At Last…

I’m covered by Medicare! It was official on the first of this month, and now I can buy all my meds without giving up an arm, a leg, and my firstborn male child. I was chatting with the pharmacist this morning about my new insurance, and she warned me that I would have co-pays with the meds…most of which are $2.95, and the other is a whole $1.88. Considering what a financial cluster-f##k it was to get most of them (I’ve had to skip the smaller dose of one of my anti-psychotics because they’re even more costly than the larger dose), I’m hardly upset. In fact, I’m ECSTATIC. I blew through all of my savings buying meds over the past two months, and it was getting downright scary.

Ironically, since my Social Security benefits have gone down due to the premiums for Part B and Part D, I’d probably be eligible for Medicaid again because my income is below the line now. But it would go back up again if I didn’t have to pay the premiums, which Medicaid covers, thus kicking me back up to where I was to start with. So I’m not going to bother, for obvious reasons.

This is also good because I see my new psychiatrist this Friday. I really hope I like him and he likes me. No one can ever replace my beloved Dr. Awesomesauce, but hopefully this doctor will at least be kind and compassionate, and know his stuff. If Dr. A had a fault, it was that he wasn’t always up to date on bipolar, hence his long-running ambivalence on my bipolar 1 diagnosis; the other three mental healthcare providers I’ve seen were unequivocal about it. We’ll see what the new guy has to say, anyway.

The one fly in the ointment is that Medicare covers only 80% of medical expenses, and I can’t afford a supplemental plan that pays for the rest.  That means I’m not going to be following up with the referrals my primary care provider, a Nurse Practitioner (NP), has already given me for podiatry, diabetic education and sleep medicine. He probably won’t be very happy about that, but hey, what can I do? I’ll barely be able to afford my co-pays for him and my new pdoc. Guess I can’t have everything. Besides, I don’t need diabetic education anyway—I already know what I’m supposed to do to control it and I’m doing very well, as evidenced by my lab work and random blood sugar checks.

Except for exercise. Try as I might, I can’t get motivated. Everything hurts. I’m still morbidly obese, and while I continue to lose weight, I’m really deconditioned from when I was heavier and NEVER got off the sofa except to go to the bathroom. I consider it a triumph when I’m able to walk through a grocery store, or go clothes shopping without having to sit down. Maybe when I’ve lost another thirty pounds or so I’ll be ready to do something…or not. I’m just not going to pressure myself about it when I’ve got so much else to deal with.

Anyway, Medicare has kicked in and I’m in business. I’m not a big fan of government, but I’m grateful for Social Security and its associated programs. I don’t even like to think about where I’d be without them, especially since Will passed away. It’s all good.