Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy.
Welcome to Take Pride in Retirement, the podcast dedicated to helping members of the LGBTQ community protect and grow their hard earned money. Get set for a show full of education and insights with your host and advisor, Matt McClure. We recognize every family is unique. The goal of the show is to help you achieve financial freedom so you and your loved ones can have the retirement you've always dreamed of. A retirement you can take pride in, no matter who you are, where you're from or who you love.
So now let's start the Show. Here's Matt McClure.
Hello and welcome to another edition of Take Pride in retirement. Matt McClure here with you, your host, your advis, your pal and your confidant. Thanks so much for being a part of things this time around. If it's your first time joining the show, hey, I'm so glad that you are doing just this very thing, which is an easy thing to do. Listen to this show and I hope you got something out of it this week. Talking a lot about Medicare, navigating that Medicare maze that's gotten more confusing over time and generally does.
But the reason I'm talking about health care costs and health in general, and that's really the way we're going to frame it here is because A, all you know, if you're an American 65 and older, you're eligible for Medicare. That's, you know, first of all.
But B, it is now the Medicare annual enrollment period or aep.
And so, yeah, we're going to talk a lot about that. Maybe some changes that are coming up for 20, 26 that you can look forward to or dread or whatever the case might be.
But it's all about the show is all about really helping you navigate the future.
As we always say, no matter who you are, where you come from, who you love, how you identify how much money you've got, no matter any of those things, or more, you deserve a retirement you can take pride in. Go to take pride in retirement.com. that's take pride in retirement.com or call 855-246-9211, 855-2469211. You can schedule that free consultation. It is absolutely free of any cost or any obligation.
So coming up as I mentioned we're going to talk about the, the Medicare maze here, simplifying things for you for 2026, looking at some of the changes that are coming.
Part D of Medicare has had some changes as well, and we'll talk a little bit about that. We're not going to go too, too in depth because I don't want to get too much into the weeds here, but just let you know about a couple of things that are going on.
Also how the economy affects healthcare costs. We'll look at that as part of our market update and kind of see how the two are related and how, you know, that affects Medicare costs and healthcare costs in general.
And we'll also have a really great discussion coming up before the end of the show about breast cancer rates, which are surging among younger women.
And I'm going to talk with an expert from the American College of Surgeons about that.
And ladies in, in the audience of the show, pay attention. Or if you know someone who is at risk for breast cancer, maybe, or maybe not even at risk, this is a great episode to share with them because, you know, it's a lot of great info about that, about maybe why things are increasing when it comes to breast cancer rates among younger women.
So a lot of great talk there. All right, so enough of me. Let's get to more me. No, actually some words of wisdom from somebody else. Yeah, we got to get a little inspiration for our conversation here, and we'll do that with our quote of the week.
And now for some financial wisdom. It's time for the quote of the week.
And this week's quote comes from the one and only, the legendary Harvey Milk, who said this very simple quote. This time, hope will never be silent. Hope will never be silent.
I love that. And, and I've, I've contemplated using this quote before on the show. And I'm like, well, how in the world do I kind of relate it to the things that we talk about?
But I feel like maybe the change in political climate or something over this, these past several months has sort of given me the insight into the way to focus on this.
And it is that people need hope in all aspects of their life at all times.
And when it feels like things are out of your control and there are things going on that you don't like maybe, or that, that you're, you know, things are just kind of crazy. You need hope.
And this is a reminder from Harvey Milk here that, yes, hope will never be silent, but it's a reminder that every choice that we make including how we protect our health, how we protect our finances.
That is a declaration of hope for our future.
Really, really is. And so I love that quote, I've always loved that quote. And Harvey Milk, obviously, just a leg in the LGBTQ + community.
Taken, taken from us all far too soon.
All right, so let's get into this Medicare discussion now and health care, larger health care discussion also get a few things to cover here. This Medicare maze that we all find ourselves trying to sift through is something that comes up every year about this time because it is open enrollment, as it's sometimes known. The official term for it is the Medicare annual enrollment period, where you can look your coverage, you can see what you have, see if things need to change, if you have, you know, Medicare Advantage, Medicare supplement, that sort of thing.
So Medicare, though, there are changes every year to those types of plans. There are changes less often, maybe to the, to, you know, the, the basics of Medicare, but to Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, there are changes more often, usually on an annual basis. And so the evolution continues in 2026. Fewer plan options, tighter networks, big shifts in.
