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Tags: long term care insurance, Medicare Part D, Medicare supplement plans, senior life insurance, term life insurance

We all know a medical checkup once a year is a smart step in the prevention of disease and medical conditions, especially as you get older.

But what about your insurance?

A yearly check up on your insurance can be a smart way to reduce your costs.  And, an annual review makes more sense for some types of insurance than others.

Here is a quick guide on annual reviews for insurance if you are over 50:

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Tags: Medicare advantage plans, Medicare health plans, Medicare Part D, Medicare supplement plans, Retiree health insurance, senior health insurance

Some good news for retirees about health care costs:  they have dropped about 8% since last year.

But wait before you celebrate. 

The cost is still a jaw dropping $220,000 for a 65 year old couple retiring this year, according to Fidelity Benefits Consulting.  That does not include costs associated with long term care.

Retiree health care is likely the largest expense you will face in retirement. 

Here are 3 tips for helping you control health care costs in retirement.

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Tags: Medicare, Medicare and turning 65, Medicare health plans

Getting ready to retire?  An important part of your retirement plan should be your health care coverage in retirement.  Why?  Because making a mistake in selecting the right coverage can lead to significant unplanned costs – devastating for any retirement plan.

Your first stop should be your benefits office so you understand when your group health care coverage would end (assuming your company does not have retiree health benefits) and your options for continuing coverage if you are under age 65. If you are turning 65 and signing up for Medicare soon or over 65, Medicare will likely be your medical insurance going forward.

Here are 5 tips for planning for your Medicare coverage after you leave employer coverage

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Tags: Long Term Care, long term care costs, long term care insurance, Long-Term Care

The rules for eligibility for long term care insurance continue to tighten and at the same time the costs for long term care continue to climb.  That is why some people are turning to critical care insurance as an option to pay future long term care costs.

Critical care insurance is a type of insurance that pays you a cash benefit when you are diagnosed with condition covered by the policy.  You receive the cas benefit directly to spend as you wish.

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Tags: Medicare supplement, Medicare supplement plans, senior health insurance

A new report says Medicare supplement rates, on average, increased just 1.2% in 2012.

Yet, some people with Medicare supplement plans have seen double digit increases in their Medicare supplement insurance premiums.

What’s going on?

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Tags: Long Term Care, long term care costs, long term care insurance

There are some things about our future that are just hard to think about but need to be planned for.  Long term care is one of those. Yet most of us are in a state of denial when it comes to our future need for long term care.

In fact, two-thirds of people aged 40 and older say they have done little or no planning for long term care, according to a new study by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

At the same time, this is the generation that knows firsthand the probable need for long term care as they struggle to help parents and friends deal with the need for care and the high price tag that goes with it.

What’s going on?

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Tags: Long Term Care, long term care costs, long-term care insurance

If you are waiting to buy long term care insurance because you think the cost of long term care will stop climbing, think again.  Long term care services continue to get more expensive, according to the 2013 Cost of Care Survey from Genworth.

However, there is some good news.  The kind of care people want most – long term care in their home – is growing at a much slower pace.  The big increases are being seen in assisted living facility and nursing home costs.

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Tags: life insurance, senior life insurance, seniors

One of the last things most of us want in life is to be a financial burden to our family.  That’s why people buy guaranteed acceptance life insurance policies. They may want to provide enough money to pay final expenses or to leave a small amount to a caregiver for their help or enough money to fix up the house to sell it after they are gone.

Often known as final expense insurance or funeral insurance, a guaranteed acceptance life insurance policy usually has a benefit value of $20,000 or less.  It is also referred to as senior life insurance because it is life insurance for people 50 to 80 years old who may have medical conditions that make it impossible to qualify for other types of life insurance. 

Here are 5 tips for buying a guaranteed acceptance life insurance policy.

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Tags: baby boomers, long term care insurance, Medicare Part D, Retirement

Remember the old saying “if you’ve got your health you’ve got everything?”

That seems to be the prevailing attitude among baby boomer Middle Americans when it comes to retirement.

For all the concern about having enough money in retirement, it is declining health that middle income Americans worry most about.  Concern about health is four times more than having enough retirement savings (10%) or outliving your money (9%).

Here are 5 tips for baby boomers to tackle those longevity worries.

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Tags: Medicare advantage plans, Medicare Advantage rates, Medicare Part D

Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D policy holders can look forward to stable rates in 2014.  That’s good news for consumers since just weeks ago the federal government said it might be paying health plans less which could have meant a substantial increase in premiums paid by consumers in 2014.

There is also good news also for Part D prescription drug plan members as deductible and out of pocket limits decrease in 2014.  And the costs of drugs in coverage gap, known as the “donut hole,” expands in 2014.

Here’s a rundown of what you can expect to see in Medicare Advantage and Part D coverage for 2014 when the annual enrollment period begins Oct. 15:

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