Here’s the thing, I do care. It’s why I do what I do. I often work in food pantries and soup kitchens helping people understand what they can and can’t qualify for. Last year there was a couple that had bought Med Supps 10 years back that they were going to have to sell their house to afford. I laid out their options and put them in a much less expensive MA. I got a thank you card from their kids. I do care about this stuff. So when I’m called a shill it pisses me off a bit. I’m not hiding anything, not shilling for anything and certainly not being dishonest about any of this. M’s situation is so rare yet he is painting the whole system with his shitty colored brush. There are 10,000 people a day that are eligible for Medicare coverage and that will stay pretty consistent for a few years. Maybe 1% of those will do what M did.
Still being defensive about Medicare I see. I mean, why? It's pretty clear that its interactions with other insurance-based access are an inconsistent mess. Why do you think the Medicare Rights Center is pushing to get this fixed through legislation? Because it's so rare? Lol. To repeat: "The Medicare Rights Center and other advocacy groups have proposed legislation that would require the federal government to notify people approaching eligibility about enrollment rules, and how Medicare works with other types of insurance. The legislation — the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification Act, also would eliminate coverage gaps now experienced by enrollees during the Initial Enrollment Period and General Enrollment Period. The legislation was introduced in Congress last year, and will be reintroduced this year." https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/business/medicare-enrollment-how-to-sign-up.html The legislation has even got bipartisan sponsors. Perhaps you should contact them and tell them they're wasting their time because these issues only affect M? "Supporters: More than 85 national and state organizations representing older adults, people with disabilities, workers, health insurers, agents and brokers as well as paper manufacturers, including AARP, Aetna, AFL-CIO, AHIP, Better Medicare Alliance, BlueCross BlueShield Association, Medicare Rights Center and The Arc of the United States, among others. " https://www.aging.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/BENES Act One Pager 0419.pdf
In my zip code (San Francisco) the three available UHC Advantage plans all require referrals to see a specialist.
So, when is our resident expert coming clean? Canada's doing much better than the U.S. when it comes to #COVID19 testing & treatment. On a per capita basis, more Canadians are being tested & fewer getting sick & dying. This may shock Americans who still believe the lies I told about the Canadian health care system. (2/6)— Wendell Potter (@wendellpotter) June 25, 2020
https://theconversation.com/making-...or-the-elderly-in-the-us-and-in-france-131604 Making health care more affordable and accessible for the elderly in the US and in France 25 juin 2020, 21:38 CEST
Following up on my own post, here's more support for the proposed legislation to simplify the Medicare enrollment mess: "Today, the Medicare Rights Center sent congressional leaders a letter of support for the BENES Act (S. 1280/H.R. 2477) signed by 10 former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (previously the Health Care Financing Administration) Administrators—a group made up of Republicans and Democrats. Reintroduced last year, the bipartisan, bicameral BENES Act is urgently needed to modernize and simplify the Medicare Part B enrollment process. Currently, far too many people make honest mistakes when trying to understand and navigate this confusing system. The consequences of such missteps are significant—including late enrollment penalties, higher out-of-pocket health care costs, gaps in coverage, and barriers to accessing needed services." https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2020/07/09/bipartisan-group-of-former-cms-administrators-sign-letter-of-support-for-the-benes-act
I never did the American health care thing before because I wasn't sick. Now that i have had my first experience, it's amazing. I don't believe that anybody outside the U.S. could ever understand. Example - I had talked with 2 guys on the four-person cardio team, the one who did my procedure and one of his partners. Just before I was going to check out of the hospital, a third guy dropped by, looked at my chart, and wished me luck. He was there, oh 3 minutes, with no information imparted. That was a $177 visit, it turns out. Item by item, they all look like that.
An estimated 5.4 million people have lost health insurance so far during the pandemic. I guess the only silver lining is that it illustrates just how foolish it is to tie insurance to employment - as Sanders has been pointing out for ever: https://www.baltimoresun.com/corona...0200714-ekkf5g5mdnftzcqd7fbhpd225y-story.html
Sanders has been totally, completely right forever. It astonishes me that in the U.S., at least until recently, his health care position has been considered radical. Say what? People, listen to yourself.
Ain't no point in being a Frenchman if I can't smoke. Or (for the moment) drink. But a Kiwi would suffice, those people do socialism well.
When I retired 4 years ago, I had 245 un-used sick days. Over the course of 24 years on the job, I had only taken off 43 times due to illness or medical appointments. I received a severance package of nearly $18,000 when I retired, but after surgeries in 2016, 2017, and 2018 (all on unrelated matters), the severance pay was drained! So, yes, I'm a big fan of Medicare For All, and I'm really not concerned about how it's paid for. People in other countries have medical procedures and never see a bill, or the bills they get are manageable, for the most part. I'm still paying for my 2018 surgery in which I had a couple of stents put into a couple of arteries. Good luck with your recovery JohnR. Mine's been pretty good, even though I kept smoking for 15 months after my procedure. Today, I feel like a new man, albeit financially strapped until I start drawing on Social Security early next year.
Coming back to the potential covid costs for a Medicare recipient. You can deduce from this article that, for 2018 - couldn't find moire recent figures - 59 million Medicare users, 19 million of them on Medicare Advantage plans. That leaves 40 million on original Medicare, 13.6 million of whom had a Medigap policy. So that leaves 26.4 million on original Medicare with no Medigap policy, i.e almost 45% of Medicare recipients. I can well believe the percentage on Advantage plans has increased since then, but that "almost no one does that" is clearly erroneous. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/15/use...our-advantage-plan-for-original-medicare.html
Another nice Medicare "gotcha". The "Medicare Advantage open enrollment" period is from Jan 1st to March 31st. This allows you to change what Advantage plan you are enrolled in, amongst other things, with you new plan taking effect the following month. But... any annual deductible is based on the calendar year. So change plan in, say, February, you'll be starting from scratch with any deductible the new plan has starting in March (and probably not fulfilling any deductible of the old plan in January/February). Yes, you can also change your Advantage plan between October 15th and December 7th during "Medicare open enrollment", with coverage in any new plan starting on January 1st, but why have an additional separate Advantage open enrollment period in the first 3 months of the year? It seems designed to trip people up.
@argentine soccer fan Did you read this? https://www.ole.com.ar/futbol-internacional/senesi-feyenoord-holanda-pratto_0_DBp41Hkn_.html
I could explain the reasoning but to what end? It’s pretty clear what you opinion is and none of the information I have given you has been received in good faith, so why should I try? All government programs have issues. I’m not overly interested in arguing with someone who only wants to continue to argue. If you actually want information I can provide it. If your purpose is to bitch, take it up with your congressional representatives that change the rules annually.
I don't think it's "bitching" to point out how messed up Medicare rules are in many regards. And I'm still not sure why you are so defensive about Medicare: requiring a change tof Advantage plan during the "Medicare Advantage open enrollment period" to incur two separate deductibles during the calendar year is... nonsense.