Help! I'm Almost 65: What Do I Do About Medicare?

In this episode, our special guest Kevin Anderson, a licensed Medicare Advisor, will walk host Dennis Day through the process of choosing the right Medicare health care plan, just like he would any other client age 64 and 9 months.

Learn the timing for enrolling three months before or after your 65th birthday to avoid coverage gaps, and understand the roles of Medicare Part A and Part B. We'll also discuss the critical steps to setting up your SSA.gov account and the value of supplemental coverage. Whether you're a first-time enrollee or looking to optimize your existing plan, this episode is packed with insights to help you navigate Medicare registration efficiently and effectively.

Explore the critical differences between HMO and PPO plans, and discover why UnitedHealthcare's extensive network might be your best bet, especially if you're in Washington state. We highlight the often-overlooked benefits of acupuncture, chiropractic, dental, and vision care, and provide strategies for coordinating benefits with your employer’s plan to minimize out-of-pocket expenses. Kevin shares his expert advice on avoiding common Medicare pitfalls and the benefits of consulting a seasoned Medicare agent. Tune in for a thorough understanding of Medicare and actionable tips to tailor the best plan for your needs.

Kevin Anderson
Licensed Medicare Advisor
360-355-6555
medicarekev@gmail.com

Chapters

• 0:03 Medicare Sign Up and Plan Selection
• 14:10 Understanding Healthcare Plan Options and Benefits
• 27:39 Navigating Medicare Enrollment With a Specialist

Transcript

Dennis Day: 0:03

Good day everyone. This is Dennis Day with Getting your Edge how to Right Size your Home and Life podcast, and I'm here with Kevin Anderson, who is a Medicare specialist, and we're going to discuss how to sign up for Medicare and get your plan chosen. I am one month away from turning 65. Uh-oh, am I in trouble?

Kevin Anderson: 0:25

Kevin, you're not in trouble at all. No, you're perfect timing, perfect.

Dennis Day: 0:30

Because everybody keeps saying oh Dennis, you were supposed to do that months ago.

Kevin Anderson: 0:36

Kevin said it was okay. Apologize for the coughing. I'm getting over bronchitis. I'm getting over bronchitis, but you have an open window through Medicare that started three months prior to your birthday month and extends another three months after your birthday month. So as long as you get it done within that time frame preferably, like you are your birthday is in June. So what we zero in on your plan today and figure out what might be the best for your consideration it'll actually start June 1st, so you won't have any gaps. You won't have just original Medicare to rely on, which will start on June 1st for you. So did you get your Medicare card in hand, Dennis?

Dennis Day: 1:19

No, I haven't signed up for the Medicare card. I got my social security account created. Ssagov Created that full account password, lots of checks to avoid fraud and so forth, and then the next step was sign up for Medicare. Before we go farther, Kevin, can you tell our audience who you are and what you do?

Kevin Anderson: 1:42

Oh sure, I'm Kevin Anderson. I'm out of Long Beach, washington. I work up and down the I-5 corridor in Washington for Medicare. I'm a premier gold agent with one of the carriers, unitedhealthcare, and I've been doing insurance since 1997. The last 13 and 14 years, 100% Medicare. So my name is on an insurance office in Longview, washington, on the door. The gals in there do everything that they need to do for other insurances. I only do Medicare. It's quite the beast that Congress has built and there's a lot of ins and outs and a lot of changes all the time, every year in fact.

Kevin Anderson: 2:27

So what I would suggest for those listening is 90 days or 89 days prior to your first day of your birthday month. Do what Dennis did go to ssagov or myssagov and make sure that you've set up an account. You can decide whether you're going to take social security or not at 65, or you might extend it out, like I did, to full social security. Age In my case was 66 and a half. More importantly, this is about Medicare.

