It's Open Enrollment Time

It's that time of year again when a lot of people are making changes to their various medical plans. The choices you make during open enrollment will be affect how much your medical bills will be next year, unless you are fortunate enough not to have any. 

This past February I experienced my first major health event and spent nearly a week in the hospital. The hospital bill was around $75,000, with my major medical insurance picking up the tab for most of it. A small change in my open enrollment strategy could have cost me a great deal more and set me back financially. 

This is the struggle during open enrollment.  Trying to predict what your medical bills will be is nearly impossible, even with my Magic 8 Ball. I had always been a fairly healthy person, so being admitted and confined to a hospital was not in my gameplan when trying to decide which medical plan I would go with. I was just trying to find a policy that I could afford.

That is why it is so important to have some good supplemental plans at your disposal. Premiums for medical insurance go up each year. Medical inflation outpaces all of our other bills. Having a good disability plan or other coverage in place can help you if you are left with high deductibles or copays.

People will sometimes ask why I think it's so important to have more than life insurance and health insurance. My response is as follows: Health insurance won't pay all of the bills if something serious happens.  Add to that the fact that people generally don't have enough life insurance to cover all the expenses their family will have if they die. Supplemental (or voluntary plans, as they are known) can help you fill in those gaps. 

To this end, I am a huge proponent of supplement policies, not just because I sell them, but because I own them myself. I personally know the value of a Hospital Indemnity policy. I have a cancer plan on my family because I know that the out-of-pocket expenses are extremely high. My disability insurance policy will help cover my bills if I am sick or hurt and can't work. 

I don't want my friends to have to set up a GoFundMe page because they don't have the money to pay their bills. But I do want my friends (and clients) to have a good accident insurance policy so I don't have to contribute to their crowdfunding when they get hurt.

These plans all have a place and none will break my bank account. However, not having an extra policy or two in case of a serious illness or injury could destroy your family's finances. The vast majority of bankruptcies in this country are caused by major medical events. According to CNBC, 137million Americans were struggling with medical debt in 2019. And TD Ameritrade found that medical expenses are the number one reason why people of all ages cash out their 401(k)'s or other retirement savings. 

The majority of these types of plans are sold through the workplace, with employers deducting the premiums from the employees' paychecks. For those of us who are business owners, contract employees and otherwise self-employed, Surf Financial Brokers has comparable plans that can be purchased on an individual basis. And we can take your application right over the phone. Check out our website and book an appointment that works for you to make sure you have this valuable coverage. 

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! Thanks!

How Do I Cover Out-Of-Pocket Medical Expenses?

With Covid in the news so much, we have had a spike in interest regarding the various supplemental plans we offer. Even though medical insurance pays the majority of the hospital and doctors' bills, there are still a lot of expenses that are not covered. Deductibles and coinsurance just two of examples. We recommend you take a look at your medical coverage when enrolling and check to see what your Out of Pocket (OOP) maximum is during the plan year. 

The OOP is the amount you could be on the responsible for if you were to be seriously ill. Earlier this year I was hospitalized for nearly a week when my pancreatitis flared up. Beside the physical pain I was having (it really hurt!) I knew there was going to be some financial pain as well. My OOP was around $4500. 

Many people have chosen medical plans with high deductibles to keep their premiums low, but they haven't considered how they will pay for those deductibles if they are hospitalized. Sure, you can call the hospital or other provider and work out a payment plan, but it would be much easier to have an insurance policy that can pay those out-of-pocket costs.

This is the time of year when many people are making changes into their medical plans. Open enrollment gives us an opportunity to made adjustments that fit into our budgets.

 

There has been a misconception that we have to work for a company to be eligible for group supplemental plans, but that's not always the case. A large number of individuals who are business owners, contract employees, or otherwise self-employed, can still have access to some great policies that will help cover those bills that their major medical does not.

We have options like our Hospital Indemnity (HI) plans, which give you extra money if you are admitted and confined to the hospital. As mentioned earlier, interest in these plans has increased due to the pandemic. And you can tailor the plan to give you the coverage you need. 

These plans pay directly to you, not the doctor or the hospital, so you can use the money as you need. There are no networks involved, so it doesn't matter where your received care. And these plans pay in addition to other insurance and workers' compensation plans. 

When you apply for an HI plan you can choose amounts for being admitted to the hospital, as well as daily confinement benefits. There are also optional riders for serious accidents and outpatient surgery. That flexibility lets you customize your plan to be affordable for you.

Filing a claim is easy as well. After leaving the hospital, simply fill out the forms and attach any medical receipts. 

