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 Kreinbrink. Have Mike VanZuiden in here with me. It is, we were joking, it is the last Wednesday of October.
Mike VanZuiden:
It is. It’s crazy how quick this year is just flying by.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Oh my goodness, it is. Weekend is November, and we were joking too that this weekend is also turn clocks back.
Mike VanZuiden:
Exactly. Extra hour of sleep.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Extra hours of sleep, that darkness comes a little sooner too, what that brings. I was talking with my father-in-law last night and he’s always bringing these interesting tidbits to me, and the extended hours, so we’re getting into the days are getting to be the shortest days of the year for about another month, month and a half-
Mike VanZuiden:
Month and a half.
Nate Kreinbrink:
… and then they start getting longer again. So that’s the positive to look at. We’re getting closer to longer days.
Mike VanZuiden:
There’s something to be said for that, I suppose.
Nate Kreinbrink:
I suppose.
Mike VanZuiden:
As a tax season guy, I’m like…
Nate Kreinbrink:
Let’s back off that a little bit.
Mike VanZuiden:
Exactly.
Nate Kreinbrink:
But no, it is a fun time. Halloween weekend this weekend, we’ve got a lot of things going on. Nationally, obviously World Series going on. There’s been a couple crazy games over the last couple of-
Mike VanZuiden:
18 innings. 18 innings the other night. Who stayed up to watch that?
Nate Kreinbrink:
Not me.
Mike VanZuiden:
That was six and a half hours of baseball. That was two games in one.
Nate Kreinbrink:
All together. College football’s heating up, NFL, basketball season College high school, those Winter sports wrestling season. there’s exciting times, exciting times. Fall is here. It’s cooling off out in-
Mike VanZuiden:
Iowa Women’s basketball, there’s an exhibition game basketball tomorrow night.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Iowa Women’s basketball is starting tomorrow night. Yes, they kick it off.
Mike VanZuiden:
Exhibition day. Yes.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Yes. A lot of excitement and trending in the positive direction with that as well. So we’ll see what they can do.
Mike VanZuiden:
Absolutely.
Nate Kreinbrink:
But this time of year is also kind of important time of the year as well in our world as well, especially Medicare.
Mike VanZuiden:
Medicare. Absolutely.
Nate Kreinbrink:
We’re in the open enrollment period, started October 15th and runs through December 7th every year. And it’s an important time for those obviously that are most importantly those that are already on it, looking at plans for next year. And we’ve seen that with some changes and some advantage plans. If you are on them, you received a nice little letter from that specific company saying, “Thanks for being with us, but we are dropping this advantage plan in your area starting January 1st, 2026. You have this option, this option, this option.” That scares a lot of people, and rightfully so.
Mike VanZuiden:
It does. Well. It’s one thing if you decide to make a change because it’s better for you, and the change that’s being forced upon, people could end up being better for them. But when you get that letter, I think my reaction would be, “Whoa.” But there are options. There are things out there to do, and it could end up being a positive for a lot of people. Because it’s another opportunity, a guaranteed issue where you can get into an advantage plan, a supplement plan without any underwriting, which you have a one-time shot at that normally. But when your company drops your plan and you’re in an advantage plan. And you’re like, “Yeah, I wish I’d have gone the supplement route.” Now you can do that without having to go through underwriting if that’s your situation. So that’s a big deal for people.
Nate Kreinbrink:
And you’re exactly right, Mike. And I think when you look at the differences on your two ways to get Medicare, I mean you get your Medicare part A, part B, whether you go supplement or advantage, either way, you’re getting those two parts of it, which is considered original Medicare, but then you choose which path you want to go to. And advantage plans over the past 5, 10 years have been highly incentivized as far as some of the additional benefits for it. And you had very little, if any premiums, but you had a limit on your max out of pocket when you went to it. The downside of that was that you were tied to certain networks. And those networks we’ve seen over the last however many years seem to be starting to shrink. And the networks that you signed up for may not necessarily be the networks that you are going forward.
And we joke about it that it’s kind of like the cable companies in these television stations, where they have-
Mike VanZuiden:
A dispute,
Nate Kreinbrink:
… a dispute, they have a contract to say, “Hey, we’re going to carry you for this amount of years.” But at the end of that contract, there’s always this fighting back and forth to say, “Hey, you’re charging us too much.” Or “Hey, you’re not giving us enough.” Or it’s that back and forth. “Well, if you don’t agree to us, we’re going to drop you.” It’s that same thing. It seems like that plays itself out with providers and these advantage plans. And again, they usually settle at the 12th hour and everything is great, but it puts a lot of worry and panic into those individuals that have those type of plans. And it’s worked out well for people who have been healthy, who have paid a very little, if any premium. Who maybe didn’t go to the doctor, were knock on wood and benefit to them fairly healthy. That they haven’t had to pay much for their coverage, but they had it.
Well, again, when that changes though, you’ve got to look at what you are and you hit it on the head with this is your ace in your back pocket that you’re now able to be able to play that. If you decide to go over to a supplement and not have to answer any health questions, it may be the benefit to you where you know what? It may be the silver lining where you may be able to switch to that and get over to that side where you have a fixed amount every month that you’re paying, whether you go and use that every day of the month, or you only use it once, you know I’m paying this amount.
