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. Ms. Harriett Hall believes in taking care of herself and that includes having good health insurance. It took Ms. Hall a while to finally realize the value of receiving a detailed report from Allsup outlining the
Medicare plans that met her needs. Read how Allsup did everything for Ms. Hall.
*This is a true story as told to Allsup.
Talked into a new policy that would cost her thousands for prescription drugs, a Las Vegas woman is glad she gave Allsup a second look.
‘They Did Everything for Me’
By Douglas J. Gillert
Las Vegas, Nevada—Harriett Hall is glad 2010 is behind her. Wow—what a year!
“I broke my hip a year ago,” said the 77-year-old widow who, despite the pain, volunteers at a child care center, walks up to four miles a day, and recently began an aerobics exercise program—even though childhood asthma re-emerged and gave rise to a high-end prescription drug bill. Thank goodness she had good health insurance.
Well, at least she thought so. What compounded Ms. Hall’s hip fracture wasn’t broken bones as much as a broken insurance policy. After receiving a cancellation notice last October, Ms. Hall wasn’t sure what to do.
“I just thought, ‘I am not going to have this insurance anymore.’ They dropped my plan, and I didn’t have any drug coverage at all. I was in the ‘donut hole’ and would lose my insurance completely by the end of 2010.”
About the same time, Ms. Hall read an article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal about Medicare service providers. The newspaper article mentioned 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.
Thinking she had nothing to lose, Ms. Hall called Allsup and liked what they told her. She agreed to let them research her issues and report back to her. Allsup AMA representative Kristie Baudino thanked her for the opportunity to help out, and after they hung up, went straight to work finding out what Allsup could do to ease Ms. Hall’s plight.
It takes time, of course, to weed through hundreds of Medicare healthcare and drug prescription plans and provide the best options to the customer. As the weeks passed, Ms. Hall continued her daily exercise regimen and filled hours of time joyfully tending to the youngsters at the care center.
Exercise, work and family occupied her time as she awaited Allsup’s report. In mid-November, she heard back from the company that was dropping her policy. They wanted to offer something new.
“A representative was willing to come over and talk to me. I had never had that kind of service before. I figured, ‘What do I have to lose?’ I had heard some people wait a long time to get insurance. I feared being without coverage.”
The agent arrived as promised but preyed upon her sense of desperation. He offered a new prescription drug plan (PDP) to replace her former Medicare Advantage plan. He convinced her it was her best option, despite a much higher cost—$4,400 a year.
“I thought it was better than nothing,” she said, and agreed to the new policy. When Allsup’s report arrived in the mail, she didn’t even look at it. When Ms. Baudino called to discuss the report and her options for healthcare and prescription drug coverage, she politely declined.
“I told Kristie it was too late, but she said I could cancel my new policy, because I had until the first of the year to make a final decision. She said, ‘Please give us a chance,’ but I told her no.”
After reviewing the report, however, she realized she could save a lot of money. She called Ms. Baudino back.
“Allsup did everything for me,” she said. “They set me up with a new plan under a different carrier that is already so much better than what I had. Before, it took months to see a doctor and I’ve already seen my new doctor several times. I am saving so much on my asthma drugs, and they even set me up in an exercise program.”
Allsup helped Ms. Hall enroll in for a Medicare Advantage plan and also was able to reduce her drug costs to only about $553 per year. Ms. Hall was thrilled with the savings.
“The agent from my former carrier called up and tried to change my mind again, but I just ignored him,” said Ms. Hall. “I am so happy I called Allsup back. They did everything for me.”