Kevin Anderson: 2:56

So most of the time I don't know what percentage, 90% of the time Medicare is pretty good at keeping track of you and they know when your Part A and your Part B will start and they'll correspond with you. They won't talk to you 91 days prior to the first day of your birthday month. You have to wait until you're within that window and I recommend those that are listening do that right away, as soon as you're eligible, because it could take them several weeks Now in Dennis's case, when we're done here, I'll actually look him up and see if Medicare has kept good tabs on him. What I mean by good tabs is when we move. If you've moved in the last five years four or five years Medicare may not have your current address to send you correspondence, so that's where you could fall into the crap.

Dennis Day: 3:48

I've been at my place for I don't know since 19 uh 1999, man 1998 oh, you've lived in the same address.

Kevin Anderson: 3:59

Yeah, wow, that's, that's fantastic. You're in real estate. How often does the average person change residence?

Dennis Day: 4:08

I used to be every seven years. Now it's hard to say. For some people it's sooner and for a lot of people it's a little longer now because they've been living in those. Most of the baby boomers have been living in this one house for a great deal of time.

Kevin Anderson: 4:25

And with interest rates several years ago down in the 3% range. And what are they today? Seven?

Dennis Day: 4:31

Yeah, you're going to look at a seven or so plus or minus.

Kevin Anderson: 4:37

Back to Medicare. So we'll check when we're done here, once we zero in on which plan is going to be best for you, dennis, we'll check. There might be some other steps that we'll have to do. So that's why I encourage everyone, 90 days prior you can even call 1-800-MEDICARE if you'd rather do it on the phone, but be prepared to wait a while. And with myssagov you can also set up a phone interview and they'll do it about a week out and that's kind of convenient also.

Kevin Anderson: 5:03

So Medicare A and B those of us that have worked at least 10 years, we receive our Medicare A and B at age 65 or sooner. With a two-year history of social security SSI, income, disability kinds of things for two years. You can actually get it earlier and I have clients in there. I have one client in his 30s. He's in his 30s. I have others down in the below 20 years old that are on Medicare. So, but typically it's when you turn 65.

Kevin Anderson: 5:35

Part A is hospitalization. In very general I'm only going to spend two minutes on this Hospitalization. The first day in a hospital on original Medicare you'll pay a $1,600 deductible. Then there's a per day charge. You could pay up to $80,000 or $90,000 on your Part A if you don't have any other coverage to help with the gaps. Part B pays your doctor, your tests, your MRI, your CAT scans, and I had a slug of those this year. That's why Medicare Part B pays 80%. You pay 20%. So it's a good idea to have another supplemental plan of some sort to pick up that. That can be expensive. So I'm going to ask you some questions, dennis.

Kevin Anderson: 6:17

Congress has delineated the benefits of what's called Medigap policies or supplements. Those are the same no matter what company you go to. But that's one beast and there's reasons why 5% or so of people choose that. The other one is Advantage plans. Those are administered by a third party. Those are never the same benefits between companies and all of the ones that do have built-in drug plans. The formularies are all different. So it's really important to get an agent, find somebody you trust that can plug in your prescriptions. Make sure that the formulary in the Advantage plan is the best for you, my wife and I. My wife does Medicare as well. Several years back we had a woman whose drugs were $20,000 a year. Wow, now that's impossible because Congress is trying to get rid of for the last several years, that awful thing called a donut hole. So now, once you've paid in like $7,000 or whatever it actually is, at the moment it pays 100%, so you can't get to 20,000 anymore, but anyway. So let me ask some general questions. You're up in King County, right?

Dennis Day: 7:34

Yes.

Kevin Anderson: 7:35

So do you stay in King County physically at least six months a year? 12 months a year? Yes, okay, if you are a snowbird and are gone more than six months a year, you could still buy an advantage plan and probably won't have any issues. The requirement is that you spend six months a year in your county of residence A company like Humana or Unite Healthcare. If you have a seven or $800,000 bill, they're going to look into you. They find out you're cruising the world 10 months a year. They're going to refund your premiums and not pay your bill. Wow, so you want to just follow the rules and you said yes, so you qualify for an advantage plan. I'm assuming you're on a medical plan now. Perhaps your work?

