The Fleet Report and Daily for Tuesday February 20th, 2024

[57redbird]

15 minutes ago, dfish said:

Good afternoon!

 

I hope everyone is having a better afternoon than I am.  Dealing with insurance companies, pharmacy coverage, and Social Security has almost done me in.

 

The State of Ohio says I owe them $87 for 2021.  No, I don't, but I'll deal with that another day.

Social Security says I owe them $273 for Medicare since my SS payment is less than the monthly Medicare premium.  Apparently they are not crediting me with the monthly payments I have been making.  

The insurance company processed the claim classifying the doctor as a specialist, so they applied a co-pay.  The doctor is my primary care doctor and there is no co-pay. The hospital billing department just yelled over me when I was trying to explain to them that the insurance company had questions about their coding and refused to consider a mistake.  I told them I would not pay the co-pay.

The pharmacy insurance is charging me a co-pay for my blood sugar test strips which are covered under Medicare Part B at no expense.  They said they can't coordinate the benefits like the local pharmacy can and that they cannot transfer the prescription to their local pharmacy (CVS in both cases).

The prescription insurance is charging me a $275 deductible on a prescription that is not subject to a deductible.  

The Michigan Secretary of State wants me to renew my license plate tags for $196.

 

That has been my day other than the pedicure, which was great!

ARGGHHH!!!!

[superoma]

20 minutes ago, dfish said:

Good afternoon!

 

I hope everyone is having a better afternoon than I am.  Dealing with insurance companies, pharmacy coverage, and Social Security has almost done me in.

 

The State of Ohio says I owe them $87 for 2021.  No, I don't, but I'll deal with that another day.

Social Security says I owe them $273 for Medicare since my SS payment is less than the monthly Medicare premium.  Apparently they are not crediting me with the monthly payments I have been making.  

The insurance company processed the claim classifying the doctor as a specialist, so they applied a co-pay.  The doctor is my primary care doctor and there is no co-pay. The hospital billing department just yelled over me when I was trying to explain to them that the insurance company had questions about their coding and refused to consider a mistake.  I told them I would not pay the co-pay.

The pharmacy insurance is charging me a co-pay for my blood sugar test strips which are covered under Medicare Part B at no expense.  They said they can't coordinate the benefits like the local pharmacy can and that they cannot transfer the prescription to their local pharmacy (CVS in both cases).

The prescription insurance is charging me a $275 deductible on a prescription that is not subject to a deductible.  

The Michigan Secretary of State wants me to renew my license plate tags for $196.

 

That has been my day other than the pedicure, which was great!

What a pain in the you know what. Makes you want to run away.

[rafinmd]

Debbie,  your day gives a whole new meaning to "Welcome Home"

 

Ouch!

 

Roy

[ottahand7]

@grapau27 sympathy to you and Pauline in remembrance of her dear father.  Thank you for sharing the lovely photo. 

 

@Sharon in AZ I am sorry to read your DH caught Covid.  Even though my self test was negative they insisted on their PCR test.  I wanted a flu test.  Next cruise we will travel with both a flu and COVID test.  

 

@StLouisCruisers the submarine we saw had a black hull.  No photos from the old days.  

[ottahand7]

We are sitting here in our Anchorage and we have been hearing bagpipes for 20 minutes. We can't tell if it coming from the Seaview pool or the Princess ship.  

[grapau27]

31 minutes ago, dfish said:

Good afternoon!

 

I hope everyone is having a better afternoon than I am.  Dealing with insurance companies, pharmacy coverage, and Social Security has almost done me in.

 

The State of Ohio says I owe them $87 for 2021.  No, I don't, but I'll deal with that another day.

Social Security says I owe them $273 for Medicare since my SS payment is less than the monthly Medicare premium.  Apparently they are not crediting me with the monthly payments I have been making.  

The insurance company processed the claim classifying the doctor as a specialist, so they applied a co-pay.  The doctor is my primary care doctor and there is no co-pay. The hospital billing department just yelled over me when I was trying to explain to them that the insurance company had questions about their coding and refused to consider a mistake.  I told them I would not pay the co-pay.

The pharmacy insurance is charging me a co-pay for my blood sugar test strips which are covered under Medicare Part B at no expense.  They said they can't coordinate the benefits like the local pharmacy can and that they cannot transfer the prescription to their local pharmacy (CVS in both cases).

The prescription insurance is charging me a $275 deductible on a prescription that is not subject to a deductible.  

The Michigan Secretary of State wants me to renew my license plate tags for $196.

 

That has been my day other than the pedicure, which was great!

Wow Debbie what a day.

I'm so pleased we live in England and have our free NHS which covers all of our treatments and prescriptions for over 60s.

[Crazy For Cats]

Hello Everyone, thanks for today’s daily fleet report.  It was an in office day, with half the group out for winter break it was very quiet.  DH is on a work trip so tonight and tomorrow it’s just me and the cats.  I’d like a piece of cherry pie but there’s none in the house, I’ll settle for a chocolate muffin from work.  @dfish ugh on your day, I hope you get things resolved correctly. @USN59-79 Bon Voyage.

