Medicare 2027 Uncovered: Jerrie Taylor on Protecting Beneficiaries & Staying Diligent

0:00 This program is designed to provide general information with regards to the subject matters covered. This information is given with the understanding that neither the host, guests, sponsors, or station are engaged in rendering any specific and personal, medical, financial, legal, counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek the services of. Competent professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas. Attention individuals, families, and caregivers. It's Medicare Hour and more with Peter right here on K4HD Radio. This is the podcast for all types of insurance solutions while specializing in Medicare because we Medicare. Here's your host, Peter R.

0:49 Joseph. Good morning, good morning, good morning. Great to see you all this lovely morning. I can't believe it is the end of August. One week left and then we are into fall. It just definitely does not feel like it. It's been over 105 degrees all week here in California. It's been insane, and I know all over the U.S. it's getting pretty bad too. So global warming, yeah, well, I don't know. Anyways, just want to let everyone know we are live on quite a few places, K4HD Radio, K4HD. com. You can also download that app to your phone. We are also on Facebook Live.

1:33 We are on our Joseph Insurance Broker LLC website. And we're on our YouTube channel at Medicare Minute with Peter. So hopefully you can catch us any of those places. You can also text us any questions live, 909-217-2630, and we will answer you in real time. We are so excited about our show this morning. We've got a guest, Jerry Taylor. I've known her for quite a while. We actually ran into each other at the Medicareians conference a couple years back. connected over social media. She has got quite the story, has been in this industry for quite a long time. She's the owner of Lionheart Insurance Group.

2:16 So we'll hear from her in a little bit. We also are going to talk about hospital indemnity plans and what that means for you. If you haven't noticed here in the ACA market, which is Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, as you know it, That's health insurance for those under 65. It is getting ridiculously priced. Premiums are shooting up every year, it seems like. And the deductible and out-of-pocket costs are just increasing every year. Just for example, I just did a family of three yesterday, and their out-of-pocket for a family of three was going to be $ 19, 600. $ 19, 600. I mean, that is crazy. So these hospital indemnity plans kind of get layered on top of a health insurance plan. It helps you mitigate those costs and close the gap of that $ 19, 000. So if anything tragic happens like cancer, an accident, let's say you're in the hospital for a What hospital indemnity plans do, they pay you directly a check, and you can use that money towards anything. It could be towards that hospital expense. Sometimes it covers more than that, and you can pocket the rest. So it's amazing what this product can do for you. It's only a couple hundred dollars a month. And it helps getting onto a lower tier health insurance plan and then layering that hospital

3:49 indemnity plan on top. And that way you're not paying so much out of pocket each month. And then you're covered for that gap. So we're going to show a quick commercial on Manhattan Life. That's the product that we go to. So take a look. Hey guys, Ted here again with another Monday Minute. Even though technically it is Tuesday, I apologize. Just was traveling yesterday for medical reasons. But today I wanted to go ahead and take a look at Manhattan Life's Affordable Choice Plan. Like I mentioned, it does work a little bit different than a traditional health plan. Again, just like the one we went over last week, it could be compared to AFLAC, not because of the benefits it offers, but just the way that it pays. It pays set amounts based off of certain circumstances, certain benefits. services that you have that come up, it will pay a cash benefit that can either be paid to a provider if you do an assignment of benefits, or they can be paid directly to you.

4:47 So let's go ahead and get started here. I'm gonna just use kind of a generic information to quote again. So just using a family in their 30s that has two kids. So give me just a second to enter that information here. Let's see. I'm gonna check out affordable choice plans. As you can see, there's going to be four different options. You've got your Classic, Classic Plus, Elite, and Elite Plus. For a family of four, you can get coverage as cheap as $ 272 a month. And if you want the maximum amount of coverage, of course, that would be closer to $ 662 a month. Now, as always, I like to stress that, of course, these numbers could still be pretty costly. But if you're comparing these to, let's just say, an ACA plan on healthcare.gov, let's just say you don't qualify for a subsidy or at least not a large subsidy. And you're looking at a plan that, Hey, it might cost, you know, $ 1, 500, $ 1, 800 a month. This is definitely a good option that you can definitely take into account. So what I'm going to go ahead and do first is kind of give you a little bit more of a real life example of how it works.