Dennis Day: 8:20

Yes, my wife has a pretty good benefits. She works for a local school district and she covers me. I don't know how much she pays additional for my coverage, but yeah, I have a good plan.

Kevin Anderson: 8:36

So okay, On the plan you're on now, what kind of benefits do you really enjoy? What is important to you on the plan that you're on now?

Dennis Day: 8:45

The plan I have is kind of an HMO, so I like the fact that the drugs are fairly inexpensive. I do have low deductibles. January 1st I start over and I'll be required to keep paying until I pay a certain amount and I don't remember how much it is. Then everything is covered, with the exception of co-pays and so forth that I like. My co-pay is $20. In past years it's been $15. I like the convenience of a whole network, meaning that I go to a specialist that's within this HMO group right.

Dennis Day: 9:30

Whereas my mother who's on Humana, she's part of a group but she can go to all these other different places, but I found that they don't communicate. So when she goes to a specialist, that's great, she gets help, blah, blah, blah, but nothing goes to her regular doctor, unless I make that happen for her, et cetera Got it. So within this I'm within one system and all my records kind of housed in one spot that everybody within that system has access. I really like that.

Kevin Anderson: 10:04

I understand and I'm hearing you. Let me set everyone's mind at ease. Any advantage plan that I'm aware of, at least in the state of Washington, oregon and Idaho, the states that I'm licensed in have no deductibles. There is no deductible. There are copays, but what you were just sharing is every January you have to start by paying off your deductible before you can get to your co-pays. That doesn't exist with Advantage plans. Very few supplements. It has to be a high deductible. Well, fs aren't available anymore, but G plans. There are high deductible Gs that will have a deductible 1,800 or whatever it is per year.

Kevin Anderson: 10:48

But overall most Medicare plans do not carry deductible. What they do have is what's called maximum out-of-pocket, mooc. Your maximum out-of-pocket annually changes, not with supplements. There is no maximum. You could charge $2 million and it's going to pay it all. With an advanced plan you have a maximum out-of-pocket. So if your co-pays you don't have a deductible. But if your co-pays ever reach a certain number and it typically ranges between $4,000 and $6,500, depending on the plan but say you reach $6,000, the rest of the year 100% of your medical is covered. So it's not deductible. That's a sum, your total sum of your co -pays. So that's kind of nice.

Kevin Anderson: 11:38

Now there is no maximum out-of-pocket with supplements, but supplements carry a higher price per month. The benefits are the same. I'm on a supplement. I was on an Advantage plan for three months and when I first got a Medicare, my own personal reasons that I needed some stuff done that only Advantage plan covered and I switched to a supplement and I had lots of surgeries and expenses and I don't pay a dime. I just pay $225 a month and I don't pay a dime. With Advantage plans it's often zero a month, $39 a month. But let me finish my questions for you. In the last year have you spent any days in the hospital overnight? No, that's the most expensive copay on an advanced plan hospital stays. Do you have anything like joint replacement things that might be happening in the next 12 months?

Dennis Day: 12:39

No.

Kevin Anderson: 12:40

Now if we were in Oregon or California, I would be asking you a lot of questions about your family history. Washington is unique and in Washington it's one of the rare states that don't require pre-existing conditions, illusions, waiting periods. Washington does its guarantee issues. They want your new plan. They cover you for everything. There's no medical questions. You skip three or four pages of medical questions. You just get your plan and then, if we need to switch you to a supplement, washington considers Advantage plans more comprehensive, although they are not, but they consider them more comprehensive because they have, most of them, a built-in formulary and a drug supplement. You have to get a standalone drug plan. So I think what we should talk about is advantage plans. So let's switch gears a little bit. Let me ask you a few other questions, because you mentioned you're in an HMO right now and about three, four years ago well, six, seven years ago Premier Blue Cross and Regents were the first ones to have PPOs in the state of Washington that I was aware of.

Dennis Day: 13:54

Tell us what a PPO is. It's the.