If you, or maybe your, your partner, your spouse, your whomever are aging into Medicare soon. The annual enrollment period, which is now through December 7th, so it's now through kind of early mid ish, December ish.
The annual enrollment period is one that you cannot afford to overlook. So keep it in mind, especially if you are 65 about to turn 65, you need to keep all of this in mind. There are fewer plan options coming year because some major insurers are consolidating and they're maybe exiting some lower performing markets. So maybe there's coverage that's available in your state this year that won't be available next year. So if you have Medicare and you say, oh, well, I like my plan, if you're on a Med Advantage or some kind of Medicare supplement plan and you're like, oh, I love my coverage. I'm just going to keep it for next year. Make sure that you can actually do that because your insurer may be exiting that market. A lot of members are just going to get non renewal letters and then you've got to elect new coverage and always, always, always review your coverage every year, regardless of what the situation might be.
I just encourage you to do that because it's, it's super important.
Yeah, you may love what you have, but there could be better options out there for you, even if it's not a situation where an insurer is exiting the state or whatever, you know, so there could always be better options out there for you.
A lot of plans are reducing hospital and doctor access to control costs.
So always confirm that your provider is going to still be part of your plan next year. So that's something to keep in mind. There's some more marketing oversight that's happening. This is a good thing that's actually happening because cms, which is the center for Medicare Medicaid Services, is actually cracking down on misleading ads. So you can expect to see clearer comparisons of things. Maybe fewer spam calls as well, which we could all be grateful for. So hopefully that crackdown really leads to, to those changes.
But they're also, you know, they're kind of fewer extras in a lot of the plans here that we're seeing.
More preventative care, more chronic care focus, but maybe fewer extras like, you know, just maybe some of the ancillary coverage that, that may have been offered. One good thing though is that telehealth and coordination programs are expanding. So that's, that's a good thing as well. Telehealth has really of course, taken off in these past few years during and after the COVID pandemic.
So there are a different, a few different reasons why these changes are important, why they matter. Of course, highly rated plans, usually stronger benefits and lower costs. And there are some updated star ratings out there as well. Clinical results and patient satisfaction are now counting more toward plan scores. And so lower rated plans may, may merge or disappear. So that, that could be a good thing for if you have some of those lower rated plans because the care might not, you might not be getting the bang for your buck there.
So lower rated or discontinued plans can force mid year coverage changes. So yeah, you might have, you know, coverage lasting part of the year, next year. But then if something changes middle of the year or if your coverage is only extended through a certain period of time, then you got to change all over again.
But even if your plan name hasn't changed, the coverage details might have. That's why I say always, always, always check to make sure that you are still going to be in a plan that actually makes sense for you. All right, so some, some facts, by the way, about the wide use of Medicare.
65 plus million Americans.
65 plus million Americans. So more than 65 million of us are enrolled in Medicare.
54 million have Part D drug coverage.
And these are all stats from cms, by the way. And Medicare Advantage premiums do stay mostly stable, but regional differences are growing. So it could be that you see a bigger increase in A Medicare Advantage premium or some other out of pocket cost for a Medicare Advantage plan, you may see that if you live in one area of the country versus another or one state versus another.
So just pay attention, make sure that A, that is going to still fit in your budget but B, you're going to have the health care coverage that you need.
And you can also, you know, always use medicare.gov plan finder. You could also talk with a licensed Medicare agent as well. If you reach out to me at take pride in retirement.com take pride in retirement.com or give me a call 8552-4692-1185-5246, 9211. I'll be able to connect you with someone who specializes in Medicare and we can take a look at that as part of your overall financial health and well being. So taking care of your physical health and making sure you're not spending too much on your health care costs, it really all goes hand in hand. And then of course, looking to the future because there are certain things that Medicare does not cover.
Medicare does not cover long term care.
There is no long term care coverage in Medicare.
So if you were to go to a nursing home, to another type of assisted living facility or nursing facility, something like that for an extended period of time, how are you going to pay for it?
Because so many Americans find that they have to pay for it out of pocket. And if that is you, let's we need to meet, we need to talk because I want to get you to a place where you don't have to worry about a, where's that money going to come from and B, is it going to make me broke if I, if, if I have to do that or am I just going to have to, you know, suffer that home, you know, so many decisions that shouldn't have to necessarily be made here that have to be made just because you are, you know, you deserve the care that you need, but you also deserve a peace of mind that you're not going to go broke to get the care that you need.
