Bucket list item: Figure out Medicare

This is my year to go on Medicare. You would think that since I'm the youngest of seven siblings, I might benefit from my older siblings' knowledge of Medicare, but no. Something changes every year, and each of my siblings has had a different set of circumstances going in. Some Federal employees, some veterans, various combinations of health or prescription requirements. I'm having to figure out mine on my own.

The thing that is somewhat distressing is having to make decisions that will impact my health for years to come, at a point in my life when it is increasingly difficult to sort out all the "Parts" of Medicare. Fortunately, North Carolina and many States have agencies whose sole purpose in life is to help Seniors sort through the alphabet soup of Medicare. In NC it's called SHIIP, Seniors' Helath Insurance Information Program. www.ncshiip.com They were the first ones I called. I told them that I retired from the State Government, and they told me Medicare would pay 80% of my health claims, and then the State would kick in. My coverage with the State would be 80% of the remainder. Then they reminded me that I would have to pay the State deductible first....currently $600 per year, plus co-insurance if applicable....HUH?

So I started digging through my handy "Official Government Handbook" on Medicare. They really ought to get some 70-year-olds to review the language in that thing. There's Part A, that many people get "Premium free," unless you're one of the people who has to pay for it. (What?)

"If you choose to buy Part A, you must also have Part B and pay monthly premiums for both." (Didn't I hear a bunch of tea party folks complaining being forced to pay for health insurance under the Obama plan?) I started wondering if you could opt out of Medicare...maybe if you're healthy you could wait until you get older and have more health costs. Nope, Nope, Nope.

"If you don't buy Part A when you're first eligible, your monthly premium may go up 10%. You will have to pay the higher premium for twice the number of years you could have had Part A but didn't join." GEEZ!! Why didn't my hubby tell me all this when he signed up. Well, hubby is a Federal retiree who came along during the Reagan years when Federal employees were not under Social Security. He wasn't even sure if he would be covered by Medicare. He is, and he is also covered by the same health plan he had when he worked. He had to change providers when he moved to North Carolina, but he still has the same coverage. He doesn't have to get into the alphabet soup.

So anyway, I started digging into the handbook to see if I could get some relief from that $600 deductible and co-insurance, and read about Parts A through D. I'm still trying to figure out if the Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) will help me. The good people at SHIIP told me that my State Insurance would continue to cover my prescription drugs, so I don't need Part D. (The only good thing so far) I tried calling AARP, since they sent me their brochure of Medicare supplement plans. Plans A through D (not to be confused with Parts A through D) and plans E through J. The AARP person said I could not get a supplement since I already have the State plan as a supplement; that would make me over-insured. I could drop the State plan, but then I would lose the prescription drug coverage (no premium) and would have to get a Part D.

OH LAWD!! I'm going to have to call somebody to talk me through Medicare Advantage. Meanwhile the vultures are calling. The list of people turning 65 must be on a hot bulletin board somewhere. I have an appointment with my State Farm guy tomorrow to talk about home and car coverage. He'll probably bring out the Medicare kit.

Getting old sucks!!

Iron Man 2

Hammercy. I thought I had fallen into a testosterone pit. We went to the 12:30 showing. (After the 12:00, and before the 1:00, 1:30, 3:00, 3:30....) I think I was one of five women in the theater. First we had to see the previews of coming guy movies, "The A-Team," "Prince of Persia," "Robin Hood." Shrek got in there too, and next year's Spielberg movie. After all that action, the guys were really stoked. (Where do all these guys come from for a matinee on a Friday? I heard one say, "one of the advantages of being self-employed")

If you saw the first Iron Man, this one is more of the same, but more action, more villains, even Mickey Rourke as a Russian Physicist. And Samuel L Jackson is back. I'll have to update my Sam Jackson hair chart. This time he's bald with an eye patch. Robert Downey Jr as himself, same self-indulgent playboy, with the same arrogant sexual innuendos. Good guy fun. His side-kick "Rhodey" is played by Don Cheadle this time, taking over Terrence Howard's role - because, you know, they look so much alike. (stole that line from our local critic, Craig Lindsey, click here.)

I enjoyed it. I caught a snooze in there when they went into too much techno-babble. I give it three stars.

