I find the whole Medicare topic very confusing. Back in the fall I went to a seminar and learned all about its ins and outs. For example, the Initial Enrollment Period lasts for seven months-three months before your 65th birthday, the month of your birthday, and three months after.
So in theory I could have waited until next April before applying, but Hubby Tony's been working on his medical Open Enrollment process for next year and said it would make things easier if I was in the Medicare system. Today I filled out my official application.
When Tony went through the process two years ago he had to apply by telephone. It took hours, because it was hard to get through, and then there was another long wait time to actually talk to someone. I had the option of applying online. The whole process took about 15 minutes. At the end I got a confirmation number, and directions for how to check the status of my application.
Back in September when I had my annual physical the doctor recommended that since I was over 60 years old I get the RSV vaccine. I had good intentions for taking care of it, but the task never made it to the top of my list.
Two weeks ago I made an appointment for the shot, but when I got to the pharmacy I found out the doctor's office hadn't sent the necessary prescription. I contacted the doctor's office and they did what they needed to do. Once again it took me a while for the task to make it to the top of my list, but after dinner tonight I showed up at my local Walgreens for a vaccine appointment.
There were no other people waiting, and the whole process went quickly. I was wearing a long sleeved shirt, so the pharmacist suggested that instead of rolling up my sleeve I bare my shoulder from the top. He did the injection slowly, then put a bandage on the site and briefly discussed the common side effects (fatigue, fever, headache, and muscle or joint pain) before suggesting I stick around the store for 10 minutes to make sure there were no major issues.
Five years ago today: Another Advent Of Gratutude
I have applied for my old age security benefit in advance of my turning 65 in June of next year. It will entitle me to a certain amount of money every month.
ReplyDelete-Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com
DeleteI will not reach the 'full retirement age' for Social Security until the age of 66 and 10 months, and hope to hold out until then.
DeleteI was just talking to my mother about all the vaccines availabe and how to choose: flu, Covid booster, RSV, pneumonia, shingles. . . I already got the shingles vaccines (I had shingles, that was convincing enough), then got flu and the covid booster together.
ReplyDeleteI'm set for shingles and flu. The doctor told me that since I had recently had a case of Covid I wouldn't need a booster right now. Pneumonia will come some time after my birthday.
DeleteIt feels good to be able to cross things off your to-do list and it sounds like it was so easy!
ReplyDeleteYesterday I was able to complete EVERYTHING on my list! That doesn't usually happen.
Deletei miss the time when I was young and carefree...sighs..
ReplyDeleteMe too :-)
DeleteStart looking at medicare supplement plans.
ReplyDeleteHubby Tony has pretty good retiree healthcare, and can keep me on the plan.
DeleteOver half the people on Medicare have Medicare advantage now. You get a lot more things paid than plain Medicare, but some doctors and hospitals don't always like Medicare advantage. Be sure and research that so you know which you should do. I've had Medicare Advantage ever since I signed up. They cover a lot of dental things that Medicare alone does not, and they are now giving people $500 to use for any medical or glasses or dental cost. However, you really need to make sure if you feel comfortable with it. Just google Medicare Advantage, then talk to friends and relatives about it.
ReplyDeleteThe $500 comes as a debit card but can only be used for certain things.
DeleteAnd I forgot to say, my Medicare Advantage costs nothing except for the normal Medicare monthly payment.
DeleteMany of our friends have gone the Advantage route, but see my reply to Mike's comment re Tony's retiree insurance. At least for right now that's what we're choosing.
DeleteAh, that's good.
DeleteGlad you got your jab in the end.
ReplyDeleteBecause I took Social Security when I was 62 the Medicare thing was a piece of cake. They just put me on the account and started taking the medicare premiums from the social security account each month. I was shocked, though, at how much Medicare is. I had never paid so much for health insurance. The companies I've worked for always paid the premiums, and the school district still pays for my insurance beyond Medicare. It is a lifetime benefit and only $10 a month. So, Medicare, to me, is very expensive.
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky to have worked for such generous companies.
DeleteI'll be kind of happy when the ads stop for various medicare supplemental plans after December. It's not as hard online. Telephone enrollment or dealing with SS or medicare over the phone is a very lengthy process.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the ads!
DeleteWe got lucky with the medicare nightmare. The woman who've we've had in our life since the age of 41 when we purchased long term health care is also the person we bought life insurance with and now she helps us with medicare. We did a zoom where she put her computer screen for us to see side by side, we put in our medications and found what one works best for drugs for my hubby and which was best for me. Then we picked which supplemental insurance we wanted that fit the bill to pick up where medicare left off. Navigating this on our own would have been a nightmare. This year she set up an appointment to see if we wanted to make changes and again we went through it all over again. I changed mine Rx plan but everything else stayed the same. It also showed the difference for us between Medicare and Medicare Advantage. For us Medicare is best and covers the most. We would only get 2 things more with the Advantage like free gyms and one other thing and neither amounted to the difference in $$ shelled out. If you can find an objective person like her to do this for you it's a godsend. Not easy and I swear they make this confusing because old people like my mom in her 80s gets so damn confused. Happy Early Birthday Kathy!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have a winner! The seminar I went to was sponsored by the Missouri State Health Insurance Assistance Program which provides unbiased Medicare counseling and education. At this point we're planning on sticking with Tony's retiree health insurance, but it's good to know there are options.
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