Kevin Anderson: 13:56

PPO's. The state of Washington that I was aware of Tell us what a PPO is Preferred Provider Organization as opposed to HMO Health Management Organization. So with the advanced plans both are available. I have to ask you questions to figure out which would be most beneficial for you. Hmos like you're in now has a gatekeeper. You have a primary care physician that determines oh, I see you've hurt your foot or your knee, go see your doctor and get a referral to a podiatrist.

Kevin Anderson: 14:23

With an HMO, with a PPO, you just go to anybody that takes your health plan, anybody HMO. The largest network that I'm aware of in the state of Washington is UnitedHealthcare. On their HMOs in the state of Washington they have over 90,000 physicians over 90 hospitals, pretty large group and that is important because they talk to each other right Right and that can be frustrating, like you were sharing earlier. That's on the HMO. The PPO has that same group of physicians in network, but not just in Washington, nationwide. And why that's important.

Kevin Anderson: 15:02

If you get a special thyroid condition that you have to go to Florida and that's the only place you can go for 30 days to get this taken care of. You don't want an HMO. That's not going to cover you PPO, it's very likely they're going to be a network and the same with cancer treatments or the different things that they offer, and HMO is going to keep you locally and if you choose to use one of those you're going to be paying out of network and higher co-pays and higher maximum out-of-pocket. But typically HMOs have some benefits that are included at a less copay. So homeopathic, chiropractic and acupuncture are three of the most common. Are any of those three things important to you?

Dennis Day: 15:51

Absolutely yes.

Kevin Anderson: 15:54

Which one Do you use? Acupunctureupuncture natural?

Dennis Day: 15:57

I use the acupuncture and the chiropractor and when you use the acupuncture.

Kevin Anderson: 16:04

Well, let's stick with chiropractor first. How many visits a year do you think you're doing?

Dennis Day: 16:10

when things are bad, it's once a week, but then things get better, and so let me say, as far as a year, I might use them eight to 10 times a year.

Kevin Anderson: 16:22

Very doable. That's not enough to make a choice between HMO and PPO. The reason I say that is acupuncture is covered by Medicare as long as it's medically necessary and most plans will have a copay of $20 for that. If we got you on a plan that gave you zero premium or zero copays for the first 12 visits, it's not going to make up for the $70 or $80 a month increase in premium. So that was chiropractor Acupuncture. How many times Is it something similar?

Dennis Day: 16:57

Yeah, it's more of an as-needed basis. Usually that's more like four or five times a year. I might go once a week for a month and then not go the rest of the year.

Kevin Anderson: 17:10

And is dental an important benefit vision. And is dental an important benefit vision.

Dennis Day: 17:16

Yes, they are, and fortunately my wife's plan does cover both. What we're trying to do, to be honest with you, is we're trying to figure out how can we use my Medicare to reduce her costs that she pays for covering me, and I don't know if that's possible, but that would be one of the things we would look for.

Kevin Anderson: 17:38

You're thinking to keep both plans going on, right, right, okay, and that will be fine. There's a thing that's called coordination of benefits that we have to make sure happen so we can make that happen. Medicare likes to be considered primary and there is an option but I'm not going to recommend it and that is to opt out of Part B. Just get your A, because then you couldn't get dental and vision and any of these other benefits without having Part B. But a lot of people that stay on employer plans will just get theirA because there's no monthly premium related to it. We'll get to the coordination of benefits so that you can get both. Let's go back to that question.

Dennis Day: 18:28

Just a second here. I want to understand you carefully. If I wanted vision dental, which plan would be? I need to get Part B? Is that what you're saying?

Kevin Anderson: 18:37

Yes, you have to.

Dennis Day: 18:39

Okay.

Kevin Anderson: 18:39

Part B is going to. I delayed my Social Security for a year and a half so I paid quarterly for my Part B. Now I have it taken out of my Social Security but you have to have A and B. To get any Medicare product you have to have both.

Dennis Day: 18:54

Okay.

Kevin Anderson: 18:57

It's not required for staying on your wife's plan, I see.

Dennis Day: 19:00

Okay.

