Steve Lujan, known as The Medicare Man, helps people navigate Medicare enrollment and avoid costly mistakes. He emphasizes that adult children should get involved in their parents' Medicare decisions and highlights a critical gap: Medicare doesn't cover long-term custodial care. His expertise stems from becoming a caregiver for his parents after his mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis.
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Hey everybody, this is Scott Levin, Chief Peacekeeper, and I am here with my very good friend Steve Lujan. Steve, how are you?
Doing great, Scott. Thanks for having me.
So Steve, if you— you probably already know Steve, or maybe many of you have seen him around by virtue of his bow tie, but Steve is known as the Medicare Man. He's a ProVisors member, as am I. And he has a lot of mojo going for him. A lot of people like Steve, and I just kind of wanted to introduce himself, his story, how he got into doing what he does, and, and advising, you know, whoever's watching it out there, if they can benefit from his expertise in the Medicare field, I encourage you to connect. So Steve, tell us, what is The Medicare Man? What does The Medicare Man do?
All right, well, thanks, Scott. Essentially what I do is I help people with their health insurance planning. So in the space that I work with, in order to be eligible for Medicare, you have to reach the sweet age of 65 years young, right? That's the birthday year. So I help folks with Medicare. I help them basically sign up at the right time, sign up with the right coverage, and make sure that they're not overspending or Or getting caught in a tricky situation where they're not properly covered or protected.
So do people call you and have any idea like what they're facing and what, what, what's the paperwork like? Uh, what, and what, and when you say get the right coverage, like what sort of options are there? I actually have no idea. Obviously I know about Medicare generally, but I have absolutely no knowledge about it specifically. Yeah.
Well, I can tell you this, it's, it's complicated. And I first learned about Medicare as I started to help my folks out with their insurance planning. So at the surface, it's very complicated. As you start to dig in and try to figure out the details on your own, I think it becomes even more overwhelming. So I actually work with a lot of professionals, primarily financial advisors and CPAs, who try to help their clients navigate through this, these waters. So Medicare is tricky. I recommend that folks work with A professional, someone that can guide them, simplify the process, and make sure that they actually answer all their questions.
And so when people, um, do normally, uh, like people entering Medicare come directly to you, or do you ever get calls from people's kids? You know, like a 40, 45-year-old whose parent is entering it and that person's trying to help them, you know, navigate the waters. Who normally is the contact for you?
Yeah, so most of the time I'm getting the referral coming from the financial professional, but as I engage more and more adult kids that are in their 30s and 40s, I basically preach to them to try to help out their parents. More often than not, parents, you know, say that they can figure things out on their own. I think typically they can, but as adult children in their 30s and 40s, something that I think you want to be conscious of is You know, who's going to look after mom and dad when they're in their 70s and 80s? Because there are certain rules when it comes to Medicare insurance planning that will affect the type of care that your parents receive. So all of that stuff is complicated, but I definitely recommend having adult children being a part of this conversation with their parents.
And where does like long-term care planning come in? Is that like a private thing outside of Medicare?
Yeah, and that, that comes— it's a great question, and it comes as a massive surprise to folks. So Medicare is simply— think of it as, you know, health insurance, hospital insurance, doctor's insurance, and you also receive some drug coverage. But what you just referred to, which is custodial care, private caregiving, is not covered by Medicare. So families either have to step in and, and contribute with their blood, sweat, and tears, or— Folks can plan ahead by buying long-term care insurance products or life insurance products or annuities that tie in a long-term care benefit. But it's a, it's a major discussion and it's something that I'm passionate in educating folks on.
So you mentioned, uh, um, like, you know, how you got kind of introduced to this with your parents. What is your, if you don't mind sharing a little bit more about, about that backstory, how do you get into, how do you become the Medicare Man?
Yeah, I became Medicare Man by default and accident, right? And I mean this because back in 2009, right after, as we were all recovering, or some of us were recovering from the market crash, my parents were having some— had signs of showing some health issues. So I moved them into my home with me in the city of San Marcos, and within a few short years, my mom who had been experiencing short-term memory loss, was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer's. So that kind of punch, that life punch, really rattled my world. So from 2009 to 2013, I put kind of my personal life on the shelf and I became a primary caregiver for both my mother and my father. My dad, who eventually passed away, was on dialysis for 8 years. Right, so here I am. At the time, I was in my mid-30s, and in some ways I feel fortunate that I had— I was a little bit younger and had the energy to take care of parents. But the reality is, at any age, it's extremely hard. It's mentally and emotionally crippling. Although I felt I could handle a lot of that load, the reality was I needed help. I just didn't know how to ask for it. Right, so I think that's what happens to a lot of adult kids or spouses who are taking care of a loved one who's having health issues. We forget how to ask for help. Because we maybe feel a little bit ashamed, or maybe we just don't have the energy to share our story. But I'd say, you know, do what we're doing here, Scott, like create a village of people who want to help and that can support you when that time, that time comes.
So how do you— how can people reach you and get help and, and, and, and, and reach someone with true expertise in the field that can provide guidance, answers? I know Steve from off screen, and he is someone that always volunteers to provide information. So he's one of the good guys, a real advocate. Uh, for people. Um, so Steve, how do people, you know, reach you? What's the best way, etc.?
Yeah, thank you. Uh, folks can visit my website, it's helpmemedicareman.com. Folks can schedule a call, a Zoom meeting, that might be the easiest with smartphones these days. Otherwise, folks can call me direct, uh, call me directly on my, uh, my mobile, my direct line, my business line. And, uh, other— LinkedIn is a great community, right? LinkedIn is a powerful community. We continue to build out our networks. So, uh, I just make it easy on folks, right? Website, direct telephone number, LinkedIn.
Great. So it's helpmemedicareman.com?
Yes.
Okay, cool. That's a cool site. I like it.
Hey man, in my world it's easy. Help Me Medicare Man. That's it. That's really what folks are looking for, a little help.
All right, well, listen everybody, uh, get some help when you need it, uh, and learn, educate yourself. Steve the Medicare Man, uh, Lujan is there for you, uh, helpmemedicareman.com. I love it. Thanks, Steve, for joining us.
