092 Ellie Saul: Mama Bear Speaks The Truth About Medicare

0:04
welcome to fun with annuities with your

0:06
host me stan the annuity man america's

0:09
annuity agent can annuities be fun can

0:12
contractual guarantees be fun

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absolutely they can find out the brutal

0:17
facts about annuities with no sales

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pitches or high pressure nonsense just

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the brutal and factual annuity truth

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which is all you need to hear

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let's have some fun with annuities and

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let's have that fun start right now

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[Music]

0:39
welcome to fun with annuities i'm your

0:41
host stan the annuity man america's

0:43
annuity agent license in all 50 states i

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want to welcome all of you that are

0:47
joining us on the major podcast

0:49
platforms out there

0:50
and also on the fun with annuities

0:52
youtube channel

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which is fun to watch us interact if you

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want to do that i am really excited for

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my guest today

1:01
her name is ellie saw um she is well

1:04
known in her industry as mama bear

1:07
medicare and i really like her because

1:10
she has a southern accent so you're

1:11
gonna hear a lot of twanging she's based

1:13
out of um fort worth texas

1:15
and as you know with all of my

1:18
experts that i bring on you know i'm the

1:20
expert in annuities i'd only do

1:22
annuities i'm i'm that guy

1:24
but you know i have jack londenberg for

1:25
long-term care and bill black for life

1:28
insurance and i'm hoping

1:30
that mama bear medicare and i think she

1:32
will be will be our go-to resource for

1:34
all things

1:36
medicare so with that being said i want

1:39
to welcome ellie saul now called mama

1:41
bear medicare how are you

1:44
i'm fantastic stan thank you so much for

1:47
having me i love your show

1:49
long time listener first time caller no

1:52
and for the people on the podcast this

1:54
is kind of fun um i would encourage you

1:56
to go to our fun with annuities youtube

1:57
channel because

1:59
ellie has this huge

2:01
stuffed bear beside her i mean she's

2:03
branding i love that i mean i'm the

2:05
brander right but she is really really

2:08
good

2:08
at branding so let's kind of jump in

2:11
um

2:13
why do you call yourself mama bear i

2:15
like that i think it's cool and it

2:16
rhymes but what's the what's the reason

2:18
behind that

2:20
thanks stan um

2:22
it's kind of personal so when i started

2:25
out in this industry my husband and i

2:27
were trying

2:29
uh to start a family and we tried for a

2:33
long time it took us over eight years to

2:36
have our sweet son we have two

2:39
baby bears in heaven and through trying

2:43
to become a mom

2:45
which has been my

2:48
lifelong dream i found medicare and i

2:51
think medicare found me so i became very

2:55
passionate and um full of knowledge and

3:00
just have this care for

3:02
medicare beneficiaries who

3:05
it feels like in this industry have no

3:08
one else just looking out for them

3:12
um you know there are very few people

3:14
who take on the burden of truly

3:17
protecting the rights of 12 000 people

3:21
turning 65 every single day i keep

3:25
saying 10 000 is it up to 12 now

3:28
it depends on the day

3:29
yeah it depends on the day it could be

3:31
between 6 and 12 and you know they say

3:33
we're not even maxed out yet so

3:37
there there are a lot of people looking

3:39
for information and there's amazing

3:42
information for them

3:44
by the way people that are listening

3:45
just that just are trying to figure out

3:47
who this great southern voice is on the

3:48
line it's mama bear medicare ellie saw

3:51
and if you go to mama bear medicare just

3:53
like at sounds.com

3:55
mamabearmedicare.com no spaces

3:57
you can find all her stuff and we're

3:59
going to have a pace for her on her site

4:00
like we do with all of her celebrity

4:01
guests we can you know read about her

4:04
and you can link to her stuff and she's

4:06
got some good videos and um so i'm just

4:09
letting you know don't don't panic you

4:11
know that we're going to have all kinds

4:13
of stuff about ellie

4:16
on our site and hopefully have her back

4:18
on going because medicare is kind of a

4:20
funky little thing i don't know that

4:21
much about it be very honest which is

4:23
i'm glad

4:24
that she's on my pr team is just always

4:26
yelling at me for last year do we have

4:28
anybody for medicare and i i literally

4:32
i as i started looking i'm thinking to

4:34
myself

4:35
if there's an industry that's more messy

4:37
than annuities it's medicare um it's

4:40
ridiculous so tell us a little bit more

4:42
about how you landed

4:44
in the medicare because i tell the story

4:46
nobody wakes up in the morning and names

4:47
themselves stan the annuity man and goes

4:50
into the financial curse word of

4:52
products and tries to scream into the

4:54
hurricane same kind of thing with

4:55
medicare how do you how did you land

4:58
here give us a little bit more of that

5:00
story

5:02
so it's a little bit silly but i like it

5:05
about a decade ago i was teaching a

5:08
bible study class for one of my best

5:11
friends who lives in a different state

5:14
so we were just starting to

5:16
um love the technology and the ability

5:19
to be able to have classes in different

5:22
states at the same time and her mother

5:25
watched me teach one night and basically

5:29
recruited me and then mentored me taught

5:32
