Two things happened last month. My mother hit the donut hole in her drug coverage, and her health care insurance dropped the program she is in because they lost a large part of their government subsidy. As the retired one of her children whose husband has a vast understanding of the health care system, I was elected to solve these problems.
Truthfully, I am very grateful for Medicare and Medicaid, but because I have not yet used either one, I had no knowledge of how they work. I had to literally study the system by downloading and reading information, come up with a plan, and then get some advice on whether or not it was a good plan. Since my mother lives in Massachusetts, I had to learn the peculiarities of insurance in that state. In some ways, Massachusetts law has simplified health insurance. Remember it is the only state where health insurance is required.
I spoke to many people on the phone. The SHINE counselor at the senior center in my mother’s hometown was quite knowledgeable and helpful. She told us about a program that can help when you reach the donut hole. The business person at my mother’s doctor’s office was also helpful. I had to be sure to pick a program that they accept. Mom’s doctor comes to her nursing home once a week and has Mom well regulated on her meds. So we definitely wanted to keep her. The BC/BS insurance enrollment people talked me through the insurance application, which was too confusing for me to figure out on my own.
I probably spent 25-30 hours on this project. Neil guided me through it, and my brother Tom, who pays my mother’s bills, gave me some of the necessary paperwork. Additionally, a surprising amount of information is available online. Sadly, some of the first line of people at Medicare and the insurance companies were evidently temps who gave confusing, contradictory and even wrong information! How bad is that? I feel very sorry for elderly people trying to figure this all out. There has to be a better way!
I would be interested to hear your stories on this subject.
1 comment:
You have my total respect for the assiduous application this must have taken! This is the kind of job I would hire someone to do if I could -- but I think we all have to plow through it ourselves. Mike's mother, who died at age 86, put it succinctly: getting old sucks.
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