Medicare Adventure

[JayhawkSD]

7. This is just the latest chapter in this saga.

Up until recently my wife was still working and we were covered by her employer. When she retired and we signed up for Medicare that turned into a real adventure, complicated by the failure of her employer to cancel the coverage.

I carefully handed over the new cards, Medicare and the supplemental insurance, to doctors offices after the change and told them to be sure to bill Medicare and not United Healthcare. Of course they didn't switch. which should have resulted in their bills being rejected. Unfortunately, United Healthcare paid and the provider wanted copays from us.

No, I said, wrong. Medicare pays and then AARP Insurance pays whatever Medicare doesn't. Confusion was rampant.

So when people started billing Medicare, Medicare said they were secondary payer and primary had to be billed first, because they knew the United Healthcare policy was still extant. So I had to get my wife's employer to cancel the United Healthcare policy, and convince Medicare that they are primary.

Then everyone who had been paid by United Healthcare had to sent that money back and rebill Medicare, who was supposed to send the bill on to AARP Insurance for payment of the balance but failed to do so.

Then, in order to get the balance paid, some of the bills had to be sent to AARP insurance and some of them had to be rebilled to Medicare.

Sorry for my language, but the only word which adequately describes that part of the adventure is "clusterfuck."