Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Medicare

 I am old enough that I can apply for social security and medicare. We are in a position to delay receiving social security, and waiting to receive those benefits allows you to collect a bigger check when you do apply for them. 

Medicare is another thing. You have to have insurance or one medical issue can bankrupt you. In our country, insurance is provided by your employer in most cases. Once you retire and no longer have an employer, at 65 you can apply for medicare, which is a government funded insurance. So Tim and I applied for our benefits in March. He received a card immediately. I did not. 

I know how things can be delayed, and I am a patient soul, so I waited patiently. Today, nearly 3 months later, I called. I had to wade through a myriad of questions and each time I answered a question, the system helpfully told me that I could do all these things on line. (True. I could if I actually had an active medicare status, I suppose.) At the end of all the back and forth and the innumerable reminders that I could go to ssa.gov to do anything I had to do, the helpful prerecorded message told me that my status was still in process and that it could take as long as 2-4 weeks to fully process. It then asked me if there was anything else I needed before disconnecting. 

ACKKK! I almost shouted 'Noooooooo!' out loud but restrained myself. "Operator! Operator! Operator!" I repeated.

The helpful tinned voice came back. "Did I want to speak with an agent?" 

"YES!" I said. 

"I'm sorry. I did not catch that. Would you like to speak with an agent?" 

"Agent, agent, agent!" I repeated.

"I'm sorry..." and the response was drowned out by the loud hissing of my cappuccino maker frothing my milk. 

I was fumbling with the machine when the tinned voice said, "I'm sorry. I did not catch that. I will get someone to assist you." 

Since that's what I wanted anyway, I breathed a sigh of relief and sat down at the table with a hot cup...

...and I was still sitting there when the hot cup was finished. 

45 minutes later, a voice came on the line, a very echo-ey far-away sounding voice. 

"I can't hear you. You're echoing."

*garbled mumbling that went on for some time.*

I listened desperately trying to make it out. 

"Listen," I said. "I've been on hold for over 45 minutes, can you call me back?" 

I picked 'no' out of what came next. along with something that indicated I could call back.

"No." I said. "I've waited 45 minutes already and we are going to get through this." 

She began to ask questions. I began to ask her to speak slowly so that I could piece together what she wanted. We got through it. 

"Your claim status is in process," she helpfully told me in a very slow voice. 

I pointed out that it has been in status for nearly 3 months now. She assured me that I would be receiving my card by the end of the month. 

Anyone care to place a wager? 


32 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear that, my call went right through and the card came in a week or two. i started my S.S. early at 65 since I had two friends that were waiting and passed away before collecting one check. My husband waited until he was 67 and passed away at 69. I am 77 now so it has been a good thing for me. I think it is a gamble to decide when to take it. My husband was very healthy but just felt like he needed to start drawing it. I now draw his amount and it is a good thing since he made very good money most of his life. I would be need to work if I had to live on what I would be drawing. You two are so healthy I think you are making a good move.

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    1. Everything is a gamble, isn't it? We are pretty healthy, and we don't often see the doctor. Pretty much once a year for our prescription renewals.

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  2. Thank goodness for the NHS we have here. Everyone contributes and those that need treatment get it. It has been criminally underfunded but it still just about works.

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    Replies
    1. In a perfect world, everyone who needed treatment would receive it. Seems simple fair play to me.

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  3. Dear God, what a nightmare! As Tasker said, thank goodness for the NHS (even though he's right about the criminal underfunding).

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    1. That's sad. You folks have a system in place, at least. We don't even have that.

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  4. I am sorry you had such a frustrating experience. I sure hope you get your card soon.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, in the great scheme of things, it will be sorted out.

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  5. Having dealt with them on behalf of my mother-in-law, I'm not going to bet against you.

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    Replies
    1. It's a bet I would love to lose, that's for sure, because I'm going to bet that come July 1st, I will not have a card.

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  6. Having to call either Medicare or SS is a nightmare. I've done a lot on my mom's behalf (after my dad died) and it made me into a raging maniac at times. I'm not proud of that but OMG, it was beyond frustrating.

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    1. I maintained, but I hope that I do not have to go through it again. I just have this sinking feeling though...

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  7. I was able to and started collecting SS at 62 and Medicare at 65. I suppose 62 was a little early, but honestly, I was so burned out from the job there wasn't anything left. I had been assaulted at work (psych patient walked into the nursing office and knocked me across the room). While lying on a cart in the ER, I thought......I'm done. I went home and pulled all my financial obligations out, crunched some numbers and decided I could do it if I was careful. I did and I never looked back and never regretted that decision. The nurse that
    took my place (1st week on the job) got sucker punched in the face by a patient that loosened all her front teeth. That just reinforced my decision. And yes, the hoops one has to jump through via these phone calls is mind boggling. Fortunately, all my paperwork was pretty expedient, and I got everything quickly. I hope your card
    does come by the end of the month. Keep us posted. Good luck.
    Paranormal John

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    Replies
    1. I got punched out of a chair once. It's a tough job, to be sure, especially when the safeguards are not adhered to.

