When you first hear the word, “Insurance”, I can rest assured that the first thought that comes to your mind will not be “Dream Protector”. It is my hope to share with you some examples of why this is what comes to my mind as well as several of my clients.
Before we get to those examples, I want you to dream. I want you to bring to mind what your dream home looks like. Would you have lots of land or would you live in the city? Would you live near the water or next to the mountains? Would you start your own business? Where is your dream vacation? How often would you like to go there? Do you have a charity that you would like to give more to or volunteer with? With regards to relationships, who is your ideal partner? Do you want to retire early? If so, how would you spend your time? Do you dream of living debt free? Has there been a hobby you have always wanted to try? Are you at your perfect weight and if not, what do you consider your perfect weight?
Our dreams are real and for many of the clients that I am blessed to serve, they also have dreams that they want so desperately to come true. Let me share a few of these stories with you:
Couple on Medicare because each of them are disabled (Ages 60 & 56) – I met these clients in 2010 when they contacted me because they each needed a Prescription Drug Plan and wanted to save money on their medications. One of the first things that this couple shared with me is that it was their dream to be able to save enough to pay for their own oil and electricity without depending on the State of NH to help them out. At this particular time, they were paying just under $3,000 a year on medications. By using a Prescription Drug Plan as a tool, they were able to save just over $300 on prescriptions for that year. Although they were elated with the savings, they also knew that this wasn’t enough to make their dream come true of paying for their own oil and electricity. The next year came and during the Annual Election Period, I helped them changed plans and again the savings were approximately $300 a year. Again they were happy with the savings, but very disappointed that they still had to rely on the state for financial help. In 2012, I met with them again and he expressed his dream with great conviction to me. Because I now knew this couple pretty well, I asked them what the cost would be for both oil and electricity. If they paid for it themselves, it would cost about $900.00 a year for oil and another $900.00 a year for electricity. I then asked them to pull out their checkbook and write a check to both the oil company and the electric company. They looked at me like I had two heads and asked me why they should do this because the money wasn’t there. I told them that I knew this, but if they wrote it out and they really wanted their dream to come true, this may give them some ideas on how the dream could come true. They wrote the checks out and I witnessed a couple with severe disabilities come alive. For more than twenty minutes, they went back and forth thinking about all the ways they could come up with resources to help them with their dream. They renewed their prescription drug plan and this year, the savings was approximately $400.00 a year. About four months later, I received a call from these clients. They were able to pay for their own oil and electricity for the first time in over ten years. The next year came upon renewal and when I sat with them, I was so excited to learn that they each were on less than half of the medications they were previously on. They now we’re saving over $1200 a year just because they used a tool of insurance and believed in their dream.
Single, 51 year old self-employed woman taking care of her Dad that was in the early stages of Dementia. Her dream was to take her Dad to Israel to visit family while he still had the memory to do so. I met with her in 2011 and she purchased a health insurance plan that was eligible for a Health Savings Account. This means that she could put at that time up to $3000 a year into a Health Savings Account and not pay taxes on the money put into that account. Since she already had a Health Savings Account from a previous employer with approximately $25,000 in it, this made perfect sense to her. Her health plan had a deductible of $5,000. In early 2012, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. When she called me to tell me, her biggest fear is that she would not be able to take her Dad to Israel as well as the fact that she may have to use the money she saved for the trip on her treatments. She also wanted to use a holistic Doctor for her treatments. The money that was saved in the Health Savings Account was more than enough to cover the holistic Doctor. What I didn’t realize is that she also had a Critical Illness Plan that was still in force from her last employer. That plan paid out $20,000 on the diagnosis of cancer to her directly. She could use this money any way she wished. She did use that money to help her with her trip to Israel with her Dad. She was also able with this money to hire a nurse to help both herself and her Dad on the trip when they needed assistance. She lived out her dream with the tools of health insurance, a health savings account, and a critical illness plan.
A wife, a Mother of one daughter and two sons, and a woman diagnosed with cancer. After her diagnosis, her dream was to live long enough to see her daughter get married and to not leave her husband and family with extra debt. Her health plan had an out of pocket maximum of $6,000 in a calendar year. The tool that helped her in this case was health insurance and again, a Health Savings Account. She and her family had this account for over five years and had approximately $10,000 in that account. When she called me, one of her concerns was being able to not look sick at her daughter’s wedding. She had lost her hair and wanted a realistic looking wig. Although a wig is not covered by insurance, she was able to use some of the money she had in her Health Savings Account to cover the cost. Both her and her husband had purchased Life Insurance years prior so if she she did lose her life, the Life Insurance would help fulfill her dream of not leaving her family in debt. Her life was cut short when she died later that same year, but because of insurance, her dreams were honored.
Insurance is a dream protector and I am so blessed to be able to protect another family and each dream they hold in their hearts. Never underestimate the power of your dreams and how insurance can be used as a tool to protect them.
Terri Trepanier is the owner of Balanced Care Health and Supplemental Insurance and a licensed insurance consultant and broker with Associated Brokers. Licensed in both Maine and NH, her specialty is working with small businesses, individuals, and families with their health and life insurance needs. She is certified to offer health plans both on and off the exchange and is contracted with every health insurance company that offers plans in both New Hampshire and Maine. Her other passion is assisting Medicare beneficiaries with their Medicare Supplemental, Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans, and Medicare Advantage plans. Terri has seen firsthand the importance of insurance products and how they help families. Her goal with Balanced Care is to “Insure Security and Peace of Mind One Family at a Time”.