[Kobi]

Kelt, no worries. Even those of us who did this stuff for a living get thrown now and then. It is literally built into the system. LOL.

Medicare is a lot like Mircosoft Windows. There are always unexpected glitches that occur for one reason or another that require fixes that lead to more unexpected glitches and more fixes and more glitches and on and on.

And then there are the arbitrary changes that occur every year for no discernible reason. LOL.

I hear you on the no beds available thing affecting the SNF benefit. Never ran into that problem here. Even tho the benefit allows for 100 days each benefit period, the definition of what constitutes skilled "need" and "progress" has become narrower and narrower so most people only fit into a 10-20 day time frame of coverage. If you find a way around that one even for 10-20 days, would you let me know?

You are correct, it takes a clear head and a lot of time to wade thru this stuff. I too worry for the elderly who do not have someone to help them. Then again, I also worry about the helpers who might not understand things either. It can end up being very costly if you make a mistake.

For example, people do not generally understand how medicare D works or how to assess what coverage is best for them. And, it is not the easiest thing to explain either given the way insurance companies are changing their coverage every year. You have to assess premiums, hidden deductibles aka the no deductible for tier one drugs but a 300 deductible for tier two and three, a 40% copay for tier 4 and god only knows what for tier 5. Then explain to them that every insurance company adjusts the meds in each tier every single freakin year to maximize their profits. So every year you have to run every single freakin drug thru to find out which tier it is falling on so you know your potential cost. And add in that every single freakin insurance plan negotiates their own prices with every single pharmacy chain so your out of pocket cost varies depending on the pharmacy you use i.e. lasix at CVS will cost you 10 dollars but lasix at Walgrens will cost you 15 and lasix at Rite Aid will cost you nothing. And then you have the preferred and non preferred pharmacies which also affect out of pocket expenses. And we wont mention how you used to be able to get prescription strength over the counter drugs thru insurance for a cheaper price than buying the half the normal dose over the counter pills. Now, using the prescription plan costs 3 times the cost of buying twice the amount over the counter- wee bit of a disincentive.

Every year I went thru this with my Mom. Every year it was the same thing. Took me hours to wade thru all the plans to find the best and least costly plan for her needs. Every year I would explain why I was recommending this particular plan in detail even tho I knew she had no clue what I was saying. Every year the first time she filled each of her meds I would get a phone call - last year this med cost me 10.00, this year it is 25. Why is that?

It is not a pleasant topic but glad to hear you are looking into contingency plans should you be unable to make decisions about your care or handle your finances. It is not easy to plan for but I ended up doing primary and back up on the health care decisions, and completely separate co-administrators on the fiances so 2 people are required for every financial decision/transaction with an accountant monitoring them both. A trust might be easier. Not sure yet.

Aging is definitely not for sissies. LOL.