Damn, because I'm drawing disability (arthritis and back problems), I'm now eligible for Medicare. And because I have insurance through TriCare (DH is retired from the Navy, 20 years and 20 days), I don't have a choice about enrolling for Part B if I want to keep my TriCare coverage. Which means Medicare is going to take almost $100 a month out of my SSDI. So now my doctor will bill Medicare, and what Medicare doesn't pay, TriCare will pay (I wonder if I'll still have to reach TriCare's deductible and then take care of co-pays?). And this is going to cost me $1200 a year, for two federal government agencies to pay for medical care I very seldom use. Thank you very much, government assholes. It's not bad enough that I'm paying around $300 a year for my medical care, now the federal government wants to add $1200 to that annual sum, and I probably won't use it any more than I do now. Well......then again, maybe I will. Maybe I'll go in every 4 months for cortisone shots when my arthritis gets really bad, instead of once a year and dealing with the pain the rest of the time. Maybe I'll push my doctor for a referral to a specialist to treat my fibromyalgia instead of pushing past the pain and fatigue all the time. Maybe this is my opportunity to try for a less pain-filled life (and let me tell you, the amount of pain I deal with on a daily basis would have most people refusing to get out of bed, let alone get out of bed and cook/clean/do laundry/do dishes/take care of pets/grocery shop/etc/etc).
Maybe this is the push I need to get off my ass and do something about the pain I've been living with for the last 20 years. At least I don't have to worry whether my doctor will dump me because I'm now on Medicare (I called the clinic to check, I've seen the horror stories of people on Medicare being dropped by their doctors because Medicare reimbursements are so low, and the difficulty they have finding another PCP). They have other patients who are on Medicare/TriCare, so I'm safe, as far as that goes (for now, anyway).
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