Social Security

I had a neighbor give me the Social Security booklets describing part A, B, C & D.

I'm not stupid, but I could barely understand them. they are written in a very strange style that makes them tough to understand.

I spent a couple days going over them and making notes, charts, spread sheets, and what I found was basically this:

You have to pay 100.00 a month for part B, you may have to pay another 100.00 a month for part A, it did not say what the criteria is for wether you have to pay or not.

Then you have to select a health plan. Currently I pay 5.00 for Dr visits and I get 6 a year. I do not pay anything a month for this. I get no dental and no optical.

Under the SSA part A & B I will pay 100-200 a month and Dr visits will be 30.00

Then I have to get a Rx plan ( Part D ) None of these plans are good.

You pay 30-100 a month and the co-pays are 12.00 on generics, which cost 4.00 if you pay cash with no insurance, and 30 dollars or more for brand name drugs ( if they are covered ).

The plan I am on now I get some of my generic for free and the brand name is 6.00

Bottom line, for me the part D would cost me a ton of money and it would cost me money to use the plan vs. paying cash out of pocket.

Medicare reform was a giant screw to old and sick people and I just figured it out.

Maybe that's why the booklets are so hard to make out.

I am hoping I can keep the insurance that I have. I will have to do some asking and see what the rules are.

I could pay 70.00 a month with the plan I am on now and get dental and optical, but there is only one dentist that takes the insurance and I did not like him, even though he seemed OK.

And the eye Dr., OH MY GOD.

I know things have changed, and with managed care you can't do things like you used to, but my Aunt is an O.D. and her office they saw patients 1 at a time. A class act. This guy was jumping between me and 4 other patients at the same time. had zero patience and zero bed side manner.

I'm a tough patient and my eyesight is really bad. I have astigmatism and a lazy eye, actually I think both eyes are lazy and I have bi-focals, and getting glasses I can see out of is really tough.

I don't think this guy could handle it. And in the last month my vision has gotten blurry in both eyes and I don't know why. If I look only out of one eye and focus for a while I can read with the right eye, the left eye is blurry all the time. this change happened suddenly and I'm not sure why. It is starting to worry me.

Maybe it's the heat, maybe it's my neighbors smoking pot & crack & meth, & God only knows what else. I can smell it in my apartment, so maybe it is affecting me.

I have to see my therapist tomorrow, so I have to get some sleep tonight, so I will sign off.