Insurance

3 Ways Insurers are Helping Policyholders Affected by COVID-19

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The insurance industry is an “essential” business during the coronavirus pandemic and all the related upheaval social distancing and self-quarantining has created. Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to continue working in the industry are finding as many ways as possible to help those who can’t work, or who can only work limited hours, and are suffering financially.

Please check with your insurance agents and insurance companies to see what assistance is being made available to you. Here are 3 types of help you should be able to obtain immediately with respect to your current insurance policies. In many cases, these actions are MANDATED by federal or state law.

  • Health insurance companies are waiving patient cost-sharing in the forms of deductibles, co-payments, and coinsurance
  • Insurance carriers have suspended the issuance of cancellations for failure to pay premiums when due–for a certain time period (i.e., until May 1)
  • Some insurance carriers are allowing people to extend the due date of premiums due on renewal policies for a certain time IF they call the carrier at a designated phone number to make arrangements

Each insurance company will be responding differently based on a number of factors, so call your agent or insurer to find out what type of assistance is being offered. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has created a Coronavirus Recourse Center on its website, which can be found here.

Many insurance companies, agencies, and other professionals are publishing and broadcasting all kinds of information to help but take care to be sure you’re listening to a reputable source. As we often see on social media, some individuals thriving on exploiting others.

Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you might have about, and I’ll get you an answer.

Welcome to my Podcast

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The Taking the Mystery out of Insurance podcast is now live! The Welcome episode aired on March 22nd and the official first episode will air on April 21st. Between now and then I’ll be broadcasting trailer episodes to announce upcoming episodes.

On the podcast, my guests and I take the subject of insurance and break it down into simple language, sharing concepts that help insurance professionals and their clients avoid the pitfalls of confusion and misunderstanding. Each episode will include a Q&A section, were I answer insurance-related questions submitted by listeners.

You’ll be able to find the podcast on YouTube, Apple, Castos, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Spotify, and Google Play.

Click here to send your feedback about the podcast, to suggest future topics, or to submit a Q&A request.

 

March CE Webinar Schedule

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My insurance CE webinar schedule for March is now available.

In addition to the regular monthly webinars, I also teach the New York Regulation 187 webinar (scroll down the CE Webinar Schedule page to find those dates), and the FREE Lunch & Learn webinars along with Pam Reihs. The Lunch & Learn webinars are NOT for CE credit; however, those who attend the entire webinar can receive a Professional Development Certificate.

Lunch & Learn Webinars

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Are you an insurance professional who is interested in the latest news about emerging markets and technologies in insurance?

If so, register for one or more of the free Lunch & Learn webinars Linda co-presents with Pam Reihs of A.D. Banker & Company. Past topics have included pet insurance, drones, cannabis, InsurTech, senior financial exploitation, and eScoooters.

These 1-hour webinars begin at 1 p.m. Eastern time and are NOT eligible for CE credit. However, A.D. Banker will provide Professional Development Certificates to students requesting them after they’ve completed the webinar.

For a list of the scheduled dates, and links to register, click here.

 

 

Federal Law Changes That Will Affect Your Tax Return – Part 2

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Yesterday, I began a 3-part series about some of the questions people are asking about recent federal legislation. Specifically, those questions are:

  1. Was Obamacare really declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court?
  2. Were the required minimum distributions (RMDs) at age 70 ½ from your retirement plan really eliminated?
  3. And how about the threshold for writing off medical expenses–was that also tossed away?

I answered question #1 in yesterday’s blog post and will answer question #3 in tomorrow’s blog post. Here’s my answer about the changes the SECURE Act brought to required minimum distributions (RMD).

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act went into law in December 2019 as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. The SECURE Act deals primarily with retirement plans–and a number of changes to those plans, especially to qualified plans.

A qualified retirement plan is established with money that has not been taxed. Examples include an employee depositing money into an IRA or 401(k) with salary before payroll taxes are deducted, or an employer depositing matching funds.

The IRS has long required individuals to begin withdrawing funds from qualified accounts at a specific age. Why? So it can collect taxes on that money! If a person establishes an IRA, or begins contributing to a 401(k) at age 40, the government doesn’t collect any taxes on the funds in these qualified plans until the account holder begins withdrawing the funds. A person can easily build an account with hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime of working.

The required beginning date of a retirement account is the date the account holder MUST begin making withdrawals–withdrawals that will be taxed by the IRS. These withdrawals are called required minimum distributions, or RMDs. For people who turn age 70 ½ on or before January 1, 2020, RMDs must be taken no later than April 1 of the year after the account holder turns age 70 ½.

For example:

  • If my 70th birthday was March 3, 2018, I turned 70 ½ on September 3, 2018. I had to make my first RMD no later than 4/1/2019.
  • If my 70th birthday was October 9, 2018, I turned 70 ½ on April 9, 2019. I have to make my first RMD no later than 4/1/2020.

Per the SECURE Act, the required beginning date was changed to 72 because many people are working longer. But it only changed for those who turn 70 ½ after 1/1/2020. People who turn 70 ½ after 1/1/2020 must begin their RMDs no later than April 1 of the year after they turn age 72. For example, if my 70th birthday is February 21, 2020, I will have to take my first RMD by April 1 of 2023 because that is the year after I turn age 72.

One of the issues concerning this age change is the fact that some people won’t have to make any RMDs in 2020. Here’s a Forbes article that explains this issue in more detail.

One final thing about RMDs. Before the SECURE Act, individuals could not begin a traditional IRA after age 70 ½, nor could they make contributions to it after that age. Now, so long as a person is working and earning income, he or she can open and make contributions to a traditional IRA at any age.

Check back tomorrow for the third and final part of this blog post series: the medical expense deduction threshold.