Thanks for reposting this article. I saw it but didn't really pay attention. Medicare is a great program and most seniors couldn't live without it. But, it has its pitfalls like anything else. This article really spells them out. Here is a link that might be useful: Satisfying Retirement

gibby- That's an unfortunate situation in Queensland, but I think it has no relevance to the overall merits of managed healthcare. There have been much bigger scandals in the U.S. with how money gets spent in our own, patchwork system. I happen to have friends and relatives who have healthcare provided by government-managed programs in a number of foreign countries, and it is far superior to the expensive mess we have here. This includes Canada, Germany, France, Norway, Japan, and Australia. Essentially everyone is covered, there is no such thing as a pre-existing condition that will prevent you from being treated, the premiums are modest, and no one has to go bankrupt due to a catastrophic illness. When I talk to my friends and relatives, they find our opposition to universal healthcare coverage in this country to be inexplicable. And I don't want to be told about people having care rationed under these systems or waiting months or years for an operation, because it's generally not true. There may be a wait for a non-urgent, elective procedure, but serious problems get addressed. One example: my 24 year old daughter who lives and works in Canada and has full healthcare coverage for $54/month. She had a physical three weeks before leaving for a 3-month trip to Asia. The doctor found something that needed to be immediately addressed and she was scheduled for major surgery within a week. The operation went as planned, she's fine, and she was able to recover in time to go on the trip. As I recall, the total bill was $8 for some pain meds. People in most other industrialized countries consider quality healthcare a right that they shouldn't have to worry about, and expect their governments to provide it. It's only in this country that we accept private healthcare companies enriching themselves at our expense by paying their CEO's tens of millions of dollars, draining off huge portions of our premium money for "expenses" rather than actual medical services, and denying people coverage when they most need it. There are aspects of medicine in this country that are the best in the world, but most of us do not need cutting edge treatment every time we visit a doctor. What we need is competent, quality, and affordable care, and to be reassured that they can't take it away from us if we are unlucky. This is a wonderful country, but it is not the best in every thing, and particularly in providing our citizens with healthcare. Those who think it is unquestionably superior need to see what the rest of the world offers its citizens. I was unfortunate enough to have an accident on a train in France several years ago. When we reached the next small town, there was an ambulance waiting, I was admitted to a hospital, examined, X-rayed, stitched up, and released in 4 hours. And it was free. Oh, and it was even a national holiday, too.

Whether de jure or de facto, there's far too much lingering segregation and too many people with racist attitudes in the US. It's shameful. Had I been a doc at the hospital where the disgusting incident raee describes happened, I would have had a long talk with the patient. And might have suggested they would be happier at another hospital, because at "my hospital", patients don't choose staff docs and that thoughts coming from attitudes like his were never followed.

My DH's former employer also uses VIA. We just spoke with them yesterday and the day before to: a) Be sure we are each registered as having POA's for one another; and b) Select our Part D plans for 2019. When we called to do the Part D we discovered they had failed to 'save' the call from the day before, and only half of the POA information had been registered. Selecting the Part D plans involves two different people at VIA. The first person helps you select the plan(s), then you're transferred to a second person who sets up the legal and financial end. We selected our two (different) plans, then were transferred. The first person had sent along the wrong plans for *both* of us, so we had to go back through those loops again with another 'selection' employee. The second part took ages (due to having to listen to legal boiler plate) but it got done eventually. I'm concerned about our Medicare supplement coverage for 2019. We each have a high deductible Plan F with BSCS. The company isn't going to want *me* again anyway, now that I require expensive treatment for multiple myeloma -- even if they weren't trying to eliminate Plan F in general.