Sometimes I Feel Like a Piece of Bologna

Time to Sign up for Medicare

My hubby turns 65 in December and we’re way behind. Between his summer of medical problems, his recent surgery, and caring for Mom, we haven’t even begin to look at his Medicare options. Frankly, we don’t want to. We have good insurance. We’ve had it for 30 years. We like it. We don’t want to change. But apparently he’s required to move to “the government option” at 65, regardless of his choices. So we need to do some quick work, learning the difference between Medigap and Medicare Advantage (which BTW is under attack from Congress and may not be here next year).

Of course, all of this could be a moot point in a year if the Democrat-run Congress has its way. Within a year or so we’ll all be under the public (read: government) option fighting for access to underpaid physicians. And seniors will be the least served as the government takes a reputed $450 billion from Medicare over the next ten years to provide services for a mere 16 million more people, including (yes, Joe Wilson was right), illegal aliens.

But enough whining. What’s your experience? What should we do? What are the stumbling blocks? What do we need to be aware of? I remember the debacle of trying to understand Medicare Part D for my stepdad. Never did really conquer that one. Now we need Parts A, B, and D. And C? And J? I just read Nearly 65? Time for the Medicare Maze and cringed. It’s a good overview, though, and offers links to other helpful resources. Guess I’d better get busy… Help!

Photo Credit: PicApp

Labels: aging, Medicare