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Date: 11/17/25
Duration: 22:25
Guest: Tommy Blackwell
Website: AmeriLife
Listen on Spotify:
Summary:
Episode 10 with Tommy Blackwell of AmeriLife
In this episode, Ed sits down with longtime Hendersonville local Tommy Blackwell from AmeriLife of Asheville. Tommy breaks down what retirees and pre-retirees need to know about Social Security planning, Medicare coverage, and the annual enrollment periods that confuse just about everyone. He explains how AmeriLife works with dozens of insurance carriers to match people with the plans that fit their doctors, prescriptions, and budget.
Tommy shares why fall is their busiest season, what’s changing for Henderson County residents this year, and why reviewing your plan annually can save you from big surprises at the pharmacy counter. He also gives out his direct contact info for anyone who needs guidance with Medicare, prescription drug plans, Medicare Advantage, supplements, or Social Security timing.
The conversation drifts into Hendersonville history, local growth, favorite restaurants, apple-country traditions, and Tommy’s travel highlights from his years of award-winning work in the insurance world. If you’re curious about Medicare or you just enjoy hearing stories from a true Hendersonville native, this episode hits both.
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Transcript:
Hey, thanks for joining us today. My special guest is Mr. Tommy Blackwell. Tommy Blackwell is with AmeriLife here in the Hendersonville, Asheville area. Tommy, thanks so much for taking time to come out and visit and talk and share with us. And I look forward to ask you some exciting questions, but give everybody a quick overview about what you do with AmeriLife. I appreciate you inviting me, Ed. Like I said, my name is Tommy Blackwell. I work for AmeriLife of Asheville. It's actually in Arden, North Carolina.
We help people in mostly in retirement, planning for Social Security, helping them get set up with their Medicare. We pretty much are a brokerage. work with hundred different insurance companies. So we help people find what plan fits their certain situation, whether they're looking for life insurance, health insurance, Medicare insurance. This time of the year is our busiest time of the year.
with the annual enrollment period going on for people that's on Medicare. ⁓ When they have an opportunity to either change the plan their own, ⁓ whether it be a prescription drug plan or if it's a Medicare advantage plan or if they have Medicare supplements, we can help them navigate through all the different changes that Medicare's making.
So when you say this time of year, depending on when somebody's listening or watching the podcast, it's the fall, right? What or what date? So that the annual enrollment period runs from October 15th through December 7th. Gotcha. That's when everybody can make their change. There's also the open enrollment period, which runs from January the 1st to March 31st. And that's when people have the opportunity if they
maybe got put on the wrong plan during the annual enrollment period, they can make that change, which is a one-time opportunity during the first three months of the year. That's so confusing. I don't look forward to getting older. It's clear as mud. ⁓ So do people change every year? Well, yeah, they do. ⁓ Right here in Henderson County this year, there's been a lot of disruptions with ⁓ three different
insurance carriers where Party Hospital is not in the network with them going into next year. And so we're getting a lot of telephone calls, people that are on certain ⁓ plans that's available here, ⁓ you know, wanting to know what they're going to do. So we sat down with them and go over their medications, their doctors, ⁓ things that are important to them and help them find the plan that will be good for next year.
Gotcha. So I'm not even, I didn't even realize that's where this podcast may go, but I'm thinking of my mom. So she probably should talk to you, I guess, if she's been doing party, right? Is what you're okay? Yeah. Uh, I tell most of my clients that every year you need to look at your plan. Right. A lot of times you don't have to switch or change anything. You just stay on it. uh, your, your medications and that changes a lot with people. So if they.
take a new medicine, might not be covered under their formulary on their plan they have now. And they don't want to get sticker shocked and come January when they go to the drug store or wherever they get their medicines and find out that instead of paying $5, it's $100 or more. It could be more in some cases. That would be a shock. And so that's it's important to review them plans every year. ⁓
We do that for our clients and then like I said this year with the plans that are not gonna be available at Pardee Hospital. everybody that is on that, there's three different companies, but the ones that are not, they should have got a letter from Pardee or from their physician telling them that their plan their own will not be in network next year. So they need to get in touch with either their agent that they have, they can call.
us at AmeriLife, we would be more than happy to come out and sit down with them. They can come to the office or we'll go sit down with them at their home either way. Well, if people are getting anxious listening or watching this, who do they, what number do they call? They could call me. I'll give you my cell number. It's 828-606-8697. Our office number is 828-684-1477. And we're actually located in Arden on
Highway 25 at 2367 Hendersonville Highway. Usually someone's there every morning, eight o'clock till five o'clock. Some days where they might not be someone there, because we do go out and see people a lot, but people do come and stop in. And you probably go out to eat too. A couple times. So you're saying that address and I'm thinking, where in Arden? So help me.
