Tom described a situation in which he was buying two batteries for a scooter. Since he was paying out-of-pocket, they discounted the price $30 below the price they charged Medicare. “Something fishy’s going on,” he said.
Joyce shared this story about her ex-husband. He had recently had an accident at work. This was ‘covered’ by Workmen's Compensation. The emergency visit went fine but he needed two heparin shots in follow-up visits to the doctor. The doctor wanted $1,000 up-front even though they knew that Workmen’s Comp would cover it (although the receiving the reimbursement often took months). “They wouldn’t give him the shots without the up-front payment.” and it ended up that his boss loaned him the money. “See,” Joyce added, “even when you do have insurance sometimes it doesn't mean nothing.”
I met Sharyn at the DaVinci salon. No, I wasn’t going in for a pedicure, which, with the condition my feet were in wouldn’t have been easy anyway. Actually, the peeked out the door and asked, “Are you that doctor walking from Chicago to DC?” and invited me in for a glass of water. Being busy with clients, there was no opportunity to get any stories. But they all were supportive of the Walk. “We sure need healthcare reform,” Sharyn said, as her co-workers gathered about along with the clients reclining in their chairs nodded in agreement.
“I've got no money for insurance,” Shirley, working behind the counter at Reeve's marketplace, told me. “Just Medicare, pretty healthy, I'm lucky.” She told me how she didn’t sign up for the AARP prescription medication plan. “It didn’t make sense,” she said. “AARP wasn’t really paying and they seemed to be getting the higher priced drugs anyway.”
