February Housekeeping
Good morning Friends! I’m just doing a little mental housekeeping. It’s been quite a journey since the layoff. I thought maybe I should bring everyone up to date. I’m still learning stuff about being a senior.
My Part C Medicare
After much back and forth over prescription coverage. medi-gap and Advantage Plans (part C) everything finally got settled and effective Feb 1 I was officially in a Part C Advantage plan with Aetna. The first thing I noticed was that a trip to the pharmacy wasn’t quite as frightening. Instead of paying $1200 for my prescriptions the most I’ve had to pay was $85.00. I was prepared for the BIG BILL because I was told I would be in the Donut Hole and I made too much money in 2021 to qualify for a state funded supplement that would pick up the difference between the co pays and what is charged when the dreaded Donut hole opens up. Don’t know why it’s been so reasonable but I am not going to complain.
Home Visit
Last week I got a call from Aetna asking to schedule a home visit with a nurse. Last time I had one of those I was recovering from hip replacement surgery but it was ok with me if they wanted to come by. The visit took about and hour and we reviewed my meds and then she checked my vitals including measuring blood flow in my feet! She gave me some good information on things that are covered like rides to doctors and for me, the big one, paying for housekeeping. I guess Aetna will pay for a house cleaner once or twice a month and someone to run errands! All I have to do is ask my doctor to submit a request. I already have a house cleaner that keeps me from drowning in cat hair but if insurance will pay that would be awesome.
FYI for anyone who might find themselves in my shoes, the nurse said go to the hospital and claim you are sick. They have a social worker there to enroll you in the correct insurances. The hospital has to be able to bill someone and they take care of it on the spot!
Pets
Banner and Balboa are doing well. They entertain me endlessly. Banner has even decided to sleep on my lap a little and stole few minutes with me at bedtime until Balboa reclaimed his place.
Now that the insurance is resolved (It only took 3 months) my mail volume has dropped off considerably. Glad to be done with that. It was a full time job keeping up.
Future Plans
Now that the big headache of the insurance is done and my unemployment is coming in, I need to cut back on unnecessary expenses. So
#1. I plan to cut the cord. Yup, I’m going to drop cable and go to just streaming. I need to replace the TV in the bedroom but my savings from the cable bill should pay for a new TV in about 2-3 months then it will be home free.
#2. Drop unused streaming services like Disney Plus. I never watch it
#3 Cancel On Star. I’m not driving long distances these day so consider it a luxury not a necessity.
#4. I already dropped a couple of blogs/websites that I don’t use so no more domain renewals.
I’m sure I’ll find more little subscriptions that I don’t use and cancel those as they come up. Simplify Baby. That’s the name of the game.