Yes, you do!

Medicare pays only 80% of the covered expenses.  That’s not so bad, when you have to pay 20% of a $100 office visit charge.  However, if you’re like my friend, Dan the Roofer, who took a fall and discovered shoulder surgery cost over $90,000, you’d be on the hook for $18,130, like he was.  It’s the real big ones that can wipe you out, heart disease and cancer.  Those costs end up in the millions. 

Any agent can sell you a medicare supplement. I will find the  most economical option for you. That includes seeing if it’s possible for you to fully deduct the premiums from your taxes, like in a Section 105 plan or a 401(h) plan.   

How about Medicare Advantage Plans?  Nope.  I won’t sell those, despite the fact that the commission is four times greater than the commission for a medicare supplement.  Why?  Because the regulators won’t let me do my job.  I can only talk to you about the companies I represent, and I can’t possibly represent all of them.  

If you’re interested in a medicare supplement that I don’t represent, I am barred by law from giving you an honest appraisal of the advantages and disadvantages of both plans. I am only allowed to deliver what amounts to a sales pitch for the plan I represent. I prefer to stay out of that game. 

In addition, a medicare supplement allows you to go to any doctor or facility in the United States that accepts Medicare payments.  A Medicare Advantage plan does not.  I help people who are willing to pay a premium for that freedom.  If you want to be able to go to any doctor you care to see or to the Mayo Clinic or John Hopkins without a bureaucratic hassle, a medicare supplement is what you need. If you don’t need that freedom, or can’t afford it, I’m not your guy. I am happy to direct you to someone who is.