If Manchin remains adamant about spending taxpayer money to transition from fossil fuels, the appropriate response would be to save taxpayer money by systematically removing subsidies for them.
It does give some peace of mind. Still, Vermont's numbers are crazy. 342 new cases just since yesterday and 2 more deaths for a total now of 345. Our Positivity Rate is up to 3.4% and our Recovered number has dropped to 85%. For a state that long had a Positivity Rate below 1% and Recovery Rate as high as 98.5%, this is disheartening ~ especially as Gov. Scott won't reinstate the mask mandate. He's just running for office now, I guess. More than 70% of ALL citizens are vaccinated, including 88.9% of eligible Vermonters having at least one dose. we have to wonder where all these cases are coming from. Delta is wicked.
Yes, those are weird and scary numbers for a place with such high vaccination rates. In Illinois, with 20 times the population, the daily case rate has now fallen below 3,000.
re listener's post on the last thread: I would bitterly, bitterly resent any attempt to make so-called Medicare Advantage mandatory. I want the freedom to choose my own doctor!!
As for annually negotiating Part D, I'm not sure what you mean. Each year each Part D provider caan change its monthly fee as well as which drugs it covers at what price. The same is true for Advantage providers in terms of fees, services offered, and physicians available. This leads many people to annually consider whether to change providers. I don't. There was one year my Part D provider discontinued coverage for one of my medications, but after thinking about It I decided that instead of changing providers I would change to a similar medication that was cheaper to begin with.
I hear you. This is all new to me and I hadn't even heard we can't choose our own doctor. Where does one find the list of doctors who are considered okay? I think it's going to work out okay for us, though, as Wil used some of his Medicare coverage to help pay for his heart surgery, and that covered part that his regular insurance did not.
Regarding Part D, it is exactly that bit about needing to check prescriptions against what's allowed. I have to take an anti-viral twice/day for the rest of my life or I will get shingles within three days. Moreover, I have to have a particular brand of that particular anti-viral or I get headaches. So I really will need to keep aware of what Part D is covering every year, and negotiate the process accordingly.
Medicare Advantage isn't new, and it doesn't interfere with your choice of doctor, or at least no more than any HMO. Most people belong to HMO's, which allow patients to select from a list of doctors affiliated with the HMO--or pay extra. And an HMO generally only lets one change doctor once a year, at a particular time. I hate doctor shopping with a purple passion--it's worse than buying a new car (in the traditional way). One is going to want some sort of Medicare supplement, and as it happens the very best one (in our opinion) around here is Medicare Advantage through Kaiser Permanente. I've known people to argue that if one has Medicare Advantage, one also needs a Medicare Supplement insurance policy, which is in our experience simply not true. I understand that the Part D coverage can be a deciding consideration for some people, although it isn't for us.
In re your Part D question on previous thread, listener: No, not our experience at all. Just like any HMO, they make changes every year, in time for you to select a different HMO. I have heard that it is possible (with the aid of one's physician) in at least some cases to get coverage for medicines that are not included in an insurance program's formulary.
We are signing up soon to begin on January 1st, even though Wil's regular insurance coverage goes through March. It's also going to be nice to get SS while he's still working for those last three months.
Yes, getting both SS and wages doesn't hurt at all. Strange thins happen with one's taxes, though; the portion of one's SS income that is subject to taxes depends on how much total income one has, but overall it is better to get the income and pay the taxes than not to get the income. One can choose how much is withheld from SS for federal taxes.
listener--I should think it would be helpful, given what I gather about the hospital services in your area, to talk with someone at the university hospital about which brand of Medicare supplement works best in your area.
Alan is right. A Medicare Advantage plan is very much like an employer-provided HMO except you can switch from one HMO to another at the end of each year.
