lawyer.

Over and over again!

My pet peeve is a secondary company contracted by Blue Cross (Medicare Advantage) wanting to come into my home and manage all my health care. They get paid for every score, after all. (I googled it.)

I was polite the first couple phone calls but eventually told them that a corporation was not coming into my living room and quit calling me.

I haven't heard from them since the pandemic started but I'm pretty sure they'll be calling back at some point.

Besides that, I go to a pain clinic monthly and I don't need some do-gooder interfering with that.

I would tell them I have doctors I go to for that kind of thing. They know me way better than whoever you are and I don’t need your help.

My supplemental Medicare and Rx companies all were calling and wanting to review my health and medications. At first I cooperated. Now I've told them to never call. My healthcare professionals review my history and medications every time I have contact with them (which is too often). There is no need for third parties to review this stuff.

First it was in home, and when I turned that down, it was virtual, and my wife was included. Nope.

I really like it when they send e-mails telling me I have a prescription coming due for a refill. No shit! I can count and read the dates on the bottles without help!

I'm most definitely not.

UHC wanted an in-home visit to discuss meds and such and I was not friendly. No fucking way. I see a cardiologist, pulmonologist, and a general practitioner, I'll be damned if I even straighten up the apartment for a total stranger.

They also keep bugging me about a bone density test. Yes, I have osteoporosis, but it isn't as though there is a cure. And no, I am not having another colonoscopy, thank you very much. I'm 74 years old, whatever I have I will either live with it, or die with it. I'm tired.

Now, if someone is physically compromised with a lot of health and mobility issues and nobody to help them, I can see where this would be useful.

I told my APN that I'm of the mindset, and at the stage of life, where quality is far more important than quantity.

Like you, I'm 74 and I am not going to have the plethora of tests they think someone my age should have. I have never had a colonoscopy and at this age never will. I also will never have another pap smear (haven't had one since my very early 60's), mammogram, etc. I love your statement that whatever I have I will either live with or die with, though I'm not tired at all.

If you haven't already read it, I remember a blurb taken from an interview with Barbara Ehrenreich in the AARP Bulletin about two years ago where she says basically the same thing as you did. It was from a book she wrote (and she does have some very impressive credentials outside of being an author) titled "Natural Causes". The book was a bit dry at times, but I still found it fascinating.

With regard to UHC and others calling and wanting in home assessments, I'm wondering why I never get those calls? I don't go to doctors unless I'm sick with something that isn't clearing up. I have UHC insurance too. I also don't answer my phone if I don't recognize the number, so maybe that's more the reason I haven't had these calls.

Had not read that article, but maybe I'll look it up. When I get the AARP mag, I usually trash it along with most of the other stuff I get.

Maybe I'm prime target for in home assessment (they specifically mentioned going over my meds as well as lifestyle), because I take so damn many of them. And blood pressure, pre-diabetes, high cholesterol are all related somewhat to weight, and I got some of that!

I don't take any meds, not even over the counter except for Zyrtec during the high pollen season for about three months. My blood pressure has been low throughout my entire adult life - about 100/65 or sometimes less. I've also been a normal weight my entire adult life and am very active. I have a tiny bit of arthritis under one kneecap and that gives me some achyness occasionally if I do too much. I walk at the huge metropark near my house every day all year round. I used to be a runner in my 30's and 40's but that was taking a toll on my back, so I started walking and biking instead. I don't bike as much as I used to because I live in Michigan where biking in winter is impossible. I am not much for indoor exercise. I'd rather be outdoors, so I bundle up and go out even in 15o weather. I haven't died yet! People here hole up in their houses for months on end and do nothing but sit and watch TV. I am not much of a sitter.

