No, I'm not actually planning on living that long. Sure, one of my parents nearly made it, but I tend more to take after the other one in a lot of physical ways, so mostly I'm not shooting for much past 90. It seems sufficient enough... at least for now.
Why am I thinking about this? It started with a totally weird letter I got today, claiming I hold two health insurance policies for my Medicare Part D plan. For those who haven't needed to know yet - bless your hearts - that involves coverage for medications.
My first reaction was that this was so improbable that somebody somewhere wasted money on mailing out some new approach to a scam. More of a waste since postage rates just went up. It was just too weird to be anything else. There was a number to call, and they were still open after suppertime (with or without supper, which for me meant without, and not likely until I straightened this out.) So I got out my insurance cards, called the the drug store I do business with because the plan covers their prices, and verified exactly who they have on record as providing my coverage. Yep, exactly who I thought, just one company, and last year's company, whose card I still hadn't cleaned out of my purse for some reason, was no longer providing coverage. OK, it seemed like a reach, but most years I have a few months of deductibles before full pharmacy coverage and this year I haven't had any. I figured there was a 5% chance I had a problem with paying for overlapping coverage. They verified only one company was paying for my meds.
So I called the company, and will freely admit I started out with an attitude! No nasty words, just plenty of tone. The person on the other end of the line wanted me to verify information. It this was a scam, I wasn't about to give them any. So we went back and forth a couple times - he had remarkable patience - to locate information they should already have if this was an official inquiry. We finally settled that, and found out that the two insurance company names were the same company, same policy, just a name change at the top of the year. Merger maybe? Who knows? I was covered, all I needed to know.
OK, so that wasn't the source of their inquiry. I was directed to a line on the form showing I'd had another company's insurance years ago, and they needed to know if I still carried it. Was I covered in some other way, like at work, or my car insurance?
BINGO !!! I looked at that date I was supposed to be covered. It was long ago but very quietly rang a niggly bell. I'd never heard of that company, and it wasn't, in fact, my insurance. But the date was the day I had been rear-ended by a school bus, requiring an ambulance ride and a bunch of diagnostic hospital tests. Yes, my neck hurt but at worst it was a little sprain. Back then I had more problems from my shoulders when I had to move my arms out of the way for clear images. That arthritis already was severe back then. That's the part I remembered. The tests were agony! I didn't pay a penny for the imaging, a procedure I can't even get now with my pacemaker. I assume either the school or the bus company had the insurance which covered every penny, and my personal auto insurance company held their feet to the fire until every penny owed was paid. I was never bothered by hearing or reading a name.
Once that was explained, I assured this company I never actually had that insurance policy, never knew who they were, and was not, in fact, getting double coverage from a second company. Problem solved!
I didn't hang up before verifying that with the two names I did recognize I hadn't been paying them double Part D premiums. Darn it! A tiny part of me was hoping somehow their records had gotten screwed up enough that I'd been being charged double premiums and would get a refund. Sighhhh.... no such luck.
In all this process I had noted one (other) weird thing on their form. They showed an expiration date on my prescription coverage of what theoretically will be my 100th birthday! As stated above, I don't anticipate that to be an issue. But I wonder if, should I make it that long, do they stop covering my pharmacy needs? Would I need a different company? Policy? Do they reward my potential longevity with free meds after 100?
Yeah, I don't believe that either. It might be fun to check however, if it ever becomes relevant. But right now it's supper time. Hmm, ham sandwich with pepperjack on raisin toast? With or without chive & onion cream cheese? There's almost a teaspoon left of that. Bye!
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