Here’s the explanation for the high winds in California [Click] A combination of a high pressure zone in the Great Basin and a loop in the jet stream making a loop down into that area, pushing the air toward lower elevations in California.
Lately when I log onto The Atlantic they start a 4-article countdown to the paywall. When I turn off my browser and log on again, the countdown is reset to 4 articles--even with the same browser. Try this link: The Atlantic [Click]
Nope again. Same message when I click on the article. I suspect your browser clears cookies when you close it. Maybe something to do with logging on, which my browser doesn't require.
So, guess what. Wil can sign up for Medicare on 1 JAN 2020. Plan F (which covers everything) is slated to be discontinued for new enrollees on...1 JAN 2020. SIGH. Our end of the Baby Boom Generation has always gotten the short end of the stick. We really need SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE!!!
I had never heard of Medicare Plan F, only Parts A, B, and D. Looked it up and Plan F is a Medigap insurance plan; at first glance Plan G looks about the same. We have Medicare Advantage plans (through Kaiser Permanente) that have served us well. We choose the less expensive model because one would have to have chronic illness or repeated hospitalizations per year to justify the more expensive model; it looks to me like the same would be true of Medigap insurance policies.
FWIW, we have Plan C, which covers everything including 80% of foreign medical costs. in the early days I was skeptical of Medicare Advantage because the insurance companies seemed to be screwing the taxpayers (getting more money per patient than traditional Medicare) and I still don't like it because it restricts the doctors you can see.
Per Wikipedia, Medicare Advantage is a species of Part C plan. Around here I like Kaiser Permanente best--it's like an East German polyclinic writ LARGE: everything under one roof. Doctors (of all kinds except dentists), lab, radiology, pharmacy, and hospital all under one roof and integrated. If you don't like the doctor you are assigned, you can ask for a different one (if s/he is available to take new patients) at any time for any reason or no reason. On top of that, it is unionized top to bottom, so the employees don't have the hangdog look of workers in hospitals where management considers them the enemy all day, every day. When the Affordable Care Act kicked in, the local Kaiser hospital got 30 or 35 thousand new patients, which clogged up the works a bit for a while, but they managed to adjust.
For me, I not only have a primary physician that I have no intention of changing but for years I have had a regular retinal specialist. Dr. Horio has recently decided to take an overseas position, so I'll be seeing a new retinal specialist in a couple of weeks. But he's someone Dr. Horio picked, so I expect to be comfortable with him.
We had already looked over all the plans and chose Plan F. So that's the ONE plan they're going to ax.
We don't want Plan C because you have to have an in-network doctor. I like the doctors I now have and I worked hard to find them. We'll have to go with Plan G, but there will be some deductibles, which there would not have been with Plan F. We would have paid a little more for F in the first years (maybe $200 more per year), but if we got really sick later on we'd have still been covered and for no more money. That seemed fair. I honestly just didn't want the hassle of confusing bills coming in and unexpected copayments. I so very much want Single Payer Healthcare!
I hate doctor shopping with a purple passion. Compounded with figuring out which ones are in-network, being stuck with one for a year, separate and very obscure billing systems, it's even worse. Kaiser (I think they are active in 13 states) functions pretty much like universal single payer would. By way of example, my cancer treatment included radiation treatments, which it is uneconomical for Kaiser to provide in Fresno, so I was sent to a local radiology group--no separate billing aside from a modest copayment up front. My surgery was more challenging than what Kaiser's local surgeons were accustomed to, so they sent me to a specialty program at their San Francisco hospital--paid mileage and per diem for my sweetie too. All first rate (well, except that there wasn't a mint on the pillow). It works very well for the physicians too--they don't have to maintain individual insurance billing departments. Goes to show it can be done.
A 250+ acre wildfire is burning near the 405 Freeway on the west side of Los Angeles.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnn.com/specials/live-video-1
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-28/fire-along-interstate-405-near-getty-center%3f_amp=true
DeleteMake that 400+ acres with some homes lost.
DeleteIt's about the same here as yesterday, but a little cooler. No wind, slight smoke, electricity on.
ReplyDeleteAlan
May you remain out of harm’s way!!
DeleteHere’s the explanation for the high winds in California [Click] A combination of a high pressure zone in the Great Basin and a loop in the jet stream making a loop down into that area, pushing the air toward lower elevations in California.
