Education

Learning Knowledge Training

Ostdiek Group, Inc. offers educational classes on the A, B, C, Ds of Medicare

It is our goal to educate our clients so they understand the various parts of Medicare and what health insurance options are available to use in conjunction with original Medicare.

We are certified Social Security Advisors and offer seminars on Social Security.
Click here to check the schedule here on our website for upcoming classes.

We also offer seminars for your group. Call Tom Ostdiek at 763 670 3515 to schedule an event at your location.

0:00

Back on the champion reports and now for member profiles. This is a chance for you to learn and find out about who some of the many members of the Anoka Area Chamber of Commerce are. Maybe you want to do business with some of those people. One of them is with us today it’s Tom Ostdiek with Ostdiek Group. Tom, welcome to the show.

0:17

It’s nice to be here.

0:18

Alright, so let’s talk about the Ostdiek Group. Who are you and who are they?

0:24

We’re an insurance agency primarily healthcare and our focus is on Medicare. So 90% of our business is involved with people who — Medicare beneficiaries.

0:35

Let me tell you I bet you’re a busy man because that is on the mind of everybody and maybe it’s just me because I’m turning – so I just turned 60 – so for the first time in my life with that date I started thinking “okay this is coming closer than it isn’t and so a guy’s got to start paying attention a little bit more.” So, let’s talk about the services that Ostdiek Group provides.

1:23

Okay so this is the — I keep hearing about where you’ve got this certain window of time or you’ve got to make a selection of of you can obviously get Medicare but then you’ve got to make a selection of you’re getting to do this or you’re gonna do that and you’re helping educate people on just what those options are so that they can make the best decision that they’re looking for or are you actually offering a supplemental on top of what Medicare offers?

1:47

We offer the insurance we do education to try and educate people about what those options are beyond Medicare and help them lay out what the options are so that they understand is a supplement a better fit for me or what a Medicare Advantage plan be a better fit? If they’re going to go to supplement they would need to have a prescription drug plan to go without so we try to educate them and look at their particular situation because everybody’s situation is different. What works for your neighbor yeah may not be a good fit for you at all right and we sit down and bring to the table all that experience and what we can do in about an hour would take someone multiple hours if they’re trying to research it on their own.

2:36

Is and theirs are all of these plans constantly changing I mean is it if these stabilizers they’re always different offerings or specific changes to them and you can offer to at least let people know what those things are?

2:48

Every year the Medicare Advantage plans change a little bit; they don’t change dramatically but they do change bits. In 2019 or what 2018 going to 2019 Minnesota lost the cost plans are in the metro area and that was a big change but this year with the Medicare Advantage plans, there will be some changes they won’t be radical changes but there are always changes. It’s important for people with a plan to look at the changes every year to determine what could be a very small change to some people could be a big dollar change or just someone else right.

3:31

So, why should somebody go with you?

3:33

We’ve done this for years and we try to bring a great deal of integrity to it. I look at clients if my brother was sitting in your chair what would I recommend to him in that situation sure I always feel and my philosophy to businesses if I could sit down with my parents and they’ve been gone for many years but if I could sit down with them every night and they wouldn’t feel proud of what I did that day, then I failed.

4:04

Isn’t that all of it?

Alright, so the big question is how do you get paid?

4:10

We are compensated by the insurance companies; they pay us to come out and help people. You will pay the same premium whether we come out and help you work through this or if you go online and try and sort through it all by yourself. Use our expertise, don’t rack your brain over this. Let us come and help. It’s not costing the consumer anything out of their pocket to do that.

4:37

I will tell you this, it’s got to be a lot easier to ask Tom a question than the type a question into the computer and see what happens. I mean I’ve always been the I want to talk to somebody and at the Ostdiek Group you’re somebody that they can talk to, and that’s gotta be worth everything right there.

4:53

I hope.

4:55

No doubt. Alright. So, what changes you see coming to Medicare and please don’t tell me that they’re gonna bump it from 65 because I got to get there in five years.

5:04

I don’t know what they’ll do exactly. I don’t think that they would change the age of Medicare. Every year, Medicare tweaks a little bit so there’s always sure there’s always changes. I don’t see any big radical changes coming but who knows exactly.

5:27

Well, the Ostdiek Group, you are there to help people, to take them by the hand as they start to process everything that is Medicare and everything that goes around. There’s a care component to what you do. There’s a compassion component to what you do. And Tom, the bottom line is is you take care of people and you’re gonna make sure that every question that they’ve got is answered, right?

5:49

Yes. My biggest nightmare is we get someone set up and a week later two weeks later we get a phone call that they are asking, “What did you do to me?” If we’ve properly educated them and work them through the process, that should never happen.

6:07

You bet. What you’re doing is is you’re setting down everything that they need to know that they can make an educated decision on their part and there’s no fee from them to have to do that on top of what they’re paying for the insurances that they get that is a key.

6:22

Yes and that’s correct.

6:24

Excellent. Alright, Tom. Somebody out there wants to talk to you you want to do that right now how do they get ahold of you?

6:31

The best way is to call us; my number is 763-670-3515. We have an office in Coon Rapids but the office is generally by appointment. I’m usually out seeing people or doing educational seminars.

6:48

Yeah, and he also jumps right in at the Chamber. You know, we needed some help with the membership drive. Tom came up, “Well, what can I do?” I mean that tells you a little bit about the man. tells you a little bit about the facility that you can deal with when you can expect some of that conversation to go with you it’s gonna take care of you and trust me on Medicare and again like I said just started thinking about it for the first time it is confusing when you first started peeking at this stuff with all the supplemental scenarios and everything else trust me when the time comes Brenda and I are gonna be talking to the Ostdiek Group. Tom thank you so much for being on the show come back next year let’s talk about maybe how things are going and some tweaks that are out there that can help some people.

7:27

Excellent. He is Tom Ostdiek, and he is with the Ostdiek Group we’re taking a break. . .

199 Coon Rapids Blvd #101

Coon Rapids, MN 55433, USA

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We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently, we represent 9 carriers which offer 46 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.

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