Waaay OT: Medicare

[Len Silva]

I know, it's not bus related, but I also know many of you are in my age group and may have already dealt with this.

I'll be 65 in February and while I have been in denial for quite a while, the Medicare monster is fast approaching.

So, any advise from those who have already done the research. I am generally in good health, not on any meds, see the doctor once a year to turn my head and cough.  That's about it.

Thanks for any help, off the board if you prefer,  lensilva (AT) lenstudio (DOT) com

Len

[brojcol]

Len,

I work for Social Security.  Call us at 1-800-772-1213 from 7a to 7p M-F and tell the tech that you want to file an immediate claim for Medicare.  They will switch you to the Immediate Claims Taking Unit (of which I am the manager) and one of our very knowledgable Claims Reps will answer any questions you have and take your claim.  FREE OF CHARGE!!!

Let me know how things turn out.

Jimmy

[JohnEd]

Len,

I get my medications at the VA and it is a good thing, too.  You are very fortunate in not being on anything.  Plan for the worst case and hope for the best.

If you have service time look into getting in to the VA.  Your retirement income might allow that.  Also, DO NOT BELIEVE everything the SOB's tell you.  Verify....Verify.  I have heard that VA reps are telling some vets they are better off on medicare.  What a load of crap.  I was taking $800 worth of one arth. med alone just to keep moving slowly and carefully.  My copay was zip at the time but now it costs me $9 per month per med and that rounds out to $90/mt "usually"/ recently.  Try that on Medicare and see what your out of pocket is.

The IVAW (Iraq Vets Against War) is trying to get Reps and Senators on board to introduce legislation that would give all Iraq vets "and their families" full med coverage.  Thats both the guys still in and those discharged.  Seems a really nice way to say thank you.  Especially to those widows and orphans that only got an insurance payment.  While a widow gets a $100K payout for a dead husband that won't go far with kids or even if she is alone.  With a sick child it might not last a year even.  They used to get kissed off with a check for $12K and removed from base housing ASAP with any medical treatments suspended when the casualty was first reported.  It went to $100K after years of trying to roll that boulder up a hill (Capitol Hill) for years.  Guess who wrote the legislation and sponsored it against a hue and cry of "you can't solve a complicated problem by just throwing MONEY at it" and "we have to be aware of the full fiscal impact of such legislation and study this problem to find the optimum solution".  Aw you peeked!  

You might visit with the IVAW to see what their take is but be carefull.  One of the vets went to a demonstration against the war and had his pic snapped by a reporter.  The pic made the front page in DC.  The pentagon advised that exjarrhead that his discharge was being downgraded to "GENERAL" from "HONORABLE" long after the fact of his discharge.  That move might seem to be an empty gesture of spite but it clipped his wings when he went to the VA for treatment of service associated injuries that were documented.  You can get names, dates, times and more info at their site and they do answer their mail.  In spite of the demonstrated risk they have a large membership and considering the ones that are prudently avoiding "coming out", who knows how many there are with that sentiment.  Personally, I think we should stay till the job is DONE and then leave and not stay a minute longer, but then I am a conservative.

Vote your wallet and elect people that will solve this horrid problem that you don't actually need to deal with.  Getting the vets taken care of would be a nice first step and YES it is fair.

Good luck getting more info.

Your fellow Nut and traveler,

John

[makemineatwostroke]

Len,i hope someone answers your question fast because i can see this post heading in the wrong direction for the question asked

[JohnEd]

Twostroke,

It is relevant!  If he is eligible for the VA and he signs up for medicare it is an irrevocable decision.  If he takes VA he can always change his mind and go with medicare.  I think I owe him that candid opinion based on dismal personal experience that cost me an arm and a leg if I can save him some grief.  The IVAW group is a good source of info for anyone and I never consider even the outside chance that the addressee is the only one that will read the post.  Imagine somebody getting their political nose bent about advice being given a possible vet in need of knowing his entitlements.  Just figure the odds on that happening.

Support the TROOPS......I am sure that all in this group do so without exception and that is the correct (right) direction.  It is mine, for sure, and I think there is a thread of connection in the subject matter even if there is a little bit of "rant" in the delivery.   Don't forget what that famous liberal, Col. Ollie North, said: "excess in the support of liberty is no vice" and "patience is an over rated virtue".

I feel a little on the defensive here but I still luv ya.

John 

[makemineatwostroke]

John, i didn't get my political nose bent i agree with some of the post but i don't believe that it belongs here on the board .Len posted his email address could it not have been emailed. Col. Ollie North in my book is A-OK. thats all for me John and I wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

[JohnEd]

PM sent

John

[Len Silva]

Thanks guys,

While I am eligible for VA, that is one bureaucracy that I don't want to mess with. I've had some experience with a relative.

My question has more to do with the many supplemental plans from various companies.  Guess I'll just get off my butt and do the homework.

Len

[JohnEd]

Len,

I am sorry for your bad experience with the VA and I am in sympathy with you contempt of bureaucracy.  I wish the system was so attractive that you would want to be in it out of choice.  Medicare is a bureaucracy and it seems to be working as far as it goes.

For my part, I would be impoverished without the VA.  A few months ago I was fitted for $6K of leg braces that allow me to get off crutches.  I don't know this but I suspect they will require about $100/month to maintain and repair over the course of their life span.  I wore the first one out in 18 months and I am more active now than I was then.  Before they were authorized I was pretty much a coach potato and that left my blood sugars going out the roof.  That in turn led to some vision loss and multiple infections with kidney failure and foot amputations in the offing.  No way for a warrior to go and not a "good" way for anyone.  I have a reasonably comfortable retirement and I could do a bus, barely, but it is within reach.  Not even in a dream without the VA medical service though.  I am "service connected" for almost all of it except the diabetic part and it pains me to hear people complain that vets are getting a free ride.  Even if I had never served a day and was "in the pink" I would be a strong and vocal advocate for veterans rights, I like to think.

Good luck on your quest.  That steer to the SS Admin seams a good one.  NEVER forget though....VERIFY EVERYTHING.

John

[DrivingMissLazy]

VA has been great for me. I am on medicare with AARP supplemental for medical care. Get all my prescriptions thru VA. Not service connected. Never any problem.
Richard