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As your neighborhood real estate professionals, I’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing professionals. Today I will introduce you to another local expert to provide meaningful information. I’m Mitchell Jones, and this is The Low Down on Temecula Valley Medicare Insurance.
Mitchell Jones
Today, I have the pleasure of meeting with Alexandra Abadie. She is a Central Park resident. And I’m honored and pleased to have her here today because she truly is our resident expert on Medicare insurance. She’s approaching her ninth year in this field, and she has a lot to share with our community to ensure that we get the best medical coverage that we possibly can get. On a side note, Alexandra and her husband are expecting their first child, she’s just entered into her third trimester. I’m so happy to have you here today, Alexandra.
Mitchell Jones
Oh, gosh.
Mitchell Jones
Oh, good. Well, thank you for agreeing to meet with me. How long have you been a resident in the area?
Alexandra Abadie
My husband and I moved to Central Park in January of 2018, I believe. It was like right before our wedding. So it was a little bit of a time crunch. And maybe a little stressful. But it was honestly one of the best moves that we’ve made. But we’ve been in the Temecula Valley since January of 2017.
Mitchell Jones
So we have a lot of baby boomers coming of age in the Temecula Valley. And they’ll soon be candidates, obviously, for Medicare. What can they do now to start preparing for that transition.
Alexandra Abadie
Um, you don’t want to start necessarily looking too early. Because plans can change from year to year. There’s different policies and things that change within Medicare from from one year to the next. So I usually say about six to eight months before your 65th birthday is going to be the best time to start researching, kind of connecting with a professional, somebody who’s going to help you get you through that process and answer your question Jones.
Mitchell Jones
So when we turn 65, do we automatically just have Medicare coverage?
Alexandra Abadie
We get asked that a lot. So it’s going to depend on your situation. If you are currently collecting Social Security before you turn 65, you will actually automatically be issued your Medicare card with Original Medicare Part A and Part B. If you are not collecting social security at the time, let’s say you’re still working or you are retired, but you’re waiting until full retirement age to collect, you will actually need to apply. And there’s three ways you can apply. You can go online and create an account on my Medicare or Medicare. Gov. You can call into Medicare to apply over the phone or you can go into your local social security office, which for our Valley here in Marietta and Temecula would be in Hemet.
Mitchell Jones
Well, I hear a lot about Medicare Advantage. Can you see share a little bit more on that
Alexandra Abadie
The first step is getting your original Medicare, which is that card that you receive. That’s your insurance through the federal government. Part A and Part B on top of Original Medicare because they only cover about 80% of your expenses, not including the deductibles that Part A and Part B have, you’re going to want to add some sort of secondary coverage. So there’s two options there’s medicare supplement and Medicare Advantage. Medicare Advantage is a very popular plan, I would say probably about 75% or more of my client base is enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. Those are going to be your HMO and PPO options. The PPO options are very limited. For instance, in 2019, there’s only one PPO option available through Medicare Advantage in Riverside County.
So most of the plans available are going to be those HMO options. And what Medicare Advantage does is it actually ended operates Original Medicare Parts A and part B, all into one plan combined. And that plan is your primary insurance. Those plans can also include additional benefits such as dental, vision, hearing over the counter care Advantage plans also include prescription drug coverage. So you have one insurance policy that encompasses everything into just one plan. So it’s very seamless, very easy to use.
Mitchell Jones
What would you say sets your agency apart from others who may be your competition.
Alexandra Abadie
One of the things that we are fortunate enough to do as an agency is work with doctors throughout Southern California. We are a family run agency. So me and my partners who are actually my parents, we run HCAG Medicare Insurance Agency, and we have several other agents both here and in Southern Nevada. We are very active within the community we participate in health fair’s, probably at least one to two times a month, if not more. We are definitely advocates. Our agency goes above and beyond we don’t just help our clients with their Medicare needs. But if they’re dealing with issues with Social Security, we can provide assistance.
Mitchell Jones
What about someone who may be approaching college age at this point? They are exploring different career options. What would you say if someone was thinking about maybe becoming a healthcare advocate or an insurance sales specialist? What advice can you give them?
Alexandra Abadie
Well, I would say definitely, you know, meet with somebody who’s in that industry, whether it’s myself or somebody that you know in that industry, and get a really, you know, in depth perspective at what it is that they do. It’s not necessarily the easiest job, I am self employed. And every single client that I have is a lead that I worked for, in different ways I have to be very active in the community.
As I said, with the health fair’s. It takes such a lot of time and effort to build up your book of business. Nothing is ever just going to be handed to you. So you have to really have that sales mentality, that sales personality, and you have to really be willing to work for it and put in the time. So just make sure you have a really realistic idea of what you’re getting into. Because you don’t want to end up getting burnt out. Time is our most most valuable asset. So you don’t want to invest a bunch of time in something that isn’t going to end up working out for you.
Mitchell Jones
Well, gosh, we are so excited about the baby coming and we are so grateful for your time today and sacrificing your time away from your clients to help support our community means so much the gift of time is just invaluable here. Thank you and it’s a pleasure knowing you and calling you my friends. Appreciate it.
The Low Down on Temecula Valley Medicare Insurance. The Low Down on Temecula Valley Medicare Insurance.