So it all goes hand in hand, really, really does.
And maybe long term care coverage might be something that would be good for you. A long term care insurance plan, they're kind of fewer and farther between now and more expensive generally speaking than they used to be. But it could fit in with your plan. There also could be some, you know, when I see it goes hand in hand, it really, really does. We can get you an income annuity that would have benefits that could maybe double that level of income for the time that you are confined to a nursing facility or other long term care facility, a lot of them have those types of benefits.
So again, reach out to me. The website is take prideinretirement.com and we can go through all of those things and look at the whole picture. Not just one thing over here and one thing over there, but we'll look at the entire picture here for you.
All right, so a couple of things I promised about Part d in Medicare.
$2,100 is going to be the out of pocket maximum for 2026.
And that is just a great that you won't pay any more than that for your Part D prescription drugs in Medicare. So the out of pocket annual maximum now capped $2,100 for 2026.
Costs becoming more predictable because, you know, there was that donut hole in Medicare Part D where some things were covered up to, you know, a certain point and then other and then were not and there was other coverage here.
Without going into too much detail, getting too much into the weeds. That's now gone. All right, so they've closed the donut hole. So that is good.
Vaccines like shingles and RSV do remain free. So that's good as well.
And hopefully, you know, I can encourage you to, yes, please do get vaccinated against these things, especially if you are someone who is at risk or susceptible to, you know, serious illness from any of these things. And hey, that shingles vaccine could be very important. I've had a few loved ones who've had shingles. That is not fun.
So, yeah, that's a good thing for you to do. And of course, talk to your healthcare provider about that. I'm not giving you medical advice here or anything like that, but I will say that that's something that I would encourage you to talk to your medical provider about.
And one of the good things about, you know, some of these changes that are happening with Part D is that it's a little bit of we know what's coming. There's some predictability there. There's some peace of mind as a result, especially for people, you know, if you're on a F income or you're, you're managing a chronic condition like HIV or diabetes, you know, that predictability of having that cap every year of $2,100 from, from here on till the cows come home or whatever metaphor you want to use is, is really great. And so that does bring a lot of peace of mind. Now we hear a lot, of course, about healthcare Costs rising and they are by, you know, quite a bit here, year over year.
And so why is that happening?
We've, you know, been looking at some different studies here, some different, some different numbers.
And you know, it's not like we have all of the answers because I don't know that anybody does have all of the answers to this. But we do have a lot of information about how the economy overall and how kind of the markets help shape how the health care landscape and, and Medicare premiums too.
So premiums out of, and out of pocket costs are influenced by some different things.
One of those is health care inflation because as I said, the, the cost of medical care in general is just going up. I mean, that continues to rise faster than general inflation. Especially for things like hospital care and specialty drugs.
Those, you know, prices are not coming down.
And especially drugs. I mean, until there's something, until there's a generic form of a drug, which usually doesn't happen until several years after a drug has been on the market, until there is that generic form out there, the cost of the drug is generally gonna stay high. If it starts high, it's gonna stay high. Could go up, even up from there. Maybe it'll go down a little bit, maybe there could be discounts or whatever through a medical provider perhaps.
But the specialty drug thing is, is real because until there is a generic available on the market, those costs will, will remain. High interest rates as well, higher borrowing costs, because, you know, interest rates have gone up. Obviously they come down just a little bit here. The Fed has lowered interest rates this year, but they've been high now for a while, especially since the slowdown after the COVID pandemic and all of that. And inflation, you know, trying to bring down inflation by raising interest rates can be kind of a two edged sword. And that's sort of what the Federal Reserve has had to be dealing with here. And so higher borrowing costs can affect insurers pricing their reserves and that can push premiums higher.
Federal spending, I mean, Medicare's share of the national debt spending is, is growing. And that is due in large part to just the sheer number of people who are turning 65. This is the baby boomer generation.
And so that increases the numbers of people. So it's like it's supply and demand, right? The demand is growing, but the supply sort of remains the same. And so that increases the pressure on the sustainability of the Medicare program.
Market volatility as well. If there is any investment loss in any Medicare Advantage and Part D reserves, that could lead to higher plan rates also. So it's, that's sort of what can lead to these increases in premiums, increases in health care costs in general.