Kevin Anderson: 19:00

How much dental do you have on her plan?

Dennis Day: 19:03

Cleanings are free three, four times a year. Crowns aren't covered. There was a lot of stuff we paid out of pocket for. I think the maximum we could have in a year was $2,000, if I remember right.

Kevin Anderson: 19:17

Yeah, most plans will pay 80% on a cavity, on a filling, and 50% on major work like crowns, called scheduled benefits. With UnitedHealthcare, which is the one I'm going to recommend to you, as of last year, the whole $1,500 can get spent 100% until it's gone. There's no schedule of benefits, so I would have, when you sit down with the manager of whoever it is that you're doing your dental care, make sure they're in network too, but sit down with them and tell them you want to bill your wife's plan first. Then you want to bill Medicare because you have a $1,500 limit, because your wife's plan is paying for office visits, cleanings, x-rays, exams. So might as well get that on her plan and save the 1500. All right, so, um, united healthcare has a ppo plan, so it's nationwide cost is39 a month, yeah.

Dennis Day: 20:14

That's pretty good, I can deal with that.

Kevin Anderson: 20:16

Well, when you hear the benefits, it's fantastic. Your doctor payments are zero. You won't pay anything for your doctor. Remember that maximum out-of-pocket we were talking about? It's $6,000 on this plan.

Dennis Day: 20:29

Yeah.

Kevin Anderson: 20:38

Your most expensive thing is when you are in a hospital. You have to pay for the first five days, and I want to say $350 a day for the first four or five days. Then the rest of the calendar year. If you go back to the hospital, you don't pay anything for that. But your dental is $1,500. It'll cover everything cleanings, fillings, crowns, whatever. Your vision is 300, and the vision is 300 just for the frames. The lenses themselves are free, and that includes bifocal, trifocal, progressive, whatever. If the lenses are included in your plan, you get 300 for the frames.

Dennis Day: 21:11

Okay.

Kevin Anderson: 21:11

So it gives you. When I did this, I was on this plan for three months before I switched to my supplement. So you get 300 for the frames. You'll also get $50 a quarter for over-the-counter. Your medical card from UnitedHealthcare has a magnetic strip. You can go to Dollar Store, fred Meyer, safeway, and you can get over-the-counter things like cough drops, which I've been going through a lot of lately, toothbrushes, toothpaste, anything over-the-counter that has an OTC on the ICI tag, but it's an extra $200 a year Cold remedies, vitamins, national Network I already said your doctors.

Kevin Anderson: 21:51

It comes with a drug plan. We'll go through your drugs later. You get a free eye exam every year. You can join Renew Active for free with UnitedHealthcare and that's kind of exciting. I'm not wearing my Fitbit today, but if you'll do 7,500 steps three times a week, they'll pay you $10 a month. The most I've had clients have done in a year is $250 in visa gift cards. You go in for a flu shot, you get $5. If you have a nurse come out and do a physical in your house, that could be $25 up to $50. If there's anything preventative there's a list of about 30 items that are preventative. They'll give you points and you can trade them in. But health club, it's literally every health club I know. Ymca is the most expensive, 45 a month for seniors. You get it for free and every time you go swim they'll log you in and give you points.

Dennis Day: 22:46

Okay, yeah, I know the club that I'm a member of it has the silver sneakers.

Kevin Anderson: 22:52

I think, it's free for if you're on Medicare after, uh, an overnight in the hospital, they'll give you 28 home delivered meals following that inpatient stay. Wow, um, the nurse hotline is phenomenal 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But the nurse hotline saves lives and it's so simple, especially with us guys. We hate going to the doctor, oh yeah, so but I'll call the nurse hotline. Now here's your chiropractic. You get 12 visits per year at a ten dollar copay. Okay, and your acupuncture? 12 visits for ten dollar copay. I just went through this with our mutual friend. Massage has to be medically necessary. It has to be coded correctly, because Medicare itself doesn't cover massage. So if Medicare doesn't cover it, your advance plan won't either.