During these crazy times when the Coronavirus is in the news each day, we see hospitals filled to capacity all over the country. Record numbers of cases remind us that anyone can get seriously ill, and not necessary from Covid, but from other ailments, like heart disease, cancer and strokes. And of course, serious accidents can also be costly. That is why we have health insurance in the first place. Making sure we can cover our health insurance premiums is tough, but trying to cover those extra expenses can be even tougher. And trust us when we say that not everyone wants to contribute to a GoFundMe page.

Let us help you with keep those out-of-pocket expenses low and please 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!

Why Purchase a Cancer Insurance Policy?

Cancer has touched the lives of so many people, either by being diagnosed with the disease, or having a family member who was diagnosed. With Covid-19 dominating the news of late, people have been distracted. But with the recent deaths of prominent celebrities like Eddie Van Halen and Chadwick Boseman, the disease has been come back to the attention of the country. 

The American Cancer Society estimated there would be more than 1.7 million new cancer cases diagnosed in 2019. Approximately 39 out of 100 men and 38 out of 100 women will develop cancer during their lifetime. These numbers should make people take notice that anyone can be at risk.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the direct medical costs for cancer were an estimated $80.2 billion in 2015. Of those costs, 52% were for hospital outpatient or office-based provider visits, and 38% were for inpatient hospital stays.

These report estimates are based on individual cases, but the reality is cancer affects entire households, not just an individual. Extended time off work, family members becoming caregivers, outside caregiver expenses, medical bills - cancer affects us physically, emotionally, and financially.

I've shared the story in a previous post about the man in my area whose child was receiving cancer treatments two hours away from their home. The family was close to having his power shut off because he wasn't able to work due to the traveling back and forth. Luckily, the man's employer realized at the last minute that the man had purchased an all but forgotten cancer plan a few years earlier and helped restore the man's finances.

Cancer insurance policies can help keep the out-of-pocket costs down so that you can focus on what matters most to you. With this in mind, Surf Financial Brokers has looked for quality cancer insurance plans to offer to our clients in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. One of these plans is offered through Manhattan Life Insurance Company and has some great features. 

What is a Cancer Insurance Policy?

A cancer insurance policy can provide coverage for services major medical plans may not cover.

What Cancer Insurance Policy Solutions does Manhattan Life Offer?

Manhattan Life offers “Cancer First Occurrence” and “Cancer Care Plus” insurance.

Cancer Care Plus and Specified Disease Insurance Benefits

• Guaranteed Renewable for Life
• Cancer screening test
• First Occurrence Benefit Rider
• Daily Hospital Confinement Benefit
• Surgical Benefit
• Radiation and Chemotherapy
• Hospital and Other Care Facility Benefits
• Optional Intensive Care Unit and Critical Care Benefit Riders*

Cancer First Occurrence Insurance Benefits

• Guaranteed Renewable for Life
• Payment is made directly to you upon an initial cancer diagnosis
• Choose a benefit amount up to $50,000
• Family Plan option – pays the same FOB benefit for each covered family member
• Optional Intensive Unit Care and Cancer Screening Benefit Riders*

*Optional benefit riders have state variations and may not be available in all states

This estimate is from the American Cancer Society’s “Cancer Facts & Figures 2019” and includes all cancer types except basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers and in situ carcinomas except urinary bladder.

These estimates are based on a set of large-scale surveys of individuals and their medical providers called the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the most complete, nationally representative data on health care and expenditures. Visit Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) for more information.

While your medical insurance pays the bulk of the hospital and doctors' bills, a cancer insurance policy can help you with the out-of-pocket costs associated with being diagnosed with cancer. Deductibles and coinsurance just part of the expenses. There may be other expenses like travel and lodging, not to mention lost income from being out of work. It can all be a financial drain on a family's resources. 

A cancer insurance plan can be very affordable. Don't wait until it is too late to apply for a policy. Book an appointment with us to discuss this valuable coverage. And in the meantime, please 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!

Is My Agent Looking Out For My Best Interest?

A few years ago a friend (whom I'll call "Bill")  heard I was selling insurance. Bill and I hadn't been in contact for a few years as he had moved out of town, so getting a call from him was a bit unexpected. We chatted briefly and then he gave me his personal situation. Bill was doing well financially with a successful business, was considering getting married and had a few investments here and there. We discussed my practice and what I offered.

Then he asked, "What's the best insurance plan you have?" 

Knowing he was an analytical thinker I replied with, "What are you trying to accomplish?" 

He laughed and said, "That's the answer I was looking for. If  you had blurted out a specific product I'd know that you were probably looking out for you instead of me." He suspected, and perhaps rightly so, that a life insurance agent would push the product that would pay the highest commission. 

