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I have been fortunate in my career to have some (very) longstanding clients. One of my very favorites, Pat B, passed way Christmas day at age 90. She'd had been suffering from dementia for a while now, but was otherwise in (relatively) good health until very recently.

After over 30 years together, I miss her already.

When the girls were born, she knitted them the cutest little booties. She and Ernie were honored guests at our 10th anniversary party (also a long time ago).

I don't know many other agents who can brag that they actually insure every other member of a client's family, but I do. And can name them all (well, on a good day).

There was never a time that I didn't welcome seeing her bright red head passing by the window by our office's front door. She was strong-willed, and brightly-spirited. And she never missed calling me to wish me a happy birthday (we're both Libra's, so...).

Rest easy and well, dear Pat. You are missed.

Dayan Ha-Emet.

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Congress needs to fix Medicare.

No they don't. It is fine the way it is. Besides, I EARNED it.

DC has been stealing money from the Trust Fund for years. Now there is nothing left to pay benefits.

Actually, the HI portion (Part A) seems to be solid for now. The Supplemental Insurance (Part B) is a bit more stable, mostly because it is funded in part by beneficiary premiums and "discretionary" general tax revenues.

The bigger problem facing Medicare is the decline in the ratio of workers paying taxes to beneficiaries.

But no worries. The folks at Juniper Research Group have it all figured out.

the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in October released an updated analysis of illustrative proposals to create a premium support program for Medicare. The report explained how and why premium support could save even more money than CBO had estimated just a few years ago.

To the uninitiated, premium support would transform Medicare into a program roughly akin to the federal employee health benefit plan, or the Obamacare exchanges established in 2014. Insurers, including traditional government-run Medicare, would bid against each other to offer the usual complement of Medicare services. - MSN

Look at the statement in bold.

The solution is to create another Obamacare exchange, except for Medicare.

Tell me how well this has worked and then we can discuss it further.


#FixMedicare #SaveMedicare #Obamacare

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For most, Open Enrollment 5.0 (OE5) in the Federal Marketplace is officially over. Trump's "sabotage" of the insurance market was a rousing success. In an all out assault on Obamacare they successfully cut the following funding:

• Outreach and Marketing from $100,000,000 to $10,000,000
• Unlicensed Assistance Programs from $63,000,000 to $37,000,000
• They also saved by reducing the amount of time people had for OE5 from 90 days to 45. This shortened window also saves on costs to pay government employees who work directly with enrollment assistance.
• Eliminated payments for Cost Sharing Reductions of over $7 Billion.

So what were Trump's sales results? Over 8.8 million people selected a plan. Down a paltry 4% from last year's enrollment of 9.2 million.

Exactly as every Obamacare supporter predicted.

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For many people the Christmas season has fond memories of family and friends, gifts, food (including lots of sugary treats) and more. Even those who do not have a Christian heritage, it is the music of the season that captures our attention and seems to lift our spirits.

Most of the Carols of Christmas are 200 years old and written by European musicians.

George Handel, a German born composer, spent much of his life in England. The Messiah, one of his more well known compositions, was written in 24 days. When he emerged from his study he is said to have exclaimed that he had "seen the face of God".

Contemporary Christian music has a place but has not replaced the hymns of old. The same is true for  most modern contemporary Christmas music.

One score, Mary Did You Know?, has been recorded by a number of musicians including Kenny Rogers, Donnie Osmond, Natalie Cole, Cee Lo Green and Pentatonix.

The Pentatonix version is sung acapella which differentiates itself from all the other recordings. The human voice is capable of producing sounds unequaled by musical instruments. This version is recorded without accompaniment, yet has a rich sound of woodwinds and percussion.

Written in the key of B minor, the song sounds similar to a Gregorian chant performed in an arched abbey.

The lyrics are simple yet provoke a wide range of emotions, especially among believers. Listen to the vocals and ponder the words. We believe even those who are not of the Christian faith will find peace and have their spirits lifted.

Merry Christmas from our place to yours.


Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God

Mary did you know, Mary did you know, Mary did you know

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?

This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am

Mary did you know, Mary did you know, Mary did you know?


#Christmas #Mary

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Our friends at Pivot Health (purveyors of Short Term Medical plans) alert us to the latest taxing information regarding these plans:

"In order to comply with section 9010 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance companies are subject to a new Health Insurance Tax, often referred to as HIT, of 3.5% that will be added to the cost of certain health insurance plans, including short term medical. 

The tax of 3.5% will be added to the Pivot Health Short Term Medical insurance premiums on policies with January 1, 2018 effective dates or later.  This would apply to clients that have started a 4 x 3 short term medical plan in 2017 or have a policy term starting in 2018.  Your client's health insurance premium will include this tax on all January 1, 2018 billing dates and beyond. 

This tax on health insurance premiums is a tax required by federal law."

The good news, if one can call it such, is that these plans are relatively inexpensive, so the nominal increase should be, well, nominal.

Still, it's another ObamaTax eating up value (and your health insurance dollars).

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So, a few weeks ago I met with the widow of a client to complete the paperwork for filing a death claim. Complicating things was the fact that he died during the contestability period, which meant added scrutiny.

We quickly hot a bottleneck in the form of Matt's urologist, whose assistant wasn't particularly helpful, and so Amy asked me for help. Time was, I could easily make the phone call, but because of various privacy laws, doc's won't even acknowledge to me that a given person is even a patient. Still I offered to try, on the theory that perhaps Matt's privacy concerns died with him.

I never did hear back from the doc, but Amy called me a couple of days later to thank me; he'd completed and returned the form within a day of my call.

Heh.

About a week later, I received the check and let Amy know that it had arrived. And here's one of the two points I'd like to make:

It's still surprising to me that the current default in these circumstances is for the carrier to send the check directly to the beneficiary, and that this is at the agents' request. Unless said beneficiary is a plane-ride away, I just don't 'get' it: this is the most important part of the entire life insurance transaction. I made a promise to Matt that I would be there for Amy; how do I honor that promise by having the anonymous corporation entrust that check to Cliff Clavin for delivery (and maybe some practical advice)?

Which brings me to the second (albeit seriously intertwined) point: seeing the smile of gratitude on Amy's face reinforced just how important, and valuable, my job really is. I can stand tall knowing that I've helped to make it possible for her to continue her current standard of living for (at least) the foreseeable future.

What could possibly be better than that?

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It's been a while since we last visited the Cadillac Tax:

"By postponing the Cadillac Tax from 2018 to 2020 ...  the federal government is reducing revenues to fund Obamacare"

And by the way, how'd that work out?

In the event, FoIB Rich W recently pointed out that:

"The ACA Cadillac Tax is still around, just not yet implemented. If employers do not crapify plans by pushing toward lower premium, higher out of pocket, over 50% of plans will be impacted w/in 5 years."

[click to embiggen]

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