me medicare i didn't know medicare at

5:34
all um i was doing collections so you

5:37
want to talk about an armpit job

5:40
wow

5:42
you know um and so i just

5:45
i just started taking in all the

5:47
information that i could like a sponge

5:49
and even as

5:51
someone brand new to the industry it was

5:53
pretty difficult finding truly

5:56
educational resources right and when i

5:59
would go to trainings you know like i

6:01
was a sponge so any big name insurance

6:05
company or big brand that had any kind

6:08
of medicare training or medicare

6:10
anything i was there you know with my

6:13
notepad and my little glasses and ready

6:15
to go and um

6:18
most of those big classes were very

6:22
disappointing

6:23
um in fact i can't tell you how many

6:26
times i've heard from the stage of a

6:29
major brand name that i will not reveal

6:33
yeah we don't we don't do company names

6:35
yeah ever ever because it's it's silly

6:38
anyway and and the same company that

6:40
owns the logo may not even actually be

6:43
the company up there on stage but

6:44
regardless

6:46
i heard several leaders say

6:49
do not educate do not do educational

6:52
meetings if you're doing educational

6:54
meetings that's the first thing you need

6:56
to stop because they're not profitable

6:59
and that that hurt my mama bear heart so

7:01
i kind of made a commitment

7:03
by the way turn up turn off whatever's

7:05
dinging and ringing back there because

7:06
that's that's going to be relatively

7:08
annoying to my listeners so should have

7:10
covered that early one of the things

7:12
that um you know she talks about which

7:14
is education

7:16
um that's kind of what we do that's what

7:18
i do i mean i call myself an edutainer

7:20
because i'm a little bit of an

7:21
entertainer but a lot of education with

7:24
my books and videos and podcasts and all

7:26
that stuff so i think one of the i'm

7:29
going to start this off kind of with a

7:30
dumb question because

7:32
and my and i'm sure my listeners and

7:34
viewers were like stan please come on

7:36
man um what's the difference between

7:38
medicare and medicaid

7:41
that is not a dumb question and i did

7:43
not know the answer to that question

7:44
when i started i

7:46
still don't so you're going to educate

7:48
me right here so go ahead

7:50
okay i have a very easy way to remember

7:52
it okay medicare is health care

7:55
for

7:56
people 65 or older or someone who's had

8:00
permanent disability for 24 consecutive

8:02
months or have a specific diagnosis that

8:05
makes them eligible for health care by

8:08
medicare

8:10
and medicaid is financial aid for lower

8:13
income

8:15
there are times that someone may be dual

8:17
eligible in other words eligible for

8:20
medicare and medicaid at the same time

8:23
but that's kind of rare

8:26
okay um

8:29
that's pretty basic i just i really

8:31
wasn't even um aware of that

8:34
why is

8:35
people are looking for medicare and i

8:37
want i want my clients and prospects and

8:39
listeners and all those but however you

8:40
define yourself out there

8:42
to use ellie and mama bear medicare as

8:45
your resource for all questions because

8:46
she is going to shoot it straight and

8:48
she's not going to try to sell you

8:50
something and all that stuff but why is

8:52
um

8:53
medicare literacy education so important

8:57
now in your opinion is it because of the

9:00
demographic tidal wave of people turning

9:02
65 or is it just the fact that

9:05
it's so messy in your industry similar

9:07
to the annuity industry of of wrong

9:10
messages agendas what's your what's your

9:13
take on why literacy is kind of a pound

9:15
the table thing right now when it comes

9:18
to medicare

9:20
that's an awesome question and i think

9:21
you you already kind of hit the nail on

9:23
the head that our industries are so

9:26
similar in that

9:28
the gem the beauty of the industry

9:30
is the best kept secret

9:33
what is that no stop right there you

9:34
can't just say that move on what is the

9:36
best kept secret

9:38
so the best kept secret about medicare

9:40
is that medicare original medicare has

9:42
everything that we've ever dreamed of

9:45
health insurance having that we've never

9:48
had original medicare is completely

9:52
transparent and has accountability on

9:55
every single side

9:58
every piece of coverage that someone can

10:00
have when they're eligible for medicare

10:03
under original medicare is public

10:05
information and it's the same exact

10:08
coverage for every single person who has

10:12
it and it becomes confusing because in

10:15
the industry there's a huge push for

10:20
everyone eligible for medicare

10:22
surrendering their right

10:25
why is that now why is that why is that

10:27
happening i don't understand that so

10:29
there are two sides of medicare right

10:31
there's the old-fashioned

10:34
good old original medicare everything is

10:36
public information you can even buy

10:38
guaranteed renewable coverage where you

10:41
can never be dropped where your coverage

10:44
can never be changed and have the same

10:46
rights for everyone who has it

10:48
completely transparent public

10:51
information

10:52
then there's a whole nother side a

10:54
privatized side and on the private side

10:58
is the profit side

11:00
so the profit side where someone can

11:03
surrender the right to original medicare

11:05
and purchase

11:07
medicare advantage or an alternative to

11:11
original medicare

11:13
that private side is 100 percent for

11:17
profit you know why now why would people

11:20
choose that

11:21
and i see the bad the bad um

11:24
tv commercials and all these you know

11:26
aging celebrities and people we watched

11:29
on sitcoms a long time ago and people

11:31
that played football 38 years ago or

11:33
whoever love those people nothing

11:35
against them but they shouldn't be

11:37
giving medicare advice why why are i

