Medicare Advantage
A Medicare Advantage is another way to get your Medicare Part A and Part B coverage. Medicare Advantage Plans, sometimes called "Part C" or "MA Plans," are offered by Medicare-approved private companies that must follow rules set by Medicare. If you join a Medicare Advantage Plan, you'll still have Medicare but you'll get most of your Part A and Part B coverage from your Medicare Advantage Plan, not Original Medicare.
These "bundled" plans include
Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance), and usually Medicare drug coverage (Part D).
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Medicare Advantage is a Medicare-approved plan from a private company that offers an alternative to Original Medicare for your health and drug coverage. These “bundled” plans include Part A, Part B, and usually Part D.
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In most cases, you’ll need to use doctors who are in the plan’s network.
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Plans may have lower out-of-pocket costs than Original Medicare.
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Plans may offer some extra benefits that Original Medicare doesn’t cover—like vision, hearing, and dental services.
Life Insurance
Term Insurance
Term insurance provides protection for a specified period of time. This period could be as short as one year or provide coverage for a specific number of years such as 5, 10, 20 years or to a specified age such as 80 or in some cases up to the oldest age in the life insurance mortality tables. Policies are sold with various premium guarantees. The longer the guarantee, the higher the initial premium. If you die during the term period, the company will pay the face amount of the policy to your beneficiary. If you live beyond the term period you had selected, no benefit is payable. As a rule, term policies offer a death benefit with no savings element or cash value.
Premiums are locked in for the specified period of time under the policy terms. The premiums you pay for term insurance are lower at the earlier ages as compared with the premiums you pay for permanent insurance, but term rates rise as you grow older. Term plans may be "convertible" to a permanent plan of insurance. The coverage can be "level" providing the same benefit until the policy expires or you can have "decreasing" coverage during the term period with the premiums remaining the same. If you do not pay the premium for your term insurance policy, it will generally lapse without cash value, as compared to a permanent type of policy that has a cash value component. Currently term insurance rates are very competitive and among the lowest historically experienced.
It should be noted that it is a widely held belief that term insurance is the least expensive pure life insurance coverage available. One needs to review the policy terms carefully to decide which term life options are suitable to meet your particular circumstances.
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Permanent Insurance (Whole Life or Ordinary Life)
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While term insurance is designed to provide protection for a specified time period, permanent insurance is designed to provide coverage for your entire lifetime. To keep the premium rate level, the premium at the younger ages exceeds the actual cost of protection. This extra premium builds a reserve (cash value) which helps pay for the policy in later years as the cost of protection rises above the premium. Whole life policies stretch the cost of insurance over a longer period of time in order to level out the otherwise increasing cost of insurance. Under some policies, premiums are required to be paid for a set number of years. Under other policies, premiums are paid throughout the policyholder's lifetime. The insurance company invests the excess premium dollars
Universal Life
The universal life policy is actually more than interest sensitive as it is designed to reflect the insurer's current mortality and expense as well as interest earnings rather than historic rates. Universal life works by treating separately the three basic elements of the policy: premium, death benefit and cash value. The company credits your premiums to the cash value account. Periodically the company deducts from the cash value account its expenses and the cost of insurance protection, usually described as the mortality deduction charge. The balance of the cash value account accumulates at the interest credited. The company guarantees a minimum interest rate and a maximum mortality charge. Some universal life policies also specify a maximum basis for the expense charge. These guarantees are usually very conservative. Current assumptions are critical to interest sensitive products such as Universal Life. When interest rates are high, benefit projections (such as cash value) are also high. When interest rates are low, these projections are not as attractive.
Universal life is also the most flexible of all the various kinds of policies. Because it treats the elements of the policy separately, universal life allows you to change or skip premium payments or change the death benefit more easily than with any other policy.
The policy usually gives you an option to select one or two types of death benefits. Under one option your beneficiaries received only the face amount of the policy, under the other they receive both the face amount and the cash value account. If you want the maximum amount of death benefit now, the second option should be selected.
You generally pay a planned premium designed to keep the policy in force for life, and accumulate cash value, based upon the interest and expense and mortality charges you assume. It is important that these assumptions be realistic because if they are not, you may have to pay more to keep the policy from decreasing or lapsing. On the other hand, if your experience is better then the assumptions, than you may be able in the future to skip a premium, to pay less, or to have the plan paid up at an early date.
You do not have to pay the planned premium, but if you pay less, the benefit may be more like term insurance, which is only in force for a limited time and builds no cash value. On the other hand, if you pay more, and your assumptions are realistic, it is possible to pay up the policy at an early date.
https://www.dfs.ny.gov/consumers/life_insurance/types_of_policies
Annuities
Whether you’re planning for retirement or retired, we all have our bucket list of things to pursue and accomplish in our next chapter of life. Whatever is on your list, most of it will involve spending some money.
That’s why millions of Americans use annuities to protect and grow their retirement savings to help cover their basic monthly expenses – things like a mortgage or rent, utilities, groceries, or transportation – so they have the peace of mind and freedom to live the retirement they want.
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https://www.protectedincome.org/how-an-annuity-works-signature-series/
Final Expense / Burial Insurance
When you apply for final expense insurance, you will not have to deal with a medical exam or let the insurance company access your medical records. However, you will have to answer some health questions. Because of the health questions, not everyone will qualify for a policy with coverage that begins on day one.
