What Is Telemedicine?

Have you been in a situation where you are miles from home, perhaps on vacation, and a family member gets ill in the middle of the night? You don't have a family doctor nearby and you don't know if you should go to the local emergency room or not. Wouldn't it be nice if you could pick up the phone for some advice?

Telemedicine is a virtual platform that allows you access to healthcare professionals from any location. Whether at home, work, vacation or elsewhere, help is available 24-hours a day.

In many cases, it's unnecessary to wait in an emergency room or urgent care for diagnosis of minor ailments. With telemedicine you can consult a medical professional online or over the phone and receive personalized treatment. And if needed, the provider can call in a prescription* that can be picked up at your local pharmacy.

There are products out there that provide telemedicine services for about $10/month for individuals and $15/month for a family. My experience with these products has been in worksite settings, where an employer will offer it as a "benefit" and have the premiums deducted each pay period. Typically, after having a year or two the employees would cancel it because it, with most saying that the plan wasn't what they thought it was. I think they thought it was a substitute for a family physician or  even health insurance.

The interesting part of this is that most health insurance plans offer some sort of telemedicine as part of their coverage. Other outlets also have a telemedicine option available, like some pharmacies. With that in mind, most people who have health insurance may not need a stand alone plan. 

Recently, I had an interesting experience that I would like to share. I had gone to my physician for a routine visit, but it just so happened I was sick with cold and sinus infection. My doctor prescribed several drugs that I had never taken before to help with the cough and an ear infection that I didn't even know was there.

A day or two after taking these meds I developed a nose bleed. It was quite a mess and a surprise. I wasn't sure what was causing the nose bleed and thought that it may have something to do with the medications. I called my doctor's office and was told that the doctor would call me back later that afternoon. The lady on the phone was very formal and said something like, "I have you down for 5pm for a telemedicine appointment." To be honest, I thought nothing of it.

At 5pm my phone rang and I spoke to the doctor who assured me the medications were not the cause of the nose bleed and that I more than likely had burst a blood vessel by blowing my nose and coughing so much. The call lasted all of about five minutes.

A couple of weeks went by and I got a bill in the mail for $74. Confused, I called to ask why I had a bill when my doctor office copay was $20 which I had paid that after my appointment. "No, that bill is for the telemedicine call," I was told. Apparently, that call was billed differently and my insurance only covered about $30 of the $104.

I learned a valuable lesson. Make sure that you know what you are being charged when you pick up that phone to talk to your doctor. 

*Providers can not prescribe narcotics and some other medicines that are restricted by law.

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!

Planning For Your Retirement

According to an EBRI (Employee Benefits Research Institute) survey conducted in 2015, 66% of workers had saved less than $50,000 for their retirement. And 28%  had saved less than $1,000. The numbers slowly got better over the years, mostly because employment increased. As a result employer sponsored retirement savings plans helped, as they were the most effective way for people to save. 

And then the pandemic hit us. For the millions who have lost their jobs, retirement has been put on the back burner as trying to survive financially day-to-day and keeping one's head above water has become the priority.

Again, we are definitely headed into a retirement crisis. After the market drop of 2008, many people cashed out part or all of their retirement plans to pay their bills.  Scared of another market drop, many took their money out of stocks and moved to low-interest yielding investments in an effort to preserve their capital. 

The difference now is that the market is doing well while the rest of the economy is hurting. Companies have learned that they can keep productivity up with less employees, thus increasing profits. Those profits are reflected in the growth of the stock market, but not everyone is enjoying these gains.  

And yes, real estate has done well. Interest rates are still incredibly low, attracting buyers, but who is selling? Perhaps it is those who can no longer afford to be in their home due to a loss of income. The world has become very confusing. And it can still be confusing for those who are trying to plan a retirement. 

There are a few things to remember when planning for retirement.  

First, safety costs money.  If you put your money in an annuity with "guarantees", you'll pay in fees or additional charges.  (And yes, regardless of what your agent sales, there are fees in an indexed annuity). See my previous post on the free dinner at the steak house.

CD's at the bank can cost you in this low interest rate environment by way of inflation eating away at your money.  Your principal can lose value by inflation outpacing your growth. Do a little homework and find out what the current inflation rate is. Currently it's around 1.3%, which is very low, but it can change quickly if oil prices spike or another global crisis, like a war, should happen.

Also, when planning for retirement, a holistic approach is best.  The commercials for "orange money" or a big wood carved number people walk around with is great, but what does it really mean?  Trips, vacations, seeing the grandkids?  

I have mentioned that the three phases of retirement are the "Go go years, the slow go years and the no go years". Everyone plans to be active and have fun once they retire but the hard truth is that you may spend most of your retirement sick or homebound. You should also figure in medical costs associated with aging.  Long term care insurance (or something akin to it) are a must, especially if you have assets you want to pass on.

Estate planning has been replaced with "legacy planning" in some circles.  Legacy planning is a broader term and takes the concept of estate planning one step further, letting you incorporate your morals, beliefs and ideals into your estate plan, and by allowing you to "make a difference" with gifts you leave to charities and loved ones. Retirement planning goes hand in hand with estate planning.

 

But back to our retirement crisis.  Most people clearly don't have enough money socked away.  The government isn't in a position to take care of us.  As life expectancy increases, that doesn't necessarily mean you will live longer and enjoy it. As we say to our clients, just because you may live longer it doesn't mean you'll live better. Quality isn't the same and quantity in this case.  

The bottom line is that is doesn't have to be all gloom and doom. If you are in a position to contribute something each month, even if it's just a few dollars, to your retirement plan, do so. Mix it up as much as possible by diversifying your portfolio. Consider both putting money into your savings while protecting your assets with a long term care policy, which is a great way to play offense and defense at the same time. 

Have questions or comments, put them in the comments section below. And in the meantime, stay healthy!

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!