What's another if you got on 25, you're out of Hendersonville. You stay on 25 go through Fletcher. Yep. You will pass where Sweden Creek turns to the right airport road turns to the left. Yep. Go straight across there. about a quarter to a half a mile pass there. Right beside Wells Fargo Bank and the post offices right in there too. Right. The post office is actually a couple of buildings. ⁓
Above us and the building we are in is actually the old post office. Okay. we we've been in that building since 1988. So and 12 bones is near there. 12 bones is right down there on the right. ⁓ if you want to come to the office, I'll let you go down there and buy my lunch. Wow. That's awesome. That's for you. Okay. 12 bones is delicious and I've not been there in a while. It's good. Yeah. Well, since we're talking about food, Tommy, I always like to ask people what are their top,
three to five suggestions of places to eat in the area, either for yourself or that when you have guests in town, you're like, hey, you gotta try this place. So ⁓ from growing up here in Hendersonville, I've been here my whole life. ⁓ My favorite, I guess me and my wife's favorite places are either Shine on Main Street. We like Brandy's, it's a good place. You're the first person to say Brandy's, I think. We've had a few people say Shine, but that's good.
Brandies, I do like brandies. They got really good steaks. You've only said two so far. me a discount next time I come here. Also, ⁓ there's a new ⁓ little place, Budas, up on the corner. used to be the old One-Eyre Martin Eisen. They got really great food in there. That's by SunTrust, right across the street from SunTrust? correct. That's right. Anything else?
⁓ We like Umi's if you like Chinese food, that's a good place when we want sushi we go to Umi's. There's a couple new restaurants that we hadn't got to try yet that we like to go out On 7th Avenue? I have been to. Claywood and right next to it. Yeah, we've been to Claywood before. It's good and the other place. It's kind of French cuisine, right? Correct, yeah. I can't remember the name of it, but I've heard good things about it. It's in the old chicken shack. Yes. Hendersonville. Yeah. That's what was a chicken shack and we've been there. That's really good too. Yeah.
I would suggest if you go there and make a reservation because it's been packed every time. it's small too, right? The space? It is small, yeah. Well, Tom, you already told people, but you are from Hendersonville. You're a native. Yeah. In case somebody can't tell, you do have a native accent. Yeah. It's not New York, but so tell us, you don't have to tell us your age, but have you seen some changes through the years in Hendersonville? Well, actually, yes. ⁓
Remember before Four Seasons Boulevard was built so that ages me pretty well. Wow What was it nothing? It was just a swamp. Oh, I mean if you go down Four Seasons, you see all that wetland It was kind of that all the way through there used to we you had to come up Seventh Avenue And that was the way Interesting come up Seventh Avenue never knew that I think they built that probably Four Seasons I might be wrong on this but it was probably
about the late 60s to early 70s. As a four lane at that time or was just a? It was a two lane. Okay. That was Seventh Avenue. Got it. And then they put Four Seasons Boulevard in. Huh. Probably the late 60s, early 70s, sometime around there. Interesting. When was the interstate built? That was built... Before you remember or? It was, well it wasn't completed. Right.
I remember when they were doing from ⁓ out past Upward Road going down across Peter Geist Bridge and then down from Saluda down to the mountain. I remember them building on the mountain below past Saluda. I'm not sure when they finished the part from say Upward Road to Saluda but that's, you used to have to get off at Saluda and go down and go down the old road.
get back down there at Trion or Spartanburg or Edmonds somewhere down in that remind area. Wow. So we had Carolyn Swanner on a few recently. I don't know if you know her, but she talked about how I think she's third generation banking and obviously grew up in the area in Hendersonville High School and all that stuff. What high school did you go to? I went to East Henderson High School. ⁓ I graduated in 1980, Flat Rock Junior High before they turned it to a middle school.
And then I attended Dana Elementary School. When I was in the fourth grade, there were
some schools being burnt in the county. People was going around burning down the elementary schools. And Dana Elementary got burned down when I was in the fourth grade. And so then we went ⁓ in the fifth and sixth grade, they put us in the old Rose Edwards building, which is now the ⁓ administration building for the school board, right behind the church over there on Fourth Avenue.
