For 25 years, Hank Cowles made his living talking into a microphone. He hosted the afternoon show on Magic 105 and worked his way through radio stations in Wichita, Kansas City, and New York City. These days he talks with a very different audience. Hank is an independent Medicare agent based in Benton, and together with his wife, Shelly, he helps seniors find the right coverage and then sticks around to make sure they're taken care of.
Hank got his start in radio at 16, at a little AM country station in Heber Springs, where he grew up. He picked up part-time shifts at Magic 105 while he was a student at UALR, then landed an afternoon show on a rock station in Wichita in 1991. A tape of his show earned him the morning slot at 98.9 The Rock in Kansas City. Two and a half years later, he mailed a tape to New York City without expecting much to come of it. They flew him up and hired him on the spot. He spent two and a half years there, until Viacom bought the station and let everyone go.
That's when Tom Wood at Magic 105 called. The station's afternoon host had just quit, and Tom invited Hank to come home for what he called a working vacation. Hank bought a house and never left. That was about 22 years ago. After eight years on the road, he was ready to get back to hunting and fishing. Radio was a lot of fun, but it didn't pay the bills, so Hank moved into sales and then insurance. Medicare is where he found his calling, because so many people are missing out on benefits they never knew they had.
Because Hank is independent, he works with all the major carriers, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, UnitedHealthcare, WellCare, and Cigna (now HealthSpring). That matters every fall. If a client's needs change, like needing hearing aids or dental work, Hank can move them to a plan that fits better instead of steering them toward one company. He handles Medicare Advantage, supplements, drug plans, and life insurance. His clients include people as young as 20 who are on Medicare and Medicaid because of a disability, and he often works with their parents and caregivers. Nurses and caregivers call him with questions too. His help never costs his clients anything, because agents are paid by the insurance companies.
Hank says the typical agent nationwide loses about 30 percent of the people they sign up each year. He loses almost none. That's because he doesn't disappear after enrollment. Hank was raised by his grandmother, so he knows what it means to look after someone. He calls clients throughout the year, and when a heat wave hits, he stops by to see some of his oldest clients with fruit and cold water. That's especially true for the ones who don't have family around to check on them.
Shelly has been shopping at Helping Hands in Benton for about 15 years. One day Hank tagged along, met Charlotte, who runs it, and ended up becoming her Medicare agent. Now Hank sets up a little sign at Helping Hands on Mondays from 11 AM to 1 PM and answers anyone's Medicare questions. During enrollment season, people come by knowing he'll be there to help them sign up. There's no obligation, and sometimes there's pizza.
Hank keeps a scams section on his website because new ones pop up every day. Clients send him photos of suspicious mail or forward him emails and ask whether they're real. He'll often call the number himself to check, and more than once it hasn't even been a working number. He's especially wary of AI voice scams, where someone copies a grandchild's voice from a social media video and calls a grandparent asking for money.
Shelly is a big part of the business. She helps run everything, and Hank says she's great with people. The two were married two years ago at the courthouse in Benton, and Hank jokes that he never expected to find THE ONE in Benton. Away from work, they spend their time in the yard trying to attract backyard birds, especially bluebirds. Shelly is a serious record collector who can look at an album and tell you when it was pressed and what it's worth. Their living room is a rock and roll room with albums on the walls, and they love antique shopping on what they call the album hunt. When Shelly had her heart set on one of her favorite albums, Audra at Retro Rose was the one who had it, and Hank snapped it up for Mother's Day.
Home-based in Benton, serving Saline County
Medicare Monday: Helping Hands, 809 W South Street, Benton, AR · Mondays, 11 AM to 1 PM