ReplyDeleteNancy Pelosi’s Big Move [Click]
ReplyDeleteAnother take: The Democrats Call Trump’s Bluff [Click]
Both of those are behind a paywall.
DeleteOdd. Try these links:
DeleteNancy Pelosi’s Big Move [Click]
Another take: The Democrats Call Trump’s Bluff [Click]
Nope. Those still take me to The Atlantic, which tells me I've read all the free articles I'm entitled to.
DeleteLately when I log onto The Atlantic they start a 4-article countdown to the paywall. When I turn off my browser and log on again, the countdown is reset to 4 articles--even with the same browser. Try this link:
DeleteThe Atlantic [Click]
Nope again. Same message when I click on the article. I suspect your browser clears cookies when you close it. Maybe something to do with logging on, which my browser doesn't require.
DeleteSo, guess what. Wil can sign up for Medicare on 1 JAN 2020. Plan F (which covers everything) is slated to be discontinued for new enrollees on...1 JAN 2020. SIGH. Our end of the Baby Boom Generation has always gotten the short end of the stick. We really need SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE!!!
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of Medicare Plan F, only Parts A, B, and D. Looked it up and Plan F is a Medigap insurance plan; at first glance Plan G looks about the same. We have Medicare Advantage plans (through Kaiser Permanente) that have served us well. We choose the less expensive model because one would have to have chronic illness or repeated hospitalizations per year to justify the more expensive model; it looks to me like the same would be true of Medigap insurance policies.
DeleteJust sayin'.
FWIW, we have Plan C, which covers everything including 80% of foreign medical costs. in the early days I was skeptical of Medicare Advantage because the insurance companies seemed to be screwing the taxpayers (getting more money per patient than traditional Medicare) and I still don't like it because it restricts the doctors you can see.
DeletePer Wikipedia, Medicare Advantage is a species of Part C plan. Around here I like Kaiser Permanente best--it's like an East German polyclinic writ LARGE: everything under one roof. Doctors (of all kinds except dentists), lab, radiology, pharmacy, and hospital all under one roof and integrated. If you don't like the doctor you are assigned, you can ask for a different one (if s/he is available to take new patients) at any time for any reason or no reason. On top of that, it is unionized top to bottom, so the employees don't have the hangdog look of workers in hospitals where management considers them the enemy all day, every day. When the Affordable Care Act kicked in, the local Kaiser hospital got 30 or 35 thousand new patients, which clogged up the works a bit for a while, but they managed to adjust.
DeleteFor me, I not only have a primary physician that I have no intention of changing but for years I have had a regular retinal specialist. Dr. Horio has recently decided to take an overseas position, so I'll be seeing a new retinal specialist in a couple of weeks. But he's someone Dr. Horio picked, so I expect to be comfortable with him.
DeleteIt looks like your go-to hospital would be UVM; maybe check with them for their recommendations? Or your regular physician(s)?
ReplyDeleteWe had already looked over all the plans and chose Plan F. So that's the ONE plan they're going to ax.
DeleteWe don't want Plan C because you have to have an in-network doctor. I like the doctors I now have and I worked hard to find them. We'll have to go with Plan G, but there will be some deductibles, which there would not have been with Plan F. We would have paid a little more for F in the first years (maybe $200 more per year), but if we got really sick later on we'd have still been covered and for no more money. That seemed fair. I honestly just didn't want the hassle of confusing bills coming in and unexpected copayments. I so very much want Single Payer Healthcare!
I hate doctor shopping with a purple passion. Compounded with figuring out which ones are in-network, being stuck with one for a year, separate and very obscure billing systems, it's even worse. Kaiser (I think they are active in 13 states) functions pretty much like universal single payer would. By way of example, my cancer treatment included radiation treatments, which it is uneconomical for Kaiser to provide in Fresno, so I was sent to a local radiology group--no separate billing aside from a modest copayment up front. My surgery was more challenging than what Kaiser's local surgeons were accustomed to, so they sent me to a specialty program at their San Francisco hospital--paid mileage and per diem for my sweetie too. All first rate (well, except that there wasn't a mint on the pillow). It works very well for the physicians too--they don't have to maintain individual insurance billing departments. Goes to show it can be done.
Delete