I don't like HMMO restrictions. Although in my last HMO I was very lucky in being able to choose a physician that I liked very much. His website blurb mentioned his commitment to "evidence-based medicine" and we were on the same page from the beginning. Penny and I remained with him until his retirement last year. That put us into "doctor-shopping" mode. I believe I mentioned here why I lost confidence in the doctor who replaced him in the practice, but Penny and I now have a new doctor, a geriatrician, who seems quite good. But the point is that I was able to choose this new doctor without having to worry about whether she was affiliated with a specific plan. I also have a cataract surgeon and a retinal specialist without having to worry about their affiliation status.
Well, it's been an interesting day. We had to go out for our flu shots, so decided to make a quick grocery run at the same time, so we can nestle in for the rest of the weekend, with a Severe Thunderstorm Watch underway. Poor Wil! Just as we were heading into the grocery store, the deluge hit hard and he got SOAKED between the car and the door! I had just barely gotten into the store when it hit, so I was spared. Then we got our shots at the nearby pharmacy and came home. I brought my elderly neighbour's mail to her door, and as I was walking back down her walkway I slipped and landed on my back. Fortunately, it was a slow, uncontrolled slide onto my back and I did not hit my head. Close one! And I'm SOOO glad she didn't try going out to get her mail in the rain. We are home now and planning to make food and watch a good movie. Movie suggestions welcomed! Seen anything good lately? Got an old favourite?
Notes on the last thread.
ReplyDeleteI really need to get back into my own time zone one of these days! Ha!
Flu shot later today. Wish me luck.
A herd of ‘cocaine hippos’ from Pablo Escobar’s private zoo are being sterilized [Click]
ReplyDeletePablo Escobar's 'cocaine hippos' show how invasive species can restore a lost world [Click] Similarities to Pleistocene megafauna
If Manchin remains adamant about spending taxpayer money to transition from fossil fuels, the appropriate response would be to save taxpayer money by systematically removing subsidies for them.
ReplyDelete👍Yes! This!👆
DeleteSent the idea to Bernie just now.
DeleteAs of today, I am fully boostered!
ReplyDeleteIt does give some peace of mind. Still, Vermont's numbers are crazy. 342 new cases just since yesterday and 2 more deaths for a total now of 345. Our Positivity Rate is up to 3.4% and our Recovered number has dropped to 85%.
For a state that long had a Positivity Rate below 1% and Recovery Rate as high as 98.5%, this is disheartening ~ especially as Gov. Scott won't reinstate the mask mandate. He's just running for office now, I guess. More than 70% of ALL citizens are vaccinated, including 88.9% of eligible Vermonters having at least one dose. we have to wonder where all these cases are coming from. Delta is wicked.
Yes, those are weird and scary numbers for a place with such high vaccination rates. In Illinois, with 20 times the population, the daily case rate has now fallen below 3,000.
Deletere listener's post on the last thread: I would bitterly, bitterly resent any attempt to make so-called Medicare Advantage mandatory. I want the freedom to choose my own doctor!!
ReplyDeleteAs for annually negotiating Part D, I'm not sure what you mean. Each year each Part D provider caan change its monthly fee as well as which drugs it covers at what price. The same is true for Advantage providers in terms of fees, services offered, and physicians available. This leads many people to annually consider whether to change providers. I don't. There was one year my Part D provider discontinued coverage for one of my medications, but after thinking about It I decided that instead of changing providers I would change to a similar medication that was cheaper to begin with.
I hear you. This is all new to me and I hadn't even heard we can't choose our own doctor. Where does one find the list of doctors who are considered okay? I think it's going to work out okay for us, though, as Wil used some of his Medicare coverage to help pay for his heart surgery, and that covered part that his regular insurance did not.
DeleteRegarding Part D, it is exactly that bit about needing to check prescriptions against what's allowed. I have to take an anti-viral twice/day for the rest of my life or I will get shingles within three days. Moreover, I have to have a particular brand of that particular anti-viral or I get headaches. So I really will need to keep aware of what Part D is covering every year, and negotiate the process accordingly.
