Finding the right
Medicare plan can be a confusing, time-consuming and stressful experience. However,
Allsup Medicare Advisor® makes it easy to choose the most affordable Medicare option based on an individual’s specific healthcare needs and preferences. Attorney Edward Barnett always seeks the professional advice of experts when he needs something done. So when he needed to find out which Medicare plan was right for him, he chose Allsup. Read how Allsup listened to Mr. Barnett and helped him to select the right Medicare plan for his retirement.
*This is a true story as told to Allsup.
Haste makes waste, and for a Texas lawyer, a hasty decision about Medicare could have been a shipwreck. Without a new course charted by Allsup…
‘I Would Have Been in Big Trouble’
By Douglas J. Gillert
Nassau Bay, Texas—A fog lies upon the gray winter sea, and its ethereal tentacles drift languidly into the coastal plain. Edward and Elaine Barnett bide their time, keeping warm, planning their route. They make lists and wait for spring. When the fog lifts, they’ll weigh anchor and embark on their journey of a lifetime.
Their planned voyage culminates a lifetime of experience for Mr. Barnett, 65, who retired recently from a Houston law firm, and his wife, Elaine. They plotted the course but not the pace. “Our discoveries and weather will govern our progress,” he said.
Experienced sailors, they’ve made the sea their playground throughout their long marriage. They tied the knot in 1972, not long after he returned from Vietnam, where he fought in the 1968 Tet Offensive and earned the Purple Heart for battle wounds.
With GI Bill in hand, he headed home and to college. His “first love,” economics, coupled with financial resources, led him from Texas to the University of Minnesota for undergraduate studies and employment as an insurance underwriter. He and his bride eschewed the notion of children.
“I am the oldest of 12 kids, so I laughingly say I had more privacy in the barracks than growing up,” Mr. Barnett said. “Elaine is the youngest of six. Her older sister was two years younger than my mother, and her mother was a grandmother.” Both endured the cacophony of youth.
When his educational entitlements were about to expire, Mr. Barnett returned to school to earn a law degree and built a successful practice in South Texas.
“My job was to make millionaires out of farmers,” he said, tongue in cheek, as his legal representation paved the way for a portion of the tremendous growth of commercial real estate in the area. His practice enabled the couple to purchase a 44-foot trawler they call Puffin. “It’s named for a seabird that according to legend, mates for life and spends six months of each year at sea,” he said. ”It’s my wife’s favorite creature.”
The accomplished lawyer knew squat, however, about Medicare. He wasn’t alone in this, of course, but as he researched his options for post-retirement healthcare coverage—“My firm didn’t offer a plan”—he realized how very little he knew.
But he knew this: “When I need a mechanic, I hire a mechanic. When something needs to be repaired, I hire the person who knows how to make the repair. I figured there ought to be someone who can take a look at my health insurance situation and recommend a solution.” He settled on Allsup.
Allsup is a nationwide provider of
Social Security disability, Medicare and Medicare Secondary Payer compliance services for individuals, employers and insurance carriers. Founded in 1984, Allsup employs nearly 800 professionals who deliver specialized services supporting people with disabilities and seniors so they may lead lives that are as financially secure and as healthy as possible. The company is based in Belleville, Ill., near St. Louis.
“They really did a fine job of listening to what I needed,” Mr. Barnett described his discussion with Allsup. Before the talk, he’d decided on a Medicare Advantage plan, but learned from Allsup, “I would have been in big trouble.”
Medicare Advantage requires that you receive healthcare in the home area. Come spring, the Barnetts will embark across Galveston Bay, out to sea, eventually round the Florida Keys and cruise up the East Coast. They would have had to return to Texas for any major healthcare needs.
Allsup Medicare Advisor® representative Jennifer Arnold saw right away how Mr. Barnett’s proposed plan would steer him into rough seas. She convinced him Medigap was a wiser choice and he charted a new course.
But this wasn’t the end. Ms. Arnold realized he would be even better off with a high deductible plan with low monthly premiums, an adjustment he embraced immediately. With his healthcare plan taken care of, all he needed was warm spring weather for clear sailing.
“Allsup took out the second guessing about Medicare,” he said. “I’ve advised the human resources department at my old firm to let others know about this service. The message needs to get out that this service is available.”