Health insurance options after a spouse retires

Dear Savvy Senior, My 63-year-old wife, who’s doesn’t work, is on my health insurance plan through my employer. When I retire next month and go on Medicare, what are our options for getting her health coverage until she turns 65? Is there some kind of Medicare coverage for dependent spouses?

Need Insurance

Dear Need,

Unfortunately, Medicare does not provide family coverage to younger spouses or dependent children when you qualify for Medicare. Nobody can obtain Medicare benefits before age 65, unless eligible at a younger age because of disability. With that said, here are your best options for covering your wife.

Affordable Care Act

In most cases, your best choice is to get your wife an individual health insurance policy through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance Marketplace (a.k.a. Obamacare). The

BY DONALD PETERSON

Dear Readers,

Fraud Alert: Don’t be fooled by the recent PayPal and Social Security scams!

Extortion Scams

Also referred to as imposter scams, scammers will pretend to be someone they are not and their method of extortion is to use scare tactics to get money out of their victims. Two recent imposter scams are the PayPal/Purchase Receipt scam and the Social Security tech support scam.

Pay Pal Purchase Receipt Scam

You receive a letter, a Purchase e-mail Receipt, or a call from a purported merchant (such as “Independence Armory, LLC”) advising that: “$774.40 has successfully been charged against your PayPal account for a Rock Ultra FS 45ACP 8RD Pistol”. The letter or Purchase e-mail Receipt contains an Invoice ID and advises that you should log onto your PayPal account to view the complete invoice details; however there is

Marketplace offers comprehensive health coverage, and she won’t be denied coverage or charged extra for preexisting health conditions.

And thanks to the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, the Marketplace now provides enhanced subsidies through 2025. If your income falls below the 400 percent poverty level after you retire –anything below $73,240 for a couple or $54,360 for a single in 2023 – your wife will be eligible for a tax credit that will reduce the amount you’ll have to pay for her policy. The Marketplace also ensures that households with incomes above that 400 percent poverty level will not have to pay more than 8.5 percent of their income for a benchmark policy.

To see how much subsidy you may be eligible for, use Kaiser Family Foundation calculator at KFF.org/interactive/ also wording advising: “… this charge might take a few hours to appear on your statement as a payment to Independence Armory, LLC”. This is followed by a 1-800 Toll Free number for you to call the purported merchant, as well as the merchant’s e-mail address.

You are infuriated to learn about this unauthorized charge against your PayPal account, as you certainly did not purchase a gun and feel this error must be corrected immediately! The letter or Purchase e-mail Receipt further states: “If you have not authorized this purchase, we suggest you contact our dispute team immediately and file a case” by calling the same 1-800 Toll Free number. The letter/Receipt also advises of a short deadline to raise a dispute to the merchant’s Dispute Department, to get refunded. Do not be fooled. Do not respond or call the merchant’s 1-800 Toll Free number. Otherwise, you are likely to be duped into giving your personal information, in an attempt to rectify the error, only to later learn that your personal information has been fraudulently used to drain your account, or allow others to impersonate you, to obtain loans or credit cards in your name, without your knowledge.

Social Security Tech Support Scam

You get a call from someone who says he’s a computer technician with the Department of Social Security.

subsidy-calculator

To shop for Marketplace plans in your state, visit HealthCare.gov or call 800-318-2596. Or, if you want some extra help, contact a Marketplace-certified agent or broker at HealthCare.gov/ find-assistance

COBRA

Another option is the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), which is a federal law that would allow your wife to remain with your company insurance plan for at least 18 months after you make the switch to Medicare. But not every employer plan is COBRA eligible. Contact your employer benefits administrator to find out if yours is one of them.

You also need to be aware that COBRA is not cheap, requiring you to pay the full monthly premium yourself. But, if you’ve already met or nearly met your employer plan’s

He tells you that a virus has affected your Social Security account, including the monthly payments. He says the he can correct the issue now, if you will provide him with your personal information over the phone, or give him access to your computer. These scammers might want to sell you useless services, steal your credit card number, get access to your computer to steal personal files stored on the computer, install malware, or all of the above.

The caller may know some of your Social Security number. And your caller ID might show a Washington, D.C. area code. The real Department of Social Security won’t ask you to resolve alleged issues on your account by having you pay with a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfers. They also won’t ask for a credit card over the phone. And when the Department of Social Security contacts you about your account, they do it by mail, not by phone. Keep in mind that caller ID’s are often faked, a ploy that is known as “spoofing”, to scare you into picking up the receiver.

To prevent being taken in these scams: deductible or out-of-pocket maximum for the year, and don’t want your wife to start over with a new plan; or if you find your employer’s health plan to be more affordable than the Marketplace plans, it makes sense for your wife to keep her current coverage under COBRA.

Never give control of your computer or your personal or credit card information to someone who calls you out of the blue.

Report the scam to the Colorado Consumer Line at (800) 222-4444 or the Federal Trade Commission at (877) 382-4357 or www.ftc.gov.

Short-Term Health Insurance

If you can’t find an affordable Marketplace plan and COBRA is too expensive, the next option is short-term health insurance. These plans, which are not available in every state, are cheaper, bare-bones health plans that provide coverage for one to 12 months and may be renewed for up to three years in some states. But be aware that short-term plans don’t comply with the ACA so they can deny sick people coverage, they don’t cover preexisting conditions, and they can exclude coverage essentials like prescription drugs.

To find and compare shortterm health plans, try sites like eHealthInsurance.com or PivotHealth.com

Never answer the phone. Instead, let the message roll into voicemail and then delete it.

Never send money, even if you believe it’s a legitimate call. Don’t wire money or pay with a prepaid debit card or gift card, because once you send it, the money is gone. If you have questions regarding your Social Security account, visit www.ssa. gov or call 1 (800) 772-1213.

What are the four key medical/estate plan documents you need now?

Many of my clients have asked what are the critical documents needed, particularly in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Simply being married does not give you the legal right to gain access to your spouse’s medical records or make medical decisions on your spouse’s behalf, even in an emergency. To avoid this problem and to help others care for you and to achieve your overall estate planning goals, the following doc-

Healthcare sharing

ministries

One other coverage option you should know about is healthcare sharing ministries (HCSM). These are cost-sharing health plans in which members – who typically share a religious belief – make monthly payments to cover expenses of other members, including themselves.

HCSM’s are cheaper than paying full out-of-pocket costs for traditional health insurance but be aware that HCSM’s are not health insurance. They don’t have to comply with the consumer protections of the ACA. They can also reject or limit coverage for having pre-existing health issues and can limit how much you’ll be reimbursed for your medical costs.

To look for HCSM plans, comparison shop at the three largest providers: SamaritanMinistries.org, MyChristianCare.org and Chministries. org uments create an effective medical/estate plan package:

1.Healthcare Power of Attorney;

2.General Financial Power of Attorney;

3.Advanced Directive for Medical/Surgical Treatment (“Living Will”); and

4.Will (or a Will with a Trust).

Careful medical/estate planning should include preparation and signing of these documents, to accomplish your goals and protect you, both during your lifetime, and at the time of passing. The Power of Attorney documents allow you to designate those agents whom you authorize to help you on your behalf during your lifetime, and the Will/Trust documents allow you to nominate others to help with your estate after your passing, as well as to identify the beneficiaries and the distributions to them, to accomplish your estate planning goals.