I will turn 65 in January, so I decided today to apply for medicare, which one is supposed to do during the three months prior to turning 65. I began by going online and typing “medicare” into Google, which took me to the Social Security website, where, after navigating through multiple pages and FAQs, I was informed that it was not possible to apply for Medicare online.
Instead there was an 800 number to call. I called the number and sat through five or ten minutes of recorded messages about all sorts of government programs, none of which were of any interest to me. The robot then began asking me questions, which I answered in my clear, accent-free, radio-quality voice. Everything I said was misunderstood. Eventually I was put on hold. After a considerable wait, I was informed by the robot, that if I didn’t want to wait, I could have the Social Security office call me back. That sounded good, so I answered “Yes”, entered my phone number, and hung up.
Awhile later, a real person called me back, asked me a few questions, and then put me on hold. I listened to static and muzak for awhile, and the real person finally came back on the line and told me that she would have to transfer me to someone else, which would take some time. I said, “I thought that the call back was supposed to make it so I didn’t have to wait.” She said that was right, that that’s why I got to talk to her, but now I would need to talk to somebody else and there would be a wait. However, she said that if I wanted to go to the local office, I could make an appointment to do that. Did I want to do that? “Yes,” I replied. “OK,” she said, and put me on hold. I waited for awhile listening to muzak and finally hung up.
I went back to the Social Security website and looked up the address of my local office, got in the car and drove there, took a number and sat down. After 15 or 20 minutes, my number was called, and I told the nice gentleman that I wanted to apply for Medicare. He informed me that they were very backed up and it would be a two or three hour wait, or I could make an appointment. I chose the appointment. There was an opening at 10 am next Tuesday. If I couldn’t make it then, I would have to wait until sometime in December. I said that next Tuesday would be fine, and he printed out a letter for me confirming the appointment and telling me to be sure and bring my birth certificate.
As I understand it, Obama’s plan for government health care will pay for itself by eliminating all the bureaucracy and inefficiency of the private insurance companies that currently burden our health care system. That is certainly something I, for one, am looking forward to.