5:58 The example one here, it's just based off of the elite level of benefits. As you can see, again, these are just estimates based off of healthcare data that's pulled from Manhattan Life. A hospital stay that's for about a duration of seven days could cost as much as $ 41, 660 and change. There is a network that they work off of, so if you use one of their network providers, they can get that discount that's available. Again, just using that as an example, leaving a balance of just under. $ 23, 000. You can see here the Elite Plan will have an admission benefit of $ 2, 000. Then the hospital benefits stay at $ 4, 000 per day. Again, for seven days, it comes out to $ 28, 000, leaving a total paid of $ 30, 000. So on this example, the amount that would be paid to you directly, $ 30, 000, that difference of your balance money being right under $ 23, 000, you would actually be able to keep that difference in the money that's received And that can be used to help cover missed pay. Sometimes you may have family members that have lodging expenses, food expenses, for example. So that money could definitely come in handy to cover those types of things. I'll give you another example here that's provided is using their classic level of coverage. Just an example of a preventative care office visit with some labs, $ 95 for the visit, $ 90 for the labs, but $ 185 total.

7:24 The plan would pay $ 125, which does still leave a pretty good gap. But as you can see here, another example of network discounts using a network provider could be knocked down from 185 to 130 minus your 125 in benefits would leave you with just a $ 5 balance left over that you would owe to that provider. So definitely is something that can be good for a lot of people. Now, just for time's sake, of course, I can't go over every single one of these. And I know that this is just a ton of information right here. So definitely, if you have questions, just let me know. You can comment. You can give me a call, 325-261-7211. I just wanted to kind of give a high-level overview of some of the benefits. As you can see here, on the right hand starts their lower amount of coverage, which is the classic, all the way to the left, which is their highest, the elite plus. So you've got an inpatient hospital confinement, which is based off of per inpatient day. So $ 2, 000 from the classic up to 3,000, 4,000, and then 6,000 all the way on the elite plus. You do also get a hospital admission benefit for the first inpatient day for every calendar year. And so that's basically an additional amount of money that's paid on top of this benefit right here. And as you can see, it ranges anywhere from 1,000 to $ 3, 000. You have your emergency room benefit, which I can definitely tell you from experience, emergency room definitely does cost more. that was provided here. But do keep in mind, you definitely do want to only go to an emergency room if it is absolutely necessary. And

8:55 I recommend that no matter what plan you have, or even if you're self-pay, emergency is something, you know, life-threatening, something that cannot wait. But if you have just like a common code, for example, and you can go to an urgent care, then you're definitely going to get more bang for your buck, if you will, Urgent care, let's just say even if it costs $ 200, $ 250, $ 300, you can see right here you have that benefit there for that urgent care. It does offer surgery benefits, surgical center benefits as well, anesthesia, assistant surgeon. One other benefit that I will highlight here right now in front of the screen is a doctor's office visit. As you can see, it does provide it based off a number of days.

9:37 So from the classic plan, you got six days per calendar year. all the way up to 10 days for that year, it will basically pay you anywhere from $ 75 per office visit up to $ 200 per office visit. And if you're thinking, you know, well, hey, what if I go over six days, eight days, or even ten days per year and I go to the doctor a whole lot more well if you have a good year you can roll over up to five visits per policy year and that can definitely come in handy to kind of rack those up prescription benefits as you can see here you got some prescription benefits and just a whole lot of other things you know allergy shots that was very common here in Abilene I myself am on those got some cancer benefits and just a bunch of different things. Again, just for time's sake, I definitely don't want to bore you with every single thing, but hopefully, you know, if you can pause the video, take a look and see if there's something that interests you are again, if you have a question, definitely let me know. We can definitely go over that with us. We can go over that together, excuse me, um, in the phone call or in the comments or just wherever, whatever you're most comfortable with. But in the meantime, if you have any other questions, um, I'm available pretty much any time. If you can just give me a call at 325-261-7211 and I'll be glad to help you out. So just remember, let TED coverage get you covered.

