Unsolicited Medicare Calls and Texts Plague Seniors

Posted on by LJR Insurance Solutions
Scammers and identity thieves targeting seniors.

Everyday seniors are being targeted by scammers and identity thieves with messages like: “(person’s name), we need to go over your Medicare options today. Our team wants to help you with your choices.” Does CMS (Medicare) approve of unsolicited calls and text messages? Not that I have heard. For well over a decade I have followed the rules-no cold calls or contacts. Yet today we are not only bombarded by half-truth TV ads urging us to ” call now “. But these more insidious contact methods are appearing frequently on our cell phones. Listen to Medicare’s advice: “If you are hit, hang up..call Medicare (1-800-633-4227), don’t give your personal information. If you have…contact the Federal Trade Commission. ” Listen, I have built my business on truth, integrity, and customer service. It bothers the hell out of me to witness these abuses in our industry. Be careful and don’t be a victim.

  • Lou Reinitz LJR Insurance Solutions

Most Dental Insurance isn’t Worth the Paper it’s Written On………(but)

Posted on by LJR Insurance Solutions

Why do I feel this way about dental policies? Because most are expensive (high premiums), restrictive (waiting periods), and hard to work with (deductibles, etc.). Really, if you have a toothache and need a root canal or an extraction, or some other special procedure why would you want to wait six months or a year to get it done? YOU WOULD WANT IT NOW! And when the dental office says ” Sorry patient, but your dental policy caps you at $1000 benefit per year and you are responsible for the balance”, that could make you very unhappy as well.

BUT WE HAVE A SOLUTION!

How about a dental insurance plan that offers:

  • No waiting periods or deductibles
  • No exclusions for preexisting conditions
  • No annual maximums
  • Low, fully disclosed copayments
  • Quality assured dentists in local offices
  • $0 Enrollment fee
  • Even Orthodontic & denture coverage
  • ALL THIS FOR ONLY $6.95 MONTH!

Interested? Call Lou Reinitz at 760 699-1359 or check the information on our newly redesigned website at LJRinsurance.com

DRUG PRICES KEEP RISING!

Posted on by LJR Insurance Solutions
While congress continues to promise legislation, prices keep going up.

So, what is the biggest complaint I keep hearing as a Health Insurance broker? ” WHY ARE MY MEDICATIONS SO EXPENSIVE?!!!??

Well, that is an easy question to answer- Sadly, Americans pay the highest drug prices in the world and those costs keep skyrocketing. It is only February and already the prices on 500 medications have risen. Yep, the uncontrolled drug companies keep finding ways to make us pay more and more.

Sitting in the Senate is a bipartisan proposal that was passed a while ago in the House. How can we get Congress to take some action now to get this important bill passed and get some relief for all Americans?

It is time to get this done. Otherwise, our budgets will continue to be strained by the oft times outrageous prices we are now paying. We cannot allow these costs to us continue to accelerate while big pharma continues to get richer and richer.

  • Lou Reinitz LJR Insurance Solutions

MEDICAL NEWS CAN MAKE YOU SICK!

Posted on by LJR Insurance Solutions
Medical News can Cause Depression

If you want to keep your sanity it’s probably a good idea to turn off your television news, throw away the newspapers, and burn the computer.

Of course, I know you can’t do anything of those things. In reality, you must keep informed! It is our duty to keep up with all the developments that fly at us in an unrelenting manner today.

That means it is more important than ever to nave an experienced health insurance broker to help guide you through this morass of confusing and oft times redundant deluge of information. Someone who is available to you not just on a phone call, or on the internet, but surprise! There all year for you when you have questions or a problem. Give us a call anytime, and avoid the psychiatrist’s sofa.

Lou Reinitz LJR Insurance Solutions 760 699-1359

Celebrating a decade of serving clients in five states with their health insurance needs, and never at any extra cost to you.

GOOD NEWS FOR PRESCRIPTION DRUGS!

Posted on by LJR Insurance Solutions

Senate Committee Approves Bill to Lower Prescription Drug Prices!

Yesterday, the bi-partisan bill to cap annual prescription drug costs for Medicare enrollees at $3,100 maximum was approved by the Finance Committee.

This is particularly good news in a year where prices have already escalated over 18%. Perhaps this will slow down big pharma’s continued greedy efforts to produce higher and higher profits at the expense of those who can least afford it. The bill, entitled the Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019 would change the financing structure of Medicare Part D to eliminate the coverage gap, or as it is commonly known the ” donut hole”. In addition, it would require drug companies and insurance carriers to pay the bulk of the cost for those whose bills for pharmaceuticals are the highest by also the 5% share that currently is paid by beneficiaries when they are at the catastrophic tier.

