Surf City Insurance Services

Victoria, thanks for putting together HBOpenforBusiness. We just put together a message for all of our insureds to (1) let them know we are here & available to assist them in any way needed; (2) remind everyone that pretty much every insurance carrier (even Medicare now) has some sort of Tele-A-Doc feature (Blue Shield, Oscar Health), "Video Visit" (Kaiser), Live Health Online (Anthem). Many have no office visit co-pay involved at all and the doctors on call can prescribe... an Rx. It's not for everyone or every situation, but we know the system is in over load right now. We have heard so many positive stories this week --- Sarah here, her gym was waiving the monthly membership fee because they're closed. Well, the members decided to keep paying their $20 so the affected staff could get paid. How resilient we are are people and let's home this dystopia right now brings out the good in all of us. Last, those on Covered California who may have experienced a change in their income, can go online and report this and perhaps adjust their health insurance costs. Yes, you still have to keep your insurance payments going in (they're not the gym). Generally there's a 30 day grace period, and a little longer for those on Covered California. We are here, 714-377-1400. Even if you're not a client of ours, we are happy to help if you need us. And again, Victoria, you rock. This was a great idea.

For those why rely on the individual market to buy their health insurance, 2020 Open Enrollment begins in California October 15th for a January 1st 2020 effective date (2 weeks sooner than the federal Open Enrollment begins). Also new for 2020, Californians will enjoy a state-provided subsidy for their health insurance costs if they earn more than the federal limits allow (currently 400% of poverty level, or $49,960 for single enrollees; $103K for 2020 adjusted gross income for a family of 4. Take a look. You cannot stack the two ---- and the only way to qualify for the subsidy is to enroll into a plan at www.coveredca.com (so select plan designs).

OMG, I feel like Sally Field delivering that Oscar speech when she said: They like me. They really like me/us. We do the group benefits for this group and have for years --- happily.

Words can’t describe how grateful we are for your generosity. Thank you to the volunteers, sponsors, vendors and guests for making our first Toy Drive, one to remember! Video Credit: Joey Morales

Medicare As of January 2019, AARP/UnitedHealthcare plan dropped the popular www.SilverSneakers.com benefit in favor of their new in-house, www.MyRenewActive.com. It will be free to Medicare Advantage members, but for those who are on a Medicare Supplement plan thru AARP, there will be 50% cost-sharing and your gym membership will be limited to one gym. Silver Sneakers, a very popular benefit allows members to move around from participating gym to participating gym (and als...Continue reading

http://www.latimes.com//la-fi-property-tax-payment-2017122

Years back we told this client to simply leave us a YELP review. It has been a good case --- for them --- and we really do like them --- we did excel. They say you can't eat YELP reviews. They're right, but there's enough here to have a party.

In 2016 Congress changed a few rules on claiming social security. Mahaney does a nice job here going into pointers. http://research.prudential.com//2016-Social-Security-paper. We have really good software that we use to help people figure out what's in their best interest. So many things to consider --- if you're married, the impact of the survivor benefit. Chapter 4 --- the tax torpedo. Then again, for many, it's nice to get an allowance :)

Funny to receive a handful of emails already today from Anthem, but no mention of this. Perhaps this is a hint to Memorial to keep the faith, Anthem'll come around? https://lbpost.com//2000011370-anthem-blue-cross-terminate

Long term care insurance is considered to fall under "health insurance" so when an insurance carrier goes under, to keep their promises to their insureds, other insurance companies must chip in and cover the void. Well, with life insurance companies, this is less of an issue because of the amount of reserves they keep (enormous) and how rarely they go under (not one of them failed during the Great Depression). Life insurance companies typically enjoy solid "A" A+, A+++ ra...tings. Health insurance companies work on smaller margins. Worrisome to read that health insurance companies can pass along these bail outs to their policyholders. In this write-up, we are learning that with the failure of Penn Treaty American Corp of Allentown, PA, California's State Guaranty Association is looking at about $400.6 million. Anthem is estimated to contribute about $253 million; Blue Shield $40 million (and they are still offering individual health plans for 2018) Penn Treaty had about 73,000 policyholders nationwide. Long-term care insurance plans didn't get much market penetration, and that's something that insurance companies rely upon in order to "spread the risk". However, on a positive note, there are so many protections in place that we know that the policyholders who bought this long term care coverage from Penn Treaty will still have coverage for their claims, if they should materialize.

As many know, Dawn re-located to Australia this Spring --- just in time to begin a new winter season there. Other than that, all has been good. Here's a piece from Jetstar Australia that is pretty cool. Dawn's mom-in-law got the surprise of her life (a good surprise) this past Mother's Day. Happy 4th everyone --- and to you, too, Dawn. DD