April chit-chat

[agate]

Virginia, do you have United Health Care? A couple of years ago I was surprised to find out that my United Health Care coverage now includes dental insurance. Maybe yours does too? It has been helpful with partial coverage of dental bills. I was able to cancel my dental insurance plan that was costing me $47/month.

[Virginia]

Agate, I carry my supplement with United Health Care and also my Part D to cover my drugs. They do not allow vision or dental on original Medicare plus supplement. As far as I know that is only on advantage plans. My Dentist office will not file any insurance. The only insurance they honor is their own. I don't like this and if I ever change dentist I will try to get dental insurance.

I don't know if you have read anything about United Health Care and Optum Pharmacy, but it seems a lot is going on. They are some how connected and it is called United Health Group. They are apparently getting quite large and trying to take over a major part of the industry. I read that quite a number of physicians walked off the job in Oregon because of something to do with Optum. I don't know if whatever it was got settled or not. I know that my Rebif is going up, up,up since United Health Care forced me to use Optum. It went up substantially last year and it has already gone from $11,700 to $12,100 this year. It is not affecting me because under the new law that took affect in January Medicare beneficiaries pay a max of $32,400 out of pocket this year. I paid that on January 2nd. That is all I will pay for drugs this year. However I do not like something going on between an insurance company and a pharmacy where they are colluding to take over any thing to do with health care. I now pay $327.00 a month for my supplement and $101.80 for my part d. This is in addition to what is taken out of my SS. All together it is pretty expensive insurance. I could get cheaper part d insurance, but it wouldn't cover my Rebif.

If you hear anything about this let me know. I think they are calling themselves UnitedHealthGroup all written together or something like that.

[agate]

Maybe it's this? I don't recall anything about doctors walking off the job though.

United Health Care and Optum are two branches of United Health Group, and apparently they interact with each other. I keep getting letters telling me to sign up for Optum for rx's, and I went to the Website and found that all my rx's were already entered there. I didn't sign up for Optum though because I have my doubts about an impersonal place that is probably far away sending my rx's through the mail. People who get their rx's by mail order usually seem satisfied with the arrangement, though.

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

This news story sounds like one more instance of a health care giant gobbling up some smaller medical practice.

[Virginia]

Agate, yes it does sound that one more health insurance company is getting greedy. I don't like it at all. It gives them too much power. I am afraid I can't change because I have a preexisting condition that precludes me from getting any new insurance.

I read it in MedPage Today I feel sure.

[agate]

Virginia, I had the impression that a pre-existing condition could no longer prevent you from changing plans. I must have got that wrong--?

[flatcap]

Virginia, I had the impression that a pre-existing condition could no longer prevent you from changing plans. I must have got that wrong--?

That was my impression, too. I thought the Affordable Care Act (ACA) barred insurance companies from denying coverage based on one having a pre-existing condition.

Speaking of "affordable," a still-new friend of mine is going without insurance for her three-person family because the least expensive policy they could find cost $700 a month. I wouldn't call that "affordable."


ETA: Here is what the HHS has to say about this subject.

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

[agate]

Speaking of "affordable," a still-new friend of mine is going without insurance for her three-person family because the least expensive policy they could find cost $700 a month. I wouldn't call that "affordable."

I wouldn't either. But the pricetags on everything now are astonishingly high. Who has $700/month lying around though?

[flatcap]

Another thing about my friend's predicament is the fact that her employer doesn't allow her to work the minimum number of hours she needs to qualify for their health plan. Just shy of that number of hours, but no more.

I don't know what you call that except greedy. Maybe heartless would be better. I only know it makes me mad.

[flatcap]

Our local newspaper weekly publishes the list of restaurants and similar places that have been inspected by the county Health Department. It seems one or more sushi restaurants that failed inspection are always on the list.

