A sample of the problem.....

Well, well, well....little rosemary is eligible for Medicare as of November first. She got a ton of stuff in the mail to read from Medicare; and read it she did. Her husband read it as well.

They made the decision to keep the health care insurance coverage that her husband gets through his employer. Medicare Part A covers hospitalization. She will get that coverage regardless of keeping her husbands coverage; she has no choice there.....AND she doesn't have to pay a premium. Probably the most expensive medical costs a person can incur is hospitalization.

So, she follows the instructions on her official Medicare card and puts a big X where it says she declines Part B and drug plan coverage. She mails it back in the postage free envelope provided.

Last week she got a letter telling her that they will start taking premiums out of her skimpy Social Security check for Medicare Part B starting in November and oh-by-the-way-have-you-picked-out-your-drug-plan-that-has-a-big-coverage-hole-in-it-and-you-have-to-pay-thousands-of-dollars-out-of-pocket-before-it-kicks-in-again.

rosemary called her local Social Security office and spoke to the nice, young girl Gabrielle. Gabrielle tells her they have not received her card or perhaps her information hasn't been entered into the system yet. She will send a form that rosemary can sign saying she doesn't need Part B because she has private insurance.

The form arrived yesterday in rosemary's mailbox. It says that by declining Part B and the drug plans that don't cover much she will be penalized with higher premiums of 10% for every year she declines Part B and drug coverage.

This is the exact opposite of what her cute little Medicare handbook says. The handbook says that someone who has private insurance either through their employer coverage or a spouse's employer coverage will not be penalized. When they are ready to sign up for Part B and the almost no coverage drug plan they just have to have a letter from the insurer stating that rosemary had coverage for the last 12 months and presto chango she gets Part B and the sleazy drug plan when the private coverage is over.

rosemary calls Gabrielle again. Gabrielle says her handbook must be mistaken because just like rosemary said: "So you are telling me that by not burdening the Medicare system, by keeping my private coverage so Medicare can save a little money with the 2 doctor visits I make a year, and by not paying for maybe one of the drugs I take...you mean I am going to be penalized every year that I decline to save Medicare some money?".......Gabrielle said: "Yes." So, rosemary reads word for word what is in the handbook. Gabrielle needs to call rosemary back as she needs to check with a supervisor.

Gabrielle calls back and says that actually rosemary is correct...not that Gabrielle was wrong...oh, no; rosemary's "interpretation" is correct.......see paragraphs 2 and 7.

So rosemary will keep her husband's insurance coverage, she will get Medicare Part A without paying a premium of even $0.01, she can sign up for Part B and the miserable drug plan when her husband's coverage ends.

If rosemary was really senile, couldn't comprehend the reams and reams of Medicare reading material she received, took what Gabrielle said as gospel...well, she would be in deep stuff up to her armpits. Can you imagine what someone that is easily confused must go through with this system?

rosemary knows most seniors see Medicare as a right because they have paid into the system all of their working lives....but can you imagine the cost savings to the system by NOT automatically giving Medicare part A when someone has adequate/full coverage that they pay for through their employer? The Part B premium is $96.40/month unless you make over 85K as an individual or 170K for a couple....then...then you "might" have to pay a higher premium.

rosemary doesn't have a solid solution. She doesn't really know whether President Obama's health care plan is good, bad or ugly because she doesn't understand it. She tried to read it....but maybe she is senile after all. What she does believe is that Medicare will go belly up sooner rather than later and it needs fixing.....but not at a cost to those that really can't afford to pay additional premiums. She wonders if Ruth Madoff had Medicare.

This whole situation just irritated rosemary to no end.....so much so that if she had written this in the first person she might have used really bad words that offend some of her readers. So she asked me to write it......rosemary, the one that doesn't use bad words.