Medicare / Life Insurance

What does Medicare cover?
Here are the basics:
Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) helps pay for:
• Inpatient hospital care
• Skilled nursing facility care
• Hospice care
• Certain home health care services
Medicare Part B (medical insurance) helps pay for:
• Physician fees
• Outpatient hospital services
• Durable medical equipment
• Some preventive services
With Medicare Parts A and B alone, you are required to pay
deductibles and coinsurance for Medicare-provided services.
Medicare Supplement plans are designed to help pay for these
costs that you would normally pay out of your own pocket. The
costs and benefits will depend on which Medicare Supplement
plan you select.
Who is eligible for supplemental plans?
You can apply for a Medicare Supplement plan policy if you are
age 65 or over and enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B. (In some
states, Medicare Supplement insurance policies are available to
people with disabilities who are under the age of 65.)
For six months immediately following the effective date of enrolling
in Medicare Part B, you cannot be denied supplemental insurance
or charged higher premiums because of health problems.

There are two basic types of life insurance needs: temporary and permanent.

• Temporary needs include home mortgages or short-term debt reduction, family income and educational expenses and can last as little as one year or last 20 to 30 years or longer. Term insurance is the most cost effective method of insuring many short-term needs. There are a variety of plans to choose from, ranging from an annual renewable term (1 year plan) to a level term plan that could last 5, 10, 20 or 30 years.

• Permanent needs include those that last for your entire life or potentially for periods of 15 years or more. Permanent insurance needs include final expenses, funds the cover estate taxes and retirement savings protection. Permanent and universal life plans are ideally suited for meeting these goals.

The primary purpose of life insurance is to provide cash for your family in the event of your death to ensure that they can remain in their home and continue to maintain an adequate standard of living. A loy of factors determine the cost  you pay for the life insurance: age, health, tobacco useage, occupation, and hobbies.