Mike VanZuiden:
And you’re covered.
Nate Kreinbrink:
And you’re covered.
Mike VanZuiden:
Basically, everything is covered. So I think that’s a real positive, but this is an opportunity right now for people in this open enrollment period. Take a look at what you have. If you have something forced upon you, like your plan being dropped, obviously you have to find something else. Drug plans, part D, prescription drug plans, that’s an ever-changing landscape as well. There’s some opportunity out there during this period is when you can change your drug plan every year. That would be effective for January 1st, 2026. So maybe your prescriptions have changed or maybe formularies have changed and tierings of drugs have changed. So to put all your prescriptions, have them run and looked at, and see if there’s a better plan out there for you that covers you and saves you some money. So this time of year, this open enrollment period is the opportunity for that as well. So lots of things going on right now. There’s some mentality sometimes you get on Medicare and you get on my supplement and my drug plan or whatever. And then, oh, it’s just such a relief.
So you’re there. And just I’m there now. I don’t have to worry about it ever again and you don’t have to worry about it. But I think it’s prudent to take a look at what you have and are there better options out there for you? Is there something that can give me the same amount of coverage and save me some premium. Or save me some out of pocket? And this is the opportunity to do that. So I’d encourage everybody out there that’s on Medicare to be taking a look at your coverages and make sure it’s what’s best for you.
Nate Kreinbrink:
And I think with the drug plans specifically, like you mentioned, I was looking at one with an individual the other day and from what they had, they had the same drug plan for almost four or five years. And it’s been the best one form every time as far as what it’s covered, what they’ve paid, networks as far as the pharmacies was the ones they were using anyway. So life was great to them until we ran the information this year and all of a sudden their max out of pocket was going to jump up to almost $8,000 a year because the one prescription that they were on all of a sudden was not going to be covered by that plan next year. And if we wouldn’t have went through that, they would’ve had a nice little eye-opening when they went to the pharmacy the first time in 2026.
Mike VanZuiden:
Sure. Yeah. What a change, right?
Nate Kreinbrink:
What a change, right? And that’s not something you want to unexpectedly fall into. And again, sometimes we run the numbers and you know what? The plan you have is still the best one. Why don’t you just stay on it? Or you know what? You could save maybe a dollar a month by going to this one. Or you can just stay with your same one. You know what? The hassle of not changing is fine. I’m good with it. We’re going to stay there. But you have a peace of mind knowing that, hey, I know that this is the best plan out there for me, not wondering.
Mike VanZuiden:
What a surprise it would be to get a prescription filled and pay $50 for it in December of 2025, and you go in 2026 in the new plan year and yeah, that’s a thousand dollars because it’s no longer covered. So these are the sorts of things we want. That’s why we encourage people to take a look at your drug plans because they change. And they’re changing rapidly. Just like the Medicare Advantage landscape is changing rapidly. The drug plans, there’s lots of changes recently the last couple years there too. So you’re not out anything to have somebody take a look at it and make sure what you have is still the best thing for you.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Well, and I think there is one misconception where people have, they’re in tune with it to an extent, but don’t fully understand it. And part of the new rules is there’s a max out of pocket for your drug plan for 2026, it was for 2025 and then for 2026, and that limit is $2,100 for the max out of pocket. But the misconception is that that is just for drugs that are covered under your plan as far as it is. If that drug is not covered under your current drug plan, it does not count to the 2100. You’re on the hook for 100% of that.
Mike VanZuiden:
Yes.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Well, I thought it was a $2,100 limit. Well, it is, only for drugs that are covered under your plan. So if that same instance, that’s why they’re on the hook for potentially $7,000 if they don’t switch to a different plan that it is covered is because that one drug that’s expensive is not covered anymore. So they have to pay a hundred percent of that. The 2100 is just for drugs that are covered under your current plan. Correct. And that’s what I think people misunderstand that part of that.
Mike VanZuiden:
I think so. I think so.
Nate Kreinbrink:
So again, there’s a lot of stuff that is going on now with it. And if you’re on Medicare, again, it does not hurt to just take a quick overview and see, hey, is this the best thing to do? And again, unfortunately the way things are changing from year to year, it’s probably going to be just a regular thing that you need to put on your calendar that, hey, during this time of the year when Halloween decorations start coming out is when I need to start taking a look at my Medicare plan to see what it’s going to change at for next year.
And it’s definitely worthwhile to do it, and I think it could potentially save you that unexpected meeting at the pharmacy to do it.
Mike VanZuiden:
I don’t think I want that after all, right?
Nate Kreinbrink:
No. So if you got questions, give us a holler. We’d be happy to sit down with you or just give us a buzz and we’d be happy to see what we can help out with, but definitely worth your while. I did want to mention real quick here before we run out of time, that every Friday, Nelson Corp Wealth Management is wearing jeans for charity. Money raised in the month of October will be donated to the REACH 848 program. Mike, appreciate you joining me today.
Mike VanZuiden:
Yeah, thanks for having me. Have a great day, everybody.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Mike, bringing you 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. Inc. a broker-dealer member, FINRA SIPC, investment advisor, representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc. 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.