Sometimes people ask me why I criticize the Medicare system so much. A better understanding of my frustration with the Medicare system could be reached by just reading this official government document and realizing the extra burdens of time, money, and frustration that the Medicare system places on America’s senior citizens.

On May 2, 2012, I helped a client who is an elderly man from Munster, Indiana. He brought to our office a bill from a medical service provider with an unpaid balance. Three claims were for original billed amounts of $245, $225, and $75. The insurance company got the claim for $245 and paid its portion of the claim. But, it did not get the other two claims from Medicare. You can’t blame an insurance company for not paying on a claim that Medicare never sends to it.

If you are a senior citizen, and you plan to visit somewhere for less than a month, there probably is no need to contact your insurance agent. But, if you plan to visit for a month or more, I suggest that you contact your insurance agency to let someone know that you will be gone and where you will be just in case they need to reach you. It could make a big financial difference for you.

On April 18, 2012, a client visited our office and brought some bills and papers seeking my help. Some of the documents that the client showed to me were new to me and I have helped senior citizen clients with Medicare related medical bills for nine years. Of the nineteen entries of medical services on the forms that the client received, seventeen were erroneous, false, wrong. That means that Medicare had processed over 89 percent of the claims on the form incorrectly.

On April 16, 2012, a client brought some papers and a bill problem to me to help solve. The client is an elderly woman from Cedar Lake, Indiana. With our client present, I phoned her Medicare supplement insurance company to learn what it knew of the bill. It had already paid the bill. In fact, the insurance company gave me the check number, the date the check was made and sent, and the date that the check was cashed by the hospital that got the payment.

On April 10, 2012, I received a note and medical bill from a senior citizen client of this insurance agency. The 81 year old woman is from Hammond, Indiana. Her note said in part, ”I never pay anything for my medical procedures. I already met my Medicare deductible for 2012. Can you help me with this bill for $790.99?”

Three different times in one month a client came to me for help with Medicare related medical bill problems. The amounts were small, medium, and large. It doesn’t matter. He was our client. We know that the Medicare system is not perfect. When mistakes happen and problems occur, we do our best to protect our senior citizen clients from financial harm.

An elderly couple brought some papers to our office and asked me what the papers meant. The couple brought three Medicare Summary Notice forms to me. They told me that they never had gotten Medicare Summary Notices until now. They should have been getting these forms since 1992 – almost twenty years ago – when the husband first went on Medicare. Sometimes it’s hard to know what to expect from our government-and that’s often the problem.