Seniors Health Plan Advisors: Matching LI Medicare Beneficiaries with Insurance Plans that Meets their Healthcare Needs and Budgets

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Tony Calvacca, Seniors Health Plan Advisors Owner and Operator, boasts over 20 years in the medical insurance field.

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Tony Calvacca, Seniors Health Plan Advisors Owner and Operator.

Photo by: SHPA

Navigating the complex landscape of the Medicare healthcare system can be a difficult and confusing experience unless you have the right person guiding you through the entire process step by step.
 
And Seniors Health Plan Advisors of Hauppauge, NY is just the company to lend a helping hand to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries are indeed enrolling in the appropriate Medicare health insurance plan for their own personal needs.
 
Tony Calvacca, Seniors Health Plan Advisors Owner and Operator, boasts over 20 years in the medical insurance field, having worked for Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield and Bank of America as an employee benefits consultant, before striking out on his own. This vast array of experience illustrates that he has the know-how and wherewithal to find his clients the Medicare health plans that best suit their individual circumstances.
 
“This really just speaks to my deep knowledge of this business,” he said. “Often people who are new to the business only have basic training under their belt, and they really don't have the kind of long-term experience in the industry that I have. I've literally helped thousands of people in New York with their Medicare insurance plans over the years.”
 
Tony doesn't sell people insurance; instead, he offers people options and educates them regarding the different avenues of healthcare they can pursue; as a result, his clients are so well informed that they are very comfortable with the decisions that they make about their coverage.
 
“I felt that the insurance industry is the industry to be in, and the Medicare side of the business seemed attractive because it can have a significant and direct impact upon the well-being of a person's life,” he said. “You're going to have a major impact upon how they get their health care, and what it's going to cost for them to get it. And those two things are intertwined, because if people are improperly insured on Medicare, it's going to have big effect on the healthcare providers and services they have access to, and what kind of lifestyle they will have as a result of the financial costs of their healthcare.”
 
An important thing to bear in mind is that Tony does not charge his clients for his services; and when it comes to the number of plan choices available to his clients, he notes that he represents virtually all of the insurance companies available on the marketplace, meaning that there are a wide variety of plans for him to help his clients consider.
 
“People never pay me any money at all, because I get compensated through insurance companies, not the client,” he said. “And I'm an independent advisor, and I have access to every plan in the marketplace. That frees me up to offer them any plan available, so I don't have any bias. My interest is the client's interest, so my sole focus is to find them the Medicare Insurance plan that aligns best with their health needs and their budget.”
 
When it comes to selecting the health care plan that's right for you, there are numerous factors to consider, and Tony has a distinct and detailed process that gets to the bottom of what his clients’ needs are, and in turn allows him to suggest the plans that should address those needs most effectively.
 
“The first step is an initial phone interview in order to get what I call the 'fact pattern.’ What the story is with this individual, because there are many, many different scenarios for people,” he said. “Next, I send them an email with a document that they need to fill out which provides me with all of the information I'm going to need. And this is vitally important, because an individual person's use of providers, medical services and drugs is going to drive a big part of the decision about which healthcare plan option works for them.”
 
Once Tony receives that information, he develops a spreadsheet containing all the various different options in the market, including Medicare supplemental plans, Medicare drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans. Once the spreadsheet has been put together, he schedules a 1-hour consultation with his client where they can do an online review of the plans.
 
“I take them step-by-step through government Medicare, what it covers, what it doesn't cover, and what it costs,” Tony said. “From there, we look at all of the Medicare insurance options, side-by-side, in terms of cost and benefits to figure out exactly what's going to fit that person.”
 
After a selection has been made, Tony enrolls the client in the plan of their choosing; afterwards, he follows-up to make sure that they have received their insurance cards. And finally, an additional meeting takes place so that the client is crystal clear on how their plan works, what they pay, what the plan covers, and any other factors regarding the plan that they need to know about.
 
Ultimately, Tony says it's not about simply selecting the “best” plan out there, but instead helping a client to select the best plan for them.
 
In addition, during the plan selection process, Tony also educates his clients on federal and state programs that can offer additional reductions other types of financial assistance with their medical expenditures.
 
“There are federal and state programs available that can assist people with lowering the cost of their drugs and reduce the cost of their Medicare Part B premium that they pay to the government,” he said. “So, we do an analysis to find out if they qualify for any of these programs that can reduce their drug costs and their premium costs. This is very important, because sometimes those programs can have a dramatic, positive effect on what they pay.”
 
Many of Tony’s new clients are younger than 65 and are looking to do research into the right health plans for them to choose once they become old enough to be eligible for Medicare.
 
According to Tony, “I get called often by people who are about to turn 65, and who have decided to continue to work for a few years more and they want me to do a comparison of the plan they get from their employers versus the coverage they could have under Medicare.”
 
“Comparing employer coverage to Medicare coverage is really important because doing this comparison will determine which option provides the richest benefits at the lowest cost,” Tony added.
 
Tony offers extended hours of availability during the week – 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday – which are often a boon to those who are still in the workforce and have limited ability to call him during the day.
 
“My being available on weeknights tends to be very helpful for a lot of people, because that's usually the time when they have the ability to reach out and make a phone call,” he said. “And then we can start the conversation.”
 
Tony said that working in this field – helping people with the vitally important decision of what Medicare plan to go with to ensure their financial and physical well-being – has resulted in a rewarding career.
 
“This is a great business if you want to help people, because you get an immediate positive response from clients that they recognize and appreciate that you're doing a lot to meets their needs,” he said. “It's a good feeling knowing that you're helping people every single day, both medically and financially.”
 
To find out more about Seniors Health Plan Advisors, you can call Tony at 516-319-2214 or visit https://www.seniorshealthplans.com.