To your health

Starting the new year off right, I have resolved to be more patient and proactive. We must set reasonable goals, which is why there is no mention of a fitness membership. Yesterday, I took down most of the Christmas decorations Rebecca insisted we put up after Thanksgiving, and then I did what naturally follows an exhausting afternoon of storing excess holiday crap in a cluttered basement: I signed up for Medicare. Yep, as my late Aunt Nores used to say, “You’re approaching another speed limit, Jin.” That meant my next birthday was a “big one,” ending in a zero or five. This April, I’ll be 65 and Medicare eligible. Whoa. Sometimes I wish I were back in a 35-mph zone.

Aging isn’t something I take lightly, of course, as it has been quite a journey – 64 years and 9 months – to arrive at this momentous insurance milestone. As a 20-something, I never thought getting older would allow me to reap such invaluable benefits, including senior movie discounts and early bird specials.

Plus, since it’s 2025, I figured I’d better sign up in case it’s dismantled or undermined once our incoming administration takes office, despite assurances that he “will not cut a single penny” from Medicare or Social Security. Time will tell.

Not one to tempt fate, I applied for Medicare online. Easy peasy. Now, we wait.

Frankly, putting faith in Dr. Mehmet Oz to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services gives me the vapors. (Wonder if that’s covered?) The physician/TV celebrity once said that uninsured people should be given “a way of crawling back out of the abyss of darkness, of fear, over not having the health they need” in a “festival-like setting” with physicians.

Excuse me, but I’ll need a minute to process that one.

For you younger pups, Medicare was created in 1965 by Democratic President Lyndon Johnson to provide health insurance for Americans 65 and older. You must apply for Medicare Part A (hospital coverage) and Part B (medical coverage) before the first of the month in which you turn the magic “6-5” in order to avoid a permanent late enrollment penalty of 10 percent until you’re pushing up daisies.

Since Medicare is a government program, some assume it might be free. It is not. In fact, Medicare is funded in large part by the taxes we pay throughout our working years.

In 2025, the monthly premium for Medicare Part B will increase to $185 from $174.70, which is an odd amount to pay for anything really. “That’ll be $174.70, ma’am.” Thanks, and please lose the ma’am.

There’s also a Part C (for private insurer plans, as in Medicare Advantage) and D (for prescription drug coverage). I have a personal beef with Medicare (dis)Advantage, which I shared with the facilitator at a free informational meeting we attended last fall at our local community center.

“Isn’t it a sham?” I asked about Medicare Advantage as 20 silver-haired heads turned around and glared at me in synchronicity. “I mean, these companies make much of their profit by routinely denying claims, leaving Advantage policy holders with the horrible choice of not getting the tests or procedures they need or paying for them out of pocket.”

Could be why we only got half of a Jimmy John’s turkey sub and no cookies for dessert.

The facilitator, an insurance broker looking for business, smiled and never really answered my question. I did get kicked three times under the table by my beloved partner.

According to Sirius XM Progress talk-radio host Thom Hartmann, President George W. Bush and congressional Republicans (with a handful of Dems) created Medicare Advantage in 2003. It was the fulfillment of half of Bush’s goal to privatize Social Security and Medicare. Here’s Hartmann’s take:

“Medicare Advantage is not Medicare. These plans are private health insurance provided by private corporations, who are then fully reimbursed by the Medicare trust fund regardless of how much their customers use their insurance. Thus, the more they can screw their customers and us taxpayers by withholding health care, the more money they make.”

To make it more unfair to compete with real Medicare, these giant insurance companies offer free or discounted dental, hearing, vision, gym memberships, groceries and even cash rebates. We all pay for those freebies. For more about this scam, read Hartmann’s book, The Hidden History of American Healthcare: Why Sickness Bankrupts You and Makes Others Insanely Rich.

Unless something is done to boost revenue and/or reduce expenses, Medicare benefits must be cut beginning in 2036. I’ll be 76, God willing, and most likely in need of few more replacement parts.

Hope it’s covered.

(YouTube: Speaking of powerful covers, here’s pop icon Sara Bareilles performing an unforgettable version of Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” in her recent appearance on PBS with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall. Turn it up!)