Understanding The Struggle For Assistance
Southern Maine Retirement Services was founded to provide Medicare beneficiaries with the care and guidance Mark Allen wished he had when navigating the complexities of the system years ago.
At only 28, Mark was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis and was forced onto disability, experienced a dramatic drop in income, and spent the next year and a half living between his bed and the chair. Though Mark continued to take college classes, eventually earning a degree in business administration, his medical bills piled up as he began to seek treatment for his arthritis once he was eligible for Medicare benefits.
It was this experience that led Mark and Sonya to want to do more to help others navigate Medicare. Mark didn’t know there were Medicare supplements that would cover the 20% Part B coinsurance for his medical bills. They didn’t want others to find themselves without these benefits or with his debts.
Mark first entered the industry as a ‘captive agent’ with an insurance company, but he didn’t like being locked into only offering that single company’s plans. He next went to an independent agency, and Sonya joined him there. However, they both decided it was time to move on when they discovered the agency did not actively try to help clients keep their costs down.
The Allens knew it was time to start their own agency that fulfilled their mission of helping – actually helping – their clients. Mark and Sonya wanted to be there to answer questions, help with understanding complex bills, make sure each client had the right insurance to meet their unique, ever-changing needs.
In 2005, they achieved their goal and opened Southern Maine Retirement Services with the mission of being partners in their clients’ retirement. Their idea was that their work should not be just about selling insurance and moving on to the next client, but about providing a true lifelong service and keeping each beneficiary on the most cost-effective plan.
Sadly, Mark lost his battle with cancer in 2017. Sonya along with their daughter-in-law Brittany Rand remain dedicated to continuing their life’s work, and still operate Southern Maine Retirement Services to ensure that their clients can have the help they need in navigating the complicated Medicare insurance markets.
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