I’m learning more and more about “why old people get grumpy.” And, it’s not just old people like me. Younger people can meet the same frustrations that we “senior citizens” meet. And, as an aside, I must say, I really, really do not like that term “senior citizens.” (It’s right up there with procrastinate and widow.) What’s wrong with us just being OLD? I’m OLD. Why is the term so frowned upon by society? Haven’t we earned our right to be old? In July, I will have been a Colorado and U.S. citizen for eighty-six years. So, yes. Those are a lot of years under my belt.
But, what I want to talk about here is this. A good friend retired from her job with one of the local libraries. Her health insurance stayed in effect until May 1. Weeks and weeks ago, she began working with Social Security to obtain Medicare health insurance. This friend has been waiting for those weeks for her Medicare card to arrive; thus, guaranteeing that her health insurance was in place. Waited. Waited. And, waited. And, all of these weeks looking in her daily mail, the card did not come.
In the meanwhile, she arranged for the needed secondary insurance. And, still the Medicare card was absent. Of course, the secondary insurance can’t take effect until Medicare is in place. Telephone calls to Social Security offices did nothing to produce the card. More that once she traveled to one of the offices in our metro area to talk with someone about the absent card.
During each telephone call or personal visit, she was assured that it should arrive soon. Then, the snafu was determined. Apparently, as a young college student, she had received some dollars from the Feds. So, she owed XX# of dollars to the Feds. She paid the outstanding debt. She had paid the outstanding months ago; last year, in fact. Still the card did not arrive in the mail.
May 1 came and went – still no card. May 15 came and went – no card. At that point, she had no health insurance. She still has no Medicare health insurance. Any medical assistance she has needed since May 1 has meant that she paid the charges out of her own pocket! She was told that after her card arrives and she has a number, she will be able to bill the Feds for the medical expenditures she is incurring. Good luck with that!
Because she now augments her meager income by working in an early child care center, her charges sometimes are not kept at home when they are ill. One of the kids came to school sick, and she developed a cough, fever, and generally was not feeling well enough so that there have been days that she could not work. Added to this fact of not having medical coverage for any medical assistance she needs, she is now without the daily fee that would have been paid to her for working in the classroom. A double whammy! She says it has been extremely difficult for her.
Just this week, she drove to one of the Social Security offices to talk, again, directly with an SS worker. She waited in the office for an hour and a half. The male worker told her that there really was nothing he could do because even though she had reimbursed the Feds for those college charges (months ago), the problem was that Medicare had not updated its files. She would need to contact Medicare to get more information.
So, she did. Contact Medicare by phone. That female worker told her that it was not Medicare’s responsibility; rather, it is Social Security’s responsibility. An apparent dead end. And, still no Medicare insurance. Maybe, she would receive the card by the end of the month!
The next day, she received a telephone call from the Social Security office. The woman who called told her that she had left her driver’s license at the office. Oh good! Now, she would need to drive across town to retrieve her license.
She told the SS worker that she was very, very frustrated. The worker asked why and, during the ensuing conversation, she told my friend that she would investigate further and see what might be done to take care of the situation. The plan is for my friend to call her on Wednesday (today, if you are reading this BLOG on its publication day). She hopes that SS worker can help.
Let’s hope that the mistake of leaving her license at the SS office will produce some helpful action. I wish my friend success with this venture. Only time will tell.
But, life gets tee-jus, don’t it?
Be Safe and Be Well
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are welcome.