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If you are approaching the age of 65, you are probably all too familiar with postcards in your mailboxes telling you that if you call this 800 number, you're going to get enrolled into the best Medicare plan for you on the planet! Everything will be free, perks galore will arrive on your doorstep - Just call the 800 number to hear more about it. Or, you'll get a phone call from an agent telling …
Michigan Auto Insurance Changes – Careful
We've been getting a lot of e-mails and phone calls lately regarding Michigan's new auto insurance options due to hit the marketplace on July 1, 2020. Here's a sample question from a Michigan driver trying to understand what the impact could be if he should change coverage levels come July 1. "I was reading about the upcoming change in auto insurance on Mi.gov site, after a local news …
Cobra, Covid & Retirement – Warning
Soooo, yesterday I was lucky enough to hang with a small group of Detroit area insurance brokers and some human resources folks. We were having a Zoom roundtable discussion hosted by Crain's Detroit Business for an August piece. Our topic? Best practices of late with Covid and a "new way of working". As the only "Medicare person", the message I wanted to get across to this group was simple and …
Don’t Be That “Just Because” Person -❓
Cameron and I were talking about one of his consulting calls with a couple and he said "we need a blog about not being that "just because" person". I understood exactly where his brain was going to so I jumped on it. These "Just Because" people are the folks that enrolled into Medicare Part B ----> "just because". If you're going to enroll into Medicare and Part B specifically, we just hope …
Is Medicare Advantage “GOOD” or “BAD” ?
You see all of the commercials advertising for Medicare Advantage Plans. They talk about free dental built into the plan, your prescription coverage is built in and you get a gym membership on top of that. Your friends might tell you that they LOVE their Medicare Advantage Plan. In our backyard here in Michigan, you may have seen the plans. Priority Health Edge Plan, Key Plan or BCBSM (Blue Cross …
Cobra coverage! Help us out here, world…!
Ok, so "world" is a bit dramatic, but.... In the U.S. --- Absolutely. I'm going to head right to the "helping" part first and then you'll see why. If you are in any of these roles: Human Resources - any role within and at any company anywhere; A financial advisor helping your client through job transitions or with retirement; A person that is over age 65 and considering signing up …
Covid, Retirement and Medicare…
Trying times! Medicare itself comes with a whole package of possible problems and no really great instruction manual. That's why we at Giardini Medicare are essentially the instruction manual! And, along those lines, in a few weeks we'll be able to reveal a helpful new tool that we've created for people making the transition to the Medicare system. Stay tuned there. One call yesterday, went …
Transitioning to Medicare means WHAT, really?
We talk a lot about "transitioning" to the Medicare health insurance system. We once in a while will have someone asks "what does that really mean and what do you really do?" Here's a perfect example for you. I'll tell you about John and Linda, who I spoke with yesterday. Linda is working for a large employer in Michigan and has her health insurance through that employer. She's a few years …
Working From Home – As Always; from Michigan….
Over the past couple of months as we've talked to people over the phone helping them with their transition to the Medicare system, we get the question "how are you all handling things with Covid - are you working?". Answer: Oh my goodness, we're busier than ever. #1 layoffs #2 early retirements "just because I'm done" #3 people still turn 65 each day. How are we doing things? The way we have …
Should I retire early? Medicare implications….
Covid-19 has stormed into our world causing a whole bunch of implications! As if you didn't know... In our world, we're getting lots of calls from people either electing to retire or having to retire. A recent phone conversation played out like this. Jane and John are still working, They are 66 years old. They each have their health insurance through Jane's employer and it's good coverage, …