#51 – 52- Emergency – That Snowbank and Medicare

When Aaron retired, one of the things he looked forward to was more skiing with his kids. Aaron and his wife Lynn are super health-conscious. Aaron keeps in shape as a daily jogger and weekend trail biker. His wife Lynn had been teaching yoga for years so, when Aaron retired, she looked forward to planning visits to the grandkids more frequently. 

Lynn made detailed plans for them all to meet in Lake Tahoe one year. As the family settled in, they shared stories about the past year, marveled at how much their grandkids had grown, and of course, they talked about getting the grandkids in ski school and which slopes to hit for the week.

That Snowbank

The Tahoe weather didn’t disappoint. There was lots of snow to make tracks in! By late morning one day, Aaron and his son decided to hit the slopes while Lynn and her daughter took the grandkids downtown for some shopping.  No one could have predicted that on that day Aaron would misgauge the gradient on the red trail and end up being stopped by a well-placed snowbank. Stopping was lucky but Aaron’s leg was less fortunate. It looked like he would need help getting off that mountain and to the emergency room.

Lynn was happy to learn Aaron was in pretty good shape except for his leg. However, while waiting for updates at the hospital, she wondered how their healthcare would cover the accident.  They lived in Arizona, and the accident happened out of state. How would their Medicare work? Lynn was concerned, so she called our office to review Aaron’s coverage with their advisor.

A Medicare Advantage Plan

When we met with them to plan their transition to Medicare, since they rarely visited a doctor, a Medicare Advantage plan was a good choice for them. Emergencies and urgent care don’t require network doctors so, if something happened during their US travels, Medicare had them covered at any hospital. Each Medicare Advantage plan sets its own cost detail for ER visits and other covered services but they weren’t restricted to only network care if something unexpected came up, like a visit to the ER.

As for the unique expenses relative to Aaron’s accident, their Medicare Advantage plan kept the cost of their air ambulance surprisingly affordable. The emergency room cost a copay on their particular plan, and if he needs a hospital stay or outpatient surgery, even though they were out of network, they only had to pay in network copays!

Relief and Recovery

Aaron was disappointed that the accident put a damper on skiing with his family, but he and Lynn were glad they had the coverage they needed for Aaron’s care. And we were delighted Lynn contacted us for guidance on their plan. Providing her with ready details of their benefits allowed her to be a calm caregiver and to get Aaron back on vacation, albeit without the skiing.

An aging workforce can benefit from having ready access to partners trained to guide on Medicare so that open discussions can help them.  So why not add this partnership to your team?

With our partnership, you support these opportunities:

• Save them from paying for more coverage than they need, 
• Guides them on whether a Med Supplement or Medicare Advantage plan is more appropriate for their needs,
• Help them avoid Medicare pitfalls later when they are making an exit plan, 
• Readies employees to transition to Medicare when it’s appropriate for them, and 
• Creates a non-bias, carrier-agnostic relationship for providing expert support of ALL the Medicare plans in an area and ongoing support.

Best of all… our services are free to you and your employees. 

Call us to learn more about how we are helping other companies. 

Need guidance on how to support your employees with other possible scenarios and helpful solutions?

Our Certified Medicare Planners® have more than 20 years of experience helping employees create Medicare transition plans BEFORE they need to enroll. We are ready to help!

Continuing Medicare guidance for your employees in 2022.

You can receive helpful Medicare resources, and tips and tricks to build your Medicare transition strategy just by signing up to receive a blog article a week delivered to your email. ( We promise only one per week and you can opt-out at any time)

Plus get early notifications of any NEW helpful resources and Medicare news!  SIGN UP BELOW!

Your Medicare Transition Partner
– Lora

#51 – 52- Emergency – That Snowbank and Medicare

When Aaron retired one of the things he looked forward to was skiing over the holidays with his kids. Aaron and his wife Lynn are super health-conscious. Aaron keeps in shape as a daily jogger and weekend trail biker. His wife Lynn had been teaching yoga for years so when Aaron retired she knew that they would both be able to plan visits to the grandkids more frequently. 

Lynn made detailed plans for them all to meet in Lake Tahoe one year. As the family settled in, they shared stories about the past year, marveled at how much their grandkids had grown, and of course, they talked about getting the grandkids in ski school and the grownups discussed which slopes to hit.

That Snowbank

The Tahoe weather didn’t disappoint. There was lots of snow to make tracks in! By late afternoon one day, Aaron and his son decided to hit the slopes while Lynn and her daughter hit downtown for some shopping.  No one could have predicted that on that day Aaron would misgauge the gradient on the red trail and end up being stopped by a well-placed snowbank. Stopping was lucky but Aaron’s leg was less lucky. It looked like he would need help getting off that mountain and to the emergency room.

Lynn was happy to learn Aaron was in pretty good shape except for his leg. While she waiting for information at the hospital, she wondered how their healthcare would cover the accident.  They lived in Arizona and the accident happened out of state. How would their Medicare work? Lynn was concerned so she called our office to review Aaron’s coverage.

A Medicare Advantage Plan

When we met with them to plan their transition to Medicare, since they rarely visited a doctor, a Medicare Advantage plan was a good choice for them. Emergencies and urgent care don’t require network doctors so if something happened during their US travels, Medicare had them covered at any hospital. As for the unique expenses relative to Aaron’s accident, their Medicare Advantage plan will cover 80% of the cost (less deductible) of their air ambulance, a ground ambulance would have only been a few hundred dollars too. The emergency room cost is a $125 copay, and if he a needs hospital stay or outpatient surgery, his plan copays will kick in for coverage.

Relief and Recovery

Aaron was disappointed that the accident put a damper on skiing with his family, but both he and Lynn we glad they had the coverage they needed for Aaron’s care. And we were glad Lynn contacted us for guidance on their plan. Providing her the the details of her benefits allowed her to be a calm caregiver to Aaron. 

An aging workforce can benefit from having ready access to partners trained to guide with Medicare so that open discussions can help them. Why not add this partnership to your team?

Consider working with a team of Certified Medicare Planners ® to guide Medicare discussions with your employees. 

With our partnership, you support these opportunities:

• Save them from paying for more coverage than they need, 
• Avoid Medicare pitfalls later when they are making an exit plan, 
• Readies employees to transition to Medicare when it’s appropriate for them, and 
• Creates a non-bias, carrier-agnostic relationship for providing expert support of ALL the Medicare plans in an area.

Best of all… our services are free to you and your employees. 

Call us to learn more about how we are helping other companies. 

Need guidance on how to support your employees with other possible scenarios and helpful solutions?

Our Certified Medicare Planners® have more than 20 years of experience helping employees create Medicare transition plans BEFORE they need to enroll. We are ready to help!

Medicare guidance for your employees in 2021.

You can receive helpful Medicare resources, and tips and tricks to build your Medicare transition strategy just by signing up to receive a blog article a week delivered to your email. ( We promise only one per week and you can opt-out at any time)

Plus get early notifications of any NEW helpful resources and Medicare news!  SIGN UP BELOW!

Your Medicare Transition Partner
– Lora