11:40
understand the profit but why would

11:41
someone choose

11:43
their program and give up the rights

11:45
that you're talking about

11:47
so it's the same answer as why would

11:50
someone choose a fixed index annuity

11:52
because of a bonus why would someone buy

11:54
an annuity ever because of a boat

11:57
the bonus is the flashy thing that you

11:59
look at and you forget about the

12:01
contractual guarantees that you may be

12:04
surrendering to have that little you

12:07
know

12:08
flashy thing on this side yeah i always

12:10
tell people bonuses upfront bonuses

12:12
candy for the stupid

12:13
um hopefully you didn't buy one for that

12:15
it's like buying a car for the stereo

12:17
system so what you're saying to me is

12:20
they're saying hey you got this really

12:21
good contractual guarantee but forget

12:23
that this is a really good television

12:25
commercial and we want to give you the

12:27
whistles and bells and all this stuff

12:28
one of my favorites and i think it the

12:30
commercial not favorites i i when i see

12:32
it i'm like really are people that

12:34
stupid

12:35
um

12:35
call to see if your

12:38
area code qualifies

12:40
i mean i'm assuming ellie that every

12:43
area code qualifies

12:45
listen

12:46
there are

12:47
i always say how many people do you

12:49
think know about this window of

12:52
guaranteed insurability that you have

12:54
how many insurance companies do you

12:56
think knows about that

12:58
all of them

12:59
and those are the ones that you're

13:01
hearing from and receiving information

13:04
from when there is perfectly wonderful

13:09
true resources available without having

13:12
to just take the um

13:16
the answers you know from like you said

13:18
the commercials some of those

13:20
commercials even offer that you can get

13:23
your premiums back for part b which is

13:27
kind of ridiculous because there's a

13:30
standard premium for part b

13:33
and stand less than 7

13:36
of the population pay a different amount

13:39
and that includes those paying more for

13:42
it because of

13:43
income related monthly adjustment

13:46
amounts so to think that someone calling

13:49
a 1-800 number to see if they can get

13:51
some money back

13:53
is um a good idea it's kind of like the

13:57
you know the bonus side so

13:59
um one way to make sure that you are

14:02
eligible to get that money back is

14:05
the first question medicaid

14:08
so this state where you reside has

14:12
different um rules and regulations and

14:16
you may qualify for that state to pay

14:19
your premiums back but you're not going

14:21
to get it from a celebrity or from

14:25
an insurance company so

14:27
it's just one of those little flashy

14:30
things that they do to attract people

14:33
well the more the more research that you

14:35
have my staff kind of dig in a little

14:36
bit on medicare and and present me some

14:38
stuff to look at over the weekend and

14:42
it's just so eerily similar to the

14:44
annuity space because

14:45
there's really no regulation

14:48
on the messaging and you know obviously

14:51
if there was

14:52
you know there wouldn't be any need for

14:53
mama bear medicare or stanley nude men

14:56
right i mean the messaging of annuities

14:58
in medicare is where the

15:00
is where the problems start uh in my

15:03
opinion do you agree with that

15:05
100

15:07
um and i think it's a lack of education

15:11
you know in in both our fields there are

15:14
so many

15:16
events that someone who is eligible can

15:19
attend where they're promised a free

15:21
steak dinner and a workshop sure and

15:25
most of those you know workshops

15:28
may be a

15:30
passionate salesperson teaching someone

15:33
how to buy

15:35
what they're selling

15:37
instead of

15:39
teaching them

15:40
how to look for

15:43
the perfect um coverage for themselves

15:47
so with medicare um it sounds like to me

15:49
and i always tell people yeah annuities

15:51
are commodity products but everyone's

15:53
situation is different and customizable

15:56
even though the contractual guarantees

15:57
are in place

15:58
is that the same thing with medicare

16:00
that you have contractual guarantees in

16:02
place but the reason that people need to

16:04
contact you or an expert like you is so

16:06
that you they can tell you their

16:09
specific situations goals

16:11
issues etc and then you can guide them

16:14
and point them to the right contractual

16:16
guarantee sounds eerily familiar

16:19
absolutely saying that's exactly what it

16:21
is and that's exactly why

16:24
it is so important that you contact

16:26
someone who can walk you through this

16:28
process

16:29
because most of the people that i meet

16:32
with or most of my students in classes

16:34
at libraries you know all over the state

16:38
don't even realize the brand new rights

16:41
that they have for their health care

16:43
when they turn 65

16:45
for example you when you turn 65 you

16:48
have the right to choose your own

16:50
prescription drug coverage you've never

16:52
had that right the way that health

16:54
insurance has always worked our whole

16:57
life is someone gives you a card and

16:59
says okay now you need to use this

17:00
pharmacy you need to you know pay this

17:02
copay or you can't go there you can't

17:04
use this brand when you become eligible

17:07
for medicare the tables are turned and

17:09
you have the right to choose you get to

17:12
pick based on what you're taking and

17:14
where you want to go to the pharmacy

17:16
so if someone is ever trying to

17:19
sell a plan because of how awesome it is

17:23
if they don't at the very least know

17:26
someone well enough to know what they're

17:28
taking

17:29
before they make a recommendation

17:31
then there's something in it for them

17:33
and not the beneficiary

17:37
i know that there's so many people

17:38
turning 65 what what um

17:41
[Music]

