Annmarie Throckmorton, M.A.
- Feb 7, 2019

Head Over Heels

I tried to think a pleasant thought to orient myself into a good mental state for the long drive to and from Chicago today for my late father's loss of leg due to nursing home neglect lawsuit. I fell two days ago, carrying my laundry from the dryer to the closet and my foot just failed to get the message from my brain, and down I went, head over heels, not literally but it felt that way. I am still quite achy and worried about small fractures considering how hard I fell. My great-grandmother passed that way, she fell in her kitchen, broke her hip, and died in pain a few months later. So that is not the pleasant thought that I was seeking.

I called Humana yet again to find out why my two reimbursements for "durable medical equipment", a quad cane (one with four prongs instead of one contact point) and a wheeled walker with a seat for when I get tired, have been delayed for over six months; and Humana could not find any record of my applications, then Humana found my applications but they were incorrect, then Humana realized that one of my applications was correct and the other just needed the vendor's EIN which Humana has but Humana will not put it on my application. Humana says that I myself must get the vendor's EIN (which the vendor initially refused to provide to me) and then I must resubmit my entire application to Humana. Humana did not know when I would get a determination on my applications for reimbursement, and Humana did not care. This is also not the pleasant thought that I was seeking.

I was thinking of my USA-SSA Medicare-Humana health insurance benefits when I pulled on some Humana-issued compression stockings this morning. The compression stockings are expensive but good quality and they help with the pain in my legs, especially when I have to sit still and drive for hours. Every three months Humana gives me an "allowance" of $75 dollars, with which I may order items in their Over-The-Counter catalog, including these compression stockings in either beige or black (nothing fancy schmancy for Medicare recipients.) I always order the full amount of what constitutes a rebate of $225 per year. My health insurance premium is $2,276.80 per year. Whether I want it or not, the government deducts a health insurance premium of $189.73 per month, leaving me with a social security retirement benefit of $635.00 (after the health insurance premium deductions) per month. This is not nearly enough to live on, and because I have some small savings to live on, I qualify for absolutely zero other government benefits, until I run out of savings when I am eighty-something, or sooner if I am even slightly unlucky.

Still, I am grateful to have health insurance today, and that it is a pleasant thought. I am as prepared for the day as it is possible for me to be.