Written by Bob Francis | 08 December 2010

Now that we have found a great place for my father to live I needed to review his medical coverage. He had a Medicare Advantage plan in Oregon but I didn’t know anything about Medicare. And why should I? I am only 53 and nowhere near Medicare age. My advice is that adult children need to get involved with their parents affairs before it gets to a crises mode.

Medicare has many different plans. This was a huge shock to me. Why so many plans? Because there are many different needs. I got the Medicare and You book and tried to make heads or tails out of it. My father is taking a fair amount of drugs daily. His health is good but he is falling a lot.

I knew I couldn’t decipher the plans my self and I didn’t really have the time because I was working two jobs. Once again I racked my brain to think of who to call. I new Tim Osterholm, owner at Elder Benefits Group and gave him a call. Tim is an independent Medicare Insurance agent. Before our meeting we needed to gather some information. I needed to have a list of current problems (diagnosis codes), medication list, veteran status (was he ever in the military and if so what were the dates) and how often he was in the hospital last year.

I understand most of it be why information about he veteran status? It turns out that he could be missing out on veteran benefits. More about this in another blog.

This means I need to get a hold of his medical records. I thought family could just call and request them. Boy was I wrong. I needed to have a Medical Power of Attorney to request the information my self (more on this in a latter blog). My father has very slurred speech but we were able to get across what it was we needed with his Primary Care Physician. I was on a roll! I figured we should get a copy of all of his records so we went on a calling spree to his Cardiologist, Neurologist, Orthopedic Surgeon, Dentist, Ophthalmologist, Pharmacist, Hospital where we had surgery and the Rehabilitation Center.

I know that a physician call call and request the information but I felt better having a copy since I knew nothing of his medical condition before now. I was starting to get the feeling that I was the parent now! But I needed to make sure he gets the best care and is in the best situation as he lives out the rest of his life. Besides, having the information is quicker I have found out when going into an appointment. I also can ask the right questions!

During our meeting with Tim I learned a lot about Medicare and about the plans. Everything about Medicare parts A, B, C, D, Medigap, the greatly feared Donut hole, Supplemental Insurance and much more. I learned that depending on what his needs are or what we might anticipate for the year that we had to make some assumptions and pick a policy or plan that would fit that assumption. One word of advice is to not pick a plan based on out of pocket or the lowest co-pays. There are so many plans to pick from you need to choose wisely and with good information and facts. My head is spinning. Why didn’t I make a point of getting involved sooner?

It took a lot of time to gather the information but now I have it! I have learned a lot and will be ready for when I reach that age too. If you are in WA State, Idaho I would highly recommend Tim.

Please get involved with your parents before you are thrust into this situation and have to make a ton of sacrifices. With a little bit of planning all this would have been a lot smoother for me and my father.