That's very interesting. Never knew that either. You're quite the historian. Someone might correct me on some of this. So I always heard like back in the day, it still happens some I guess, but people would drive down Main Street in Hendersonville. it was more straight then. A few years ago it went through like a little renovation. The curves. Yeah. So back in the late the 70s, early 80s, the
Main Street was four lanes. ⁓ I never, wow, Tommy. And ⁓ Friday night, Saturday night, everybody's got to go drag main. So we'd go up, ride one end. We'd turn around down where the Bank of America is. Come back down and go come back down to Spartanburg Highway, go to McDonald's, turn around, go right back up.
That's back and forth. So the McDonald's has been there a long time. The McDonald's been there a long time. ⁓ I believe there was a Hardee's down where TD Bank is at one time. ⁓ then I think the first place that we actually had in here, I might be wrong on this too, but the Pizza Hut is no longer there, but it's right where the Ingalls is on Spartanburg Highway, but it's set up on the road.
Kind of in front of where the old Planet Fitness is. Okay, except right there's a pizza hut that was big back in the day Yeah, we got a pizza hut in Hendersonville. That's funny. What about where the Wendy's was anything was there Yeah, there used to be a building right in there Where the where the Walgreens is there was a store there was called Dorns men shop It was a gentleman that owned a men's clothing store. Yeah, there was store there was that
There was a few other stores up through there. I remember back when I was a little kid in the 60s, there was an old general store right in there too somewhere. That was cool old building, you know. And then Spartanburg Highway was a two-lane road then also. Wow. That's always fun to hear about how things have progressed or changed. It depends how you view it. So when you have friends come to visit or ⁓ family from out of town, any places you suggest, hey, you got to go see this or go hike here or go...
What are your suggestions? Well, with all the vineyards and everything that's popped up around Hennesseyville, a of the apple orchards of old have turned into vineyards. So some people come up and ask different places that they might like to go. tell them maybe go check out some of the vineyards. Burnt Sherd out on Sugarloaf Road, Point Lookout up on the Sugarloaf Mountain. That's a nice area. And there's a lot of places around that.
I always tell people go check out DuPont State Park if they like to hike. That's a great place to go. It's not far, you can go get out there. then the Holmes Educational Forest is a good little place, easy to kind of get around there. Carl Sandberg's place is always, you there's a lot to do in Hendersonville. I agree. Do you like to have apple donuts when it's in season? I actually like the fried pies.
the apple, the fried pies that they sell on Main Street during the Apple Festival. Yeah, the fried pies is one of my favorites. I do like the doughnuts too. The fried pies are delicious and I'm trying to think as you're saying that, I can't think of an apple orchard that sells fried, I'm sure there are though, right? Sure, you can go out, if you out 64 toward Agnewville, a lot of the little apple places will now, that's on the side of the road, they, lot of them places do it. Granddads have it.
The fried pies? Sky Top, I think, might have. They might have done it at Sky Top. ⁓ There's a place right before Grandad's on the left. I believe they make the fried pies. Okay. The names, I know the people that run them places, but they're kind of leaving me right now. Well, gosh, if you didn't tune in for anything else, it's to remember to get a fried apple pie. Fried apple pie. ⁓
It's not a true, I mean, if somebody has no clue what it means, it's not a real like apple pie fried. It's more of a like croissant is kind of thing. Yeah. I've flipped over got the apple in the middle. They sell them a lot during the apple festival on Main Street. Yes. Little fried pies. Yes. And they're delicious. Yeah, they are. Especially with icing, right? Am I thinking of the same thing? You can put ice cream on them. Icing. Yeah, they put, can drizzle, they drizzle icing on I'm thinking of the same thing. If you're lucky, you might get a scoop of ice cream.
Well, that's even better. I hadn't thought of that. Well, Tommy, ⁓ let's see. I've asked you about food, which is good. I've asked you about places to visit. I've asked you about what you do. What can you think of? need you should tell us that I haven't asked so far. Anything exciting? Anything on the horizon for the area that people need to know about? Maybe you're privy to. Well, I mean, we're growing a lot and it's good for the business, but it's also bad for the traffic.
