When I'm 64

If you've recently turned 65 you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, just wait! You are in for a treat. You are about to become one of the most popular people on the planet.

The mail and phone calls started about 6 months prior to when I'd be turning 65. On average, I get five pieces of mail each week related to Medicare. I get even more phone calls. And now that I'm only a month away from my Medicare effective date, they are turning up in my Facebook news feed. They are wearing me down. They are wearing me out.

Caller: I know you've been getting a lot of mail about Medicare. It's probably all very confusing to you.
Me: Not really. I throw it all away.

Then there was the young man who was putting serious pressure on me to buy the supplement he was selling. I said I needed time to do a bit more due diligence. I said I wanted to check with some of my friends who'd read all that stuff instead of throwing it away to see what they'd chosen and why they'd chosen it.

"Did you consult with your friends before you bought your car insurance?"

"It's not the same thing," I said.

"Okay then, did you consult your friend before you bought the health insurance you have now?"

I didn't but so what if I did? I am free to ask a Ouija board if that's what I want to do. Bottom line, that remark didn't go down well with me at all. "In essence, you have just questioned my judgement. I'll tell you this, when you get to be 64, you don't especially like your judgement questioned, particularly by someone half your age. This conversation is over."

Bottom line is that I first got Marketplace healthcare with assistance from some clown who called claiming he could make the process run more smoothly. Totally and completely bungled it. I ended up having to be rescued by an agent that I'd used before and whom I trusted and who has helped me with my healthcare insurance needs ever since. I'll go to his office when I need help. I don't want or need any more help from clowns on the phone. 

Of course, not all of them are phone clowns. Some of them insist that they must come by to "meet you" and "explain" all the "new" benefits of Medicare. Some days I'm so beaten down by these people that I end up making appointments. (I really hate to be rude to people on the phone.) So this morning I ended up giving the guy who only wanted 15 minutes of my time nearly an hour. I still don't know what Plan N is. But I do know that I'd have to make 40 trips to a specialist on the plan I signed up for to break even on his plan. Not likely. Guess I'm just going to have to get rude.