Seniors should prepare now for tomorrow

My uncle died last year. He was 80 and had lived in a state-run nursing home for about 10 years. He never thought to get Medicare supplement insurance and I saw him and his family suffer because of it. My aunt struggled with how to cover the ever-growing mountain of bills from co-payments and hospitalizations. There was so much that Medicare just didn’t cover. It was stressful for the whole family. My cousins often stepped in to help my aunt pay her bills. And seeing my uncle living in the nursing home was a painful experience. He wasn’t happy and neither was anyone else. He wanted to be home with my aunt. If he had purchased a Medicare supplement policy, he might have been able to live at home longer and receive in-home nursing care. But the family couldn’t afford that option and the constant care really took its toll on my aunt and cousins. In fact, my aunt had a nasty fall trying to help my uncle out of bed and broke her collar bone. That was when the family made the difficult decision to put Uncle Pete in the home. And my Aunt Susie now suffers from arthritis in her shoulder and back. She also incurred medical expenses due to the fall, including co-payments and deductibles for a hospitalization, treatment and subsequent physical therapy.

Sometimes I think people just automatically assume that Medicare will take care of everything when they are eligible to receive it. That is an inaccurate and dangerous assumption. I found out about Go Medigap when I did some research on Medicare supplement insurance. This search was prompted by seeing what my aunt and uncle and their children were going through. Their grandchildren even witnessed some of the pain their parents were going through, which should not have had to happen. It is a sad reality that most seniors will encounter some type of serious health issue in their later years. Prostate, breast, lung and other forms of cancer, heart disease, strokes and heart attacks, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and myriad other illnesses are tragic and devastating enough for individuals and their families. At least by having a Medicare supplement plan, you can take control of your future and better prepare for what might come. It can save you, your spouse and your family a great deal of misery and pain, as well as worry over financial concerns from deductibles, co-payments, costly medications and other expenses that, many times, you don’t even think about until it’s too late.