OMG ... I need Health Insurance! How am I going to pay for that?

Are you feeling stressed out by all the TV coverage and news articles telling you how bad the new health insurance rules are or how great they are depending on who you talk to?  Exchanges, subsidies and penalties oh my!

 

Take a deep breath, its going to be okay.  I'll give you the basics for free!  I am licensed in Indiana so I'm going to talk about the set up here, if you are in a different state you will need to talk with someone in that state to be sure how it will work for you.  Are you ready?  Here we go!

 

First if you have a policy and you've not gotten a cancelation notice it means for now your current policy and network will remain the same.  You can keep it for a year and maybe longer, but that is not set in stone.  If you have a policy and have received a cancelation notice, it means your policy must be changed to comply with the new law and it was not grandfathered in for some reason.  You will need to get a new ACA policy (ACA stands fro the Affordable Care Act, which is a misnomer because it doesn't make coverage more affordable it just gives subsidies for those that make less money).

 

In Indiana you have 5 basic choices depending on your age situation and income.  I'll run through the first three quickly because they are very limited choices.

 

1. Medicaid - If you qualify for Medicaid it satisfies the ACA requirements.

2. Employer plans - If your employer has a group plan available to you that costs less than

    9.5% of your income then you need to stay with it.

3. CHIP - This is for children of lower income families that don't qualify Medicaid.

 

Okay so for the other two options ... you can buy an individual plan through an insurance company direct or you can buy the same plan from the federally facilitated marketplace (commonly called the exchange).  Both plans could offer identical coverage but there are two very noteworthy differences.

 

1. Plans purchased through the exchange will most likely have a much smaller network than those purchased directly from the insurance company.  So you may not get to use your current doctors or hospitals.

2. Plans purchased through the exchange may qualify for a federal subsidy to offset the cost of the insurance.  Plans bought directly from the insurance company are not qualified for a subsidy.

 

The bottom line is that the law is requiring you to get some basic health coverage.  If you are at or below the poverty line you will have access to Medicaid, and if you make above the poverty line (up to 400% of that amount) you may qualify for a subsidy that can pay for most or part of your health insurance costs, but if you choose either of these options you'll just have a limited number of options for doctors and hospitals.

 

You can make an appointment with me to go over your options but do it quick, because you only have a small window to enroll before you'll be forced into a higher cost option while waiting on open enrollment.

 

Contact me about health insurance here!

 

Jason

New beginning, for an old dude!

At the start of each year we all kind of take stock.  I look back at what I've accomplished, and what I failed to accomplish.  I also look forward at what needs to change and what I want to make better in my life.  We all do that to some degree, don't we?

Sometimes it's more a function of what really works and what is most practical.  My friend Else sent me this week's picture.  Her friends all had their iphones with their Otterboxes to protect them in the rain and she has a nondescript phone in a ziplock baggy!  We joked about it being a redneck Otterbox but in truth it is a wise use of her resources for a tool that will be out dated before she can graduate college and find a job that will pay her enough to afford the iphone in the first place.  That's sort of what I've done this new year.

I left the insurance agency I was with to join one that will offer me greater opportunity to help people find the right policy for the right price.  I now have 20 or 30 different companies to write insurance through, not just one.  So now I can focus in on what a person needs not what I can insure ('cause now I can insure it all).

Life insurance, commercial policies, homeowners, auto policies ... coal trucks, restaurants  homes, antique autos, and just about anyone's life.  Better products, better prices, and most importantly better coverage.  

Yes this year I'm making the best use of my resources and I'm using those resources to help my friends and family insure the things they own.  So, call me for you insurance needs at 812-384-3575 for my Bloomfield office or 812-847-8141 to reach my Linton office.

I hope your new year inspires you to make the most of what you've got and perhaps create a unique style all your own.  See you soon!

Life insurance is more important than any other type of policy, let's talk about why!

Shop Small... Shop Local

This Saturday is the Shop Small day which is a new tag line for buying local and supporting the small businesses in your area ... good advice for those of us that will be spending money on the holidays.  Buying local not only helps the business owners that have taken a chance and opened or continued in business during an economic crisis but it helps you too!
Let's compare ...oh I don't know, maybe ... a local insurance agent with an e-agent.  The product seems to be the same, I mean it covers you in case of an accident and as long as you have selected the right coverage online you are okay if you have a wreck. 

And let's suppose that you can put up with out of town claims service and email customer service ... let's say you are SURE that the coverage you have is right for you then still you need to consider a few things.

One ... the local agent will be spending the commission he earns from your policy at the restaurant that employs your cousin not the noodle joint in down town Mumbi (India) that an e-agent might be.  He'll attend the local concert, high school play, and basket ball game ... buying a ticket and advertising in the program to support the youth of your area.  Not attending the local Hindu festival and supporting a community on the other side of the planet.

Far more than the product it is the intent of the business person that should be important to you ... as the consumer your dollar is your vote.  Do you vote for India's success, Europe's children, or South America's Internet mogul?  No ... of course you don't want to vote for those far flung places and their success, you want your children and your community to succeed and to do that you need to weigh the benefit of your 10 cent savings against the the need to build your local economy.

Small and local businesses employ 1/2 of  all Americans (including you or your cousin), they are the true engines of our future success and they care about the children of the community.  So after you work the big box stores for their best Black Friday deals, stop by a local merchant and spend a few dollars with them, together we can vote for a strong local economy and community.

Peace on this Thanksgiving Day!!!

Help! My retirement is Shrinking!

With the continuous losses in the stock market many folks have put their money in secure vehicles like CDs but now CD rates are below inflation which means that their money will not buy as much next year as it does this year and the interest they are earning on the CD is too little to even keep pace with the ever growing costs.  In short they are losing money everyday that they own a CD with interest rates below the current inflation rate.

In 2010 the average inflation rate has been 1.7% while the average interest rate on 1 year CDs is .49% up to 1.5% on 5 year CDs, neither of which will keep your money from shrinking in value.  Think of it this way if you had $1000 in a CD making .49% you would make you $4.90 (minus $1.23 in taxes) during this year and your $1003.67 will buy you the same in the next year as $986.61 this year.  Yep even with the gains you lost money because it buys less this year than it did last year.  So what do you do with  your nest egg so it is safe and still protect it from lost value due to inflation?

I like the way fixed annuities look for this ... they offer substantially higher rates than CD's (Farm Bureau's are at a guaranteed 3% and some even offer a bonus of 2% on the first year) and they grow tax deferred (so you will get second year interest on 100% of the interest you earned in the first year).  Using that same example your $1000 in a fixed annuity would earn $30 (taxes are deferred) and that $1030 will buy you the same amount in the next year as $1012.49 so you still have the same (or at least a little more) buying power that you started with.

This may not be the strategy for everyone but for those wanting to preserve their nest egg it is a much better option than losing their purchasing power every year until they have lost all that they worked for through their whole lives.

Take a look at fixed annuities to see if they make sense for your retirement plan, I think you will find that they can be an important part of your overall plan.