17:42
when do you tell people to to engage

17:45
with you what what's a what's a an age

17:47
where people should start calling

17:50
you and with that let me just remind

17:51
people this is ellie saw mama bear

17:53
medicare she's based out of fort worth

17:54
texas but

17:56
um she will take calls from all 50

17:57
states just like stanley nudie man she

18:00
can help you because you know she

18:01
understands this backwards and forwards

18:04
but when should someone say okay it's

18:06
time to call ellie it's time to call the

18:08
mama bear

18:09
what what age is that

18:11
so

18:12
that is such a good question i think the

18:15
best age is whatever age you are

18:19
and if you i'm not gonna let you get i'm

18:21
not gonna let you get away with that now

18:22
come on now

18:24
explain who called me no

18:26
the best age to be able to pull the

18:28
trigger and make a decision if you want

18:31
to do so while you have

18:33
a golden ticket and a golden ticket is a

18:37
once-in-a-lifetime window when someone

18:40
can choose any coverage they want

18:43
and not be denied because of past health

18:47
present health or potential you know

18:49
future health um

18:51
you can start making selections six

18:54
months before your 65th birthday okay

18:57
the month of and up to five after

19:02
if you know

19:03
you want original medicare

19:06
and so if that is the case stan this is

19:09
one of those best kept secrets that i

19:12
wish everybody knew well they're getting

19:14
ready to they're going to go to

19:16
mamabearmedicare.com you're going to

19:17
have these type of things listed out

19:19
there and easy to understand

19:21
english so that people can number one um

19:25
go to your site and just kind of learn a

19:26
little bit and then from there if they

19:28
want to engage with you on a one-on-one

19:29
basis i'm assuming that is no cost no

19:31
obligation you're just going to get on

19:33
the phone with them and have a chat is

19:34
that correct

19:36
absolutely it'll be brutally honest like

19:38
stan

19:40
the annuity man she obviously can tell

19:42
by her voice she's gonna be a little bit

19:43
nicer than i am i'm just you know i'm so

19:46
old now i just cut right to the chase

19:47
but it but it's good and i you know in

19:49
talking with ellie i do feel very

19:51
comfortable with you all my listeners

19:53
and clients and people calling her in

19:56
and checking it out at least having a

19:57
resource what i'm finding is

19:59
um

20:00
there's no good

20:02
person

20:03
out there

20:04
that

20:05
is a resource there's a lot of people

20:06
that sell medic

20:08
meds up and all that stuff by the way go

20:10
into that med sup what is a is medsup

20:13
the stuff you're seeing

20:15
on tv those stupid ads or is messed up

20:18
something different

20:20
so meds up is the same thing as metagap

20:26
if you ever hear language like medicare

20:28
supplement or meds up or medigap

20:32
what you are hearing about is actually

20:35
the compliment to original medicare

20:39
where you can buy

20:41
up to six months before your birthday

20:44
you can buy a policy you can buy a

20:46
contractual guarantee

20:49
to cover you from the day you're

20:51
eligible for medicare until heaven

20:55
even up to six months before it starts

20:57
so if you hear words like medicare

20:59
supplement medigap that's on the

21:02
not-for-profit original medicare side

21:05
okay when you hear words like medicare

21:08
advantage or part c it's actually not a

21:12
part of original medicare and most of

21:16
those commercials really push that side

21:19
because it is so profitable so part c c

21:24
stands for capitalism correct

21:26
you could say that i say c stands for

21:29
copay or c i like that

21:31
i know i i like that let's take a kind

21:34
of a benjamin um

21:36
i was going to say benjamin graham

21:38
because he's security analysis but uh

21:40
benjamin franklin look at

21:42
at medicare positives and negatives

21:45
let's start with the negatives because i

21:46
always like to do that what would in

21:48
your mind as mama bear medicare the

21:51
the go-to spot for for anything and all

21:54
things medicare what's the negatives to

21:56
medicare that people need to be aware of

22:00
so the biggest negative would be

22:01
misinformation

22:03
you know the biggest negative in my

22:05
opinion would be surrendering your right

22:08
to original medicare and not

22:10
understanding

22:12
that

22:13
you

22:14
no longer have access to a brilliant

22:17
program that you've paid into your

22:20
entire working life

22:22
and and a lot of times you know that

22:24
negative comes from surrendering your

22:27
right

22:28
to original medicare paying any of your

22:30
claims because you get a free gym

22:33
membership

22:34
so there's enough sociopath medicare

22:37
salesmen out there to look people in the

22:38
face sign them up for something and and

22:42
have them to have them leave behind a

22:44
very good contractual guarantee once

22:46
again sounds very eerily similar to the

22:49
annuity industry

22:50
that's in that's

22:53
that's disturbing i mean do does do they

22:56
if someone

22:58
if if an agent a medicare agent out

23:00
there says i i think it's in your best

23:03
case or best situation or best

23:06
suitability to

23:07
which is not is to give up medicare and

23:10
then go with this private plan is there

23:12
a piece of paper that a person has to

23:14
sign saying that they fully understand

23:16
that they're making the dumbest move of

23:17
all time

23:20
there is a piece of paper and most of

23:23
the things that are so negative are

23:26
twisted

23:27
into

23:28
a sales point

23:30
and i don't think that you know the

23:32
industry is overrun with sociopath i

23:34
think it's it's miseducation stan it's

23:37
like sitting

23:39
in a fancy ballroom with all white linen

23:42
tablecloth and the person on stage that

23:44
you're listening to where you're taking

23:46
notes to learn about the industry says

23:49
don't educate

23:51
so if all of my peers and myself

23:54
included we hear that every day from

23:56
leaders in the industry because

23:59
capitalism is so amazing right

24:02
they just want you to they just want you

24:04
to sell it but what i'm hearing is

24:06
kind of what the annuity industry

24:07
suffers from is

24:09
what i think is a given if you're in the

24:11
financial business is being a fiduciary

24:13
which is putting the clients ahead of

24:15
your best interest what you're saying is

24:17
they'll even fiduciary at the door right

24:19
i mean they're just saying let's sell

24:21
this thing

24:22
you know you got 100 people in the room

24:23
let's sell it to 100 of them regardless

24:25
of whether they need it or sent or it's

24:27
in their best interest does sound like

24:29
the bad chicken dinner

24:30