I hope everyone has a good rest of the day.

 

[YourWorldWithBill]

I realize this question is really for CC, but I thought some of the HAL posters here might have had a similar experience with a quick fix.

 

Until a couple of days ago I received emails for all the postings on the HAL message board, as I had chosen "following" and "send notification and email when new content is posted."

 

Then that stopped. I looked at the pages, signed out and back in, etc. No emails.

Any suggestions?

Maybe I should just be happy to avoid all the emails, but they motivate me!

[Crazy For Cats]

After I posted I checked my email.  My PCC got back to me about adding the AARP perk to our existing bookings.  She was successful!  

[rafinmd]

10 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

I realize this question is really for CC, but I thought some of the HAL posters here might have had a similar experience with a quick fix.

 

Until a couple of days ago I received emails for all the postings on the HAL message board, as I had chosen "following" and "send notification and email when new content is posted."

 

Then that stopped. I looked at the pages, signed out and back in, etc. No emails.

Any suggestions?

Maybe I should just be happy to avoid all the emails, but they motivate me!

Welcome to the fleet report and daily.  I've found cc emails a bit wonky but I've been using a new way of keeping up with my followed content, with this link:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/discover/623

 

Roy

[dfish]

59 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

 

Debbie, I couldn't like your post.  You have had a really bad day dealing with all those issues.  I hope tomorrow brings you better luck.

 

Lenda

 

 

Just spent an hour on the phone with SS.  The agent has referred the issue to someone else because she can't figure out how they computed the figure they came up with.  What fun!

 

58 minutes ago, 57redbird said:

ARGGHHH!!!!

 

You said it!

 

52 minutes ago, superoma said:

What a pain in the you know what. Makes you want to run away.

 

Yep!

48 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Debbie,  your day gives a whole new meaning to "Welcome Home"

 

Ouch!

 

Roy

 

It will get better!  I hope.

 

40 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Wow Debbie what a day.

I'm so pleased we live in England and have our free NHS which covers all of our treatments and prescriptions for over 60s.

 

But, what would I do for fun if I didn't have to do this?

 

37 minutes ago, Crazy For Cats said:

Hello Everyone, thanks for today’s daily fleet report.  It was an in office day, with half the group out for winter break it was very quiet.  DH is on a work trip so tonight and tomorrow it’s just me and the cats.  I’d like a piece of cherry pie but there’s none in the house, I’ll settle for a chocolate muffin from work.  @dfish ugh on your day, I hope you get things resolved correctly. @USN59-79 Bon Voyage.

I hope everyone has a good rest of the day.

 

 

Ugh is right.

 

The mail order pharmacy says they can't bill Medicare Part B like the local pharmacy can.  This is CVS Caremark.  They said a local CVS pharmacy can do that, but they cannot transfer the prescription to the local CVS.  I have to have my doctor send a new script over to the local place.  As for the other issue, I have filed a complaint with STRS Ohio, who manages my health care benefits and who orchestrated this change.  

[YourWorldWithBill]

33 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Welcome to the fleet report and daily.  I've found cc emails a bit wonky but I've been using a new way of keeping up with my followed content, with this link:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/discover/623

 

Roy

Thanks; very helpful.

[Crazy For Cats]

10 minutes ago, dfish said:

 

 

Just spent an hour on the phone with SS.  The agent has referred the issue to someone else because she can't figure out how they computed the figure they came up with.  What fun!

 

 

You said it!

 

 

Yep!

 

It will get better!  I hope.

 

 

But, what would I do for fun if I didn't have to do this?

 

 

Ugh is right.

 

The mail order pharmacy says they can't bill Medicare Part B like the local pharmacy can.  This is CVS Caremark.  They said a local CVS pharmacy can do that, but they cannot transfer the prescription to the local CVS.  I have to have my doctor send a new script over to the local place.  As for the other issue, I have filed a complaint with STRS Ohio, who manages my health care benefits and who orchestrated this change.  

Last year our health plan switch from ExpressScripts to CVS Caremark.  CVS is more difficult to deal with.  Someone in my group went on Medicare and CVS made him start from the beginning for all his meds, even though they had all the information.

[57redbird]

@USN59-79  You left at the wrong time --- it's 52 & sunny here.  Have a great cruise!

[kazu]

1 hour ago, dfish said:

Good afternoon!

 

I hope everyone is having a better afternoon than I am.  Dealing with insurance companies, pharmacy coverage, and Social Security has almost done me in.

 

The State of Ohio says I owe them $87 for 2021.  No, I don't, but I'll deal with that another day.

Social Security says I owe them $273 for Medicare since my SS payment is less than the monthly Medicare premium.  Apparently they are not crediting me with the monthly payments I have been making.  

The insurance company processed the claim classifying the doctor as a specialist, so they applied a co-pay.  The doctor is my primary care doctor and there is no co-pay. The hospital billing department just yelled over me when I was trying to explain to them that the insurance company had questions about their coding and refused to consider a mistake.  I told them I would not pay the co-pay.