Yeah, I don't think much of the AARP stuff myself, but that one article in the Bulletin caught my eye. Then I just had to get her book and read it. My daughter is a genealogist and has done our family's history for over 25 years. My parents both died young and most people think that means I don't have longevity in my family, but in looking at generations prior to theirs I see that they lived into their 80's and their lives were tougher in many ways. My parents had a pretty awful marriage and a lot of children with a lot of stresses/poverty and I am quite sure that's why they died young. Plus, sometimes I think how long one lives is also pretty darned random and in no way an indication of the quality of a life. My mother-in-law was one of the meanest, nastiest women I'd ever met who had no friends and even her sisters didn't like her much. That old bat lived to be 96 and just died about a year ago.

I've had 2 so far, and each time they found and removed some polyps. It's my understanding that most polyps do not turn into cancer, but there's no way to be sure which ones will. I would much rather not take my chances with those things.

It's a personal choice, of course, but my personal choice is to continue having regular colonoscopies.

I got a gift card for $50.

I just resent the hard pressure I get after I've politely declined.

like they get a bonus if they get you to agree to something. Kind of like a salesperson.

They already sent me the info so if I wanted the visit, I would have called them.

And yet they insist, although I tell them I visit my regular physician every three months. Anything else is overkill, AFAIC. I detest the hardline pressure they put on you to do these. I don't see them as anything for MY benefit. They are, however, of a benefit to the insurance provider. They can get record of your meds from your mouth (or your written list), and no one can tell me that when enough people are using a certain medication, that it works in our favor... I see them raising the tier on that med, or raising the copay, if they continue to cover it at all. (I've had a few medicines that suddenly disappeared from their formulary the following year, although I'd been taking the med for years prior, and always had it covered by insurance.)

Beyond the sheer nosiness and intrusion into my home, whether virtual or in-person, I resent the assumption that because I'm over 65, I can no longer do what I think is best for myself and must be told (or reminded) by some person who doesn't know me from Eve. I've been told Medicare insists these well-person checks are done once a year at the beginning of the year. I haven't followed through on that, tho... I get too frustrated waiting for a free line. One of these days I'm going to follow up on it, cause I would sure love to catch these busybodies in an out-and-out lie!

I'm not letting any nosey stranger into my house, virtually or in person. I'm totally competent and can both take care of myself and make my own decisions.

I have true Medicare, and no one bothers me with this kind of thing.

I plan on retiring in approximately one year and going on Medicare. It's all soooo confusing, and one of the topics I need to understand is the advantages/disadvantages of an Advantage plan versus "true" Medicare.

As you can imagine, I don't recommend it.

Here's a link:

https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-medicare-advantage-plan-to-kill

So far so good. Having a brain aneurysm coiled and Stent soon. No issues with coverage. Cost may run about 5% of total. Not sure though.

The healthier they can make you, the less they'll have to pay out in claims.
We didn't mind it, in fact the PA found an irregular heartbeat in Miz t and she'll have a cardiologist check it out.

We didn't feel our privacy had been invaded, but feel free to say no.
Med Advantage is saving us about $7,000 annually.

That's it.
The more preventive medicine they can get you to do, the less, much more expensive (for them), advanced treatment they'll have to pay for.

Personally, I want to be as free from debilitating disease for as long as possible.
The insurance company has my best interests at heart, although from a purely financial standpoint.

We both want the same thing, just for different reasons.
During my first home visit the nurse discovered I had PAD (Peripheral Artery Disease) in my lower legs, while my PCP had never asked me to remove the compression stockings that SHE had recommended to see the condition of my legs.

This nurse got me referred to a vascular surgeon and he's treating me now.

Yes, I welcome the home health visit.

I'm going in for my yearly check up on Tuesday. I have every confidence in the APN I see. She's very good about listening to me. Truthfully, I have very little to tell her.

If in the future I think one of those visits would be beneficial for me, I'll schedule one. Right now my activity and energy level are about what they were 20+ years ago. For me, at this stage, these visits just smack of unwanted and unnecessary intrusive 'intervention'. I'm pretty good at taking care of myself and will fully accept the consequences should there be any.

Like I always say - to each their own.