Announcer:
It’s time now on KROS for Financial Focus, brought to you by NelsonCorp Wealth Management. The opinions voiced in this show are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Any indices mentioned are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly.
Registered representatives, securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research Incorporated, a broker dealer, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisor representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Incorporated. A registered investment advisor, Cambridge and NelsonCorp Wealth Management are not affiliated. Cambridge does not offer tax advice. Now here’s today’s Financial Focus program.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Good morning and welcome to this week’s Financial Focus brought to you each and every Wednesday morning right here on KROS. Well, this is Nate Kraayenbrink. I have Mike Stegerwald with me today. It is the third Wednesday. Hard to believe. June is flying by. We were talking on the way up, his little boy’s baseball season is pretty much winded down.
Mike Steigerwald:
Came to a close. Yeah. Never really felt like summer. I mean, we didn’t have many of those 90 and a hundred degree days. I mean, it’s a lot of cooler temps, a lot of rain.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Yeah.
Mike Steigerwald:
Seemed like it rained on every Monday when he was supposed to have games. So we’ll see.
Nate Kreinbrink:
It has been a weird kind of trend. We had that little stretch where we did hit some 90s and then all of a sudden kind of went back to kind of calm, which again was kind of nice, but again, just did not feel like getting into summer. Being towards the end of June here.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah. We’re coming up on the 4th of July here and normally you’re used to 90s and even some triple digit days maybe by now, but haven’t really sniffed that.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Looking at the extended forecast though, I think they’re…
Mike Steigerwald:
It’s coming.
Nate Kreinbrink:
It’s coming. I think, I don’t know, triple digits, but definitely into the 90s I think next week.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah.
Nate Kreinbrink:
So heading into the 4th of July for all those celebrations and parties and get togethers and…
Mike Steigerwald:
A lot of outdoor time.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Yes. But summer will be here. We will get it. We will get it. But again, third Wednesday of the month, as I mentioned, and I usually like to try to focus on Medicare. Again, different topics to cover, a bunch of different ways we could always go. Mike kind of jots some things down as far as some topics to maybe hit.
And again, he was kind of talking about a webinar that he watched the other day on Medicare and then the topic on it was kind of this aging population. I know Social Security has kind of hammered this concept for a while now as far as more people taking benefits than pulling or then contributing into it through the working class. Again, if you’re a business and you have more expenses than you do income, you’re going to have to adjust what it is that you are doing, otherwise you’re just simply not going to be able to survive.
Mike Steigerwald:
Right.
Nate Kreinbrink:
That social security dilemma that has been on the horizon, if nothing changes in the next seven or eight years or so, something’s going to have to change, whether it’s a reduced benefit, increase taxes, increase full retirement aid. There’s a bunch of different things going around, but again, that dilemma of an aging population is still there with Medicare.
Mike Steigerwald:
Right, right. Yeah. So we start doing this and you read about this stuff and you hear the facts of how many people are aging into Medicare, turning 65. It was over, I think it was last year, 11,500 people every single day were turning 65. So the aging population is growing at a rate that’s faster than people joining the workforce. So those numbers, like you said, Nate, they just don’t add up.
You couple that with the fact that yeah, these record-breaking years of more people turning 65, well, those people don’t just fall off. I mean, one year there is the most 65 year olds, the next year that just means there’s the most 66 year olds. Right? I mean, they’re going to have that gap that needs to be filled at some point. So this webinar that I listened to was really just talking about some of the challenges that are faced across all carriers and really just pressures that can be on the Medicare system in general.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Right. And I think again, when you start looking at that, I mean, that determines some of the pricing that these companies are looking at as far as just the sheer amount of people that are getting coverage or that could be filing claims with that.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yep.
Nate Kreinbrink:
And whether it’s again, filing claims and someone on their office has to basically take that claim and file it. And so again, it just kind of compounds, I guess you would say, as far as what that does to not even the care, but again, the back office providers as far as filing some of these claims.
Mike Steigerwald:
And on top of that, to that exact point, I mean, more claims, they’re just more expense in general with more and more people that are going to be in the system. It’s a difficult thing to forecast because when you start getting, again, the numbers, just the math doesn’t math. Right?
Nate Kreinbrink:
Mm-hmm.
Mike Steigerwald:
At a certain point, those are really some of the challenges that are being faced in the industry across all carriers and they’re trying to navigate this and not be too disruptive, not have benefits that are stripped away and not have to change a whole bunch of things with your policies and programs and… But we’ve seen quite a bit of change over the last few years with plans leaving and plans coming and these are all underlying factors that lead to those changes.
Nate Kreinbrink:
And I think when you hit it there as far as plans leaving and getting dropped or kind of tweaking what their coverage, one thing that usually always comes up with this and when you start going through the different ways to get it with your original Medicare with part A and B and then if you go with the med sup and then a drug plan or if you go the Medicare Advantage plan is vision and dental.