Amazon vs North Carolina

We all know State governments are hurting for revenue these days. I can't blame them for looking for some Mother-Lode of unpaid taxes. Those of us who shop online know the major online retailers who don't also have a brick and mortar store somewhere usually let us off without charging sales taxes. Amazon is very likely the biggest fish out there. I have shopped on Amazon for over 10 years. (Yikes!) And now time is coming to pay up.

Amazon has already provided the NC Department of Revenue the list of customers and what they paid Amazon since 2003. I shop frequently on Amazon, and I have no problem with that. I expect they will send me a bill for back sales taxes. The books and assorted stuff that I have bought wouldn't surprise anybody reading this, and would not raise any eyebrows anywhere.

The flak around the internet is about a potential witch-hunt by every state needing additional tax funds, and the violation of First Amendment rights by any State seeking a list of the items purchased by every Amazon customer living in the State. So Amazon is suing to keep that list of items private.

I haven't seen any article that mentions the issue of public information. I won't claim to be an expert on the Public Information Laws, but my prior responsibility as custodian of data within the State of NC tells me that any data collected by any State agency, unless it is exempt by law (Health records, certain personnel records, and a few other exemptions), is public information.

Even before every agency had a website for delivery of commonly requested public information, they had to deliver, or provide to anybody who made a proper request. The requester might have to pay a fee to cover the cost of collection and delivery, but if it's public, any John or Jane Doe (or more likely News Reporter) could ask and expect to receive. In an election year you can count on the local News and Disturber doing an Exposé of certain elected or appointed officials based on public information such as telephone calls and trip expense reports. Now the DOR wants to collect more information about the citizenry's buying habits even when bought with personal funds and used on personal time. Let's see...how many prospective Grand Jury members purchased "The Politician," the John Edwards exposé.

When the DOR sends me the bill for back sales tax, they don't have to cross-reference what I bought. I can look at my Amazon order history and confirm my own purchases for myself. OOPS, I just checked....there goes my 2009 tax refund, they haven't sent me yet.

Jeans That Fit

This is a topic that most women can relate to. Especially black women. It has certainly been one of my life-long challenges to find a pair of jeans that will cover my butt and also fit my waistline. I don't do low-riders, and I don't work as a plumber.

When I find a pair that fit, I usually try to buy more than one, same size, different color. That's another challenge. Then comes the issue of having the jeans keep their fit. A little bit of weight gain in the wrong place can relegate those great jeans to the back of the closet. Weight loss is less of a problem, but women don't like baggy jeans. And if you wash (and heaven forbid, dry) those jeans that fit, you can find yourself lying out on the bed with a pair of pliers trying to zip them up.

I got excited when Cookie Johnson was on Oprah introducing her line of jeans designed for the black female figure. But then she introduced the price too. You can purchase those wonderful figure-hugging jeans at Nordstroms and Nieman Marcus starting around $110 per pair. I also found them online today at Zappos in the same price range. That's at least twice what I want to pay for a pair of jeans.

Undeterred, I still continued my search. In October, I found what appeared to the perfect jeans online at Coldwater Creek (Natural Waist Curvy Bootcut Jeans). It was during one of their big sales, and the jeans cost $22.49. I didn't dare buy more than one, for fear they would fit. Coldwater Creek delivers quickly, and I tried those jeans as soon as they arrived. Perfect fit!!!

Then I remembered what one of Oprah's advisers had said about maintaining jeans that fit. He said, "Don't wash them. Freeze them." I remembered Oprah's mouth dropped open when he said it. He assured her that the freezing kills any funkiness on the jeans. She still looked skeptical, and I doubt that Oprah would even consider freezing her jeans. But I tried it. After I wore those jeans twice, I put them in a zip-loc bag and put them in the freezer for a couple of weeks. The next time I wanted to wear them, I pulled them out, hung them up long enough for them to get to room temperature, and wore them.

Now it's the end of April and I still haven't washed those jeans. I haven't spilled anything on them or worn them in mud or rain, or bathroom accident. They still smell fresh out of the freezer.

I have been back to Coldwater Creek several times trying to buy more of those same jeans, and the price was back up to $59.95 (OK, I'm cheap)....until today, I found them for $29.99 at their Outlet store. I tried buying two, but they only had one in my size....ARGHHH. After I get the new one, I'll take a chance and wash that first pair. But I'll freeze those new ones.

So if you see me wearing jeans that really look good, don't be coming up behind me with that Jill Scott, "Raheem...sniff, sniff."