Year: 2022

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Medicare Attack

This is now the time of year when Medicare starts mailing out information on every HMO and PPO that Medicare covers. Everyday handfuls of information will be in your mailbox. Does it make Medicare more confusing?

If you do not understand Medicare Parts A, B, C, D, and G you will not understand Medicare.

Part A is free if you qualify and it is inpatient in the hospital.

Everybody pays for part B which is all out-patient services doctor, ambulance, lab, x-ray, etc.

Medicare Part A and B is fine but it only pays for 80% of your medical bill. You are responsible for 20%.1556.00

This is good for 60 days

After 60 days the charge is $1556.00

The truth is the best Medicare coverage you can have is Medicare Part G a supplement. This, of course, is the most expensive. But if money is no object you can sign up for Medicare Part A and B and G when you sign up for the first time.

You pay monthly for the supplemental plan plus part D drug coverage.

If you have been on other Medicare plans and want to change to a supplemental plan you will have to answer health questions and might not be approved.

Advantage Plan -C- You can change your insurance plan once a year. Each plan is different. You pick your  primary care physician, you get a referral to go to a specialist and authorizations for surgery, etc.

If you do not have extra money to spend on your Medicare plan and HMO plan is the cheapest way to go. The only thing is if you are hospitalized then it becomes expensive.

PPO is another option it costs more than an HMO but it does have some advantages.

No matter what you decide it is complicated. Medicare makes it that way to confuse the public. My book Medicare and Other Health Plans explains Medicare and it is something everybody needs to know.

Thank you for reading my article. Linda Meckler    www.lindameckler-author-artist.com

Posted on by

Medicare Attack

This is now the time of year when Medicare starts mailing out information on every HMO and PPO that Medicare covers. Everyday handfuls of information will be in your mailbox. Does it make Medicare more confusing?

Part A is free if you qualify and it is inpatient in the hospital.

Everybody pays for part B which is all out patient services doctor, ambulance, lab, x-ray, etc.

Medicare Part A and B is fine but it only pays for 80% of your medical bill. You are responsible for 20%. When in the hospital you pay $1556.00 for 60 days. After 60 days you pay that amount again. 

The truth is the best Medicare coverage you can have is Medicare Part G a supplement. This, of course, is the most expensive. But if money is no object you can sign up for Medicare Part A and B and G when you sign up for the first time.

You pay monthly for the supplemental plan plus part D drug coverage.

If you have been on other Medicare plans and want to change to a supplemental plan you will have to answer health questions and might not be approved.

Advantage Plan -C- You can change your insurance plan once a year. Each plan is different. You pick your primary care physician, you get a referral to go to a specialist and authorizations for surgery, etc.

If you do not have extra money to spend on your Medicare plan and HMO plan is the cheapest way to go. The only thing is if you are hospitalized then it becomes expensive.

PPO is another option it costs more than an HMO but it does have some advantages.

No matter what you decide it is complicated. Medicare makes it that way to confuse the public. My book Medicare and Other Health Plans explains Medicare and it is something everybody needs to know.

Thank you for reading my article. Linda Meckler  www.lindameckler-author-artist.com

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Dental Insurance Screwups

In this article, I will give you an example of what can go wrong when you make a dental appointment and when you have HMO medical insurance.

I was in a dental office recently and watched this drama play out in front of my eyes. That is when I knew I had to write this article and add it to my Medicare and Other Health Insurances book.

This man had an appointment in this dental office. He was in pain. He checked in his list of Dentist’s that were contracted with his medical insurance. He called the Dentist and made an appointment.

What is wrong with this. Can you tell me?

Everything in medical or dental insurance works by contract. Yes, his medical insurance was contracted with this Dentist. But the man never called his insurance company and said, “I want his Dentist and I need an appointment immediately I am in pain.”

So, what happened? He didn’t make a contract with his medical insurance to plug him into this Dentist. He showed up and said, “I have an appointment and I’m in pain.”

The receptionist said, “I am sorry sir the Dentist can’t see you because you are not contracted with this office.”

“But you are on the list of dentists I was given that is on my plan”

“Sir, you did not call your insurance company and tell them you chose this Dentist and since you did it today the insurance company should have called us and we would have seen you.”

Whose fault was this mix-up?

It was both the Dental receptionist’s fault and the man’s. The receptionist should have called the insurance company when she didn’t see his name on the computer as being this Dentist’s patient.

The man should have realized how his insurance works.

In most cases, this is how we learn by doing.

Thank you for reading my article. Copyright Linda Meckler 2022

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Medicare HMO Horrors

www.lindameckler-author-artist.com

I have worked in medical insurance billing for almost thirty years. I have said repeatedly that the insurance companies practice medicine.

In an article in the AARP June Bulletin 2022, there is an article that does indeed prove what I have said.

This article states that when Medical Providers see their patients and require pre-authorization for testing, or surgery Medicare denies it.

Federal Investigators reviewed a week of these inquiries in 2019 and found that those denied 13% should have been authorized under the original Medicare rules. 85,000 requests that year were wrongfully denied.

What about the years before and after 2019?

Do not take for granted when something is denied that is denied permanently.

A medical appeal can always be sent to Medicare. If a medical provider requests pre-authorization for a test, surgery, etc. that means the patient needs it. If the patient does not receive the care needed, you can use your imagination as to the result.