And the average Medicare Advantage program is expected to remain pretty stable as far as the, the price goes for that premium each and every month or however often. But the benefits may be less and less as a result. You could be paying the same thing, but not getting as much as you have been getting as insurers try to offset some of that. That's why I say like a lot of the sort of peripheral kind of benefits may be getting axed, as it were.
So that's something to think about and, and just look at for the coming year anyway.
So that is really a look at all the, well, not all things, but a lot of things. Medicare that could affect you in the coming year. All right, so we've got the open enrollment, remember, or annual enrollment period, aep.
It is until early December for next year. So until December 7th. That's when you have to, you know, really take and, and look at your plan. Make sure that you check, check with an expert, check with a licensed Medicare agent, someone who really can look at your situation, see what you're paying now, see if there may be a better plan for you based on what you've spent in the last year based on the coverage that's now available. There could be something better out there for you. So that is a real, real possibility. Just make sure that you check in on what you've got and what you could have in the future.
Well, about one in eight women are going to be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. And that disease is most often diagnosed in women over the age of. But seems these days more women under 45 are confronting breast cancer. And that is of course, at a very important and busy time in their lives, careers, relationship, maybe building families. And so to join me now and talk more about that, I am pleased to welcome in Dr. Mediget Tshoma, the vice chair of the American College of Surgeons Cancer Surgery Standards Program. Also a surgical oncologist at UCLA Health in Los Angeles. Dr. Teshoma, thank you so much for taking some time for me. I appreciate it.
[00:22:38] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much for the opportunity to share any information we can about breast cancer and breast cancer awareness.
[00:22:43] Speaker A: Yeah, and you know, I mean, I have sort of anecdotally seen this in, you know, just friends or, you know, family members or friends of friends, that kind of thing. It seems like people are younger and younger when they are facing breast cancer these days.
What are you seeing as far as, you know, patients actually in clinics or seeking treatment?
[00:23:09] Speaker B: Yes, I thank you so much for, as I mentioned, this opportunity. You know, we are seeing that there is about a 1.4% annual increase in the diagnosis of women under the age of 50 with breast cancer.
And specifically, as you mentioned, early onset breast cancer, which is diagnosed under the age of 45.
This may also be related to changes in our recommendations for mammograms to occur starting at age 40 and continue from there. But even as you mentioned, women under, under the age of 40 can be diagnosed with breast cancer. And usually in that situation, they may. It may be something that they notice or a change related, you know, that they notice with their breasts in terms of a mass or changes to the nipple, areola or skin. And so I think that it's important for women to know about this and to be able to reach out to their doctor if they have any concerns and also to help understand better risk and why this is happening. You know, we don't know. A lot of research is looking into this, what is causing us to see women diagnosed at earlier ages and even related to other cancers as well. So hopefully we will be able to understand more about the reasons why. But.
And that's just not yet known.
[00:24:30] Speaker A: Yeah. And as far as treatment goes, you know, obviously there are different options. Those options would vary patient to patient, I'm sure. But you know, with early onset breast cancer, there are some tough decisions, I'm sure, that a lot of women might face.
And those might be a little bit more challenging, I assume, given folks who are of a younger age, talk about those treatment options and those difficult decisions that women face.
[00:25:00] Speaker B: Yeah, thank you for that as well. You're right. And I think you mentioned that this is a very busy time in a woman's life in their 30s and 40s. Many different factors that come into play.
And one of the ones that we really do think about early on is future fertility and if it's desired for women to continue to grow their families in the future.
You know, some of our treatments, unfortunately, such as like chemotherapy and others, can impact the that ability to have a family in the future. Some women can go into like an early menopause and so really being able to think about not only the treatment plan holistically and from a multidisciplinary aspect up front for their cancer, but also to think about what are some of the side effects of these treatments that may impact other aspects of their lives that may be important to them as well. And Try to address those early on. So we do recommend early referral to reproductive endocrinologist specialists to talk about this. And many women even undergo fertility preservation before they start their treatment for their cancer to help maximize those options down the road for them. So I think there also are other survivorship concerns that can come into play related to not only fertility, but sexual health, body image and other things, Even just kind of juggling all those different aspects of life and life stressors, young children, things like that. So there are a lot of support systems that we try to bring in for our patients and resources to connect them, to really not only give them hopefully the best high quality cancer treatment, but also the best support we can overall.
[00:26:42] Speaker A: Yeah, and speaking of that overall support, what kinds of support do patients need not only during that breast cancer treatment, but also afterwards?
