SOS: Speaking of Seniors - If I Win a Big Lottery Prize
ADVERTISEMENT
On September 3, 2014, I spoke with two seniors that I wish I could have helped. One phoned me and the other visited my office to work with me on several medical bills. Both of them owed money because of the federal government’s policy on “SELF-ADMINISTERED DRUGS”.
I started working with senior citizens who had Medicare related medical bill problems in 2003. I never found a problem with “self-administered drugs” until 2010. I phoned Medicare and asked how this new problem for seniors started. No one at Medicare would ever give me a straight, direct answer.
Then, I thought of calling hospital billing supervisors to ask the same question. They told me that in 2009 President Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder started changing some definitions under Medicare that doctors and hospitals would be forced to use or they would not get paid any money from Medicare. The new definitions and rules created the problem of “self-administered drugs”.
ADVERTISEMENT
Briefly stated, when a senior citizen is in a hospital, but getting Medicare Part B defined services or medicine, Medicare Part A (hospital services) will not pay on those services or medicines. The senior citizen must pay the bill for “self-administered drugs” first and then file a reimbursement form with the Medicare Part D (medicines) plan insurance company that the senior uses. The Medicare Part D plan insurance company then compares what it would normally pay for medicines if the senior had bought the “self-administered drugs” through its approved network and not from the hospital. Then, it determines how much it will reimburse the senior, if anything. It is a very impractical system and many seniors don’t ever file claims for reimbursement.
The Obama administration created “self-administered drugs” definitions and rules save the federal government millions of dollars, make the drug making companies millions of dollars, and save the Medicare Part D insurance companies millions of dollars. But, these rules cost the senior citizens billions of dollars.
Today, I had to tell our senior citizen clients that they owed hundreds of dollars for “self-administered drugs”. In the past, some clients have received such medicine bills for a few thousand dollars. Sometimes, it is easier for me to help the senior to negotiate a discount on the “self-administered drugs” bill with the hospital. It saves the senior both time and money compared with the reimbursement filing system under Medicare Part D.
ADVERTISEMENT
Today, I remembered a thought that I have had repeatedly which is this: If I ever win a big prize in the lottery, I’m going to help some of our senior citizen clients who have “self-administered drugs” bills by helping them to pay off those bills.
ADVERTISEMENT
This article is printed with the permission of the author(s). Opinions expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of American Clarion or Dakota Voice LLC.
Comment Rules: Please confine comments to salient ones that add to the topic; Profanity is not allowed and will be deleted; Spam, copied statements and other material not comprised of the reader’s own opinion will be deleted.
Similar Posts:
- SOS: Speaking of Seniors – Saved De Motte Senior Money
- SOS: Speaking of Seniors – Medicare Part D and Self-Administered Drugs
- SOS: Speaking of Seniors – Government Policy Hurt Senior
- SOS: Speaking of Seniors – Ask Candidates These Questions!
- SOS: Speaking of Seniors – Feds Win, Seniors Lose
Recent American Clarion Articles
The Pilgrims: Laying America’s Foundations, Part 2
In the first part of this series, I introduced the fact that there was a conflict between the church hierarchy in England and the Separatists. This was a situation in which there would be no compromise. This became clear when King James took the throne in
Bathroom Bills: Protecting Women, Restoring Common Sense
Liberty Counsel has offered or provided pro bono assistance in 20 states regarding bathroom bills and religious liberty/LGBT issues in order to protect women and children. Since Governor Pat McCrory recently signed the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act into law, North Carolina is now one
The Confession and Mortification of Sin
The battle against sin is a perpetual life and death struggle till the end. We fight the good fight against ungodly desires, propensities and tendencies. We do this not because we are trying to earn something and/or obtain special recognition. We do so because we have newFossil Fuels and the Constitution: Feelin’ the BERN
Many of those worried about so-called “climate change” rail against fossil fuels. Vermont Senator and Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders said, “We have a crisis of historical consequence. We have got to tell the fossil fuel industry that short-term profits are not more important than the
Your Ignorance Is Killing Us!
President Ronald Reagan once said about modern American liberals: “It isn’t so much that liberals are ignorant. It’s just that they know so many things that aren’t so.” That statement can be accurately applied to almost all Americans today, and we’re seeing the results in the farce
SOS: Speaking of Seniors - Avoid Foreign Based Firms
On April 14, 2016, I wrote a letter to the chief executive officer of a major insurance company to ask him to stop using foreign based firms for customer service or claims payment transfers. With some editing to avoid harming a good company that made a bad mistake, here is the
I Will Raise Your Baby, Queline – Let Her Live
This is not a question of right vs. left. It is not pro-life vs. pro-choice, conservative vs. liberal, or Republican vs. Democrat. This is a very real, very personal, very serious and very present question of life vs.
Recent Comments