Medicare: Or How To Reduce The Surplus Population

Medicare reform with the addition of the new drug plan was sold to the American people as a way to improve access to health care for the disabled and the aged. After navigating my way through several weeks of hell I have come to the conclusion that the reform was actually designed to eliminate the surplus population through heart failure and strokes brought on by the stress of dealing with the system.

Not that I am any sort of rocket scientist, but I do know my way around the computer and have spent many years navigating the wasteland of corporate bureaucracies. That being said I have never in my 46 years dealt with a system as conveluted and senseless as this one.

In my case as most of you know I have been disabled for close to three years now. This past October I had to choose between paying more than four hundred dollars a month for private insurance or going on medicare. After weighing the pros and cons I went with medicare. Primararly because of the drug benefits that began this year.

I spent several weeks reviewing the various options. Standard medicare with a seperate drug plan was one choice. The other was choosing a combined drug/ins plan that allowed more freedom of choice. The money medicare would normally pay would go to the insurance company and they would manage your health care.

Neither choice was perfect but in the end I went with the ins/drug plan. In part because the drug coverage was far better.

I completed all of the forms. I was asked to choose a primary care doctor which I did. The same doctor I have been seeing for years. The question was never asked about specialist coverage and my mistake was not finding out for myself. I had chosen the same insurance plan I had through work and I wrongly assumed that the medical group my doctor belonged to would remain the same with the new plan.

Wrong.

While I was given the primary care doctor of my choice the group I was placed in had only one local doctor: mine. None of the specialists I have seen for three years were covered. None of the local hospitals were covered. For anything other than primary health care I would have to drive 30 minutes or more.

On the plus side the new program allows changes until May '06. On the downside trying to navigate the electronic phone maze they have developed will kill all but the most hardy.

I called and the electronic voice informed me that their would be a fifteen minute wait. No big deal right. Wrong again. That was followed by a disclaimer that due to the high volume my call might be dropped and I should be prepared to call back.

The muzak began and while muzak is never pleasent it is even more annoying when interupted every 60 second by a voice telling me that all circuits were busy. Finally after a little more than ten minutes a voice told me I was going to be transfered.

I was. To another voice telling me that due to the volume of calls I could not be connected and I should try again. Click and I was hung up on.

This went on for two days.

Meanwhile I need a chest xray that I cannot get unless I pay cash because I do not have authorization for the right radiologist.

To make a long story short. After many hours spent in the system I finally have the right plan. I cannot imagine how a senior citizen or someone who is much sicker than I could even come close to getting the correct plan.

When choosing plans not only do you have to verify that all of your doctors are covered. You also have to enter every drug you take to make sure that each of them are covered also.

The mess that the feds have created is unbelievable in its complexity. Hopefully someone will see the light and improve the system. Considering though what has happened in this country over the past few years I will not be holding my breath. I need all the oxygen I can get.