RE: / Medicare

[Guest guest]

-----Original Message-----

>>>When Ken was ready

for the Medicare did

they send him forms before his eligibility?

Boy, that 24 month waiting period was hell,

isn’t it. Ken got a

notice in the mail telling him the exact date his Medicare would be starting. He also received notice about the cost

and a form to fill out on how you would like to pay for it. (Note: If isn’t working, and

is receiving SS Disability, it’s good to have it (disability check) direct

deposited into his bank account. If

he does that, then the $ to pay his monthly Medicare bill will be deducted

automatically (before they deposit the remainder into his account) and you’ll

never have to bother with it. Be

sure to check into the “QMB” or “SLMB” programs, both

will pay the Medicare premium for (I’m sure he would be approved for

one of those programs). When and if

he is approved, they pay the monthly Medicare premium.

I called Baylor and asked them which Medicare program

Ken should sign

up for and they told me, to sign up for the “original” Medicare

program, which we did.

>>>And is the Medigap you talk about the supplemental that you can

add on for a fee (I am thinking

they said it was around $100 a month-could be wrong though).

Yes…..

MUST sign up for one of these policies!

Without one, you will have to pay the 20% + difference between what Medicare

pays and what the transplant program charges. That’s a huge amount of money and

doesn’t have that much, it also pays for things like the first 3

units of blood, some deductibles etc.

Ken’s Medigap policy costs him $146. a month (and worth every penny!!) You’ll have to check the gov web

site to see which insurance companies are approved for ’s area. In Ken’s case (because of his

age) there was only one company, so we didn’t have a choice. Sign up for Medicare Part D

(drugs) too. I surfed the web and made

a list of post transplant drugs people take, then I entered

them into the Medicare D drug page and came up with the best RX plan for our

area. For Ken, it was Humana’s plan

(Wal Mart, hire’s, CVS etc).

“IF” gets into either the QMB or SLMB programs (that

pays his monthly Medicare bill) the program will also pay his monthly Medicare Part

D premiums and deductibles, and will only have to pay $2 - $5 per scrip.

I

don’t have time today, but if you keep reminding me (read: bugging me) –

I’ll provide you with links to all these services. But, you have to KEEP reminding me,

until I do it!

HTH

Barb

in Texas