I will agree because the past year for some reason there definitely seems to be more traffic than normal. Yes, and it's not just seasonal right now It's just here it used to be just certain times of the year where they get real bad, but now it's it's Hennessyville is a You know great place to live to raise your family and kids I raised my two daughters that grew up here in Hennessyville. They don't live here no more. They moved out but It was back in the day
couldn't beat it. I'd say you probably still can't beat it today, but it is getting a lot of people. And people will hear us say that and they're coming from Miami or Atlanta or New York and they'll be like, you have no clue. And they're correct, we have no clue. It's not that kind of traffic, but it's adding an extra five or 10 minutes to your drive at times. to us that's from here, getting stuck on Four Seasons Boulevard, we think like, what the hell is going on?
I think you'd increase it to six lanes. Yeah, then that's going to make it even worse for it they get it done. It's kind of like the interstate. I'm glad that we needed the interstate to be bigger and it's from Henderson Mill to Longsholz is great. Yes, it's been a nice... from Longsholz till they get that part done. Yeah, I've been to Atlanta and through Miami.
Orlando. So I know what it is to be stuck in traffic, but. Well, earlier off camera you shared with us about different trips you've won through the years with AmeriLife, because you do well. ⁓ Is there a favorite place that you've been to? ⁓ I think my favorite place, me and my wife, we went to Italy in 2024. We got to spend a week in Rome. Wow. ⁓ See a lot of the all the sights. ⁓
I a lot of food. Did you talk to anybody there? Pretty much, yeah. Could they tell you were from the South? They didn't know where I was from. They knew I was American. The food was phenomenal over there. Really, it's the best in your mind? Yeah. And you've been a lot of places, so that says a lot. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I think I ate lasagna every day. Oh. And every place was a little bit different, but it was all great.
I thought I gotta eat lasagna. I tried a few other things, but that was my favorite. I love lasagna. I do too. And I suspect it's homemade there too, the pastas. ⁓ yeah. Yeah. My wife took a cooking class and she fixed it once, but that's it. So maybe you can tell her you want to try her lasagna. Maybe we'll try to have a cooking show and she could be the guest. Yeah. She cooked lasagna. Yeah, she did a class with some of the other...
ladies that was friends of hers that was over there with us and ⁓ come home and she did it once. She's gonna watch this and slap me upside the head. So a few weeks ago we interviewed Tristan over at Allora. It's a bed and breakfast in downtown that's new and he shared that he was, I think it was Italy or Spain and he learned to make homemade pasta and now cooks it for his guests at times. Yeah. So that's pretty cool.
Maybe that'll encourage your wife to try it again. Get back to doing that. Problem with doing it all the time here is you don't walk as much as you do over there. Because you're walking everywhere in Rome. It's easier to eat all you want and not gain no weight. Because we come back and I got on the sky and I gain no weight. I said, wow, I can't believe that. But you walk five, 10 miles every day.
Awesome. So your favorite restaurants? Shine, Buddha's, Brandy's.
I've gone blank. Umis. Umis. Yeah, on Main Street. I like ⁓ Pop's Diner down there. It's been around a long time. One time it was called Five Points. That's a great little place. We love eating there ⁓ Sundays after church sometimes. It's one of little favorite places to go. I also like Mike's on Main. They're starting to come to me now. Yes. That's a good little spot. I agree. I like McFarland's donuts. Uh-uh, yeah.
You really can't have a meal there, but it could be a meal, but it could be a bad meal. Yeah. And they've been around forever. They've always had the best donuts. They're delicious. All right, Tommy, tell people again, how they get in touch with you if they need to talk to you about some insurance changes, policies, adjustments, questions. They don't have to be older either. We have both young and old. Our main focus of the company was originally started in 1972 in Holiday, Florida.
actually been in the Asheville area since 1988. I was one of the first agents in that office when they moved up here. ⁓ But ⁓ we do help both young and old. ⁓ Social Security has really changed a lot in the last few years. So if you are getting ready to retire, thinking about retiring, we have some registered social security analyzers in the office that we can help. We got tools to show you when's the right time to start drawing.
If you plan on taking early social security, people get set up with Medicare, that's huge. That's changed a lot in the last year. Most people used to be automatic and now you have to tell them. So you can reach out to us and we can give you any kind of information to help you with that. All our services are free, we don't charge for none of that. ⁓ We do get paid by the insurance companies if we sign you up for something. ⁓
but it's it's a Maryland of Asheville. Our office number is 828-684-1477 and my ⁓ cell number I usually don't give it out but I've been giving it out lately. So it's 828-606-8697. Awesome. And when you call Tommy ask him to sing for you. Thanks Tommy for joining us. I had to throw that in for you. Thanks for watching and keep living local.