This one was not there when I made my list-in-progress a few years ago, but once I thought about it, it is a significant addition to that list for me, but maybe not for Americans who pay taxes (unlike you-know-who at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue).
This past Monday I applied for Medicare. I will start to collect that benefit in October, when I turn 65.
It is significant because I'll have been around for 8+ years as a cancer survivor in October, which is the ultimate revenge on the Prairie Dogs and their offspring--chemotherapy and radiation treatments. I certainly did not get to this point unscathed, but I'm alive and kicking, which always beats the alternative.
Unless you are a contributing member of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Georgia and are not on Medicare yourself, my shift from BC/BS to Medicare is not such good news, because come October, guess who'll be paying my medical bills? You, as an American taxpayer.
To put that into perspective, as part of the research for my book I've been tallying up just how much BC/BS has paid for my medical expenses. Just in the last two and a half years they've paid almost $400,000 in claims for me. That does not include the years of my treatments, or the jaw resection in 2014. BC/BS has agreed to send me the list of all claims paid leading up to and since my journeys in Cancer World. I should have that soon and will update this post when I know the medical tab since summer of 2008, when the first symptoms started. I'm guessing something North of $2 Million.
So, send some extra good vibes my way on a regular basis so your Medicare taxes don't see a Mikey-bump in the coming years. I'd say something about how the Republicans' and Trump's plans might affect that, but I have no clue on how their Repeal-and-Replace fiasco is going to turn out. By all indications, neither do they.
Terry had her own age-related milestone this week. She applied for Social Security to start in October, when she'll be fully retired once and for all. Also not good news for the American taxpayer--her grandmother lived to 99, and her mother is 87 and still going strong. So, whatever part of longevity comes from genes predicts many years of SS benefits for Terry--well outdistancing the amount she will have paid into the system. Guess who gets to pay for that? The millenials.
I love it.
Live long and prosper.
mike
