All posts by Debbie Sears

Protect Your Income – The Asset You Rely On Most

Disability Income

May is Disability Awareness month and I would like to dedicate my newsletter and my blogs to this very important subject that spans all ages, genders, occupations and does effect our cash flow.

As an independent health insurance agent, we offer a vast array of products, such as health, life, disability income, long-term care, annuities and ancillary products as needed. I’ve had several informational gatherings and explained to people how they can be insured properly and adequately on a budget, addressing all perils that come their way proportionate to their assets and their income. By doing so, we are not insuring somebody in one area or over-insuring somebody in an area and leaving a void elsewhere in their portfolio. One very overlooked and very misunderstood segment of your portfolio would be protecting your income.

Your income helps pay for everyday living expenses, but it also gives you the freedom to do the things you love. Make sure that doesn’t change even if your health or ability to work does change. Check out this 2-page brochure from Principal, a national leader for disability income products, that may help you understand what income protection is and if you need it.

I encourage you to call Sears Insurance for a free assessment of all your insurance needs. My goal for you is strictly to create an awareness. How you choose to protect your family, of course, is completely up to you. But this is an industry I do not expect you to be well-versed in due to a lot of the changing details. On behalf of yourself and your family, please make this a priority.

I have a fondness for our local Easter Seals Iowa Chapter. Poke around on their site, I think you will be surprised.  Their programs tab is a great overview of just how extensive their services are.

There are so many needs that you may not realize affect everyone of us in some way.  We could have or know of a child with physical or mental disabilities such as Downs Syndrome or Autism; an adult with an injury such as our farmers; a Veteran that needs some assistance outside of what they may be receiving; support to families…the scenarios are endless.  Here is a link to their site as well.

Please call me for a FREE consultation!

Disability resources in Iowa.

The Healthcare Crisis in Iowa

Healthcare updates

Iowa has a healthcare crisis for 70,000+ people as carriers leave the individual market.

We need to, as agents, help our fellow Iowans with free consultations. I pride myself in looking at a person’s whole situation: their age, health, pharmacy needs, employment status, household income, etc., to find any and all options for their consideration.

As we go through the free assessment process, we learn about employment options and benefits, self-employment opportunities and possibilities for benefits, the healthiest state initiative, free counseling on health conditions, whether they be hereditary or something that can be managed in a different or better way.

At the end of our assessment, we find a way to help most the people that cross our desk. The two recent articles that have been published, one by the Des Moines Register and one by the Kaiser Health News. Please call us for an appointment so that we can help you solve this dilemma.

May is Disability Awareness Month

Disability Income

You have heard me mention many times that if your insurance is proportionate to your needs and your budget, you can be properly and adequately covered for most perils that may come your way. Protecting your income is like your lifeline, to not only your lifestyle but your family!  This is serious stuff!

To achieve this balance, it is imperative that you have an assessment of your needs and budget. Once that is achieved, then one can start the process of placing the proper coverages.

Wherever you are in life – get started!  There is no better time than NOW. Accidents and illness are not scheduled!  If your employer does not provide an option for this type of coverage, please ask them to consider it.  This can be purchased on an individual basis or on a group basis through an employer.  If you are a business owner, please do your employees (that make you what you are) a tremendous service and let me make a proper assessment.  The cost of disability income protection is one of the least costly coverages that you could consider.

Check out www.disabilitycanhappen.org. This is an unbiased fact sheet provided by The Council for Disability Awareness.

I have a fondness for our local Easter Seals Iowa Chapter. Poke around on their site, I think you will be surprised.  Their programs tab is a great overview of just how extensive their services are.

 

There are so many needs that you may not realize that affect everyone of us in some way.  We could have or know of a child with a physical or mental disabilities such as Downs Syndrome or Autism; an adult with an injury such as our farmers; a Veteran that needs some assistance outside of what they may be receiving; support to families…the scenarios are endless.  Here is a link to their site as well.
Please call me for a FREE consultation!

It Can Happen to You

Disability Income, Estate planning, Health Insurance, Income Protection, Long Term Care

The State of Iowa has a long and rich history of family values that is second to none. We may work our way through our education to get jobs elsewhere. Nine times out of ten, an Iowan will return to their roots.

Our family farm heritage is sesquicentennial farms. Families are being honored every year with governor’s awards for their entrepreneurship and family farming is a beautiful site to be hold. We are first in the nation for our corn production. We are second in the nation for our soybean production. We now have the longest standing governor in American history, recently selected to be our ambassador to China. How cool is that!