When someone calls in and asks for a specific product, say a 20-year term life insurance policy for $150,000, I know that they probably have done some research. I may ask a few questions to make sure it's what they need, but I do my best not to pressure someone. They have a need and a budget and I do my best to keep them happy. 

On the other hand, if you have an agent who aggressively promotes one insurance product constantly, they are not looking at your "big picture" holistically. A good example is the financial "advisor" who only pushes annuities. The commissions on these can be big and agents like to sell them because there are no health questions. Herein lies the problem. Not everyone needs an annuity, but the agent will make it sound like everyone does.

One of my former coworkers at a life insurance agency loved to take applications on clients who were tobacco users. He said it was a "premium enhancer" because their rate would increase, thus making his commissions go up as well. I watched him one day as he was getting basic information from a client. He asked if she smoked and she said that she did. "Good for you!" he said enthusiastically and patted her on the back.

On another occasion, a client answered that she did not use tobacco. He frowned a bit and said, "Too bad, all the cool kids are doing it." He tried to make it a joke, but I got the feeling he was disappointed in the client's good habits.

All of this leads back to that dirty word, "commissions". Unfortunately, people hear that word and think that someone is trying to take advantage of them. And yes, the higher the price of a policy, the more I make, but it's true in other professions too. 

Realtors work off of a percentage of the sale, but that doesn't mean I don't trust them. As I'm currently working with a realtor to sell some property I can say that he has gone above and beyond the call of duty and has put in a lot of hours. Having a rough estimate of what his commission will be doesn't give me pause. I know he's working in my best interest. 

I have learned from experience that when I can satisfy the client with my work I'll get referrals, which leads to more clients. And that is how I make my living, by looking out for the client, not my paycheck. 

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!

Should There Be Humor In Insurance?

Selling insurance is a serious business to most people. Let's face it, life insurance, disability insurance and other lines like cancer and accident plans are heavy subjects. Sitting with a client and talking about how their family will handle it when they die isn't the happiest discussion of the day. And asking them how they think their loved one will handle the family's finances if they can't work or become chronically ill is necessary, but not the kind of conversation one considers enjoyable. 

As an agent and insurance broker, I've had people tell me that they just want to avoid these doom and gloom topics. I completely understand that our everyday lives are full of negativity and bad news, especially with a pandemic and economic troubles in the news each day. But some topics, like making sure that your family is taken care of, have to be considered.

With this in mind, I try to keep the conversation serious, but not too serious. Half of the battle is to keep a good demeanor and let the client know that the seriousness of what we are trying to accomplish, which is securing the financial future of a family. 

However, sometimes a little humor injected into a conversation lightens the mood. I'm not advocating wearing a clown outfit when meeting with clients. But I do think that tossing in a little humor doesn't hurt anyone and keeps it all in perspective. Check out the video below to see how a bit of humor is okay.

A good example of this is when I discuss life insurance with a client. Part of the talk usually involves funeral costs. The average funeral runs about $7360, according to the National Funeral Directors Association, and there are usually some other expenses associated with death, like a brief hospital stay. To be safe, I may give a client an illustration for $10k. I sometimes will include a second illustration for $15k and show that as well. 

When the client asks why I show two illustrations I say, "The first quote covers the cost of your funeral. The second one is for the funeral plus an open bar for your mourners." That usually gets a chuckle. I even had one client take the higher coverage.

In my 20+ years in the business, I've worked with people who tried to be either too serious, or thought that they were standup comedians. Personally, I try to get to know my client a bit before trying to inject jokes. And I have even had clients who took a dark subject, like their own death, and made light of it. 

One client of mine began by telling me, in front of his wife and kids, that he had been shopping around for someone to cremate him and was on the hunt for the best rates. "I think I've got a guy down to $750, but I want him to guarantee that rate." His wife looked on in horror as he laughed at his own comment. "She's worried that the crematorium will increase the price when I'm not around to argue," he said with a sly grin. Dark humor at it's best.

Someone once said that people won't always remember everything you say, but they will remember how you made them feel when you said it. I don't expect my clients to remember every facet of the policy they are considering, but I do want them to feel comfortable and know that I'm looking out for their best interest, hopefully with a little humor.

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!

Long Term Care and Covid_19 Options

Earlier this year when the Covid_19 epidemic began to invade the country we learned that long term care facilities were being hit hardest by the virus. With the elderly residents already sick, the disease infected not just the patients, but the caregivers and other staff members as well. 

Keeping this in mind, people still need to plan for their care when they will eventually become chronically ill. We all want the pandemic to come to an end as soon as possible. But if it doesn't, do you have a plan in place?