11:01 All right. So there's a lot of information there. Manhattan Life is one of the products we are, it's our go-to, especially out here in California. As you can see, you know, that was an affordable choice plan, which is a little bit different. It can take your place of your typical health insurance plan. And as you can see, it covers you for hospital stay, ambulance, urgent care visits, doctor visits, labs, all that stuff. And so if you can't afford, you know, an ACA plan, that might be an option for you to do. And they do offer other plans. Like I was saying, you could layer like a cancer plan, which is basically geared towards if you come down with cancer, it will pay you out a cash settlement on a That diagnosis. So, you know, let's say you're paying out of pocket or through your insurance chemotherapy bills and they're pretty high. That hospital indemnity plan or that cancer plan will come in and kick in and give you that check to cover some.

12:07 Of those costs. So It definitely helps mitigate those costs for ACA plans. For example, the premiums on some of these plans are. Like $ 2, 500 to $ 3, 000. A month premium for a family of three. And that's without any subsidy. So that is pretty high. And so what I do have some clients do is go on what's called a bronze plan, which is the lowest tier plan on an ACA. where they're only paying maybe about $ 1, 700 to $ 1, 800 a month, and then they'll layer one of these Manhattan plans on top. And so they're paying less for better coverage than if they paid like $ 2, 500 on the silver plan.

12:48 So we do the math for you. We see if it works or not. If you have any questions about any of that, you can always reach out to us. You can text me 909-217-2630 or go to our website, josephinsurancebroker.com, and put in your information, and we will contact you if you have questions specifically on the Manhattan products. So before we continue on our show, I'm waiting to see if Jerry comes on. I don't think he's in the room. Is Jerry here? Not yet? Okay. So we'll wait until she comes on.

13:30 Again, Jerry is the owner of Lionheart Insurance Group. She is a rock star in her industry. She's been doing this for quite a while. She's got a heart of gold. She definitely has a calling for this kind of work that she does with our seniors. And so it'll be interesting to see. Kind of her viewpoint on what's going on with Medicare in 2027. And I'm going to reach out to her real quick because she is a little late. So I'm going to see what's going on. OK. All right.

14:12 So while we await for Jerry, I'm going to share my screen here and show you something. So you probably. Have heard about. Articles in the paper lately about different Part D plans possibly going up for prescription drugs for next year for Medicare. The government is not doing subsidies anymore for Part D.

14:55 And so people are panicking because they're thinking their premiums are going to shoot up for next year. They are going to be impacted. I will tell you that. You know, the good thing is. With what has been in place recently, the government is negotiating prices with some of our drugs for next year. This has been happening over the past few years. So for next year, let me show you real quick. You could see. Because of the Inflation Reduction Act for the prescription the last few years, we had a cap, thankfully, on insulin, $ 35 per month.

15:36 Zero on those vaccines. And then in 2024, you know, the catastrophic coverage went away. So basically, you know, there was a cap now on the. Deductible, which is great. So in 2025, that cap was $ 2, 000, which made prescriptions a little bit more affordable. But what happened with that is that premiums for Part D plans. Did go up because of that. So in 2026, you can see it's a $ 2, 100 cap. That's this year. And then these are the prescription drugs that have been negotiated. For lower prices. You've got Eloquist, Xarelto. You know, Eloquist is used for heart conditions. It's used for guardians, for enslavers.

16:19 And Diabetics, and Trusto, and then you go on and on. And then you go to next year, that cap is now $ 2, 400, which is still pretty low. And you could see OZENFIC is the big one that's being negotiated next year. There is a GLP-1 program now through Medicare where you can get that for $ 50 a month. So that's mitigated costs on the OZENFIC side of things. I know a lot of my clients are on that. So that's good to hear. And then you could see Trilogy is one for next year. And then you can see all these name brand medications that are being negotiated and lowered in price. So that's the good news. And so hopefully that will continue to help us out with prices.