annuity seminar in my opinion

24:33
absolutely and you know i think to a

24:35
degree we all hear what we want to hear

24:38
so if you see a flashy commercial with a

24:40
zero dollar premium and your neighbor's

24:43
son sells it and he thinks you know a

24:46
fitbit is the way to go and and doesn't

24:49
look at it

24:50
for years to come

24:52
you know we we're living longer

24:54
healthier lives than than ever before

24:56
there are more men alive today than over

24:59
80 years old than have ever lived in the

25:01
history of our nation

25:03
no no i know i don't think we got to the

25:06
positives give a couple bullet points we

25:08
talked about the negatives obviously the

25:09
misinformation the positive medicare i

25:11
think you've covered them but give me

25:13
the top three in your opinion

25:16
so

25:17
transparency public information

25:21
uniformity everyone who has medicare

25:24
original medicare has the same exact

25:26
benefit and it's all public information

25:29
so let's say xyz surgery is covered for

25:32
bob it's also covered for sue it's

25:35
covered the same exact way in this same

25:38
exact amount and it's public information

25:41
and either of them can have a medigap or

25:44
meds up to pay whatever medicare doesn't

25:47
and that again is public information as

25:50
well

25:51
so every patient can become financially

25:55
whole and secure

25:57
without having to ever sacrifice the

26:00
things that they've paid into their

26:02
whole working life um

26:04
do you blame

26:05
the i mean i'm going to blame the

26:07
government for you but is it just a

26:08
really bad messaging

26:10
problem on this from the government

26:12
standpoint

26:14
obviously when you get private companies

26:16
they're going to they're going to

26:17
reframe it to their

26:19
profitability

26:21
liking

26:22
but could this be easily solved if there

26:24
was a consistent message

26:27
you know i i think that it could to a

26:29
degree but i don't know what we would

26:31
have to sacrifice to do that what does

26:34
that mean what do you mean by that

26:36
original medicare operates with a 2

26:41
administrative

26:43
portion of all the money that goes into

26:45
original medicare 98 of it pays for

26:49
claims for the patients have you ever

26:52
heard of anything that amazing like i

26:55
can't think of one business where

26:56
there's a catch i'm not i'm not as

26:58
excited as you there's a catch

27:01
what's the catch

27:02
the catch is there's not a lot of money

27:04
in education there's not a lot of

27:06
funding for someone to become a mama

27:08
bear medicare you know to to take her

27:11
little

27:12
guide to health insurance that's

27:14
published by the centers of medicare and

27:17
medicaid every single year and just walk

27:21
people through it before they make a

27:23
decision that could impact the rest of

27:25
their lives once they make the decision

27:29
is there a do-over is or is that it once

27:31
you once you

27:33
once you make it it's done

27:35
so the answer is it depends

27:38
okay

27:39
give me some examples

27:41
yeah what i mean by that is everyone has

27:43
one window one golden ticket where they

27:46
can do whatever they want in that window

27:48
again is that age six that's that 65

27:51
thing that you're talking about sure is

27:53
six months before the month of and up to

27:55
five after okay

27:57
once they know they want original

27:59
medicare if they're not sure

28:01
if you still are deciding between

28:03
original medicare and medicare advantage

28:07
you've got three months before the month

28:09
of and up to three after to choose

28:12
either

28:12
um plan that you would like on either

28:15
side and i'm assuming you'll do that

28:17
side-by-side comparison correct

28:19
absolutely absolutely and sometimes it

28:21
makes sense for someone to do something

28:24
different

28:25
altogether

28:26
you know it's it there's no

28:27
one-size-fits-all which is what makes it

28:30
so amazing that you can for the first

28:33
time in your life

28:34
you're not limited to what hr says

28:37
everyone can have yeah

28:39
no that's good

28:41
and correct me if i'm wrong um because

28:43
when we were looking into this and and

28:45
this is new to me i've never you know

28:47
i'm i'm a specialist i do what i do

28:50
uh medicare is something i just punt on

28:52
when people typically ask i don't do

28:54
that anymore because i'm gonna point

28:55
them to you but what you're saying is

28:58
you can buy guaranteed renewable

29:00
coverage

29:01
that can never be tr dropped or changed

29:04
is that statement true

29:07
100

29:08
100

29:09
true you can and and you can do it

29:11
before your birthday so six months

29:13
before you even need the coverage you

29:15
can buy that policy and own it for life

29:18
which means before your coverage even

29:21
begins

29:23
you can say i know exactly what i'm

29:25
going to have from the day that i start

29:27
medicare until heaven and no one can

29:29
ever take it away from me how long is it

29:32
how long does it last

29:34
um

29:36
well but that's that's not the right

29:38
question how long does it take

29:40
from start to finish once you get

29:42
involved with someone and they you make

29:43
it you you

29:45
you provide the recommendation that you

29:47
think is suitable and appropriate how

29:49
long does that i guess how long does

29:50
that process last is what i was trying

29:52
to ask

29:53
what do people typically see paperwork

29:56
and all that stuff

29:57
so the paperwork can be very simple once

30:00
we make a decision

30:01
and we don't rush making a decision so

30:04
my process is a little bit different in

30:06
that number one it starts with education

30:08
i want every person to know before they

30:12
make a decision

30:13
that they have rights that there are

30:15
rights that that they will only have um

30:19
this one time in their entire life so

30:22
once someone is educated enough to

30:24
decide for themselves

30:27
which side of the page so to speak

30:30
they want

30:32
um at that point it doesn't take very

30:34
long at all to get them set up and we

30:37
have a system where we make sure we have

30:40
every person um set up with the coverage

30:44
that they need to make it as simple and

30:46
seamless as possible

30:48
and there are growing pains so every

30:50
person who

30:52
is helped by mama care medicare has a of

30:56
course complimentary that'd be mama that

30:58
would be mama bear medicare right mom of

31:00
your medicare yes

31:02
did i say something you said mama care

31:04
but that's okay that's another one cares

31:06
no it's it's

31:08
no it's mamabear medicare.com but yeah

31:10
so the process is you know obviously you

31:13
and your staff take care of everything

31:14
and and from from start to finish but

31:16
before that process even happens or

