Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Drug Plans

About thirty years ago, all of my peers would become irritable when our children’s science fair projects were due. Constructing the display board was not an easy job unless you were a skilled carpenter. The three-sided display board didn’t come onto the market until our kids were in college.

The annual stress of yesteryear's science project has been replaced by today’s mandatory yearly reevaluating of my friends and my Medicare Part D coverage. We need to make sure our current carrier of Medicare Part D – the drug prescription program – meets our current needs. You see, individual carriers change their rules and prices every year.

When the program first started, all I had to do was call 1-800- Medicare, and a nice person took all my information – meaning all the drugs hubby and I take on a regular basis – and magically told me what carrier was best for each of us. And, what was most amazing for a government agency, they were right. This year that has changed. Every time I’ve called, the person on the phone told me something else or gave me misinformation.

To show you how this is wearing me down, yesterday when I called a carrier to verify the information the government gave me, I asked the man on the phone if GPS was one of the local pharmacies on the plan. After several minutes, the person said, “Miss, I can’t find any pharmacy by that name.”

Then I realized what I asked him and laughed. That night, while I packed for Thanksgiving in New York, hubby handed me his favorite navigational device. “Oh, the CVS,” I said.

He looked at me as if I was nuts. I wasn’t. Just tired and I still haven’t figured which plan is best!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Hot Air Cruise

The election is over and my prediction about Florida going to goof again was wrong. I am now a strong proponent of early voting. It worked out the snags and prevented my fellow Floridians from looking foolish.

Sadly, even though the election is over, the negative talking heads on radio and television haven’t given up. If I knew them, I would call them. I would tell them if they truly loved America, they all should take a six-month cruise – with each other. The only passengers on the ship should be those that work for the talking heads. Communication with civilization would be prohibited. That is the only way these talking heads and their listeners can have a real time-out.

I propose that Rush Limbaugh and Keith Olbermann should be the co-captains. They would be good at steering ships in storms, especially if a lot of hot wind is around. Bill O’Reilly and Rachel Maddow can be co-social directors with Hannity and Combs being their assistants. Hannity would be great at picking questions for trivia pursuit while Combs can lead ballroom dancing. The ship should only stop at ports that have no communication with the rest of the world.

With the talking heads gone, I think our country would have a better chance of letting election wounds heal quickly. Without daily inflammatory information vomiting over the airwaves, people would go back to listening to music while driving or, if they don’t like that, they can listen to books on tape. Instead of watching cable news, situation comedies will once again be in vogue – the kind that leaves audiences with smiles on their faces instead of twists in their guts. Families and friends who were on different political teams hopefully will end their heated dinner table arguments. Discussions will be based on pure facts, not quotes taken out of context.

What other benefits can you think of if the instigators of divisiveness leave the country for six months? And, if America gets used to no toxic programs influencing their lives, will they revert to old habits when the toxic talking heads return from their cruise to nowhere?