Thanks for being there!
I'll be 65 in August and am getting bombarded with Medicare offers to cover what Medicare itself doesn't cover.
I just joined the VA health system; I'm Priority 5 (space avaialble from what I understand) and am eligible for prescription drugs ($8/month per prescription). The VA benefit is reviewed every year and I think I could lose it if my income increases (which I'm trying to do). I suffered a back injury in the Marines in 1966 (went to sick bay several times a week, in Vietnam, for heat treatments) and went to a VA hospital a few times after discharge from the Marines, also in 1966. After a few visits I stopped going to the VA - my pain was worse when I went there as they manipulated my legs to see the level/location of pain and the place was not sanitary. On one of my last visits (perhaps my last visit) to the VA the doctor told me to go accross the street to another building as he was putting me in for a disability pension. I was 22 and would not admit to "disability" and declined. For most of the next 43 years I've had private (from work) medical insurance and daily, manageable back pain. However, about a year ago, my finances started to fall apart and I called the VA to ask about benefits. They said they didn't have my complete records, but the header indicated I was denied benefits. I explained that I declined benefits, I was not denied by the VA. They gave me instructions to download a form; I didn't do it, I was still embarrassed. More recently, I applied for medical benefits and was accepted for prescription and Priority 5. I now work part time and earn about $1000 a month and recieve $1735 in Social Security benefits. My legacy bills, including about $160,000 in credit card debt, mean there's nothing left and I dropped my private health insurance.
Finally, the questions:
... If I decide to get additional Medicare coverage, what will make most doctors happy to see me as a medicare patient
... Any other advise you might offer.
Thanks!
