Today, July 1,2009, finally, I qualify for Medicare!
I never dreamed that I would be thrilled--nay, ecstatic--to (almost)reach age 65.
I have Health Insurance again! I've purchased a good supplemental policy and the Part D drug benefit. So I get to buy drugs today, for a copay of about $8 instead of $80...drugs I quit taking for the last few days because (a)it wouldn't hurt me to stop these particular drugs briefly and (b)I knew I'd save close to $70 by doing so. With my currently-meager budget, $70 is a lot of dough.
Of course, I will probably hit the infamous donut hole--if not this year, then certainly next. But at least I can go to the doctor for my aching shoulder or my weird rash or my sore feet. I can visit my oncologist on schedule without fearing that one extra test could send me into 18 months of payback to the hospital MRI department, as happened before. I could get the (non-cancer but important) surgery I've been putting off for two years because I simply couldn't afford it. Now all this and more--even flu shots--are accessible to me!
For more on how normal self-care decisions came to be agonizing choices, see below.
Read More
