Information about Part D confusing
The stack of mail piled on my desk is reaching two inches in height and growing daily. That may not seem too unusual except that it is all on one subject, printed on both sides of single sheets of paper and primarily sent first class.
It seems obvious that someone (or some group) wants to be very sure I understand time is running out for me to form a meaningful relationship with my Medicare Part D Prescription Card.
At first the letters were helpful and friendly, assuring me that “help is on the way for all” and I was going to receive “the peace of mind you deserve” and, above all, “the sooner you sign up, the more you save.” This last one from U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Since I obviously missed that “golden ticket,” I continued to receive letters of advice, right up until yesterday. That’s when an October newsletter from the Washington State Health Care Authority reminded me that I cannot keep my current supplemental coverage and the Medicare Part D as a retired State employee, so I must make a decision before Jan. 1.
I haven’t made that decision, primarily because I feel bombarded with information which is still unclear to me. I wrote in my May column that I found it hard to believe “that this was going to be anything good for me and I definitely don’t believe it needs to be this complicated.”
Six months and hundreds of pages later, I still feel the same way. I resent the somewhat punitive and mandating tone of those trying to convince me to sign up.
However, I am going to keep on the hunt for sound information, and I have found a few good sources:
•Medicare Hot Line, (800) 633-4227
•Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors, (800) 397-4422, http://www.insurance.wa.gov/consumers/SHIBA_HelpLine/dirdefault.asp
Personally, I have received important information from my pharmacists, so you might want to talk to someone locally, who actually knows what the pills look like.
This is a subject which requires our attention because the potential for harm to seniors is escalating.
Something more comforting
After struggling with understanding all these medical issues, you might long for a comfy couch and a new one has appeared.
It’s created by Amit Axelrod, co-founder of Animi Causa, a design company in Israel.
“Couches don’t adequately reflect the emotions of the person sitting down, no matter how plush the cushions. If you are sad, you crumple or sit close, and if you are happy, you sit with your hands open. But the furniture; it does not adjust to you; you adjust yourself to the furniture,” she says in a press statement.
So, Axelrod has created a seating system of 120 foam balls covered with fabric and linked with strings, called the “Feel.” The idea is that someone who has had a hard day and “feels” sad can create a cocoon to protect her from the world and on better days when she “feels” more triumphant, she can create a throne. Shipping has just begun world wide (queen size, including shipping, is approximately $3,000).
To picture it, just think of those high school chemistry molecule models shaped into a helix – that’s it.