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 Henry Bowden has long-term experience in caring for his older sister, Anne, who is developmentally disabled. As her trustee, he is responsible for making sound financial decisions for her future. Read about what Mr. Bowden learned from Allsup while selecting Medicare coverage for his sister and why he plans to pass the information on to his clients.
*This is a true story as told to Allsup.
Skyrocketing costs of healthcare prompts Atlanta lawyer to enroll his disabled sister in Medicare. He wanted a firm that could help him figure out the right coverage without charging outrageous fees.
‘I Chose Allsup’
By Douglas J. Gillert
Atlanta, Georgia─ Henry Bowden is on the road, taking his legal services to a new client in Alabama. He’s in a hurry to get there but taps his brakes after spying a traffic officer on the shoulder of the highway.
What rushes Mr. Bowden, an Atlanta-based attorney, is his desire to help people. His clients are families and individuals who hire him for help in estate planning, wills and taxes. Adults often turn to him to make sure their elderly parents are provided for.
“These folks in Alabama fit the description of what I do,” Mr. Bowden said. “They are having some memory issues, and their children have asked me to help get their affairs in order and do some tax planning.”
Mr. Bowden’s affinity for helping older folks stems from his long-term experience caring for his sister, Anne.
“My sister is developmentally disabled,” he said. “She was born with these issues but isn’t terribly disabled. She can get on an airplane and fly home for a visit. She’s here this week, in fact. She goes out with friends, she votes, and she probably knows more about sports than most men, but she is incapable of living on her own.”
Mr. Bowden’s parents ensured their daughter had the best schooling and care available. This often meant sending her long distances away from Atlanta, including Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Tennessee, where she now lives.
In Columbia, a small city south of Nashville, his sister lives at a school that teaches children with disabilities. “It’s a wonderful place,” Mr. Bowden said. “About 15 years ago, they realized that kids with these issues don’t all die at age 30, so they built a home in downtown Columbia that houses eight adults, all in their 50s and 60s.” Anne is one of the eight.
After his parents died within a few years of each other, Mr. Bowden became his sister’s trustee, managing a stock portfolio that has sustained her since the late 1970s. But as she aged and the cost of her prescription drugs skyrocketed, her portfolio declined in value. He looked ahead to her becoming Medicare eligible on her 65th birthday this past March. He began researching options.
An article in The Wall Street Journal convinced him to take advantage of a Medicare services agency. He wanted a firm that could help him determine the right coverage for his sister without charging him outrageous fees. “I chose Allsup,” he said, “because they looked like the right price level for me and offered a full range of services.”
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 more than 700 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.
“I am under 65 and had no clue about Medicare,” Mr. Bowden said. “It was an education process—and extremely important financially. My sister has a number of medical issues and her health insurance alone cost $550 a month with a tremendously high deductible. It was almost irresponsible of me to continue to pay this.”
Allsup did a detailed workup of Anne Bowden’s situation, guiding Mr. Bowden through contacting each of her doctors to get her complete medical history and providing this information to Jennifer Arnold, an Allsup Medicare Advisor® representative. “Jennifer showed me what Anne’s current coverage was and which healthcare and prescription drug plans would work best for her,” Mr. Bowden said. “She even was able to tell me which physicians were under what plans.”
He had several options to consider. Ms. Arnold helped him evaluate those and eventually he decided the best solution for his sister was to go with Medicare Part D and Medigap F. She then helped him with the process of choosing an insurance carrier and identifying the costs. He was relieved and grateful for how much help Allsup, and in particular, Ms. Arnold provided him—and the huge cost savings the assistance produced. “I am saving Anne $7,000 a year, and it was all due to Jennifer’s diligence,” he said.
Recommending Allsup is rapidly becoming the norm as Mr. Bowden makes his legal rounds. It’s something likely to come up again with his new clients in Alabama.