And it’s again, two common topics that people that usually have workplace plans have some type of maybe coverage or elected to purchase some additional dental and vision coverage. But again, when that question is asked, does Medicare cover that? Well, the answer is not really. And again, there’s different ways that you can get dental and vision coverage, but again, with all the people that are doing it, that type of coverage for dental and vision, even in your workplace plan, that coverage has kind of been tweaked over the past few years.
Mike Steigerwald:
Oh, sure.
Nate Kreinbrink:
And it’s important to understand what is needed, if it’s needed, and what you’re actually getting when you do have those plans.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah. And it kind of comes back to a common theme that we always talk about here, Nate, is the planning piece, right?
Nate Kreinbrink:
Yep.
Mike Steigerwald:
Right? So understanding what options you have is first, and then but really how does that fit in with what I actually need. Right?
Nate Kreinbrink:
Mm-hmm.
Mike Steigerwald:
I mean, it’s the question of all insurance really, not just health insurance, how much do I need? Right? And the cost, we know the costs have gone up across, again, across the board, but when you really start hammering this down and you think about what can be done, you’ve really got to figure out what you need, what fits you and your situation. Vision and dental are great. People have had them, like you said, throughout their working careers and feel like they always have to have them, but truthfully, where do the biggest expenses come in, because you got to get your teeth cleaned and your eyes checked, or if you’re having major-
Nate Kreinbrink:
Major.
Mike Steigerwald:
… medical problems, right?
Nate Kreinbrink:
Yes.
Mike Steigerwald:
I mean, so they’re great benefits. If the plans offer them, great, but I don’t know that it’s something that would be driving a decision, excuse me, driving a decision on which plan to enroll in. Could be a factor, but I just wouldn’t make it the main factor.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Well, and I think when you look at a lot of the plans across the board, no matter what company it is that you’re looking at is, again, when you talk about coverage, it’s not necessarily coverage, but a lot of times what they do is they offer discounts and discounts when you go in getting a cleaning or an exam or some of those basic things. So again, understanding that and looking at it, if you’re dead set on having specific vision and dental coverage, there are plans out there that you would get-
Mike Steigerwald:
Sure.
Nate Kreinbrink:
… on top of anything else that you would get. But again, when you’re looking at it, understand that again, it’s likely not included as far as that specific coverage. It’s more so in the line of discounts or kickbacks or something that you would get from using that. So.
Mike Steigerwald:
Just again, understanding the program that you’re signing up for.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Another topic that Mike brought up and again is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society is these GLP-1 drugs in this process of is this covered and does Medicare covered? And for those not familiar, it’s most commonly used as a weight loss drug treatment, I guess you would say, to do that. And again, is it covered and it has been in the news a lot lately and there’s kind of been a little bit of a decision on what that will look like through the Medicare microscope, I guess.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah. Yeah. So there’s been in the headlines lately there’s a bridge program that they’re calling this that starts July 1st, which essentially the big picture of this is making certain GLP-1s more affordable. So certain of these weight loss drugs are just a small copay available to Medicare recipients.
There are some stipulations with it, so it’s not all across the board. If you’re prescribed one of these things, it’s got to be specifically for weight loss that would be the reason it’s prescribed. So no underlying condition, just hey, just strictly for weight loss. So there’s some nuance to it, but again, it’s been in the headlines, thought it was maybe worth bringing up. If you have questions with any of it, you can give us a call. We can certainly help.
Nate Kreinbrink:
I think with anything, like Mike said, and then where this really goes with it is before you get any of this treatment, check with the provider that you’re going through, check with the care facility to make sure, to verify if this is covered under this program, if it’s covered under the plan that you have, the type of coverage that you have prior to just jumping into it and then kind of letting the pieces fall.
Mike Steigerwald:
Right.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Let’s have that answers before we go. And again, this is something that’s not going to go away with where we’re at in our society today. So again, I’m sure there’ll be ongoing kind of modifications to this coverage and everything with it as we go, but as it stands, it’s kind of what Mike just went through.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yep.
Nate Kreinbrink:
So again, all good stuff. If you’ve got questions on any of this, give us a call. We’d be happy to kind of sit down and walk through some of your options and what’s on the table for you. I did want to mention real quick before we run out of time that every month NelsonCorp is now featuring a new charity of the month. For the month of June, we are focusing on the Society of St Vincent De Paul. Again, this is Mike and Nate with this week’s Financial Focus. Thanks for tuning in and have a great rest of your week.
Announcer:
Financial Focus is a production of NelsonCorp Wealth Management in Clinton and Davenport. The opinions voiced in the show are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Any indices mentioned are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly.
Registered representative securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research Incorporated, a broker dealer, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment Advisor Representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Incorporated, a registered investment advisor. Cambridge and NelsonCorp Wealth Management are not affiliated. Cambridge does not offer tax advice. For more information, visit our website at www.nelsoncorp.com.