And are there gaps in that support that you're seeing?
[00:26:58] Speaker B: Yes, I think this is a really great point because we focus a lot on cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment, but also there's life after cancer.
Our programs at the American College of Surgeons, the national accreditation program for Breast Centers and commission on Cancer really do take more of this holistic approach and focus on all aspects of the cancer related journey and really encourage multidisciplinary teams. It's best to treat breast cancer in a team with surgeons, of course, that are specialized for this, but also medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, plastic surgeons. Oftentimes a patient navigator can be very valuable to help patients as they go through the journey, connect them to different resources, supports, and also, you know, kind of be a point person.
Also, professional psychosocial support may be important for some patients as well. Working with a psychologist or a social worker that can help provide that emotional support, support or, you know, resources such as support groups and also financial programs can be very impactful. You know, many patients still may need financial support to even access parts of their treatment.
And so there are programs that can exist to help with this as well. And so there are a lot of gaps that we can still see. Sometimes this can be related to access and related to the insurance coverage. Sometimes this can be related to being able to access more advanced imaging modalities and other parts of treatment that can really be highly valuable. So continuing to make progress, but certainly there's more to do.
[00:28:35] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. So. Well, Dr. Trichoma, just about time to wrap things up here, but anything else you wanted to mention or maybe where our listeners could go to learn more?
[00:28:44] Speaker B: Yes, I just wanted to mention that if you have any, any breast related concerns, please do not hesitate to bring them to your doctor.
Things can be very individualized and it's important to advocate for your health health. And if you would like to find a doctor or learn more, you can always go to www.facs.org breastcare. There's a lot of resources there and we would always be happy to help you anytime.
[00:29:08] Speaker A: Well, we will definitely send our listeners in that direction. Dr. Medigit Tshoma with the American College of Surgeons and UCLA Health, thank you so much for taking some time for me to talk about this important issue. Really appreciate it.
[00:29:22] Speaker B: Thank you so much. I appreciate it as well.
[00:29:24] Speaker A: And so I'll finish kind of by saying this. You know, Medicare is really the foundation of your health. And your financial security in retirement really is you got to have the proper coverage and you've got to have an overall plan that accounts for things that may not be covered by Medicare. You've got to make sure that you have an income that you cannot outlive in retirement. Something that is, that's a guaranteed payment that's going to come the rest of your life no matter how long that life is. Right. You've got to get to that guarantee and that peace of mind. And then you've also got to look at the potential for, okay, if I'm in long term care, what's the benefit that X, Y or Z retirement planning vehicle may provide? And there are so many different options out there. And that's why I wanted to go over all of these different healthcare related topics this time around because it's so important. It's one of, if not the biggest expense in retirement. And so it's super important for you to actually have a plan that takes everything into account, that takes the costs that you could be paying potentially if you go into long term care, the costs of just your everyday medical care, how much you could spend on prescription drugs, all of those things, it's got to all be taken into account when you come up with that overall financial plan. And if you do not have a financial plan in place, no matter who you are, where you come from, who you love, how you identify or how much money you have, those, those are all factors that will would just be understood that it's not like, you know, I was going to say those factors don't factor in. I mean they do because they're part of who you are obviously.
But I will work with you no matter what the situation might be with any of those different circumstances. And I want to help you. I want to help you make a better situation for yourself in retirement so that you can have the retirement you can take Pride In. Take PrideInRetirement.com is the website. Once again, Take Pride In Retirement.com the consultation, by the way, is free of any cost or any obligation. You only work with me if you feel like that's the best thing for you to do. Alright. So give me a call 855-246-9211 or go to take pride in retirement.com schedule that initial consultation. All right, well that's going to do it for this edition of the show. Thank you so much for being a part of things. I really, really do appreciate it each and every time. And until next time, take pride in yourselves. Take care of each other.
See you then.
Thanks for listening. To Take Pride in Retirement Members of the LGBTQ community deserve to work with a financial advisor who puts their needs first. To schedule a free, no obligation consultation with Matt McClure and the team at Active Wealth Management, call 855-246-9211 or go online to takeprideinretirement.com Investment Advisory Services offer to the Through Brookstone Capital Management, llc, bcm. A registered investment advisor, BCM and Active Wealth Management, Inc. Are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.
Fixed annuities, including multi year guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees and surrender charges as described in the annuity contract. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer.
