Friday, October 11, 2024

Fall and a PSA

Greetings on this beautiful autumn day, most of which was spent sitting in front of laptops until it was time to leave to get flu shots.  Why, you wonder.  I will address this later on the page.  But first, some fall foliage.

I've posted this picture many times this summer, notice that the familiar yellow streak across this middle of the lake is gone.  The milfoil has quit blooming and is once again sinking to the bottom of the lake.


The lake is really low.  Flow from the Spokane River is down, and not the banks are visible.


Yellow trees on the way home.


This yard gets many leaves.

So, back to the laptops.  Medicare open enrollment starts October 15.  If you are on heritage Medicare, ie not Medicare Advantage, or Medicare C as it's also called, this is the year to pay attention to your plans.  Our monthly premium for Plan D went from $3.37 per month, to $38 per month.  The deductible doubled.  Our Medigap policy premium is going up 15.8%.  Plan D is up due to the cap on insulin prices, the $2,000 limit on drug costs for seniors, and general greed and malfeasance.  So, we will be building a spreadsheet to see who is paying how much for what, and adding in the monthly premium to get the most bang for the buck.  I, personally, am considering a zero monthly premium plan because my two generic drugs are cheap on Cost Plus Drugs.  Jim's generics are not, so that will require some thought.  We went to sleep on it last year, and it was OK, this year is different.

Carry on and keep calm.


4 comments:

  1. Our Part D monthly premium is also set to go up more than double next year. Any prescription drug cost controls and benefits for consumers made by the Biden administration are immediately countered by insurance companies by raising their premiums. Once again big pharma and insurance companies stick it to us. Bastards.

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  2. Love the shots of the lake, the blue sky and water are always lovely to see. The fall colours are much further along here (of course) and the trees are busily shedding their leaves.
    My head hurts thinking about all the math that is required for your deliberations for medical insurance plans. Good luck with your decisions.

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  3. I don't know anything about Medicare and it gives me a headache to think about it. (Even though it's in our future if we ever move back to the states.) Funny how that milfoil just vanishes.

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  4. Tracking costs has been on my mind; I need to get a round to it. Aroundtuit.

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