It Pays to be Nice

I have spent the day on the telephone. Since Mom has moved out of the area that her insurance covered, she can change Medicare Rx plans. I talked to the old plan folks, and they told me what to do. Except they told me wrong about setting up the new plan. They said call Social Security. When I did, the lady there fussed at me and asked why I was calling her with this situation, she didn't handle health plans, everyone was always passing the buck to them since they were a big nation-wide entity. Wow! That tirade was something I wasn't expecting! I apologized and explained that I was told to call her number and could she suggest another agency or number that could help me. I guess she wasn't expecting a civil answer, but her tone changed immediately. She told me to call Medicare and then carried on a bit more conversation than I really needed by that time about how many people call for so many unreasonable things. I thanked her again for her help and was glad to hang up. Whew!

The lady from Medicare was GREAT! She went through Mom's medications with me, helped me find a Rx plan that covered them all and then set Mom up on a new one. She was so helpful and friendly, I was impressed. I have plan numbers, confirmation numbers, and a few numbers that I'm not sure what they are, but by July 1, Mom will be covered here. I've changed her address with Social Security (which Ms. Medicare told me was important to have the address in sync) and I did that ONLINE, lest I accidentally get that other woman again.

For a day that started out with 1 hour of sleep, I feel I've done a whole day's work.