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  8. I hate insurance, I hate computer voices, I hate being on hold and I hate bureaucracy.

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  9. Debby, at least you made a frustrating experience an entertaining read! This is a big fear of mine--since I retired early I signed up with Obamacare. It was a rocky start (as you have lots to prove about yourself) but from what I gather, Medicare is a much bigger process. Are you going to be signing up for a Medicare Advantage plan? If you do I hope you share that too.

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    Replies
    1. You need to run straight down and read Linda's comments, Doug.

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  10. Putting the pencil to it, I'm going to take my Social Security early.

    Life seems to be filled with "on hold" situations, whether literally or figuratively.

    -Kelly

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  11. I went to a generic Medicare class 3 times to make the right decision. I have Part A of course, and pay the $170 for Part B. Unless you're wealthy, the Advantage plans take advantage of people. I chose SUPPLEMENT Plan F (for fantastic,) which now costs $190, which pays everything Medicare does not pay: the deductibles, the co-pays, the extra fees beyond normal prices. F is no longer available to new enrollees, but Plan G is just like it, but you have the annual deductible of $183 or so, then it pays for everything else. I chose a Part D - Drug plan based on what continual drugs I take, now $34 a month. Advantage plans pay the insurance company a flat rate for each enrollee. Advantage plans are now being investigated for not paying claims.
    Plans F and G pay the docs and providers. You don't have to get a Plan G from AARP or United. Mine is from Old Surety Life Insurance in OKC. If they withdraw the premium from my checking account, it costs $20+ less per month than the AARPs/United supplement plans. They're all required to offer the exact same supplement plans. The smaller one's are cheaper because they aren't massively advertising. Advantage plans are NOT free. You'll pay LOTS when you have to claim. Gym plans are cheaper on their own. The Advantage vision and hearing aids plans require you to obtain those services from a limited selection of providers. And, Advantage plans require you to be in a small local network, and won't work if you need help out of town. Choose a SUPPLEMENT! Cheers, Linda in Kansas

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  12. You can choose a supplement, and change your mind to go to an Advantage plan. Switching to Advantage has all kinds of hiccups, as they can refuse to cover pre-existing conditions. It's dangerous in the Advantage world. Linda in Kansas

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    1. Linda, this is good information. We have a year, as first timers, to decide whether to go with a supplemental insurance or not. You can bet I'll be coming back here to reread this information.

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  13. Isn't it wonderful to live in modern times when all the complicated and fraught human interaction can now be done online. Except when the online system is badly planned or the sock doesn't fit the foot, and we are forced back to fraught human interaction...if we are patient and lucky.

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    Replies
    1. It's an hour of my life that I won't get back, that's for sure.

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  14. Linda in Kansas has succinctly provided one of the best concise summaries I've read on Medicare today for people who don't have a supplemental plan of their own from the get go and have to independently figure out getting a supplement plan, advantage issues, etc. My primary ins. from my husband's employment automatically converted to supplemental status, everything assoc. with Advantage, etc. when I took Medicare at 65 so I don't have to hassle figuring out and comparing plans. That can be challenging others have said. My husband's insurance and mine as his spouse was always better than any associated with my work so I always stayed with his.
    I know your frustration with so many places we call any more. The choices the robot offers are rarely the ones I want as I've already exhausted all that and what I need is to talk to a human being. I start hitting on O for operator which sometimes gets me through, sometimes not, but always worth a try though too many long holds much of the time and even disconnects and having to start over. Strange your husband's was processed so promptly and your's held up -- 3 months, no less.

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    1. That's exactly my point. He filled his out the week before I did. I filled mine out when I got back from England.

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  15. I've been through this situation before. The Micro Manager is funny as she starts yelling at the automatic questions and answers.

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    1. Here's a trick for the micromanager. I read this in a magazine once, and I use it when I don't want to go through the rigamarole. It often works. When the automatic questions start, tell the micromanager to say, 'blah, blah. blah.' The system will not understand and will ask her to repeat. Just continue to say 'blah blah blah'. A lot of systems are designed to pick that up as a speech impediment and will connect you to an operator without having to go through all the questions.

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  16. A friend rang the local internet provider to inform she had no internet. She was told to fill a form in online and submit it.

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  17. S.S. is a long wait to get someone to answer. I just put the phone on speaker and go about my day. I had to change my bank acct. number and waited 45 min. I got my clothes folded and most of the kitchen clean while the music played soft.

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  18. Your phone frustrations are great than mine today.

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