Insurance services
Insurance services I can help you compare
I am an independent agent, which means I am not tied to one insurance company. I sit down with you, look at what is actually available where you live, and walk you through the plans that fit your doctors, your prescriptions and your budget. Talking with me is free, and your premium is the same whether you enroll through me or on your own.
Medicare: Advantage, Supplement and Part D
Most of the people who call me are turning 65, retiring early, or already on Medicare and wondering whether what they have is still the right fit. Medicare has parts, and the names do not explain themselves. Here is how I usually break it down.
Medicare Advantage (Part C) is a private plan that takes the place of Original Medicare. It often bundles in drug coverage, dental, vision or hearing, and many plans carry a low or zero monthly premium. In exchange, you usually stay inside a network and you may pay copays when you use care. If keeping costs predictable matters more to you than freedom of network, this is worth a close look.
Medicare Supplement (Medigap) works alongside Original Medicare. You keep Medicare as your main coverage, you can see any provider who accepts Medicare nationwide, and the supplement picks up most or all of what Medicare leaves behind. There is a monthly premium, and most people also need a separate Part D drug plan. If you travel, split your time between states, or simply want fewer surprises, this is the conversation to have.
Part D drug plans are the prescription piece. Formularies change every January, and a drug that was covered last year can move to a different tier or drop off the list. I check your medications against the plans available in your county and tell you what the actual yearly cost looks like, not just the monthly premium.
If you already have a Medicare Advantage plan, we can compare it to what is available for the coming year. You are not stuck. There is an annual enrollment window, and in many counties you also have a Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period early in the year.
ACA and marketplace health plans
If you are not on Medicare yet, the marketplace is probably where you are looking. This covers people who buy their own health insurance, people between jobs, self-employed workers, and families who do not get coverage through an employer.
The part most people miss is the subsidy. Depending on your household income and size, you may qualify for a premium tax credit that lowers what you pay each month, and in some cases for cost-sharing reductions that lower your deductible and copays as well. Two households with the same income can land in very different places depending on how the numbers are reported, so it is worth checking rather than assuming.
I also help with the practical questions: whether your doctors are in the network, whether your prescriptions are covered, what the deductible really means for your situation, and what happens if your income changes during the year. If you are outside the open enrollment window, I can tell you whether a special enrollment period applies to you, for example after a move, a job loss, a marriage or the birth of a child.
Life insurance: term and permanent
Life insurance is the part people put off the longest, usually because it feels like a big decision. It does not have to be. The first question is simple: if you were not here next month, what would your household still have to pay?
Term life covers you for a set number of years, usually 10, 20 or 30. It is the most coverage for the least money, and it is the right answer for most families with a mortgage, young children or a working spouse who depends on your income.
Permanent life stays in force as long as you pay the premium and builds cash value over time. It costs more, so it usually makes sense when you want coverage that never expires, or when you are planning around final expenses and want something that will be there regardless of age.
We look at what your household would actually need to cover, then match the amount and the type to that number. I will tell you plainly if I think you need less than you expected.
Supplemental coverage that fills the gaps
Original Medicare and most Advantage plans leave things uncovered. Supplemental policies are how people handle those gaps without pulling from savings.
- MASA medical transport. Covers emergency and non-emergency transportation, including air transport and repatriation, which is the piece most people discover too late.
- Hospital indemnity. Pays a set amount per day or per stay when you are admitted, and you decide where that money goes.
- Accident coverage. Helps with the emergency room, fracture and follow-up costs that a health plan leaves to you.
- Critical illness. Pays a lump sum after a qualifying diagnosis such as cancer, heart attack or stroke, so the mortgage does not wait for the bills to sort themselves out.
These are not replacements for health coverage. They sit underneath it, and I will tell you honestly when I think one is not worth your money.
How working with me goes
We start with a phone call, usually fifteen to thirty minutes. You tell me what you have now and what you are worried about. Have your insurance card nearby if you can, along with a list of your prescriptions and the doctors you want to keep.
From there I put together the options that are actually available in your county and we go through them together. No pressure, no paperwork in the first conversation. If you want to think about it for a week, that is fine. If you decide to enroll, I handle the application and the follow-up with the plan, and I stay reachable afterward for questions in June as much as in December.
Every year after that, I review your coverage with you. Plans change, formularies change, and your health changes. A plan that fit you three years ago may not fit you now.
If you would like to read the questions I hear most before we talk, they are all answered on the answers page, and there is a fuller picture of my background here.
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information I give you is limited to the plans I do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.
LYS Insurance Agency is not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program.
Tell me what you need and we will look at it together
One call is usually enough for me to tell you where you stand. There is no cost and no obligation to enroll.
(551) 223-3854