17:03 There are options out there. We do send our clients to the Canadian pharmacy, actually, which is very legal. And the other thing that happens is that we do.... Send Clients to GetRx. And that's a free app that you can download that reduces our prices on our prescription drugs. And usually I tell my clients, you can just use that instead of going through your insurance company because it could probably save you a. Lot more money than going through your insurance. So you basically type in the prescription you're looking for on GoodRx, and then you select that one. You select the pharmacy you're going to, and then a code will appear on your phone.

17:47 We can do it on our desktop, too. You can send it to an email on your phone, and then you show the pharmacist that code, and they apply the discount right then and there to your prescription. So those are just some tips for our clients about prescription drugs. I see Jerry has entered our room. Hey, Jerry. Oh, you can see me. There we go. Awesome. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. How are you, my friend? Fantastic. Fantastic. I think the last time I saw you was like two years ago, right? I know. Yes. Medicare is that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In Vegas. Yeah. You're coming back next year, right?

18:29 I am. Yes. I am coming back next year. Yes. And I just put myself, let me put myself on do not disturb. Okay. And then give me a phone number for you so we can scroll back. It's 443-467-2262. All right. Awesome. All right. So for our audience who doesn't know you, obviously I know who you are, but do you want to give a little bit of background of how you started in this industry back to the beginning? What made you start? Just where you're from? anything like that. Absolutely. Yes. Okay. So I'm Jerry Taylor. I am, um, I started in the Medicare space, um, by default, I started with, um, final expense and my clients were asking me about Medicare.

19:22 And honestly, Peter, I knew nothing about Medicare. I I didn't even know there was an 80-20. All I knew is they took money out my check, you know, when I was an employee and that was Medicare. And that's how I started really just by accident. And I started doing some research. There was a huge need in my community and I just, you know, got certified, took the ball, and just ran with it. That's awesome. That's awesome. And where are you located at, Geri? I'm in Maryland. I'm on the eastern shore of Maryland. Yes. Okay. Very cool. Yes. Did you grow up in Maryland?

20:05 So I'm originally from Philly. OK. Yes. Originally from Philadelphia. And then I lived in the Washington, D.C. area for for a while. I was there for like almost like like 20 plus years when my baby girl graduated from high school and went off to college in 2013. My husband and I decided to move to the Eastern Shore, which is more rural Maryland. We were in the DMV, which is the D.C. metropolitan area. But we moved to the Eastern Shore, Maryland. And I love it here. Like, I really love it here. And I've been here, although Philly is my home town. Cambridge, Maryland is where I had moved to. I consider Cambridge being my second home here on the Eastern Shore. But I lived in a DMV for like 20 something years, but I was in a Cambridge area for like 10 plus years. And that's where I've actually grown my business. It's my second home.

21:00 Okay. Very cool. Very cool. So what, what made you decide, you know, obviously it sounds like you were doing final. Expense for a little bit and then you went to Medicare. So what made you transition from that to Medicare? Yeah. So again, you know, my clients were asking me about Medicare. And when I found that there was a need here, I, you know, I just went on ahead and, and Jump both feet. And of course, final expense is a byproduct, right? So I still do life insurance, final expense products. But honestly, the Medicare, there is a greater need and it's a lot easier. A whole lot easier.

21:46 Yes, it is. I agree. I agree. Yes, because, I mean, you need health insurance. Of course, everyone, we do need life insurance. I mean, we should have life insurance, but you can go without having it. You can't go without having health insurance. For sure. For sure. All right. So you've built a very strong presence, obviously, in your community. I see all your social media posts. You're amazing. How did you become known as the person? Yeah. So one of the first things I did, like my very my when I first went in for my very first AP, I went back to what I started to grow my final expense business. So I went back into the senior buildings first. I went back into just a different community event. I just did it on a higher scale and I did more of it. So I did more of the serving at the community dinners and serving at the food pantries and really Medicare 101s and really just engulfed in the community, like literally just I mean, I got a phone call about 30 minutes ago. Yeah, 30 minutes ago asking us to come set up for an event. I have another event that day. And I thought I was going to take off and send my assistant.

