account. Dental, prescriptions, doctor visits including chiropractors and naturopaths, plus glasses — all of these items and many more can be paid from your HSA account. It just requires a new way of thinking about health insurance – a willingness to give up coverage for the little expenses in favor of tax benefits and lower premiums. However, Health Savings Accounts may not work well for a young family, where frequent doctor visits are the norm. For everyone else, they deserve a very close look.

Tom Russell is a health insurance broker based in Payson, Arizona,  with fifteen years of service to Arizona and Utah residents. He can be reached at (800) 745-3570  or online at www.TomRUSSELLinsurance.com