{"id":64,"date":"2026-03-04T18:18:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T18:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beneficiaryadv.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=64"},"modified":"2026-03-09T18:26:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T18:26:33","slug":"my-senior-years-are-great-thanks-to-medicare-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/?p=64","title":{"rendered":"Kathy’s Story: “My senior years are great, thanks to Medicare Advantage”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kathy can afford to enjoy her retirement because she spends less on health care thanks to Medicare Advantage<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Kathy Bandstra placed a classified ad in her local newspaper, she never expected that it would lead her to her husband Greg \u2013 who, in his response, claimed to be 5\u2019 11\u201d but turned out to be closer to 5\u2019 9.\u201d Despite that discrepancy, Kathy and Greg have been happily married for 27 years and are now retired in their favorite vacation spot, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe moved here from Racine, Wisconsin and like living here so much. There\u2019s a lot more to do here,\u201d she said. \u201cThe air is clean, and we are close to the lake. I like going across the bridge and seeing the lake all the time. It\u2019s a great life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a retired therapist, Kathy knows the importance of prioritizing mental and physical health. She takes Silver Sneakers classes at her local YMCA, a benefit provided through her Medicare Advantage plan, practices yoga, and crafts. Kathy also gives back to her local community by providing counseling services on a sliding scale in an area where it can be difficult to find a practitioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kathy\u2019s active lifestyle faced a setback two years ago when she fell and broke her arm. Her doctor called it the worst break he had seen and warned that she might never drive or practice yoga again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But Kathy refused to accept the prognosis. \u201cI did the required resting and then asked \u2018how soon can I start physical therapy?\u2019\u201d she recalled. \u201cI was in physical therapy working my hardest. I had a life to live, things to get back to, and art to create.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Today she is fully recovered. \u201cI can do yoga now and drive my car. The doctor and the physical therapist didn\u2019t think I would be able to do those things, but I was determined to, and I did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While the experience was very traumatic, Kathy found a silver lining in her Medicare Advantage plan. \u201cI\u2019m so happy I have Medicare Advantage because it took care of all my needs, and I didn\u2019t have to worry,\u201d she said. \u201cIt would\u2019ve cost more with regular Medicare than my Medicare Advantage plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In addition to addressing her health care needs, Kathy credits Medicare Advantage for saving her money, giving her the financial freedom to enjoy the many activities she finds meaningful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cI\u2019m having a grand old time during my later years, and I still feel young. It\u2019s awesome!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout Medicare Advantage, I couldn\u2019t take arts and crafts classes, nor could I offer my counseling services to the community, because the office rent would be unaffordable. I wouldn\u2019t be able to go out to restaurants to eat or just generally enjoy the kind of life I want to live,\u201d she said. \u201cToday, I\u2019m having a grand old time during my later years, and I still feel young. It\u2019s awesome!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kathy can afford to enjoy her retirement because she spends less on health care thanks to Medicare Advantage When Kathy Bandstra placed a classified ad in her local newspaper, she never expected that it would lead her to her husband Greg \u2013 who, in his response, claimed to be 5\u2019 11\u201d but turned out to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_breakdance_hide_in_design_set":false,"_breakdance_tags":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Kathy-Cropped-2-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Kathy-Cropped-2-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Jessie Hill","author_link":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/?author=2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/65"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beneficiarycouncil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}