We are a long way from the West Coast, so I have never had sushi here. I just don't trust it. The only time I ever has sushi was in Seattle. A friend who lived there talked me into it. The place we went to was a high-dollar restaurant that specialized in sushi made in the authentic manner. He said the best sushi for beginners was tuna, so that's what I had. Much to my surprise, I liked it very much. I don't think I ever consumed raw meat of any kind before that, and I certainly haven't ever since.

About as close to eating raw meat I get is having a steak cooked medium. Anything less than that temperature is, to me, gross. I like to go to Outback every once in a while and have a filet, and I always have them cook it medium. At other places, I sometimes have a sirloin, almost always as part of a steak salad. I usually have sirloins cooked medium well. A place right down the street from me makes a really good steak salad. Thinking about it right now, I might just go there tonight. Outback will have to wait until at least next month. It costs a lot more.

Anyway, I was wondering what people thought of the idea of sushi.

I know you don't eat meat, Agate, but I would be interested in hearing your thoughts about it. Do you think sushi is a crazy idea?

Virginia, have you ever had sushi? If so, what fish? Did you like it?

Prot, I suppose you do have sushi restaurants in the UK. Do you like sushi? Is it popular in the UK?

I kind of doubt I will ever see Seattle again, so I probably never will again have sushi. Maybe that's a good thing. If I do ever have sushi again, I will probably go with tuna. It did agree with my palate, and it didn't make me ill.

As an aside, the only weird part about tuna in general is that my urine will smell like it for the rest of the day after I've had it. (Too much information? LOL). A similar thing happens after I drink coffee, which is not often: My urine smells like tuna for the rest of the day.

My old chemist friend would have probably said it's the esters in processed tuna and coffee. He was a home brewer of beer, and whenever he made an authentic-style German hefeweizen, it would smell like bananas. He said it was the esters produced by the yeast during brewing.

I don't drink much beer anymore. It is in the growing category of food stuffs that I used to like but no longer do. It's weird when that happens. I used to always keep Planter's dry-roasted peanuts around, but one day a few years ago I suddenly couldn't stand peanuts. I threw out what was left of the jar I had gotten into and gave away the full jar I had on hand. A similar thing happened with Coca-Cola about the same time. I always loved it, but now I can't stand it. I was amazed when that happened. I thought I would never tire of Coca-Cola. Now, my liquid vice is ginger ale.

Today, I went to the nearby convenience store and got a fresh cinnamon roll to take home. They have free coffee in the community room of our apartment building, so I went downstairs to get a cup to go with my cinnamon roll. Man, it was good, but I just went to the water closet and now my urine smells like tuna again. Weird.

[agate]

I've been adventurous enough to eat escargots but I'm afraid I'd pass on sushi if it's offered with raw fish. At a very early age I was taught not to trust raw fish, ever. Maybe there are some things you learn so well that you just can't unlearn them.

[Virginia]

First, let me address the health insurance. If you have an Advantage Plan you can change your insurance once a year. I do not have an Advantage Plan. I could probably change to one but I don't want to.

When I first went on Medicare due to having MS, I took what I thought was the best supplement plan I could get, not knowing what was ahead of me. I took UHC's plan F. I actually could use a less expensive plan such as G which was not out then. Either last year or year before, I don't remember which I called UHC and asked if I could change plans. I was told yes I certainly could. I told them what I wanted and asked the price. She started going down the list naming diseases and saying "do you have" and the answer was always "no" until she said do you have multiple sclerosis and of course the answer was yes.

At the end she told me how much it would cost to get the "cheaper" plan. It was much more than I was paying for the more expensive plan. So, I should have said I could've change if I wanted to pay "more". They do not even write Plan F anymore as far as I know, but, if like me, you already had it you keep it - unless you want to pay more for a lesser plan or you don't have a preexisting condition that causes you to pay more.

My youngest brother tried to change and they did the same thing to him because he had had one stint a long time before. We are satisfied with our insurance, but if you add up what I pay for my supplement, part d and what they deduct from SS for part B, it is well over $500.00 a month, for just one person. Now, that is what I call expensive. Insurance used to come down when you got past child bearing age. I am long past that as all of you know.