31:19
starts you're educating them so that

31:21
they can make an informed decision on

31:23
their terms and their time frame that's

31:25
kind of like what we do that's what i

31:26
liked when i first talked to you about

31:28
coming on the podcast is you had a

31:30
similar business model of no pressure

31:33
and no um

31:35
no you know no pushing

31:37
um you know i know

31:39
in your business it seems like there's

31:41
once you get in one of those companies

31:43
loops they're going to pound you into

31:44
oblivion and until you either you know

31:46
file a cease and desist order or buy it

31:49
right exactly exactly so

31:52
i say we you know i would love to help

31:55
every single person turn in 65 but

31:57
that's impossible i mean mathematically

31:59
literally it's impossible

32:01
and when i but you're certainly going to

32:03
try as all my people call you and no i

32:05
no i understand i mean that's that's

32:07
common sense but um i mean yeah you want

32:10
people to

32:12
go to your site first and get educated

32:14
and and and then if they want to engage

32:17
with you and talk to you then that's

32:19
that's

32:20
that's good um we have a little question

32:22
there they can fill out to see if we

32:24
even have the resources to help them or

32:27
if we need to send them to someone else

32:29
that we trust sure and then we meet with

32:32
them one-on-one on the phone or zoom or

32:34
if your local medicare concierge

32:38
and then we always have

32:40
a medicare eve appointment medicare eve

32:43
is just one more walk through right

32:46
before your new coverage begins to make

32:48
sure all your ducks are in a row

32:51
and that you have everything taken care

32:52
of it's so important because it's

32:55
different for every single person and

32:58
you want to make the most out of this

33:01
because there are times like special

33:04
enrollment and disenrollment periods

33:06
that will be blasted all over television

33:10
and the internet

33:11
when you may be able to make changes to

33:14
your coverage

33:15
but once you're outside your window of

33:17
guaranteed renewability

33:20
you almost always have to pass medical

33:22
underwriting to be able to purchase that

33:25
medigap or medicare supplement that you

33:28
don't have to have any you know medical

33:31
proof for when you have a golden ticket

33:35
one of the questions that popped up in

33:36
my head when i was looking at this is

33:38
why and this is another dumb question

33:41
from stan

33:43
um why does medicare have premiums

33:46
shouldn't it be free

33:48
okay that is such a good question i love

33:50
that and it's actually a peeve when

33:53
someone tells me that they have part a

33:55
and that's the free one part a is not

33:58
free part b is not free part a has never

34:00
been free

34:01
it probably never will be part a

34:05
may have a zero dollar premium

34:08
which premium is the amount that you pay

34:11
every month to keep your coverage um in

34:14
place

34:15
but it only has a zero dollar premium

34:18
if you've already bought it so our whole

34:21
working life when we're paying taxes

34:23
into fica or medicare this is what we're

34:26
buying right we're purchasing a portion

34:30
of our retirement health insurance

34:33
and then when we retire that part a for

34:35
us has a zero dollar premium okay but

34:38
the actual cost of it the actual premium

34:41
is 499 a month

34:44
i don't know about you stan or most of

34:46
your clients but i would much rather pay

34:49
as i go while i'm working right now

34:52
taxes coming out right and come up with

34:54
500 a month when i'm already retired

34:59
and so um

35:01
i do have some clients who pay that

35:03
and truthfully if someone immigrated to

35:06
america later on in life or if they were

35:09
advised because of profession or for

35:12
whatever reason not to pay into those

35:15
taxes

35:17
that 499 dollars a month

35:20
still buys them better coverage than

35:22
most major group medical insurance that

35:25
i get to review every day

35:27
so it's absolutely worth the cost

35:30
um

35:32
let's talk about the prescriptions

35:34
another dumb question from stan but

35:36
people love that about me because i'm

35:37
i'm not afraid to ask when i don't know

35:39
i don't bluff prescriptions medications

35:42
things like that how does that work with

35:45
medicare

35:46
okay so that is a great question um if

35:49
you've been to one of my classes you

35:50
know i say d

35:52
stands for drugs

35:54
and d stands for date you want to date

35:56
your drug plan don't marry him that's

35:59
just how i remember it dean

36:02
steve for date

36:04
and what i mean by that is again this is

36:06
one of those awesome rights that you

36:08
have when someone becomes eligible for

36:11
medicare they're not limited to a

36:13
one-size-fits-all

36:15
they can choose their own prescription

36:17
drug coverage based on what they're

36:19
taking right now and on the pharmacy

36:22
that they prefer to use that's one of

36:25
the things that mama care mama care i

36:27
keep saying it's mama bears there's a

36:29
big bear behind you yeah it's a mama

36:31
bear been a care mama bear medicare no i

36:34
i think that is a good thing that you do

36:36
um

36:37
the other thing that i want my listeners

36:39
and viewers to to realize and this is

36:40
what hit me is

36:44
you know we all have specialists we all

36:46
have you know we have our primary

36:47
physician and we have our tax lawyer and

36:49
we have our cpa hopefully and we have

36:51
our financial advisor we have our

36:53
annuity man specialist

36:55
but but i do think that this is such an

36:58
important part of retirement and part of

37:02
chapter two of your life and part of

37:05
the overall planning that

37:07
there is absolutely no argument for you

37:10
to do this yourself there's no argument

37:11
for you to do the research unless you're

37:13
that bored

37:14
if that's the case you know pick up the

37:16
irs code and read that as well

37:18
you know what i'm excited about is i

37:19
think ellie's going to be able to bring

37:22
to my listeners and viewers and clients

37:24
that

37:25
person that they can call and bounce

37:27
something off of and and hopefully if it

37:30
fits and it's in their best interest

37:31
hire as their ongoing consultant because

37:34
the next that leads into the next

37:36
question is

37:38
changes

37:39
now we're talking about contractual

37:40
guarantees but

37:42
i'm assuming that

37:44
this is something you you advise your

37:47
clients to revisit and consult with you

37:49
on an annual basis by annual basis what

37:51
do you typically tell people

37:53
sure so it depends on what they've got

37:55
going for them right now but most of the

37:58
time an annual basis is perfect you at

38:01
least want to review your prescription

38:03