Dennis Day: 23:54

So it has to be medically necessary, so meaning you have to be referred to by a doctor, your family physician or a specialist.

Kevin Anderson: 24:01

Your specialist is $35. Your doctor appointment is zero copay.

Dennis Day: 24:06

Okay.

Kevin Anderson: 24:07

That's the guts of this program $39 a month, 6,000 maximum out of pocket, and it pays 100%. And it has a built-in drug plan. 90% of all prescriptions are generic. As long as they're in the generic frame, you'll probably be getting them for free. Tier 1s are preferred generic. Tier 2s are $12 a month, but if you have it home delivered it's free.

Dennis Day: 24:34

I did have a question kind of way back in our earlier early in the podcast. There you were not on a supplement and then you got on a supplement because you had these surgeries coming up. Is that? Are you capable of doing that at any time in the year?

Kevin Anderson: 24:52

No it has to be an enrollment period.

Dennis Day: 24:53

Okay, any time in the year? No, it has to be an enrollment period.

Kevin Anderson: 24:55

Okay, and in the state of Washington when you decide to do it and it's available to you to do, there won't be a it's guaranteed issues. You won't have medical questions. So you're getting your plan June 1st. Your first chance opportunity will be October 15th to change your plan. Between October 15th and December 7th is the annual enrollment period. It'll start January 1st. Now, since you're on an Advantage plan, medicare and this is something new two or three years ago Medicare has that's annual. They'll do an open enrollment January 1 through March 31st where you can go from one advanced plan to another. So there's a six-month window now for advanced plans that allow you to change to something else. Now, if you move, that will open up a 63-day window to change your plan. If the company no longer is available in your area, you can change your plans. If your network changes significantly, if there's reasons why Medicare will let you change plans, but it has to be a specified reason. It's called SEP, special enrollment period and there's about 15 reasons.

Dennis Day: 26:12

And after that, without that special enrollment period or after March 31st, you are with your plan. You can't add anything until the next open enrollment, which would start January 1st.

Kevin Anderson: 26:24

That's correct. Okay, you could get canceled. If you don't pay for three months, they could cancel you, but that doesn't open an enrollment period for you because you've orchestrated it. Okay, now, if the plan cancels you, if you are at a zero premium plan and they cancel because they're moving out of King County now that opens up a 63-day window you can get another plan without medical questions. Guarantee issue.

Dennis Day: 26:47

Okay, that was another question. So you're talking about a plan for me in King County, but if I lived in an adjoining county, the same plan might not be available, is that?

Kevin Anderson: 27:02

kind of correct no People that live in a list of 10 other counties I see. So King County, up and down the I-5 corridor down to Lewis. Then Lewis stands alone, has a different book, same plan, but it'll have a different book and a different number, but it'll be the same plan. So for billing purposes in that area they use different third-party administrators for the billing. And then you get down to Vancouver and Dallas and it's another one. And even if he went to Spokane it'd be the same plan but it'll be a different plan.

Kevin Anderson: 27:39

Number One thing, real important when you're first on Medicare, you have three months you can change your mind. Okay, that's what I did. I did an advantage plan because I hadn't been to the dentist in 10 years. I wanted eyeglasses, I wanted all this. I wanted hearing aids. I didn't talk about hearing aids. I got $7,000 hearing aids from. Your plan Cost me 1100 bucks. Wow, phenomenal. I wanted all that. So I went on it and three months later I put myself on a supplement so I could start taking care of all the surgeries. Okay, it was cheaper. Now your plan has an outpatient, which is phenomenal. Nowadays even knees replacements are doing on outpatient. You go in and you go home the same night. Now I stayed overnight for my shoulder. But anyway, outpatient is not 80% 20%, like it has been this year. They changed it on this plan to sliding copay from zero to a maximum of $325. So if you can get an outpatient, your shoulder is only going to cost you 325 dollars well, kevin, can a person do all this on their own?

Dennis Day: 28:52

I mean, can I go to medicare website and kind of find what I want and fill out the whole thing on my own if I want to?

