CUTS TO MEDICARE CREATE NEW MEDICARE PROBLEM

Most of us who are over 65 think Medicare is a great idea. And, we have more or less taken it for granted. However, the new tax law may make us think of Medicare in an entirely new light. Next year we will see the first of what will be an ongoing series of cuts to Medicare’s budget to help pay for the costs associated with this new tax bill.

Twenty-five billion should have been cut this year, but the AARP successfully labored to push that off until next year – after the election. Once these cuts take place, and they are inevitable, the availability of highly skilled doctors and hospitals to perform “extraordinarily” expensive procedures will significantly diminish. Medicare simply won’t be able to pay for such “catastrophic illnesses”. So, who will? You.

You would have to decide how to pay for such medical emergencies. From savings, investment portfolios, IRAs? What would the tax consequences be to liquidate enough of your retirement account’s holdings to pay for your care? Depending on your tax bracket, and the state you live in, it could cost an additional 48%.

Is there another solution? Fortunately, there is. Over the past few years, new tax-free wealth transference programs have been developed that also provides tax-free catastrophic health insurance. We have been offering such programs to our clients and have seen a huge up-tick in interest in them due to the Medicare problem we are facing.

Please call us for an appointment to discuss how these new strategies might be able to help you.