How Not To Pull Your Family Apart

It's a Scary Thing!

No, we’re not talking horror or sci-fi movies, we’re talking paying for retiree health care. The cost of a major medical care expense is often unknown until the final bill arrives. I have a friend who took her 83-year-old mother to the hospital. Her mother stayed in the hospital for 2 days. She was shocked when she got the bill and learned that her mother was billed as a patient under ‘observation’ and not as an ‘admitted’ patient. If you don’t speak billing codes for medical procedures, emergency services, room charges, medications, physicians, specialist fees, etc., deciphering/paying surprise charges can be a frightful experience. In a February 2023, press release, White House noted that pharmaceutical medical debt in the U.S. had reached $111 billion. Unpaid medical bills account for more than half of all debt in collections, according to the White House report. As a result, medical debt exceeds credit cards, personal loans and utilities and phone bills combined. Too many Americans assume that Medicare will cover their extended care needs once they retire. They don’t plan for all the ‘extra’ and ‘unknown’ bills that come into play. Professionals must learn how to open the caring conversation and help clients avoid being unprepared and prematurely invading their investments. Use my three steps and get comfortable with a planning approach that can create the ‘talk’ to build client trust. Show you care.