“I’m here to give them the pieces to the puzzle and the information they need to make the best decision for them.”

Elaine Simon

Elaine Simon is a Medicare and Health Insurance Specialist with Simon & Simon Financial. She brings more than 40 years of experience as a registered nurse to our firm, making her perfect for her role. As a Medicare and Health Insurance Specialist, she works with our clients to build custom Medicare plans based on their individual medical needs, from service providers to prescribed medications.

“I made the rounds as a nurse, working in hospitals full time and working as a travelling nurse in California and West Virginia. I worked with case managers who helped patients with Medicare, so I had a firsthand glimpse at how Medicare works,” Elaine says.

Originally from McComb, Mississippi, she moved to Louisiana when she first started nursing school in 1974. She went on to get her bachelor’s degree in nursing from William Carey University before a long, successful career in the field. Now, with all of the expertise she has gained, Elaine continues to help healthcare recipients in a different way.

Her primary goal is ensuring that each one of our clients has the proper health insurance plan that suits all of their needs. Elaine assists with a broad range of scenarios, whether a client is under 65 and needs health coverage through the Affordable Care Act, or they need alternative insurance options to bridge the gap between when they retire and when they reach 65 and qualify for Medicare. By checking each client’s list of medications, primary care doctors and specialists, she can find the right plan that includes coverage, premiums and co-pays that fit your level of necessity and income.

While choosing the right combination of Medicare plans and prescription plans is analytical and relies on her knowledge base, her job tends to be just as educational. “I call it Medicare 101. I walk clients through all of the parts of Medicare, telling them exactly how it works and explaining each of their options,” Elaine says. “Then I work with them to find the best fit. I’m here to give them the pieces to the puzzle and the information they need to make the best decision for them.”

Elaine’s job as a Medicare and Health Insurance Specialist is also ongoing, as open enrollment allows Medicare beneficiaries to enroll in a different plan each year. “I ask for updates to any of the information I collected in our first visit. If anything has changed, we can reassess all of their options. I’m with them the entire time they have Medicare, and they can expect me to be calling,” she laughs.

Working with family has also been a dream come true for Elaine. Originally, Chad helped all of our clients with their Medicare needs, but when he decided to get more involved in retirement planning, he enlisted in the help of the person he trusts the most: his mother. Elaine says, “I have the best of both worlds because I have a career I absolutely love, then I get to see my family every day. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”

Though she’s almost always working, Elaine loves to cook and spend time in her garden. Her favorite plants are beautiful flowers, which require constant attention because of the Northshore climate. She also loves to cook barbecue shrimp for her family, which is so delicious it has become a Christmas tradition.