Kevin Anderson: 29:02

absolutely, you can medicaregov. You can do that.

Kevin Anderson: 29:05

I would recommend that you don't whether you're talking to me or my wife or some other person that you find that that's been at this a long time. You're going to get insights and you're going to get extra things that that, if you need a specialist doctor, all you have to do is call Kevin. I'm going to get on the computer and find them for you. Even though I'm just an enrollment agent, I can do that. You have billing issues? I'll I can get help you with that if you do it on your own. And a lot of people fall for the tv ads. Oh my gosh, it's so sad. Well, you'll never. If you have a problem, you got to call the tv yeah good luck with that.

Kevin Anderson: 29:46

So, but you can. You can enroll all on your own, do all the research on your own, but I I think that if you find somebody with at least 10 years of experience, it's worth it. It doesn't cost you anything right?

Dennis Day: 29:58

it doesn't, it's free, it's worth it. I mean just talking to you now. I'm kind of my head is spinning about. I'm sorry. It's okay, but this is what everybody's going through. There's so many different plans and then each plan has different pros and cons, and it really is a good idea to talk to somebody who knows what they're doing so you can get the plan that is the least expensive and the most effective for you it's complicated it is and it's a very steep learning curve.

Kevin Anderson: 30:34

It's and you're making a decision that's going to be your decision for 12 months. You know you don't want to find out later. Oh man, I didn't think that I didn't know to ask that one, right, I didn't know to do this Gosh.

Dennis Day: 30:51

Kevin, I'm so glad you're here. If somebody is listening and says, hey, how do I talk to Kevin? What do they do?

Kevin Anderson: 31:02

You can call me three, six, zero, three, five, five, six, five, five. What do they do? You can call me 360-355-6555. That's my cell. Or you can call you and you can give them the phone number. I'm not. If they send me a text or email, I'm not allowed to call them. Anyone calling you once you've hit the age 65 with a Medicare offer, they're breaking the law. For me to call you, I have to have it in writing 48 hours ahead of time. You and I did that with the scope of appointment. We did electronically to give me permission to talk to you. I have to have it in writing and then it's good for 90 days.

Dennis Day: 31:41

Anyone calls you they're breaking the law that.

Kevin Anderson: 31:44

Seniors protect from all the scalpers and sharks out there. Yeah, oh, they're all over TV. Just I called and checked my zip code to see if I can have the benefits. Well, those benefits are listening on that TV could be a little piece of a plan. There's no one plan that has all the things you see on TV. Okay, yeah, and then the next thing they'll do is they'll wait a day and call you and get a funeral plan put together. They'll call you for your auto insurance, your house insurance I'm I'm really happy to talk to you about this.

Dennis Day: 32:18

I can change in a few months. In six months I'd be able to change if it's not working out, and so I I got a trial period I, so I couldn't see how this works for six months well, that's it, kevin, any any last words, no, so people have to call you. That's right, and then do you have to do the form that you sent me?

Kevin Anderson: 32:41

after the phone call if it's an incoming call no, I don't have to do the form. I have to have the form for an outgoing.

Dennis Day: 32:48

Great.

Kevin Anderson: 32:48

Yeah, and we can do. We can meet at the office. I can come out to the house. If I go to the house, I always bring my wife with me. We can meet in person. Some people aren't able to do Zoom meetings like this, but we can do it over Zoom as well. So I Zoomed in and picked what I would pick for me if I was in your shoes, and that takes a conversation, though, right?

Dennis Day: 33:12

Yes, it does.

Kevin Anderson: 33:13

Yes, it does.

Dennis Day: 33:14

Okay, kevin, we're going to get a good start on this. Thank you so much for helping me out and we'll talk to you soon.

Kevin Anderson: 33:22

All right, dennis, take care. Bye-bye.

Dennis Day: 33:26

And that's it for getting your edge out of right size your home and life podcast. I'm your host, Dennis Day. Thanks for listening, as always. Have a great day, Bye-bye.