The pharmacy insurance is charging me a co-pay for my blood sugar test strips which are covered under Medicare Part B at no expense.  They said they can't coordinate the benefits like the local pharmacy can and that they cannot transfer the prescription to their local pharmacy (CVS in both cases).

The prescription insurance is charging me a $275 deductible on a prescription that is not subject to a deductible.  

The Michigan Secretary of State wants me to renew my license plate tags for $196.

 

That has been my day other than the pedicure, which was great!

 

Oh Crap!  That’s so crazy Debbie. 😡 

 

Although I don’t have to deal with your insurance issues in Canada (thankfully), I know all too well what it is like to have to fight insurance companies.  I hate bureaucracy and B.S.  I wish you luck and an improved day tomorrow with this ridiculousness  🤞 

[dfish]

1 hour ago, Crazy For Cats said:

Last year our health plan switch from ExpressScripts to CVS Caremark.  CVS is more difficult to deal with.  Someone in my group went on Medicare and CVS made him start from the beginning for all his meds, even though they had all the information.

 

We had Caremark a long time ago.  I had problems with them then as well.  I had one prescription that they shorted me on the last fill claiming the doctor wrote the prescription incorrectly.  They claimed they borrowed against future prescriptions to fill the first three.  The local pharmacist explained to me that that is illegal.  They can dispense less than ordered, but not more.  

 

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

Oh Crap!  That’s so crazy Debbie. 😡 

 

Although I don’t have to deal with your insurance issues in Canada (thankfully), I know all too well what it is like to have to fight insurance companies.  I hate bureaucracy and B.S.  I wish you luck and an improved day tomorrow with this ridiculousness  🤞 

 

I am jealous!  Our system is overly complicated and that is on purpose. They do it so people give up and just pay.  I won't let them off the hook on that.  

[Haljo1935]

6 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Pauline thanks you all today for the nice messages on her late dad's memory.

Don't tell her I posted her and Sarah's photo from our last meal on February 9th🥰

 

Lovely photo!

[Haljo1935]

2 hours ago, 57redbird said:

ARGGHHH!!!!

This! @dfish hope your day got better.

[Sharon in AZ]

Thank you all for the well wishes for Craig. He is feeling better and even went for a long walk today. He had a dental appointment scheduled for today so I did a self test for him yesterday and it was negative but I still told him to reschedule since he is still coughing. We both have dental appointments on Friday so we will self test again Thursday. I’m still mad at myself for not taking some tests. Thank you for your offer Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser, somehow I just couldn’t think straight and ask my dear friends. Debbie @dfish, goodness!  What a mess with your insurance. Having dealt with insurance companies for my entire career in the medical field I totally understand and feel for you. I did surgery authorization for years and then specialty pharmaceutical authorizations for years. 
 

 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info.

[Cruzin Terri]

Sorry I haven’t posted.  I am just too tired.

Maybe tomorrow.

God Bless,

Terri

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

6 hours ago, Crazy For Cats said:

After I posted I checked my email.  My PCC got back to me about adding the AARP perk to our existing bookings.  She was successful!  

 

That is great news.  It's a really ni e perk.

 

3 hours ago, dfish said:

 

We had Caremark a long time ago.  I had problems with them then as well.  I had one prescription that they shorted me on the last fill claiming the doctor wrote the prescription incorrectly.  They claimed they borrowed against future prescriptions to fill the first three.  The local pharmacist explained to me that that is illegal.  They can dispense less than ordered, but not more.  

 

 

I am jealous!  Our system is overly complicated and that is on purpose. They do it so people give up and just pay.  I won't let them off the hook on that.  

 

I agree our system is a mess.  At least with original Medicare and a top supplement, we don't have co-pays or need referrals.  The best part about turning 65 many years ago was telling our private insurance company what they could do with their policy.

 

Lenda

[AV8rix]

10 hours ago, Sharon in AZ said:

We have had a very stressful and tiring ending of our cruise. Craig became ill with what I thought was a cold but he was coughing; when he went to medical onboard he tested positive for covid. I tested negative and have had no symptoms and tested again after getting home. He was confined to our cabin. I tired to stay away as much as possible. I don’t think I’ll ever get him back on a BHB again, at least for a long while. Having had covid during two special cruises, the Med June 2022 and this one, is just too much for him to get over. I might have to sail solo for a few years. I would love to go back to Hawaii again, there is much to see. BTW, medical charges $100 to see the doctor and $777 for Plaxlovid and $38 for a covid self test. Yes, I forgot to bring my own tests. I’ll be sending it in to the insurance.

Bummer, but I gather he's doing well now if y'all were able to go on a city tour after disembarking.  Anyway, let me know when your thinking about your next solo cruise, as I enjoyed our time together on Volendam last year and would enjoy sailing with you again.

[AV8rix]

Y'know, my sorta neighbor Bruno @atexsix hasn't posted in nearly a month.  Wonder how his dad is doing?

[grapau27]

Good morning.

It is 46°F, raining and windy here at 09.00am.

I hope all of our absent friends are well.

@Seasick Sailor Joy.

@atexsix Bruno.

@marshhawk Annie.

As well as a few other regulars we have not heard from for over 1 year.