23:14 But I was like, okay, I guess I'm working that day also. So she's going to be at one event and I'll be at another event. Wow, wow. Do you have like a team that you work with or? I do. So it's really my assistant and she's my sister and I'm so, so thankful. She relocated from Georgia to Maryland just to help me. I do have some other agents and my husband will jump in the air from time to time if we have stuff going on. Like I said, I do have some other agents, but really my assistant and my brother-in-law, they are like lion hearts. They are the lion hearts.

23:55 Yeah. So I'm so thankful for them. I am so, so thankful. My brother-in-law, um, he is retired army. So he was a retiree and you know, he, he, he hangs out here in the office too and helps in, you know, they're, they do events together. So it's, it's, it's really been a blessing because they are team lion heart. Yes. Now, how did you come up with that name? Lionheart? So, well, my. Husband and I, we have another business, the Lionheart Group. So it was kind of a playoff of what we had already had. His business is the Lionheart Group. And mine is just Lionheart Insurance. Yes. Okay. Okay. Very cool. Actually, it's Lionheart Medicare Mortgage Protection.

24:36 Yeah. Oh, okay. Very cool. Okay. So obviously I've seen the car, the bus on your socials. Why did you get a bus? How has it helped your business out? Oh my God, man. The bus has been a blessing. I am affectionately known as the lady on the side of the bus. Yes. So Medicare Misty, because I'm a student. I'm a student. You know what? We had Medicare Misty on our show a couple of weeks ago. Oh, I love her. She's awesome. Yes. I admire her, her business model. I met her at Club Win. Yes. And she brands everything. So I'm like, if that's what she's doing, I'm doing it. So she had mentioned in our group, somebody had asked about a magnet on the side of their car. And she said, I have a bus. So I immediately hopped in her DM.

25:34 I was like, you have a bus? Can I see your bus? Let me see your bus. So she showed me her bus and shout out to my husband and Rebecca Davis. You know, Rebecca Davis. I do. I do. Who encouraged me to put my picture on the side of the bus. Honestly, I did not want my picture on the side of the bus because I just didn't want it to be about me. Right. Medicare. I don't want you know, I just didn't want it to be about me. It's the best thing I could have ever did. Like, yeah, like my husband's like, baby, she put your picture and I'm like, I don't know. And Rebecca was like, are you crazy? So that was that was not my idea. I give credit to Medicare Misty, my husband and Rebecca Davis.

26:20 Hey, that was a great idea, obviously, because it attracts people to it. Now, do you guys do like meetings in the bus? So actually, it is an office. My husband redid the whole bus. It's beautiful inside. It's an actual mobile office. You can come onto the bus and you can sit at my desk and you can enroll. And there's a waiting area because I have a bench and then there's a TV and a fireplace and a little closet area, plenty of storage. So it's beautiful. When I first started, I would take it out into the rural communities, like literally where my second location is at. This is where I would come to this area with the bus. But I still do. I take it out into the communities and you can come onto the bus. But honestly, the bus is more for marketing purposes. The bus most of the time is parked because I thought I would be doing more business on the bus. But I got an office like right at the same time that my husband was redoing the bus. I moved to my first office in 2022. And so most of my clients I'll meet there.

27:33 And then we opened up the second location. So they'll come to my office, but I can still do business on the bus. Okay. Wow. And that is great. I love that. Yeah. Thank you. All right. So for you, how important has community involvement been to your growth as a business owner? Oh, it's been, this is how I'm growing, literally, the community and everything. You know, I I did leads. I purchased leads when I was in final expense. That was what I did. But I I honestly only did like one lead drop when I first started. And it really it didn't. It didn't really, it didn't pan out. So buying leads, that's not my business model. Going into the community, making those relationships, that has exploded my business. Literally, the doctor's offices, the dental, I have dental, I remember I was on the phone with one of my dental offices this morning at like seven something in the morning. She shot me a text message and said, hey, can we, I wanted to reach out to you before we both got in the office and got busy. Yeah. So they send people to me. I send people to them. I have one in particular, one doctor's office. They have several locations.

