Anniversary of WWII Bombing of Hawaii....and the last day to sign up for a Medicare Advantage Plan

Today is December 7th. A day in infamy, when Hawaii was bombed and the United States joined in to fight World War II.

It's also the last day for Medicare Advantage sales for January 1, 2012 effective dates.  Up until this year, most Medicare Advantage, or Medicare Part C, sales for the following calendar year were accepted from late October up until December 31st. For those who waited until the last minute to sign up at the end of December, problems arose when they tried to use the coverage for prescriptions or to see a provider just after the new year without an ID card. Because of this issue, Medicare imposed a new enrollment time period from October 15 through December 7 for this year's enrollments, giving everyone at CMS and at the insurance companies a chance to process all applications and get those all important ID cards into the hands of the senior enrollees prior to the January 1 effective date. Seemed like a good plan.

I wonder who chose the enrollment dates? I would not hesitate to guess that it wasn't someone who lived through WWII back in 1941 when the bombs were sneakily dropped onto Oahu. If the person who picked this date for the last day to enroll was actually someone who remembers December 7, 1941, they would have picked December 6th, or December 8th. Just not December 7th.

 My guess is it's some worker bee at CMS who flunked US History and had no idea that he or she picked such a famous date in our history.

Or I could be completely wrong. Maybe it was someone who studied history and thought that December 7th was a good date to pick for the last day of the annual election period for Medicare Advantage plans. Maybe the person who picked the date thought, well, I bet all those seniors will remember THIS date as the last date they can enroll!

Bombs away.....but hopefully not on US soil ever again.

Over 65 Medicare Choices

This year, from October 15th until December 7, Seniors over 65 can review, purchase or change their Medicare Advantage and Medicare Drug plans. After December 7, seniors cannot make any changes to their purchases for these plans, unless they are just turning 65, have heart failure or diabetes, or are Medicaid eligible with a Low Income subsidy.

For more info, here's a link to 2 articles that I wrote on Suite 101 (copy the entire address below and paste in your internet address box)

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Call me, email me or send me a Facebook message if you have any questions. I am certified by 3 separate insurance carriers to offer Advantage plans, and I can help you find the right choice for you and your budget.

I'm thankful for.....being able to get rid of stuff

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. First, I would like to say that I am thankful for all my friends and family who keep me sane. Second, I am thankful for good health (for my family and friends and me, too) and also good financial health (again, for the same people).

And I'm thankful that my kids still keep coming back home for my cooking!

For the past year and a half, I've been working at 3 different jobs, and I'm thankful that I can work at all 3: Insurance Agent (my 2 year non-compete is finally done! I can work with my old clients again); Tax Professional ( I guess I did a good job last spring, they asked me to come back this tax season, and want me to be an office manager!) and writer and...

Ebay and consignment "stuff" seller. I came home from my mother's house, after she passed, and after her funeral and then after cleaning out her closets and drawers and cupboards with the drive to get rid of stuff. While I like my stuff, they are dust catchers and they do clutter up the few rooms and closets and drawers that never seem to have room for anything new. I began the decluttering process by photographing a few items, uploading them onto Ebay, and hoping they will sell. A few did sell, although unfortunately, those few items that sold were very small and took up very little room. The bigger items languished even though I reposted them at least once or twice.

Hubby and I went to a store in a town north of here, an upscale town, not a large city, and one that is a "destination" for people who like to drive an hour or so to a village with shops full of kitschy things. Antiques, clothes, jewelry, wine, crafts, etc. We found a shop with lots of items that we loved looking at: Indian pottery, South American crafts, antiques, etc. Just like home! I told the shopowner that we had lots of stuff, would she consider consignment to sell my items? She said, sure, bring 'em over.

A few weeks later on a Saturday we drove up again, this time with 2 large boxes with our treasures packed carefully. The shopowner picked out about half of our items and said that she would discuss pricing with her shop partner and hopefully they would sell.

On Monday, her partner called us and asked us if we had more things like the ones that we left there? Oh, boy, do we!  We packed up another 2 boxes and off we went. They were both happy to try to sell our stuff and we were thrilled to see our treasures beautifully displayed and described. And I was very pleased with the prices that they set for our pieces.

I hope the stuff all sells. I don't want to bring them back home! I'm enjoying the "uncluttered" look that we now have in our house. And we are hoping to get rid of more stuff...I would hate to die and leave my messy cluttered house to my kids to have to clean out.