A member of my family is about to turn 65, so he applied online for Medicare a few weeks ago.
He learned about the online application process because we happened upon this Medicare public service video with people from the distant past — the Patty Duke Show cast (including both identical cousins — Patty and Cathy) reuniting and donating their time to talk, in character, about the online application procedure. A fair number of people about my age watched Duke and her television family weekly for nearly four years.
The thing is, my relative never watched the show, but he was intrigued and amused after watching the video, so he decided to try going online to sign up for Medicare. More on that application in a subsequent post, but summarized in one word — easy.
If you were a long ago fan, as I was, of Patty Duke’s sitcom, watch several more of public service announcements with the reunited cast. Just plain fun!
In an article in the Los Angeles Daily News, Paul O’Keeffe, who played Patty’s brother, also named Paul, on the show commented, “We are family from way back. And we’re all headed in the same direction.” Also in the article, Duke said that she’s grateful the ads are reaching boomers like herself.
This article, Nearly 65? Time for the Medicare Maze, in the February 14, 2011 New York Times also has useful information.
In the next Medicare post I’ll describe how my husband filled out the online Medicare application.
As Our Parents Age So Do We 