With all of these neat things, we have a huge responsibility that should not be overlooked. As times have changed, laws have changed. Regulations have become knee-deep. Education is now essential whereas before, you could learn the trade. We need to have a complete and total assessment of our insurance needs done on an annual basis because life changes and life happens. And our needs and our budget fluctuate accordingly. To continue this heritage with our agricultural families, it is necessary that they have proper health insurance, proper disability income coverage and proper life insurance to sustain them through any transition from generation to generation without incurring costly and unnecessary debt.

Life Happens has several one, two and three-minute videos that are very informational and I encourage you to poke around on that site and educate yourself on your responsibilities. Please call us. Our consultations are free. We will work with your legal staff and your CPAs to make a plan that is well-suited for your family’s needs, spanning however many generations necessary. If you do not have these professionals in place and you want references, please ask.

Stress Awareness

Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Healthcare updates

Sometimes the unknowns cause stress. Stress can be defined as “normal wear and tear”. But when “your normal” becomes uncomfortable, you can actually do damage to mind, body and spirit. Sometimes stress is the unknown, sometimes stress is time management. Sometimes stress is who you choose to “let in”.

As this pertains to health insurance, we have a lot of unknowns at the moment. As you are aware, Wellmark has made the decision not to renew individual policies that were written after January 1, 2014 under the individual mandate of the affordable care act. And they’ve also made a decision, starting January 1 of 2018 not to sell any individual health insurance products. This was very quickly followed-up with Aetna removing themselves from the individual market as well. So, 4th quarter of this year is going to be a stampede for an approximate 75,000 people trying to figure out what is their next best option.

We can help you solve that problem. I need to meet with you one-on-one. This could be through a telephone call, through email or it could be a face-to-face appointment in my office. We will look at your current financial and insurance situation and explore your options. Align benefits that are appropriate for your home and your budget. If by chance, you have an EIN number (Employer Identification Number) issued by the IRS, and you are considered a “business”, you should not be in the individual health market to begin with. There are answers and there are solutions. We can take what looks like doom and gloom and create sunshine. This has opportunity written all over it. Don’t pass up this chance to improve your health insurance situation and your finances. Give us a call.

Spring Break Means Get In Shape!

Blue Zones, Community, Healthiest State Initiative
With the break of Spring I always am inspired to get in shape – physically and  mentally – from the year end, holidays, first of the year stuff, tax preparation etc.  I am taking this week of from insurance information and giving you some healthy items to ponder.
Allison Piazza is the Events and Volunteer Coordinator for Easter Seals Iowa and Camp Sunnyside.  They sponsor a Walk With Me fundraiser. Please poke around on their site and take a look at all of the great things that they do for Iowans.  They serve all ages and occupations.  If you have an interest, please be sure to give Allison a quick call or email. Their registration form is also included on the page.
The Healthiest State Initiative has a walk coming up in April and I am shooting this off to you now so that you can plan accordingly. This is a really good State effort to keep us mindful of our health and WE can do for OURSELVES to assist in keeping us feeling good and lowering our health care costs.
Des Moines Eventful has a list of many different interest that are slated to come soon on our calendars.

Disability Income Protection

Disability Income
If you are an employee and your employer offers disability income protection, you should definitely check the box.  If your income stops due to an illness or an injury, you would have a ripple effect like no other.
This would affect your ability to pay all bills. This would affect many people; such as your spouse, your children, your extended family in some cases.
If you are a business owner or are self-employed, the same would hold true. You would not be able to pay your debts if your income was impaired or you were not able to perform at all.
To have insurance for all areas that you should consider, you need an analysis of your needs. You truly can cover all bases and still eat. You must be insured proportionate to your ability to pay – your needs. This is like cutting off your oxygen and hoping you can exist long enough to regain your next breath. Why would you even go there? The answer is one of two: you have never had anyone ask you if you have this type of coverage and explain options to you, or you have shut your mind to the conversation, as you “cannot afford it”. You cannot afford to be without the “proper” coverages.
Please take a look at this article. Give me a call and we can explore your options.

Spend your Dollars Wisely

Health Insurance

This link is designed to help you make more informed decisions and spend your dollars wisely.

  • Doctors office vs. Urgent Care vs. ER?
  • Which way do I go?
  • If I go to the ER there will be lab work done.
  • Do I know who reads the images?
  • Where is your lab work sent?
  • Are the professionals “reading” or interpreting these results an employee of the hospital or are they 1099 employees?
  • Are they in or out of network?
  • Will my insurance pay for them?
  • How do I find that out?
  • Am I in network or out of network?
  • Cost Estimator tools?  Know where you can get the best bang for your buck on scheduled procedures
  • Prescription drug costs

Be sure to use the preventative wellness exams to maximize your time and dollars in addition to all of the “right” reasons to have this information a part of your medical record

 

 

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