drug coverage

38:04
um because that can change and what your

38:07
needs are could change throughout the

38:09
year

38:10
and i will say over the past decade

38:13
every single year that i've done this

38:16
part d as in drugs as in date your drug

38:19
plan has gotten better okay it is

38:22
progressively getting better and better

38:24
every single year it's not perfect but

38:28
there there there's litigation out there

38:30
right now even that will make it more

38:32
wonderful than it's ever been

38:35
but it still helps to have someone kind

38:37
of walk you through that the last thing

38:40
you want to do is buy a plan because

38:42
you've heard of the brand name or

38:44
because your cousin has it in a

38:46
different state

38:47
or you're watching cable news and it

38:49
shows up as an ad in between the cable

38:51
news slot i mean that's driving me crazy

38:53
i don't care what where you land

38:54
politically it doesn't matter to me

38:56
but these ads have just just hammered

38:59
the airways

39:01
and it's they they prey a little bit on

39:03
fear and a lot on misinformation

39:06
um which which saddens me because as

39:09
people get

39:10
into their 60-65 age you know that's

39:13
chapter two of their life they've

39:15
scrimped and saved and checked the boxes

39:17
and also too

39:18
as i tell people regrettably that all of

39:21
us are going to have some form of

39:22
cognitive decline as we get older

39:25
and you need experts that you can trust

39:28
that aren't that aren't what i call

39:30
they're the hammer looking for the nail

39:31
meaning they're trying to sell everybody

39:33
that's breathing

39:34
um and i think ellie fits that bill um

39:36
for what she does we're happy to have

39:38
her

39:39
at really on board um not as part of the

39:42
standing nudie men company but as a a

39:45
trusted resource

39:47
um just like we send people to jack

39:48
lindenberg for long-term care and bill

39:50
black for for life insurance you know

39:52
ellie's gonna be our person for for

39:55
medicare just because as you can hear

39:57
from her voice and and that beautiful

39:59
southern twang that

40:01
she is passionate about this and she

40:03
believes in it

40:05
to the point where she has

40:07
pigeon holed herself into a lane of

40:09
being a specialist in this to help

40:12
people and

40:13
i think that's a big part of the mama

40:14
bear

40:15
medicare brand which is just you know

40:18
you feel pretty good about helping

40:19
people through this and this is such an

40:21
important decision for people and i

40:23
don't think they take it as serious

40:25
as they should because they don't have a

40:27
resource like you i think that'll change

40:29
in the next four or five years i think

40:30
ellie will be a a national brand we're

40:32
just catching her early because i can

40:34
spot talent

40:35
um

40:37
what's the future for medicare i mean

40:39
obviously there's people getting older

40:41
every day um those people vote so the

40:44
politicians aren't going to mess with it

40:45
too much right what's the future for

40:47
medicare that's what makes me so excited

40:50
one of the things because

40:52
not only you know when you're eligible

40:54
for medicare you become

40:56
a part of um

40:59
this amazing one in seven people right

41:01
in america or 65 or older

41:04
three generations at the same time for

41:06
the first time so that's daughter mother

41:10
grandmother all living

41:12
all 65 or older

41:14
so if you think about the fuel of um

41:18
decision decision-making and influence

41:21
that could be present here when we have

41:24
the right education in place when we

41:27
have resources that are truly you know

41:30
for the ones making the decisions and

41:33
not just

41:35
a sales pitch i think we can make this

41:37
system better than it's ever been

41:40
and if you read my boring medicare blog

41:44
you will know that recently i wrote a

41:47
little um piece about

41:49
how medicare is this one beautiful

41:53
um function that's truly bipartisan it

41:56
doesn't matter what you believe or which

41:58
side you're for every single person

42:01
is for making medicare better

42:04
so if we can get in the majority of um

42:08
you know our population

42:10
really rooting for changes and that's

42:13
what we're seeing

42:14
it is getting better every single year

42:17
it's gotten better and i'm just i'm

42:20
excited and proud to be a part of you

42:23
should be leading it i mean if people

42:25
can hear the passion i'm sitting here

42:26
going wow man she's i mean she's excited

42:28
about this i really i don't know if

42:30
there's a medicare sorry i doubt if

42:31
there is but i'm going to get off the

42:33
the podcast recording and and call the

42:35
administrative side administration say i

42:37
found the person i found the person you

42:39
need to put on the sunday shows and talk

42:40
about medicare um i think it would be a

42:43
positive because i think it's um

42:46
similar to annuities it gets a bad rap

42:47
because people don't understand what

42:49
they're talking about and then you have

42:51
people commenting on it that have no

42:52
clue or have an agenda behind it and

42:54
then it gets all messy and muddled and

42:56
people just kind of throw up their hands

42:59
at it and um once again

43:01
mamabearmedicare.com and i'll have us i

43:03
have a page for for ellie on our site

43:06
um you know

43:07
a couple more things before we close it

43:09
out

43:10
um speak a little bit more detailed

43:14
about the rights you talk about

43:17
protecting the rights you're protecting

43:19
for the for the person out there

43:21
listening and viewing us

43:23
once again go over those rights that

43:24
they have sure

43:27
so number one you have the right to

43:28
original medicare which is reaping the

43:32
benefits that you've been sewing into

43:35
through your tax dollars you may still

43:37
be sewing into them

43:39
and on the first day of the month that

43:41
you turned 65

43:43
or the month before if you were born on

43:44
the first that's a little special rule

43:47
um you become eligible to have medicare

43:50
as your primary health insurance whether

43:52
you want to retire or not

43:55
that's one right that a lot of people

43:56
don't realize so

43:58
um at mama bear medicare we like to look

44:01
at what someone currently has

44:05
and that's where we start

44:07
to see what makes the most sense is

44:09
there a dot in a different place that we

44:11
can connect that makes more sense for

44:13
you

44:14
um so that's one thing the right just to

44:17
be able to

44:18
reap what you've been sewing into right

44:22
is how to tap into

44:25
into the contractual guarantees that

44:26
you've put in place whether whether you

44:28
knew it or not

44:29
and how to maximize that right exactly

44:33
exactly and just like these are things

