Personal essays
Which opinions do we choose to listen to
Price shopping
Last night I signed up for Medicare.
There will be choices I need to make soon - but for now there really aren’t any.
I signed up for Part A which covers hospitalization and Part B which covers doctors and various office visits and labs.
There are many asterisks in those previous two sentences.
First, people who are still working and have medical benefits often don’t sign up for Part B until they retire.
I work for myself and pay for my own medical insurance.
By the way, I have a $3000 deductible and still my medical insurance is my biggest monthly expense. I can’t wait until Medicare kicks in in September.
Second, the word “covers” is not quite correct. Part A doesn’t cover all of every possible hospital stay and Part B doesn’t cover all of the doctors visits and so on.
And so most people choose to either buy a supplement or the more recently introduced advantage plan.
The supplement is often referred to as “gap insurance” as it is meant to cover the gaps in Medicare. Even though you pay the provider a monthly fee, you’re mainly dealing directly with Medicare.
The advantage plan is often free.
“Wait, free? That’s got to be better,” you say.
Well, of course, nothing is free. The coverage is free but you pay fees when you go in to see your doctor. Also, that insurance company is your first point of contact and Medicare operates in the background.
I remember Kim on the phone day after day arguing with insurance companies about claims they denied. I just don’t feel up to that.
Also, with advantage you have to go to approved doctors in their network.
So free but not free in either meaning of free.
Honestly, for the most part they probably work out about the same.
I talked to several insurance brokers and many of them pushed the advantage plan.
When I finally met someone who wasn’t, I asked him why the others did.
“Oh,” he said, “we make a lot more money if you choose advantage.”
But I don’t have to make a choice yet. In fact, I can’t make a choice until I have my Medicare number.
That should take about a month.
Coffee
A week earlier I was in Dublin. As a friend drove me back to my hotel he pointed out a place called “Bread 41” and suggested I go there for coffee and pastry for breakfast the next day.
I happened to wake up early the next morning and saw that the cafe opened at 7.
I scrolled down and checked out a couple of reviews.
The third one was from a woman from Tipperary. Now, I know that it’s a long way to Tipperary, but her complaint was very specific. She felt that “people from the countryside are being discriminated against.”
Why?
Bread 41 doesn’t believe in disposable, single-use cups.
If you are enjoying your coffee and pastry there, they’ll serve you in a ceramic mug. If you want to take the coffee with you, they’ll serve it to you in a reusable coffee cup and charge you 5 Euros.
I loved two things about the review.
One, she praised the pastries and the prices - she just had that one specific complaint. She actually gave them a rating of four out of five. Often someone with an axe to grind leaves a one star review.
Two, I now understood the biases of the owners of Bread 41. I love that they have the courage of their convictions and are willing to lose business over it. This was a place I had to visit and support.
I walked over to the cafe and ordered an Almond Croissant and a cup of tea and found a seat where I could peer into the kitchen every time the door opened from the back.
This was the best Almond Croissant I have ever had. It was light and airy and cut in half and then filled with a generous amount of filling that kept oozing out of the side as I ate it.
I could see why the quality of the bake overwhelmed the reviewer’s anger over not being able to get a cheap takeaway cup.
Choices
When I was first looking at Medicare plans, some of the agents pointed out that many of the plans include a free gym membership.
Nothing is free.
Last night the agent asked me if he’d shown me the plan with the membership or without.
I asked him what the difference was.
He looked it up and it was about $12/month.
On the one hand, that’s pretty cheap for a gym membership.
On the other hand it’s not free.
And most people don’t use free things but they at least try to use the things they’re paying for.
This is why I trust this guy.
Sure, he’s in business and he’ll make money off of whatever he signs me up for.
He’s been willing to show me the plans I’ve asked about, but he’s clearly steering me in a particular direction.
I’ve got a month or so to figure the rest of this out. But for now, I’ve signed up for Medicare Parts A and B.
Essay from Dim Sum Thinking Newsletter 219. Read the rest of the Newsletter or subscribe