Thank you for reading my article. My books Medicare and Other Health Insurance and Appeal and Collection Letters for Medical Providers are on www.amazon.com

Copyright Linda Meckler 2022

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Prescription Drugs Goodrx.com and Singlecare.com

If you have medical insurance or do not have insurance it can become a horror story when the medicine you need costs out in space.

You need the medicine, otherwise, the doctor would not have prescribed it in the first place.

Sometimes, the medication can be replaced with another medication the same thing but costs less.

One medication can have many names and with each name a different charge.

But I have found out recently that there is hope. Two websites can help people like me and you that are on a small social security income.

The two websites are www.rx.com and www.singleacare.com

Now, these two websites need a little work. They can be downloaded to your cell phone.

On their website, you can find your medication and then you can scroll through the different pharmacies that take this website. You can print a coupon or use the one on your cell phone app.

This is a great option for you to know where to go and how much it is going to last.

I truly recommend these two websites when you get hit in the wallet for a ridiculous charge for your medication.

Thank you for reading my article. Let me hear from you.

Copyright Linda Meckler 2022

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California’s Water Horror Story

$27 Billon dollars is waiting to be used for California’s water and electricity. California needs  an adequate infrastructure and a regulatory system. That is only one of the problems with the California water system. 

The Governor is the person who has the authority to start working on building the water system before California does run out of water and electricity.

But isn’t it amazing everywhere you look new homes in different communities are being built by the hundreds. These homes take water to build and once these homes are built water will be needed for indoor and outdoor use.

Yes, we need more housing but if we have a water shortage who gave the go ahead to build thousands of homes.

We are definitely getting a mixed message. Whatever the truth is about California water or lack of it something needs to be done before we turn on the faucet and nothing comes out.

Thank you for reading my article.

Copyright Linda Meckler

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Vote No to kill new born babies

Vote No to murder new born babies.

After assaulting basic human rights for over two years, California Governor Gavin Newsom is working on a new INFANTICIDE bill that would legalize the murder of children up to nine months gestation and in the week(s) after birth. The bill has been proposed by Newsom’s “Future of Abortion Council” which makes recommendations to “strengthen and expand” abortions in the state of California.

Under California AB 2223, a mother will be shielded from civil and criminal charges for any “actions or omissions” related to her pregnancy. These actions include not only abortion in any stage of pregnancy, but also “perinatal death.” Perinatal death is defined as the death of a newborn up to seven days or more.

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Is There Affordable Housing in California

 

 

 

 

Yes, there is affordable housing in California if you are rich, or have a large income. So, what is the problem? Why do so many people live on the streets?

Most of the people living in California are not rich or have large incomes. That is the problem.

Housing is going up everywhere but can you afford to buy these houses?

Most start at $700,000 and up.

Apartment rentals are rising daily. I wonder if there are empty apartments in California because nobody can afford to rent them.

Now families are doubling up and splitting expenses. Is this the way you want to live sharing your home just so you can pay the electric bill?

The problem keeps escalating and it seems we who live in California feel that this problem that is so important keeps circling the drain and now it funnels down to the sewers.

What is the answer?

Does it seem nobody can come up with an answer? If they did there would be affordable housing for people who need this.

What do you think?

Thank you for reading my article.

Linda Meckler copyright 2022

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Hearing Aids and Tinnitus

I have tinnitus it gets worse every day. My last hearing test showed that the nerve in my ear was deteriorating. In the past when I have had hearing tests my results were within normal limits.

Now with this new test, the ENT doctor finally said that yes you have tinnitus. I have asked doctors over the years why? What is it? But I have never received an answer.

I did know one thing whenever somebody said it was a ringing in my ears, I knew they were crazy. I never had a ringing in my ears I had a buzz saw going off in my brain.

Now with my test result, I got an MRI of my brain and ears and thankfully it was negative. I was sent to two other ENT doctors for different reasons and they all agreed I need hearing aids.

I went through the process of purchasing blue tooth hearing aids. I mainly wanted it for tinnitus.

I want you to know when I do not have the hearing aids in my ears, I have tinnitus. It seems that it gets louder.

I want you to be aware before you pay big bucks for hearing aids that tinnitus doesn’t go away sometimes.

I watched y-tube videos on tinnitus and it is a good education on what tinnitus is after twenty years of wondering the answer was there.

Hearing aids are great for the blue tooth part. Answering phone calls without your cell phone in your hand and listening to music.

I can hear.

Thank you for reading my article.

Copyright Linda Meckler 2022

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Can You Live On Social Security

Can You Live on Social Security?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the deal. You work the best years of your life and now that you are older your retired. The salary you had been earning for the past years is gone.

Yes, you have earned money from Social Security. But can you live on it?

There are thousands of people living on the streets. Did you ever ask yourself why is that?

The simple reason is Social Security does not pay you enough to live in the inflated world we are living in.

After my rent is paid, I have $100.00 left from my Social Security check.

How much do you have left?

Yeah! Social Security went up this year a few dollars and guess what they took most of the increase out in Medicare Part B payments.

If you are lucky to have a spouse who still brings in an income, is independently wealthy, or receives a retirement check from your employment  – hurrah!

But for most of us out in the world, seniors, who need more help now than ever before there are only the streets.

What do you think?

Thank you for reading my article copyright Linda Meckler 2022