44:36
that every annuity contract as you know

44:38
holds is that there is a contractual

44:40
guarantee right so

44:42
why not

44:44
put a spotlight on that it's not as

44:46
fancy right it's not as flashy i'm not

44:48
gonna give you a fitbit

44:50
right and i don't have the budget to

44:53
um

44:54
blast you with all kinds of you know

44:57
commercials or

44:59
periodicals or whatever um but what i do

45:03
have is a voice and a microphone and a

45:06
little camera here so

45:08
and more and morals and ethics which is

45:10
the biggest thing that you can bring to

45:11
the table with any type of financial

45:13
advice for sure i mean that is

45:16
that's the one thing that should be a

45:18
given in the financial business but i

45:20
you know i've worked for everybody from

45:21
dean witter and payne weber morgan

45:23
stanley ubs i worked in new york city in

45:25
the world trade 2

45:26
tower before it tragically fell i've

45:28
been at those levels

45:30
and i think the biggest challenge for

45:31
the financial services industry and it's

45:33
no different than any other industry is

45:35
is just

45:36
doing the right thing for the customer

45:38
you know and and i it sounds easy

45:42
but for whatever reason a lot of a lot

45:43
of agents and advisors have a little

45:45
issue with that they're always pushing

45:47
the envelope

45:48
and what i think you need to take away

45:50
from this in my opinion is you know

45:52
you're talking about if you're talking

45:54
about annuities you're talking about

45:55
contractual guarantees regardless of the

45:57
policy that you're looking at or the

45:59
type of annuity when it comes to

46:01
medicare you're talking about the

46:02
contractual guarantees offered

46:04
and making sure that you're maximizing

46:06
those and if you need something

46:07
additional then you add that to it but

46:10
not

46:10
automatically

46:12
and not automatically giving up the

46:14
rights and the and the contractual

46:16
guarantees that you have earned

46:18
over time um

46:21
what else would you add to that because

46:23
we're going to have you on in the future

46:25
to go over

46:27
i mean we're literally going to go

46:28
through the process with you like how it

46:30
all works and all the boring stuff we

46:32
just did that recently with

46:34
with the the person that runs my company

46:36
and she oversees the administrative side

46:39
and we went through okay you're going to

46:41
buy an annuity you're going to go

46:42
through the paperwork we're going to do

46:43
that with you

46:45
uh going forward but i want to enter i

46:46
wanted to formally introduce you to my

46:48
listeners and my viewers on who you were

46:50
have them go to your site get

46:52
comfortable with who you are watch your

46:53
videos on your site

46:56
so we're going to have you on so you

46:57
don't have to get it all in today but

47:00
what would you tell people

47:02
as kind of a final partying work as i

47:03
always do do this with my celebrity

47:05
guests

47:06
what would you tell them about medicare

47:09
um if you had the floor for a minute

47:12
what would you say

47:14
i would say don't be afraid you don't

47:16
have to be afraid of these crossroads

47:19
all of the information that you need

47:22
is public information there's a way to

47:25
find it and sadly some commercials make

47:28
it

47:29
um almost impossible to just naturally

47:32
get there but it's like a treasure hunt

47:34
it's a treasure hunt and sometimes it's

47:36
a little bit painful to get to where you

47:38
need to go but the treasure of medicare

47:42
is worth it

47:43
it's worth the time it's worth sitting

47:45
down with someone to see exactly what

47:47
will meet your needs best because

47:50
there's a chance you could have it you

47:52
know from the first day of the month

47:54
that you turned 65 until heaven and

47:57
that's a that that's a wonderful

47:59
opportunity

48:01
and i would say that there's nothing

48:03
boring about

48:04
leah if that's what you're talking about

48:06
that was on your podcast yeah she's the

48:08
c she's the ceo and director of

48:09
operations of the annuity man i'm smart

48:12
enough to know that uh

48:14
you know i have a full management team i

48:15
mean my primary role is

48:18
you know this type of this putting out

48:20
this type of information my videos and

48:22
interacting with my clients but yeah the

48:23
the administrative side yeah they i have

48:26
a full team i think it's i think it's

48:28
refreshing to finally find someone

48:30
that's kind of grounded

48:31
um kind of you are grounded on what

48:33
you're trying to do and help

48:35
and i fully sign off on people

48:36
contacting ellie once again mama bear

48:39
medicare and we'll have all her stuff on

48:41
my site

48:43
you know phone number and things like

48:44
that and just have her in your rolodex

48:46
have her as your resource and go to

48:49
person for medicare if you're going to

48:51
go to the bad chicken dinner seminar the

48:53
expensive steak dinner seminar talking

48:55
about medicare

48:57
swallow swallow the food not the pitch

48:59
you know as i tell people all the time

49:00
my mom who lives in saint augustine

49:02
florida 82 years old a3

49:04
she eats four times a week on on agents

49:06
dimes and i really appreciate them

49:08
feeding her but

49:09
she doesn't fall for the pitch so i

49:11
would rather you do that

49:12
do that as well um ellie thank you so

49:15
much for being with us today you're

49:17
definitely going to be back on

49:19
in the future and i want to thank every

49:21
single person out there that's listening

49:23
to us on all major podcast podcast

49:25
platforms and also the fun with

49:27
annuities youtube channel my name is

49:28
stan the annuity man and you're

49:31
listening to the number one annuity

49:32
podcast on the planet called fun

49:34
with annuities see you next week

49:41
thanks for listening to fun with

49:43
annuities please hit the subscribe

49:45
button and make sure to go to my site at

49:47
the annuityman.com where you can run

49:50
your own spea dia and culat quotes and

49:53
see a live feed of the best maga fix

49:55
rates in the country and even get

49:58
indexed and income rider quotes as well

50:00
you can also sign up for my six annuity

50:03
owner's manual books and i'll ship them

50:05
for free and under no obligation i also

50:08
encourage you to schedule a one-on-one

50:10
call with me stand the annuity man so we

50:13
can have a full discussion of your

50:15
specific situation it will be the best

50:18
brutally factual and truthful advice

50:21
you will ever get and that's one

50:22
guarantee you should definitely take

50:24
advantage of so join me next time for

50:26
the number one annuity podcast on the

50:29
planet fun

50:31
with annuities

50:35
[Music]

50:46
you