Enrolling in Medicare is usually a smooth process with nothing or very few challenges that may come in the way. However, I met a client who had to put more effort than a normal applicant to get his Medicare part B approved. Moral of the story? Persistent pays off.
In early 2023 I met a new client who was referred to me by a friend of mine. He had applied for Medicare the first time but decided a few months later to discontinue his Part B because he was covered by his spouse’s insurance and didn’t want to pay double premiums.
Then in late 2023, his insurance was stopped due to divorce. I suggested applying for part B immediately and he did. A few weeks later there was no news on his Part B approval. Weeks went into months and in January 2024 there was still no approval. He started calling SSA a couple of times. They always said they got the application and would work on it but there was no action. This happened several times. Curious to find out the root of the problem, I went to a local SSA office with him, waiting in line until we were directed to a window attended by a gentleman who helped us courteously. After hearing the story, he explained the reason why the application wasn’t approved and tried to fix it on his computer. He then assured us that the application should be fine this time.
Weeks later since there was still no news, My client called diligently and finally one day they told him that they could approve his part B but he had to pay his B premium with a balance of almost $10k. Because he didn’t have and use Part B all this time, he appealed the balance and didn’t want to pay it all.
Finally, after a colleague’s advice, we opened up an act of Congress to contact his congressman to help with his problem. The second time he went to the Congressman’s office himself. To make the long story short, at almost the end of 2024, he finally got his part B approval along with his new Medicare card with the balance he owed not in the ten thousand but it was a reasonable amount he was willing to pay. Finally, after a year of back and forth, his Part B was approved.
He called me when he got his approval. We were very ecstatic to find out that our efforts were fruitful. It was the most challenging situation I ever have had, but it was incredibly rewarding to be able to help him navigate the complexities of Medicare and ultimately get the coverage he deserved. Perseverance does pay off!
Featured image source: Pexels.com
