Catching Up! PART II

By Bill Craig
I couldn't get all I wanted to write on the previous entry, hence this Part II.
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A Word Or Two About Medicare And Drug Costs
Or
Life In The Gap

If you're on Medicare or have a loved one who is, you'll know what I mean. For those of you who don't here's quick and dirty explanation.

Medicare allows your Part D insurance carrier to pay only a set amount (about $1900.00) a year for drug costs. When you reach that limit, you'll be in "the gap" or "the donut hole" as it is more popularly known. You'll know it right away because (for 2012), you will pay 86% and your chosen Part D carrier will pay 14% of your drug bill. This is for generic drugs only. Sometimes brand-name manufacturers will offer a discount, but until you're out of the hole (when you reach about $4300.00 or the first of the following year) you'll suffer financially.

Recently Dondra and I were floored when our pharmacist  rang up our drug total (6 prescriptions) and the cost was $315.00! Her drugs understandably cost more than mine and the majority of them are brand-name, but still we didn't see that one coming and it was an all-time record drug expense for both of us.

I got a laugh from the pharmacist and waiting customers when I said to Dondra, "I think it'd be cheaper if we just went ahead and died, Honey,"
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My Dementia Symptoms 

I saved this one for last because I'm thinking it may be time for another of those psychological tests which measure dementia and are a whole battery of tests lasting up to 3 hours or more.

The reason I think it's time is because lately I have begun noticing myself "living in the moment" a lot more than usual. This is my own term and not one you may see in a psychology magazine.

To me, living in the moment means a kind of "avoidance-compensation" for my short-term memory loss. For instance, I can be watching a movie or the news on TV, and while I do grasp things as they are being said, a minute or so later I couldn't tell you what even a sentence of the content was. I could tell you what it was about maybe, but if you were to ask me, "What did he/she say?", I couldn't tell you.

Why is this happening?

I can't say, but as I wrote above, it's a form of avoidance. That is, it's more comfortable not to have to remember stuff, so I don't try anymore.

What do you think?
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End Of Part II

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