As with any type of life insurance, the premiums for final expense insurance depend on your age and health; where allowed by state law, they may also depend on your gender.
The older and less healthy you are, the higher your rates will be for a given amount of insurance. Men tend to pay higher rates than women because of their shorter average life expectancy. And, depending on the insurer, you may qualify for a lower rate if you do not use tobacco.
Benefits of Final Expense Insurance
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Final expense insurance can relieve the worries of your family members because it provides them with money they may need to pay expenses related to your death.
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It can be a welcome choice for people who can't get any other insurance due to their age or health but want to ease some financial burdens for loved ones.
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It's affordable due to the lower coverage amount.
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This type of insurance policy builds a cash value over time, so you may borrow from it or use it as collateral during your lifetime.
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The premium amount never changes, which can be helpful for budgeting.
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Coverage is guaranteed.
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The policy cannot be canceled, even if your health deteriorates.
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The death benefit, while aimed at final expenses, can be used for whatever a beneficiary decides is best—a legacy nest egg, mortgage payments, credit card debt, and more.
https://www.investopedia.com/final-expense-insurance-4801018
Under 65 Health Insurance / Affordable Care Act
What is the ACA?
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) – also known as the Affordable Care Act or ACA, and generally referred to as Obamacare – is the landmark health reform legislation passed by the 111th Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010.
What provisions are included under the ACA legislation?
The legislation includes a long list of health-related provisions that began taking effect in 2010. Key provisions are intended to extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, to implement measures that will lower health care costs and improve system efficiency, and to eliminate industry practices that include rescission and denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
How did the ACA focus on improving the quality of individual health insurance?
The ACA:
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implemented coverage standards that prevent insurers from discriminating against applicants – or charging them higher plan premiums – based on pre-existing conditions or gender;
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eliminated waiting periods that employer-sponsored plans would impose before starting coverage of pre-existing conditions;
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made health policies guaranteed issue – meaning health coverage is guaranteed to be issued to applicants regardless of their health status, age or income;
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mandated minimum-value standards for employer-sponsored plans offered by large employers;
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rescued ACA-compliant plan buyers from lifetime benefit limits and annual benefit limits;
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improved plan benefits by requiring ACA-compliant plans to include essential health benefits;
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required ACA-compliant plans to include a long list of free preventive health care services.
https://www.healthinsurance.org/glossary/affordable-care-act/
Cancer Plans / Hospital Indemnity Plans
Cancer insurance policies can cover a lot of costs.
Depending on the policy you buy, cancer insurance can cover a wide range of both medical and non-medical costs.
These are some of the expenses cancer insurance plans tend to cover:
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Co-pays.
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Deductibles.
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Hospital stays (especially lengthy ones).
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Visits to out-of-network specialists.
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Various tests, treatments and procedures.
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Child care.
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Dietary assistance.
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Travel and lodging when treatment is far away from home.
https://quotewizard.com/health-insurance/cancer-insurance
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Hospital Indemnity Plans
Hospital indemnity insurance is an insurance plan you can purchase in addition to your health insurance plan. You pay a monthly premium, just as you do for other insurance, and if you end up spending time in the hospital, you receive a fixed benefit amount paid directly to you to help cover expenses.
A hospital indemnity insurance payment could be used for anything, though people often use the benefits for deductibles, coinsurance, transportation, medications, rehabilitation or home care costs. You can also use the money to pay for some expenses incurred as you recover, such as groceries and childcare.
Hospital indemnity insurance payouts are sent directly to you as the policyholder. That’s unlike health insurance, which contracts with providers and pays them directly.
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https://www.forbes.com/advisor/health-insurance/hospital-indemnity-insurance/
Medicare / Medicaid (Dual-Eligible)
Children’s Policies
Juvenile insurance provides a minimum of protection and could provide coverage, which might not be available at a later date. Amounts provided under such coverage are generally limited based on the age of the child. The current limitations for minors under the age of 14.5 would be the greater of $50,000 or 50% of the amount of life insurance in force upon the life of the applicant. The limitations on a minor under the age of 4.5 would be the greater of $50,000 or 25% of the amount of life insurance in force upon the life of the applicant. Juvenile insurance may be sold with a payor benefit rider, which provides for waiving future premiums on the child's policy in the event of the death of the person who pays the premium.
https://www.dfs.ny.gov/consumers/life_insurance/types_of_policies
Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D)
Accidental death insurance, sometimes known as accidental death and dismemberment, is a type of insurance that pays a benefit if the insured dies in an accident or is severely injured such as with loss of use of body parts. This type of policy is generally less expensive than other types of life insurance, but it only pays if these events occur.
Key differences between accidental death insurance and standard life insurance
An accidental death policy pays a death benefit to your beneficiaries, but as the name suggests, only provides coverage in the event you die due to a covered accident.
The dismemberment part comes in if you were to lose a limb(s) as a result of an accident. In this case, an AD&D policy generally will pay out a predetermined amount as specified in your policy.* Simply put, accidental death insurance is a very specific as to what it will and will not cover. With life insurance, you'll have coverage for incidences of death as outlined in your specific contract - accidents included.**
*Some AD&D policies include coverage for a complete or partial loss of vision, hearing, and speech as a result of an accident.
**Life insurance policies typically pay for most causes of death, exceptions will be specified in your contract. Policies will vary.