28:51 Really the food pantry, the health department, social services. One of the phone call I got about 30 minutes ago, that is a recovery house. She reached out to me and asked us to do their event. That same day I had the other events. So being a part of the community has been huge. I mean, literally that has played a factor in the growth of my agency. And I'm so thankful. I'm beyond grateful. Well, I mean, we have, you know, people who want to become agents that listen to our show sometimes. What would you give them in terms of advice? I mean, obviously, you know, I hear a lot about people saying, you know, Medicare is dying, which it's not. People are saying like, they're begging for leads because they feel like they're never being able to get in front of people to sell.

29:47 So what would you say to someone who's starting out new, brand new to this industry? What kind of resources and tools should they be looking at? So I would say, I mean, it costs very little money. I was talking to an agent yesterday who's newly starting out. Really just go out into the community. Go out into your community and serve. Serve. If you belong to a church. Ask your church. It's always it's always what what's in it for them. Right. So we're not asking them, hey, can you send me people? How can I help you? What can I do to, you know, to be of value to you? There's a lot of changes. I heard you mentioning about prescription drug prescriptions.

30:30 prescription drug plans there's a lot of changes hey can i come and talk to the your your your congregation about the changes they're hearing a lot of stuff on the news and people are panicking let me be a resource we were at a church a few weeks ago i got a call because i also do a radio show Yep. Yeah. I got a call. Yes. And it's funny. Yours, our titles are similar. So what's your title? What's your title? Medicare minutes and more with Jerry Taylor. That's awesome. Very cool. Tuesdays. And it's a local radio show here, gospel station here. And it's just a 15 minute segment. Yes. Just a short 15 minute segment. But I got, I'm like, you never, you never know who's listening. I got a phone call.

31:19 to come to a church, she, a lady, she listens to my show. I'm like, Oh my God, you're really listening to me. I know. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but I would just get out and serve. The more you give, the more God's going to give to you. So if you're really just going out there seeing how you, when you're going to the, if you're going to the doctor's offices or if you're going to a dental clinic, go into your, if you're with a carrier, see which dentist accept that carrier. Go to the dentist and ask them, hey, are you guys accepting new patients? Yes. Because I have some clients I would like to refer to you. I know that you accept XYZ insurance. And I would love to send them your way if you're accepting new patients. Who don't want more business?

32:10 Exactly. Exactly. I mean, literally. Just do it. Well, it's all about activity, right? You got to be, yeah, you got to be proactive. You can't just sit at where Jess waiting for a phone call. So yeah, I completely agree with you, Jerry. Obviously you've alluded to this, but the last question I have for you, what does giving back mean to you as a business owner? Obviously you give quite a bit to your own community. You're not about taking, you're about giving, right? So what kind of things do you do? So this past Sunday, we had our annual barbecue, you know, and I have it catered. We have a DJ. I'm in Maryland, so, you know, we're known for the crabs, the blue crabs.

32:54 Yes, yes. Ice cream truck. I had the snow... Ice cream truck guy didn't make it this year, but snow cone maker... The snow cone guy was there making snow cones, so... That is huge, Peter. We had over 200 people come out to the bar that day. Like literally, it was way more than that. Like it was, it was a lot of people, but the thing that stuck out to me most, I was so grateful because we got a lot of rain. So it was sunny. It was a beautiful day. I got pulled to the side by one of my clients and she just thanked me for everything I was doing in the community. I have a gentleman that comes every year He's in a wheelchair. He's wheelchair-bound.