According to Fiance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley(R-Iowa) ” This would provide peace of mind to millions of seniors who will never have to worry about going bankrupt to pay for medication.” Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) who worked with Grassley to get the measure approved concuured. According to the Congressional Budget Office, after 10 years the Grassley-Wyden measure would save beneficiaries about 27 billion in out-of-pocket costs, and $5 billion in premiums. The new rules are slated to take effect in 2022.

MAINE ON THE MAIN LINE AGAINST BIG PHARMA!

Posted on by LJR Insurance Solutions

Congrats to the state of Maine who has signed four new bills to help reduce the run-a-way cost of prescription drug prices!

Thanks to the leadership of Governor Janet Mills the legislation will help increase transparency, allow safe importation of medications to save consumers more dollars, allow bulk purchasing, and allow rebates to go to beneficiaries filling prescriptions. Bravo! In addition, a medicine affordability board has been established to monitor these programs and to help stop the greed of large pharma. It’s not the final answer but a notable beginning. Hey, you other 49 states- sit up and take notice of what can be done to help all of us in this difficult battle. – Lou Reinitz

Comments? Send to medmanlou1112@gmail.com

WHY HEALTH INSURANCE IS SO IMPORTANT IN THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD WHERE OUR LIFE SPANS ARE GOING DOWN INSTEAD OF UP!

Posted on by LJR Insurance Solutions

 

Consider we are the richest country on  the face of the earth, but we seem to be going backwards when it comes to health insurance. The U.S. has dropped an astounding 21 spots in life expectancy in recent years according to the Smithsonian Institute. With our current health care system in disarray, we now trail 25 countries in health rankings. Our expected life spans have gone down- compare us to Japan where average life span is now 84 years and we are currently at 79 years. Unless things change babies born in 2040 cannot expect to live much longer than that.

 

When you think about what wonderful machines our bodies are the current situation in care doesn’t seem to be what the good Lord intended it to be. It’s amazing to consider our lungs contain a surface area as large as a tennis court, our bodies give off enough heat in 30 minutes to bring a half gallon of water to a boil. Our human brain cells hold five times the information found in a set of encyclopedias, so why can’t we figure out what to do?

All we have are arguments about Medicare for all, State run Medicare eliminating private insurance, elimination of the ACA and replacing with….what? On and on and on.

Arguments but no answers and we must demand that something be done to keep all our wonderful components alive and thriving with good health, and our life spans increasing, not the other way around.

OUR WONDERFUL U.S.A. SHOULD BE LEADING THE WORLD IN GOOD HEALTH CARE, NOT FALLING IN HELPING FOLKS STAY HEALTHY IS NOT THE ANSWER!

 

 

 

Why You Should Vote NO on Single Payer health care. (Part 1)

Posted on by LJR Insurance Solutions

Coming up for a vote in California this November is SB562, the so-called Healthy California health care bill. With so many terms thrown around and used interchangeably these days I thought I would start this presentation with a brief glossary of the terms being used to help you understand what is being proposed.

SINGLE PAYER- is a state run system to be paid for through more taxation, that presumably would cover all health care costs for residents regardless of income, occupation, or health status. This act would eliminate an individual’s option to buy or not buy coverage from private insurers. There would be no more Medicare, MediCal, Veteran’s health care, and on and on. We truly believe this is a bad idea, and the reasons way will be covered in the next part of our series.

UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE is a catchall phrase for a program that is run by the government but allows the option of getting coverage through a private insurance company.

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE- Refers to providing every citizen through a national public insurance program, like Canada’s.

It is important to understand these terms as health care in our country is going through significant transition.

Please look for part 2 of the story on Thursday!

 

Thank you, Mr. McCONNELL

Posted on by LJR Insurance Solutions

I am a licensed health insurance broker. Our company LJR Health Care Solutions is located here in the Coachella Valley in California where the current temperatures on a daily basis are 110-120 degrees. It’s like living inside of a microwave oven! It is so hot even the bugs are not moving. 

We are all in a sweaty mess, much like the health insurance marketplaces which appear to be stuck in the muck and political mire. The ACA is dying on the vine, while the newly proposed AHCA seems like a distant mirage.

It’s like we are lost in the middle of the Mojave digging ourselves deeper into the red hot desert sand, not knowing which direction to go while the unrelenting desert sun continues to broil our brains.

With the new open enrollment periods just around the corner it seems our plans have hit rock bottom. In a recent news release Covered California warned that if federal policies change we could face significant premium increases and potentially 340,000 would lose their coverage. Peter Lee, the head of our state marketplace stated that the damage could be even worse nationally. Not a pretty picture for the strongest nation on earth.

This uncertainty has put us into crisis mode, and it is apparent we must find solutions quickly or our health care system will sink into a bottomless pit, beyond saving. None of us, I am sure, want that.

Does anybody have any water?…HELP…..help…OH! THANK YOU MR. McCONNELL!

(Note- Mitch McConnell said today GOP must work with Dems to shore up ACA)

– Lou Reinitz  LJR Health Care Solutions