Did I even have dinner?

[howeird]

Very boring day turned not so boring for a little while. In the mail was a bill for about $75 for the recent ophthalmology visit, which should have been just the $20 co-pay. It seems their systems are not in sync. I've been without formal coverage since 3/1, but the pharmacy has filled two prescriptions at the usual co-pay, one of them after that appointment. Online check this afternoon shows I have no coverage. The day of the appointment showed I was covered. So I canceled tomorrow's ultrasound, explaining that I can't reschedule until Kaiser reinstates me under Medicare. I'm not bothered by the red tape as much as by the total lack of communications from Medicare, Social Security and Kaiser's San Diego Medicare office.

---

Drove to Lucky's, found sweetened condensed milk in plastic squeeze bottles. A huge improvement over the little cans which, once opened, had to be used right away because there are no lids which fit them. More expensive, of course, but not in the long run. Also found sugar free peach preserves to replace the jar which shattered.

Further down the road was the library, I set up the laptop, and enjoyed the free electricity, wi-fi and eye candy for 90 minutes until the "Appy Hour" started. Librarian gave a presentation on phone photo apps, using her iphone plugged into their computer projector. Neat. I learned stuff. She was a good presenter. As usual, nobody was in the room at the start time except me and another couple. People wandered in as late as half an hour.

One thing I learned is she gave this presentation at the senior center last week. I had completely forgotten about that pace. It's new and large and has lots of programs, but is a total waste for anyone with a day job, because it closes at 5 pm, and on weekends it is hijacked by church services. I'll have to see what's on for tomorrow, because I have no plans.

Home, had sticky rice & sweetened condensed milk with a mango. And then some more sticky rice & sweetened condensed milk. Watched some mindless TV. NFL Network kept playing the same NFL draft program over and over. Spent some time online looking for jobs. Got a resume in to Cisco and Harmonic, and later to Intel. LinkedIn had a couple of possibilities, but borderline.

Took the bike out, it was 83° with a mild breeze. Rode a mile inside the mobile home park. Discovered a row of houses I did not know existed. And found the extra vehicle storage space which the lease mentions. Usually that gate is closed and not see-through.

Went onto the porch and read more Robbins, and saw next door neighbor Lee across the street at the Hindu couple's place, with the husband, doing some major landscaping. Mostly pulling out underbrush. I hope the don't remove the bird of paradise or the tall lavendar which the hummers and bees love.

After the sun was down I watered all the gardens and porch plants.

More TV, nothing on Tivo. More online job hunting.

Plans for tomorrow:
Nothing now that there is no radiology session
Will check out the senior center web site

Comments

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

I assume you're aware your insurance is still going to get you 3 ways:


1 Part B premium.
2 Kaiser Medigap premium (I assume you're staying with Kaiser)
3 Copays on meds

I know you probably don't want to deal with it, but you MAY qualify for the same Kaiser program I'm getting. If your current income from unemployment is below, oh, I think it's like 24K or 27K, somewhere in there, you can get the MFA (Medical Financial Assistance) program for a 6 month period, if it's the same in CA. It would mean free meds. You still have to pay for premiums and anything that's not through Kaiser.

[howeird]

Thanks. Yeah, I know about the part B premium, and what Kaiser here calls "Advantage Plus" premium. Those are far, far less than what COBRA would cost. Kaiser's pretty clear about all the co-pay amounts.

California has Medi-Cal for low incomes, and I need to check out that and Kaiser, but with my 3 months of income, a bonus and severance I'm pretty sure I'm above the poverty line.

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure they count the bonus or the severance, because they're one-time, not repeating. Probably just the unemployment. Medi-cal, if you qualified, would pay your part B premiums. You probably don't qualify.