Medicare Advantage isn't new, and it doesn't interfere with your choice of doctor, or at least no more than any HMO. Most people belong to HMO's, which allow patients to select from a list of doctors affiliated with the HMO--or pay extra. And an HMO generally only lets one change doctor once a year, at a particular time. I hate doctor shopping with a purple passion--it's worse than buying a new car (in the traditional way). One is going to want some sort of Medicare supplement, and as it happens the very best one (in our opinion) around here is Medicare Advantage through Kaiser Permanente. I've known people to argue that if one has Medicare Advantage, one also needs a Medicare Supplement insurance policy, which is in our experience simply not true. I understand that the Part D coverage can be a deciding consideration for some people, although it isn't for us.
DeleteIn re your Part D question on previous thread, listener: No, not our experience at all. Just like any HMO, they make changes every year, in time for you to select a different HMO. I have heard that it is possible (with the aid of one's physician) in at least some cases to get coverage for medicines that are not included in an insurance program's formulary.
DeleteOh, and I haven't heard anything about making Medicare Advantage mandatory; doesn't seem to make any sense at all.
DeleteThanks, Alan!
DeleteWe are signing up soon to begin on January 1st, even though Wil's regular insurance coverage goes through March. It's also going to be nice to get SS while he's still working for those last three months.
Yes, getting both SS and wages doesn't hurt at all. Strange thins happen with one's taxes, though; the portion of one's SS income that is subject to taxes depends on how much total income one has, but overall it is better to get the income and pay the taxes than not to get the income. One can choose how much is withheld from SS for federal taxes.
Deletelistener--I should think it would be helpful, given what I gather about the hospital services in your area, to talk with someone at the university hospital about which brand of Medicare supplement works best in your area.
DeleteAlan is right. A Medicare Advantage plan is very much like an employer-provided HMO except you can switch from one HMO to another at the end of each year.
DeleteI don't like HMMO restrictions. Although in my last HMO I was very lucky in being able to choose a physician that I liked very much. His website blurb mentioned his commitment to "evidence-based medicine" and we were on the same page from the beginning. Penny and I remained with him until his retirement last year. That put us into "doctor-shopping" mode. I believe I mentioned here why I lost confidence in the doctor who replaced him in the practice, but Penny and I now have a new doctor, a geriatrician, who seems quite good. But the point is that I was able to choose this new doctor without having to worry about whether she was affiliated with a specific plan. I also have a cataract surgeon and a retinal specialist without having to worry about their affiliation status.
Well, it's been an interesting day. We had to go out for our flu shots, so decided to make a quick grocery run at the same time, so we can nestle in for the rest of the weekend, with a Severe Thunderstorm Watch underway. Poor Wil! Just as we were heading into the grocery store, the deluge hit hard and he got SOAKED between the car and the door! I had just barely gotten into the store when it hit, so I was spared. Then we got our shots at the nearby pharmacy and came home. I brought my elderly neighbour's mail to her door, and as I was walking back down her walkway I slipped and landed on my back. Fortunately, it was a slow, uncontrolled slide onto my back and I did not hit my head. Close one! And I'm SOOO glad she didn't try going out to get her mail in the rain. We are home now and planning to make food and watch a good movie. Movie suggestions welcomed! Seen anything good lately? Got an old favourite?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have lived dangerously enough for one day! Sorry, no movie recommendations--no idea what would appeal to you two.
DeleteOdd coincidence here; last week I had my flu shot and for the first time ever got a bruise. Miyoko got hers yesterday, and today has a bruise.
Sounds like you need to find a more gentle poke-r!
DeleteBut there is close to zero chance it was the same nurse.
DeleteWe are watching Masterpiece's version of VICTORIA, about Queen Victoria. It's very well acted and apportioned!
ReplyDeleteFigures of Babylon: oldest drawing of a ghost found in British Museum vault [Click] “A 3,500-year-old image tablet of a ‘miserable male ghost’ gives up its secret”
ReplyDelete