Bombarded with Medicare ads

Oh my goodness! The TV commercials, mailouts and phone calls trying to sell us Medicare supplemental insurance was way over the top this year.

The insurance brokers that buy all those obnoxious television ads came on so strong Lana and I had to watch pay TV even when there was something we would have rather watched on commercial television. We are both on Medicare and evidently everyone knows it. We received multiple mailouts each day and so many phone calls it would be impossible to estimate a number.

You may have noticed in the TV ads the companies posting those relentless spots don’t even sell the insurance. They make their money by referring you to a company that does. Each one of those commercials insist there is no cost to the consumer.

Look, someone has to pay for all that tube time. The insurance company that gets their referrals must pay dearly to those insurance brokers that offer the “free” services. That will inevitably be passed on to the consumer.

I know you saw them; heck you couldn’t miss them. Some over the hill celebrity fills the screen telling you the outrageous benefits of signing up. Some were downright false. Most of them told us we could get over $140 added to our Social Security each month. That would mean we could be getting Medicare mostly free. We were promised that once we call, we could get free dental and lots of other services. What a crock.

The federal government sells Medicare and they want to be paid. Others tell you they can add Medicare part C to your policy for free. Hogwash! That, too, is a government cost and has to be paid.

All of this is offered to us by a company that does not even sell insurance. The mailouts were relentless, but the phone calls caused us the most grief. For three months we have received an average of 10 calls a day. Our answering machine was always full.

Most of the time the callers were recordings, but some were actual people who often tried to make us believe they were friends or acquaintances so we would pick up. Thank God for caller I.D. We had to resort to either unplugging our phone or covering it with a big bath towel to muffle the sound.

One company called our house at least six times a day for months. That’s just wrong. I can tell you any company that is that aggressive won’t get a penny from me.

I fully realize that the selling of Medicare supplements is big business, but I don’t care if you are selling cream puffs, going at it like that will only cost you customers. The enrollment date was supposed to be over Dec. 7, but as of this writing, we are still under siege. When will this nonsense ever end.

Dan Smith is on the board of directors of the Motor Racing Heritage Association and is the author of two books, “The World’s Greatest Beach” and “I Swear the Snook Drowned.” Email questions and comments to [email protected] or call (386) 441-7793.