Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Another day with other insurance agents



They appeared in a pair, and so it goes…all this attention due to being Medicare able very shortly.

Oddly enough I feel sooooooooo important these days, when a few short years ago from 2006 through 2012 I was a non-person of interest due to being a pre-existing icky sicky gal; how times they do change, hmm?
Yep, it is very true.

No matter how hard I tried all those years ago no one wanted me that is except for COBRA, “COBRA: “Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act” : http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/cobra.htm

of course but in those days they would have me pay them a mere $1200 a month to have them, okay? Not in our low income, of the average for most retirees, which was a big chunk taken from their monthly income and ours of course! In those days, Hubby was still waiting on his social security and pension to begin too and I was not yet on social security so we would have very little left to pay bills with that included in our monthly payouts, even now that seems ridiculous, but that was then and since with all those COLAS, cost of living increases, at least with the pension of 3% a year and although social security has been low and for a few years non-existent we have been very able to keep up nicely with the living expenses we do have to pay.

In 2012-2013 I finally decided that enough was enough, and investigated a new program for the pre-existing folk, called, pre-existing insurance, clever, hmm, so I took early social security to pay for the premiums that now look mighty good at $300+ something a month, how soon we forget…but even with that low premium the coverage left a lot to be desired with actual coverage and to/for me it was still not that great, leaving the co-pays still very high.

Moving on… to 2013 and wowie zowie now we have our long awaited governmental program for all and all for one, but for whom Healthcare.gov or as many call it lovingly or with distaste Obamacare, hope was just around the corner, but nah dream on… sure we got unconditional coverage no matter what but if you chose unwisely like I apparently did you not only have higher premiums but higher out of pockets, huh?
Not what I thought I signed on for, ya know?

Nearly six hundred a month in premiums out of pocket last year and this year not much better at nearly five hundred a month, yep and that is my individual bottom line dollar amounts even with those subsidies everyone seems to have certain opinions about one way or another; not so glamorous after all, hmm?
That’s for you cuz who works in the insurance field in another state (she always teases that it isn't as glamorous as it sounds); I’m just saying that I do agree that insurance and its coverage is NOT glamorous at all!
And it can be quite heartbreaking and bank breaking too!

Thank heavens this is a short year for me, and I have only one month left of this particular individual coverage without Medicare, yes I paid for April and May is all I have left for due to my birth date being the first of the month I have been notified that June will begin my coverage on MEDICARE! HOORAY!
Of course the supplemental will be more than basic Medicare but then my coverage will be 100%, no 20/80%, Yea no co-pays exhausting our finances!
And I will be saving a couple of hundred a month, can you hear that; hip hip hooray! Louder: HIP HIP HOORAY! LOUDER: HIP HIP HOORAY! Sorry! Couldn’t help myself, can you blame me?

Thanks for understanding.
So where was I? Oh that’s right we had two mature gentlemen, well dressed I might add that arrived to tell me all about the same product that Allison told us about last week, they were respectively Paul and Lars, Lars was the mute one, nearly, but not really, a listener and watcher of how Paul seemed to be handling me. Hubby believes that perhaps Paul’s spiel was being evaluated by Lars, since I brazenly asked if Lars, also a white haired distinguished looking fellow, was being trained and the answer was no.
So their entire informational program was a repeat of my interest in the N choice of the supplemental from Colonial Penn.
Interesting note, as both agents stated they were local but both being from Sarasota a fifty mile trip one way as the crow flies oddly enough coincidence or not, their addresses were identical to Allison’s. Not our fault one said they represented one company and the other said they represented another.






Nothing new there, I had requested info from AARP as well, mind you only once, and yet I received three packages with identical info. In order to stop them from wasting more time, paper, energy, what-have-you, causing future higher premiums numbers/dollars for us consumers of their product I called them and told them I had more than enough info with the first two! Yes twice as much as needed, so three was over the top!

I find it interesting how the private sector continues to be just as wasteful, in my opinion as the federal government that they always say has with disgust, just an observation, hmm?

We as a nation must come together to prevent waste in all sectors, because not any different than that pilfering or outright stealing going on in the workplace costing us all more in paying for retail merchandise or food etc!

On that note, buyers always beware and thrifty and cautious and diligent and allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who, and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!
I called just once really!

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