Jason Blake, The Medicare Geek

By Léo Azambuja

Jason Blake

A former mortgage broker hurting from the 2008 economic depression took an odd job no one was doing on Kaua‘i — helping senior citizens to navigate through Medicare options. It was only supposed to be a temporary gig for Jason Blake, but he excelled at it and turned it into a successful career.

“I help people with their Medicare choices,” said Blake, who has been the top Medicare insurance agent in the state of Hawai‘i for about five years.

Medicare is available to people who are age 65 or older who have enough work history — or married to someone with enough work history — or have been on Social Security Disability Insurance for at least two years, according to Blake. He also helps people who are too young to qualify for Medicare, but are seeking life insurance or long-term-care insurance.

The official part of his job, he said, is helping people to choose and apply for Medicare Supplements, Medicare Advantage Plans and Medicare Part D Plans that are best for them.

“Along the way, I help them with some things I don’t get paid for but enjoy — applying for Medicaid (Quest), federal program Extra Help with Prescription Drugs, and patient assistance programs to lower their drug costs,” Blake said.

About two years ago, he expanded and launched The Medicare Geek, a resource to train agents to do the same type of work in Hawai‘i and on the Mainland.

The landscape for Medicare plans isn’t supper competitive in Hawai‘i, according to Blake. There are only four to five reasonable plans on Kaua‘i. By comparison, in other places, such as in California, there are more than 40 plans, he said. Blake is also licensed in about a dozen other states where former Hawai‘i members have moved to or where people just can’t find a good, local agent, he said.

“Medicare is great but it is wonky, and plans are based on county and zip code, so it’s important to have someone who knows the local offerings intimately when possible,” he said.

Blake used to be a mortgage broker until the 2008 economic crisis that swept the United States and many countries across the world. At that time, he said, he wasn’t established enough in Hawai‘i to ride out the crisis. He tried a few odd jobs, migrated to selling timeshare, but admits he was terrible at it. Then came another odd job. A lady on the Big Island recruited Blake to help people with Medicare choices on Kaua‘i. She had told him she got many inquiries from the Garden Isle, but there was no active Medicare agent here to help them.

“I reluctantly started — I had no other options at that point — and thought I would do it on the way to whatever was next,” he said. “A couple years later, I looked up, realized I was paying my bills and really enjoyed the work. Life is funny that way.”

Work excellence, however, is only part of Blake’s life. He has been intrinsically connected in the Kaua‘i community in many ways.

When Blake was on the board of the nonprofit Malama Pono, he started the group Kaua‘i Sings as a fundraiser for them. Since then, the group does one-to-three performances a year. Blake is also an actor with the Kaua‘i Community Players; his last role was Sweeney Todd last year. Additionally, he is the president of the Kaua‘i Concert Association. All those activities, he said, are on stand-by because the COVID-19 pandemic, and will eventually return.

Blake has also written three self-published books on different topics; a tourism-oriented book on learning how to live here, a dark humor book, and a book about mental health and his personal journey on getting help and achieving stability. Visit www.jasonblakebooks.com to purchase his books.

“They’re really more a labor of love than great income now but it’s a creative outlet,” Blake said. “A psychic told me that once I hit five books things would take off with my writing — we’ll see how that works out! I am slowly writing a fourth book. Slowly.”

Blake has a self-professed love for Kaua‘i. He is married to Philip Steinbacher, the head of the chorus and the fine arts department at Island School in Puhi, although congregational singing is also on hiatus because of the pandemic.

“Our first few years here were a real struggle financially,” said Blake, adding they might have returned to the Mainland if there were any guarantees of a better life there, but things were rough everywhere. “Eventually, insurance started supporting me so well. We both feel really fortunate to be such a part of a tight-knit community. I realize every day how lucky we are. I miss traveling during COVID but I’m happy to be stuck here.”

Visit www.themedicaregeek.com to find out more about Blake’s services, and to set up an appointment with him.