As I have mentioned in previous posts, there are three stages of retirement for most people. I like to call them the "go go" years, the "slow go" years and the "no go" years. Unfortunately, when we think of our retirement, we have images of travel, visiting grandchildren and relaxing on a cruise ship. That would be the "go go" years. They don't always consider the other two stages.

As we age and our health begins to fail, we slow down. We stay closer to home and travel less. Sometimes, those years can even include being a caretaker for a sick family member. If you have never had to take care of someone else who is chronically ill, believe me when I say it can be one of the most difficult and stressful jobs ever.

Finally, there are the "no go" years, in which we are the ones receiving care of some kind, be it in a skilled nursing facility, assisted living facility or even a non-medical "senior community".  None of these options are anyone's first choice and all can be very expensive. And all are currently under scrutiny due to the virus.

Of course, the option every person would love to choose would to be at home. I have discussed my own father's refusal to go into a facility, even though he needed care around the clock. His Parkinson's was causing him to fall often and eventually led to us having to hire a home healthcare agency.

And as facilities are expensive, so is home healthcare. Having a couple of caregivers live in the home with my father was approximately double the cost of a nursing home or assisted living facility. He assured us that he could cover the cost with his pension and some rental income, but he fell short each month. When he passed away, we learned he had been dipping into his home equity line each month. 

What does someone do who wants to plan for the "slow go" years in this situation? Given that we can now acknowledge that facilities may not be a first choice, we think more people will choose to stay at home with a family member, a hired caregiver, or a combination of the two. 

This is why our Short Term Home Healthcare (STHHC) plan has become so popular in recent months. These plans*, which are available to those over 61 years old, are affordable and easy apply for. There are only three questions on the application and it can all be handled over the phone. To see a short video describing the STHHC plan, click here. 

Let us help you navigate the waters of your long term care planning. Visit our website to book an appointment and in the meantime, please stay healthy!

*Plans are not available in all states. Contact us to see if STHHC is available where you live.  

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!

Keeping Those Supplemental Benefits

I have spent a good portion of my insurance career working in the worksite benefits arena, helping people choose which insurance plans are best for them and their families. The employers decide which plans they want to offer and then we, as benefits counselors, sit down with the employees individually to discuss the different types of coverage. These ancillary or "voluntary" insurance products are deducted from their paycheck and the employees appreciate the convenience of it, but also are aware that their take home pay will be lower.

Many times the menu of coverages includes insurance policies for disability, cancer, hospital indemnity, accidents, critical illness, heart and stroke, and of course, life insurance. The employees can opt to cover themselves, a spouse, children or the entire family.

One of the many factors that the employees like is the "portability" of the policies, which means that if they leave their job they can take the coverage with them. And herein lies the rub. 

Not everyone leaves their job for greener pastures. Some may decide to move on to open their own business or to retire with a pension. For those people portability is a good thing because they probably can afford to continue paying those premiums on their own.

As we have seen with the Covid_19 epidemic, others may be laid off, fired, furloughed or just quit. For these folks, losing a paycheck may be the end of their coverage, as they probably will not have the funds to keep paying for those extra coverages. 

One of the issues here is that when these people originally purchased these plans, they were quoted premiums based on their pay frequency. In other words, if someone is paid weekly, the agent would say that a cancer plan is $6 each pay, because that is how much is coming out of their check. That doesn't sound as bad as $25 each month and most people don't do the math. 

A few weeks after the employee loses his or her job, they will get a notice in the mail asking them if they want to continue the coverage with a couple of options. One option is to have the premiums drafted out of their bank account or paid quarterly. Using our example above, the person who is now unemployed is being asked to write a check for $75. If they have not yet found another job, that money probably won't be in there budget either.

Another issue here is that many people simply do not have jobs that offer these benefits. For those individuals, who like us, are self-employed, small business owners or contract employees, voluntary benefits are not available. 

With this in mind, we have decided to begin offering our menu of supplemental policies on an individual basis. It doesn't matter if you run a business from home or out of your car. Everyone can now apply for coverages they want or need. A few examples are:

• Disability insurance - Business owners are usually working longer hours, no matter what the profession. If you are out of work and can't work, those bills don't stop coming in.
• Hospital Indemnity - These plans cover you for being in the hospital. With Covid_19 in the news lately people have started to express more interest in this plan.
• Cancer - We all know someone who has been affected by cancer and for many people a good cancer plan gives them peace of mind. 
• Accident insurance - If you are active, work a physically demanding job or have kids who play sports a good accident plan can help you with sudden out-of-pocket expenses.

When it comes to price, none of these insurance plans are going to break the bank. Head over to the Surf Financial Brokers website and check out our list of products. A few even have short videos explaining how they work. In the meantime, if you have questions about them, let us know. And please 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!