Flatcap, I have not tried sushi. Some of my nieces and nephews have tried to get me to try it. Like Agate, I was told not to eat raw fish when I was growing up. It became ingrained and now I can't bring myself to try it. Several of them eat tuna. They like to go out and sit at a sushi bar and eat sushi.

I was in Seattle many years ago. They have really good seafood, but mine was cooked.

[agate]

Virginia, the health insurance companies must be doing quite well. Paying $500 a month for coverage--that's what I call expensive too!

Years ago when Cat Dancer was here she mentioned once how much she was paying for health insurance, and if I remember right, it was over $1,000/month. Eek.

[flatcap]

Virginia, my costs for health insurance aren't quite as high as yours, but they are still high. My supplement through my former employer is a bit over $300. I also pay my Medicare premium, so the total is around $400. Not cheap, but I plan to keep my supplement as long as possible.

I don't remember ever being told by my mother that you shouldn't eat raw fish, but she probably did. I do recall her telling me you shouldn't eat undercooked pork. She was quite adamant about that. She always cooked bacon so crisp it would almost fall to pieces if you even looked at it. But that stuck with me. It's the only way I really like bacon. To me, they undercook it just about everywhere, so I always ask for it crisp. It still often comes out a little floppy and undercooked. I think most people expect it to be pretty floppy. I think it's gross.

The concept extends to other meats. My mother always cooked them all well-done. Everything was at least browned, if not a little crispy around the edges. I still like most meats cooked that way. I especially miss hamburgers with crispy edges. You never find a restaurant that cooks them that way or is willing. They look at you like you are crazy. As a result, I only rarely have a hamburger these days. I used to put up with it, but I never would eat a hamburger with any pink at the center. I sent a lot of them back for this reason or asked for a refund. If asked, I would tell them I didn't want something else. I would just pay the balance of my check, then get up and leave. I am still put off by it.

I forgot about the complexities of the various types of Medigap. It seems pretty hard to choose among them. They don't make it easy, that's for sure. I am glad you have a Part F plan that meets your needs and can keep it.

[Snuggles2]

Hi everyone,

Enjoying the nice weather here. Was 80 degrees yesterday and in the 70's today. My mental outlook is so much better when the weather is nice. I already took a walk with hubby this morning so I got that out of the way early. I took a walk yesterday afternoon also.

I have been busy the last few days. My hubby washed our screens for our windows and I washed the insides of the windows and put in the screens. I am almost done. I just have the big living room window to wash and then I will be done. I like to open the windows and get fresh air in when the weather permits.

My Weight Watchers journey is going well. I have lost 12 pounds so far. We had a game night on Saturday with pizza, chips, candy and pie. I overdid it but attempted to track what I ate. On my scale I am not showing a gain but we will see when I weigh at my meeting on Wednesday! It has been pretty easy to follow the plan and track everything on their app on my phone. The hardest part is my hubby is not on the program and he eats things that are lots of points on the program!

Insurance is crazy to navigate. I just started Medicare in December but I am able to use my hubby's federal insurance program as my medigap insurance. It is not free, we pay for it but with having MS for the past 20 years I know what they cover and what my responsibility will be, I might be able to get a cheaper plan but I worry what would happen if in the future I have something major happen.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the day!

[flatcap]

Hi, Snuggles,

It's good to hear from you! It's been in the low 80s here the last few days, but it's only supposed to reach 70° this afternoon. That's high enough for me. I am so glad it isn't winter anymore!

Congratulations on your progress in Weight Watchers. It sounds like you are making great strides toward your goal. We are all supporting you. Tell hubby to get with the program! LOL

I went out to breakfast with my new friend today. The place we went to is a local joint with lots of charm and good food. I had their homemade corned beef hash with eggs over medium and a glass of OJ. It was really good. I am pretty much set for the day. I will probably have a nutrition shake or two before bed, but that's all I will need. One full meal a day is enough for me.

I hope you have a wonderful day too!