33:39 He is a paraplegic. He can only move his head. He gets his caretaker to bring him to the park. My clients, they look forward to this activity. This is one thing that they know they'll have. It's a beautiful day. They don't have to pay for anything. I give out. And again, this was not my idea because I'm always using somebody else's idea. Right, right. Yes, yes. Patricia Gerber, shout out to her. I love Patricia Gerber. She told us about these little bags and it has a beautiful saying, remember your special, remember your beautiful. Yada, yada, yada. So I fill these little Ziploc bags, reusable Ziploc bags with just little odds and ends. If the carriers give me something, I'll put that in there. But most of this little tissue, you know, little tissue, little, you know, hand sanitizer, whistle. I'm a, I'm big at giving whistles too for safety purposes. Okay.

34:35 Yeah. So, and, um, and everybody gets one and yeah, yeah. So it's, it's so important to give because the more you give, They're just going to sing your name. I know, right? You're killing it. You are killing it. Well, thank you. And I agree. So we're all about giving back to our community too. The reason we're successful, we've won awards for the best insurance broker here in our local community. The reason being is because people see us, right? I mean, we're active, we're serving people and that's what's most important. So no shout out. I mean, I learned from the best Jerry.

35:18 So I see you and I see your media posts and you know, just like you're saying you borrow from others. I do the same thing. Yes. Yeah. Well, okay. I know, I know you're super busy. So just a couple of snippets of, There's, you know, people who are on Medicare that listen in. Is there anything we should be aware of for this next year? I mean, any big changes you think that's going to impact? I mean, obviously, you know, there's stuff happening in the news and people are panicking. We talked about the Part D prescriptions. But what else in your mind is important for people to be aware of this coming open enrollment? Well, I just think everyone....

35:59 No. Well, this for an agent. Yeah. Like if I'm you want me to speak on behalf of an agent or just a Medicare recipient, a Medicare recipient. OK, so basically there's always changes. Yes. So make sure you get with an agent, a trusted agent like like, you know, Peter. Yes. So make sure you you have that relationship and get with an agent. know the benefits. There are going to be lots of changes. We started going to rollouts and I'm like, Ooh, there's going to be some changes. Yes, but just make sure you do a review and know what your benefits are. And if it's not going to work for you, um, you know, then you can, make a plan change with your trusted agent.

36:45 Yeah, for sure. And, um, you know, the reason, one of the reasons I brought you on is that, you know, yeah, we're licensed in quite a few States, but if you're out in Maryland, you're listening in or you're on the East coast, Jerry's the person you should reach out to. She knows better about the market out there than I would. So, um, I appreciate you, Jerry. Um, and the best number again for you, For people to reach out to you, what's that phone number? Yes, it's 443-467-2262. Again, the number is 443-467-2262. Awesome. Jerry, thank you so much for making time. I know you're a busy lady.

37:28 So, um, and I'm excited. I'm going to see you in person again, right? I'm excited. Thank you. Thank you for all you do and sharing your family. I adore your Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. I followed along on your adventure. Yes. So thank you. Thank you for having me. Well, you know what's crazy is, I mean, you've been there, done that, but my daughter's starting to drive and that's already nerve wracking. I'm trying to take her out every weekend. And yeah, so they grow up fast. God bless you. I know. All right, Jerry. Well, thank you so much for your time this morning, and I hope you have a blessed week. Thank you. You too. Thank you for having me, Peter.

38:10 You're welcome. Take care. Bye-bye. All right. That was one of my good friends, Jerry. I appreciate her so much. You can see she has a loving heart. She really does serve the people out there in Maryland. Um has quite a great business structure out there A great team behind her and uh, you know, if you see Her picture on the side of a bus, you'll know that that's her so, um But again, I just want you guys to be aware of different changes happening. I'm glad she alluded to some of that. There's going to be another probably big disruption, again, you guys, this fall with open enrollment. Obviously, insurance companies are doing rollouts of their new plans for next year. We can't say too much because obviously our rules say that we can't share anything specific until October 1st. But like Jerry said, you want to get with someone like myself or an agent out there that's knowledgeable about the Medicare landscape. And to keep you apprised of different changes happening with your benefits, whether a plan is leaving the market or staying, if the benefits are getting worse, if doctors are leaving your network, you know, all those type of issues are very prevalent and need to be, you know, to the forefront of your minds when we're meeting with you guys. And so we bring all that attention to you guys. Again, we're

