It's that time of the year - it's "open season"

Sometimes I think the postal service would be in more serious trouble if it were not for the election cycles and Medicare "open season."

During the primary I got lots of "vote for me" mail, then even more during the general election season and now that has been followed by the companies who want me to look at their medigap plans and switch.

Some have local meetings to answer questions, others have web sites to check them out and some ask me to call them to learn more. And most are from companies with names I never heard of :-0.

I'm happy with the plan I have - which is going down in cost come January! The facility I go to when necessary is also pretty close...so I have no incentive to change.

But if you are thinking of switching plans or if you are new to Medicare - be careful...over the last few years some companies have used pressure tactics to get people to sign up... Why? The person you talk to is on commission! And now some physicians are no longer accepting Medicare patients. So be sure you find out all you can before switching or joining.

And rule of thumb when speaking to any company is to say..."thank you - let me think about it" and compare all aspects of plans in which you have interest.