Thread: Prepared TO Fight COLA Cuts and Higher Medicare Costs

Try finding a Dr. that will take new medicare patients. Congress has gone 2 years putting off DECREASE in payments that they want to do this year.

Talk to seniors who have to pay for the perscrition drug plan. My stepfather had to pay cash in December because his plan paid all his plan was suppose to.

We planned for 2 years to retire and did. Our retirement insurance is $940.00/month. The out of pocket cost for Dr. visit or prescriptions has risen more than we planned along with gas, electric and everything you can think of except pension payment. BUT I would not change they way we have done things. We were lucky to tour the U.S. in a 5th wheel for 2 years. Just be sure to enjoy life before health or death takes it from you.

I get very upset when we can give to Illegal Aliens and they pay nothing but the rest of middle class pay for all.

We did work and travel Texas for 3 years and made a trip from WAshington in our RV - so it was fun.

We had planned to do more, but with gas prices, that may not be an option.

We have always had great insurance. It ran out when we reached 65.

Medicare is the worst insurance coverage we have had in our working life. Well, there was the 3 years he was a police officer and his coverage was great - but dependents wasn't so great.

My husband has used medicare a couple of times now and if other doctors are like this one, Medicare is being gouged, big time.

He had some outpatient, surgery done to have a skin lesion removed. This involved actually cutting into the shoulder muscle, with interior and exterior stitches, several biopsies, follow up visits, stitch removal, etc.


The charge was $1K. WE had private insurance.

He returned to the same doctor to have a small lesion, one biopsy, no stitches, requiring no real surgery, removed from his nose and one from the top of his ear. No follow ups, took only about 30 minutes.

The charge was $4K, we had Medicare then.

He returned again to have some work done because one of his 'cuts' didn't do the job. We tried to see other doctors, but they didn't want to touch something that doctor had messed up.

This time it was $2K.

This is our only experience, but if this is typical - no wonder it is in trouble.

Well, we retired to the country...way out in the country 6 years ago.
Im very healthy but will be forced onto Mediocre....oh, thats Medicare
in July. Its a mystery why people think seniors have it so good. We
pay and pay and pay, retire and get gouged with the things we have
paid into for so long. Part B...what the H is that??

nntrixie wrote

My husband has used medicare a couple of times now and if other doctors are like this one, Medicare is being gouged, big time.

That's been going on for years.
I had MediCare and one day out of nowhere my right hip started to give out. I went to a clinic, this young intern came in, looked at me and said,"I don't know what to tell you". That was it. When my Medicare statement came, I checked it and that appointment was listed, 247.00. I contacted Medicare, told them about it and they said that there was nothing they could do about it.

When HMO's first came out, they were nothing but scams. You hear these "Mobility Chair" commercials on TV, they're all rigged for the purpose of bleeding Medicare.
Have you noticed how many different ones there are now?

catslave - Part B...what the H is that??

That's so funny - me, too. I don't have a clue. I'm just trying to stay healthy and the biggest part of my health regime is to stay away from doctors.

mkfarnam

I am of the opinion if the charges to Medicare were audited and checked, there would be a great savings to the program. They blame it on the old fogeys, when there is so much gouging.

There was a doctor in a small town who would go by a nursing home every morning and stick his head in the door of his patients and with a 'good morning, how are you doing' and on down the hall. There were only two nursing homes, and he made them on alternate days. Then, of course, he billed Medicare.

Something happened during the Reagan administration and some rules were changed or maybe he was caught, but he fumed that 'Reagan cost me $250K'.

Originally Posted by nntrixie

catslave - Part B...what the H is that??

That's so funny - me, too. I don't have a clue. I'm just trying to stay healthy and the biggest part of my health regime is to stay away from doctors.

mkfarnam

I am of the opinion if the charges to Medicare were audited and checked, there would be a great savings to the program. They blame it on the old fogeys, when there is so much gouging.

There was a doctor in a small town who would go by a nursing home every morning and stick his head in the door of his patients and with a 'good morning, how are you doing' and on down the hall. There were only two nursing homes, and he made them on alternate days. Then, of course, he billed Medicare.

Something happened during the Reagan administration and some rules were changed or maybe he was caught, but he fumed that 'Reagan cost me $250K'.

Part A= Hospital Coverage (Hospital stays)

Part B= Medical Coverage ( doctor) Body repair & Drugs

I should know more about it but it probably doesn't really matter.

I'm not going to use it unless I absolutely must and it won't really matter anyway. They'll pay what they pay and we'll either make up the difference or not.

http://www.medicare.gov/