39:40 all about educating. We're not, you know, Medicare is something that everyone needs, obviously. Right. And so we want to make sure you're taken care of. that you are on the right plan, you're getting the care that you need from the doctor and medical networks that you have, that you're getting your prescriptions covered the best way. Again, you know, those examples I shared with you, and you can always reach out to me about specifics, but you don't always have to go through your insurance company for your prescription drug coverage. Like I was saying earlier, you can go to the Canadian pharmacy. We can help you sign up for that. It's going to be a lot cheaper. There's a GLP-1 program now through Medicare that reduces the cost for your Zempik and Zepound and Wagovi drugs. for those that are diabetic or dealing with obesity. And then the other thing is GetRx. Again, that's a free app. There is a paid version, but the free app will do just fine. You can download to your smartphone, your Apple or Android, and you would just look up that prescription drug, look up the pharmacy that you normally go to, you click on that prescription drug and the dosage, and then it'll give you a code that you show to your pharmacist, and that will decrease your price. It'll give you a discount on your prescription drug. So we walk our clients through all that. You know, we want to make sure that you've got all the tools and resources at your disposal and that nothing's missed, right? So again, you got to talk with someone. I know there's some of you out there who thinks, you know, hey, we could do Medicare on our own, but it can get kind of confusing.

41:12 There's a lot of different letters out there that we've shared over past weeks. There's a lot of different plan options. And you want to make sure that you're on the, you know, the right path for that. So please, please, please, if it's not myself, reach out to someone local to you that is a insurance agent broker that specializes in Medicare. Okay. Last couple of things before we close out our show. I usually talk sports because I love sports. That's just one of my passions. And I do coach my son's basketball team. So we just finished out our season.

41:54 I'm excited. The Dodgers are on a winning path again. They're continuing to win. I don't know if they're going to pull out this three-peat. Obviously, there's some good teams out there. The Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers, they kind of scare me. A little bit. We'll see what happens. As long as we're whole and healthy, I think we've got a chance this year. Um, and I'm excited. I I'm also a little, you know, I've got a little trepidation because, um, we've seen owners lock out, you know, players in seasons past. I hope that doesn't happen next year. I love baseball. Um, It's a great national pastime. It's there, especially, you know, sports sometimes is a soothing antidote to things that we're going through.

42:37 Right. And so we want to get distracted and get our minds off things. So I really hope there is not a lockout next year. I really hope that, you know, the owners and the players come to a resolution of some sort. But again, I'm excited about football season two. That's coming up just around the corner. Preseason has been happening and, I'm rooting for my Rams. I'm hoping that they'll, they'll pull it out. You know, obviously the Superbowl is in LA this year. So, um, things are lining up hopefully the right way. Um, sorry if you're not a Rams fan, but I'm excited about this season and excited about cooler weather for sure. Right. So let's hope that, um, that fall does come quicker and, uh, This weather does cool down a little bit.

43:22 Hope you guys stay safe out there. I hope the information we shared this morning has been helpful to you guys. You can always reach out to me at josephinsurancebroker.com. You can text me at 909-217-2630. We do all this and we do the show for our sponsors, for our audience. We've got great sponsors that we will show at the end of the show. If you stick on, you'll see the organizations that sponsor us. We wouldn't be here today without them. So thank you so much, especially to shout out to everything senior insurance and lead heroes for sponsoring us this year. Again, we cannot do this show without our sponsors. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And we do this because we Medicare.

44:04 Thanks for listening. Tune into Medicare Hour and more with Peter every Tuesday at 9 a.m. Pacific Time right here on K4HD Radio at K4HD. com for more real-life stories from experts who Medicare about you and protecting your health, your finances, and your future. See you next week.