Missouri Woman Relies on Medicare Experts

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. Throughout her life, Grace Hercules has been a compassionate person who always helps others. Read how Allsup was there to help Mrs. Hercules when she needed expert advice on selecting the right Medicare plan.

 

 

Florissant, Missouri—Grace Hercules married her husband, Albert, more than 50 years ago, and together they were blessed with six children who filled their home and lives with joy and laughter.

 

Mrs. Hercules was a stay-at-home mom while her husband worked at a loan office. Mr. Hercules loved sports of all kinds and especially enjoyed playing for many softball teams over the years. He also coached or managed each of their children’s teams, with Mrs. Hercules cheering her loved ones on.

 

“This was our social life—always being together as a family,” Mrs. Hercules, now 71, said.

 

While playing on an over-40 softball team, Mr. Hercules hurt his back sliding into base. When the pain didn’t subside, Mr. Hercules sought medical help. Doctors found a tumor but tests showed it was benign. When they operated to remove the tumor, however, they learned that cancer had metastasized to his liver. He was only 47 when he died 18 months later, and Mrs. Hercules was left to continue raising their children and find a job.

 

She had been working part-time during Mr. Hercules illness but would need more income to provide for her children and, most of all, keep them in school. “I only have a high-school education, and I was bound and determined my kids would each earn a college degree.”

 

Leaving the senior center she’d worked at part-time, she worked for a while in a major corporation’s gift shop. Then her son Tom and a friend decided to open a new financial services company and asked her to be their receptionist.

 

“I knew nothing about this, but boy, did I learn in a hurry,” she said. “But one day I came home from work and there was message on my answering machine offering me a job in the city where I would manage all the programs for the city’s seniors. It was less money, but I took it because I truly love working with the older folks.”

 

She excelled in her new work and developed a wide range of programs for the city’s senior citizens—a food bank, health fairs, tax assistance, dancing, flu shot programs and even a cable television show. “I think it’s the greatest thing when you can help others,” she said.

 

But death wasn’t done kicking Mrs. Hercules around. Her son Tom contracted arterial lateral sclerosis and died at 39. “He continued working as long as he could, and I am glad I didn’t have to be there in his office everyday watching as he lost his mobility. It would have torn me up,” she said.

 

Meanwhile, Mrs. Hercules was battling a severe case of asthma. She knew once she retired, she’d need a good Medicare plan to help cover the cost of her prescriptions. She did her own research and selected what she thought was the best Medicare prescription drug plan for her. Sure it cost a lot—more than $1,800 a year. But she was confident she’d gotten the best deal. She even bragged about it a bit with daughter Karen Hercules-Doerr, who works for Allsup.

 

“Mom, you can do better than this. Let us take a look at it for you,” her daughter said. Mrs. Hercules agreed to let Allsup help if they could.

 

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.

 

Allsup Medicare Advisor® representative Jennifer Arnold, researched Mrs. Hercules’ case and found she could indeed do much better. Switching drug plans, Allsup found, could save her more than $1,000 a year.

 

“I thought a mail-order prescription plan was best for me, but Ms. Arnold proved me wrong about this—and I am so happy.”

 

Having worked and been around seniors, Mrs. Hercules, now 71, is saddened that more of them settle for high costs or keep the same Medicare plan year after year because of a lack of understanding.

 

“As Jennifer pointed out, people can probably do their own taxes, but when they pay a tax adviser they get better returns,” she said. “It’s getting the mindset that good help is available. It’s really worth getting expert help and not having the aggravation. Allsup just took over and did everything for me.”