Original Medicare: There Are Some Good Things

On this blog, I have written -- here and elsewhere -- about some of the problems those of us who depend on Original Medicare have with it and other difficult aspects of using Medicare. Sorry but I'm just like everyone else; I tend to be critical but not always constructively.  

So I decided -- as the annual Medicare Part C and Part D enrollment period begins -- to make a list of the best things about Original Medicare. After this article, I'll go back to pointing out all its faults and what to watch out for as you review your coverage for 2014

1. You already paid for most of it. Don't believe the propaganda that you are a moocher that is getting something for nothing.  You paid taxes for 50 years, both payroll and income, and its financially demonstrable that those taxes at net present value -- plus the Medicare premiums you continue to pay until they put you in the ground -- cover what you will get out of the Medicare system unless you live to be well over 85. (And if you do live that long, it's OK to mooch in my opinion.)

2. It reminds you to use it. It's important to get annual checkups and tests and looking at that Medicare premium deduction from your SS check every months should remind you to get them. (Granted not all Medicare supplements cover annual check ups and not all the tests are that useful but more on that in future posts. The important thing is to get you up off your duff and into the doctor's office before the EMTs have to come to your house and take you screaming down Route 6 in an ambulance.)

3. It's fairly easy to use. Or at least, it's no more difficult to deal with than the Registry or the IRS. (Notice I underlined use. It's not so easy to choose, which is why I write these articles.)

4. Almost every doctor and hospital accepts it. There is a lot of publicity about the fact that doctors might drop Medicare patients. I believe in what I call the Willie Sutton effect when it comes to doctors dropping Medicare patients. Willie Sutton said he robbed banks because that's where the money is. I think doctors will keep taking Medicare patients because we're the ones that get sick.

5. There is all kinds of assistance if you need it. There is assistance to help you sign up at most senior centers.  And there is assistance to help you pay for both Original Medicare insurance and Medicare supplements if you need that assistance. Again, you paid for it for 50 years. Do not hesitate to ask for that assistance.