Just a simple haircut or is it?

simple haircut

How often do you get your hair cut? When I’m not growing my hair out, I get mine cut every six weeks. Simple right? Well, it’s not if you are in a nursing home under someone else’s care (or should I say thumb).

I have called the nursing home where my Mom is living out her final days every six weeks or so since June to set up a simple haircut appointment. I speak with Mary and I’ve been told she would set up the appointment for the following Friday.

However, I visited my Mom in November and she had not had her hair cut in months. I could not believe it. My Mom’s care is self-pay until her money runs out. She definitely has $20 for a simple haircut so what’s the problem you ask?

It seems Mom’s non-family member power of attorney doesn’t think she needs a haircut and won’t authorize it or use her money to pay for it. So, I sent a check for $20 on November 12th to the nursing home with a nice card asking them to schedule an appointment at their earliest convenience. Afterall, it’s just a simple haircut.

It’s now January 2020 and I checked my bank account the other day to see if the check I sent had been cashed. It had not. So I emailed the nursing home to inquire about the check and the haircut. They replied that their stylist had quit and the replacement was sick throughout December. Since they now have a new stylist my Mom will finally get her hair cut this Friday the 10th. Six months after I thought I scheduled Mom’s first haircut. A haircut is not so simple after all.

Pre-medicare insurance premium keeps going up

pre-medicare insurance premium
jrprewitt.com

I just received my new statement of earnings, taxes, and deductions for 2020. While I have received zero increases in my educator’s pension since I retired in 2015, my pre-medicare insurance premium keeps going up. From 6% of my pension in 2015 to over 18% in 2020. Happy new year!

In the May 2019 Fidelity Viewpoint we read, “According to Fidelity’s Decision to Retire research, conducted with the Stanford Center on Longevity,1 people retire an average of 4 years sooner than they had planned. For many who do have gap years between when they actually retired and when they had planned to retire, it can be a mad scramble to find affordable, quality health care coverage until they are eligible for Medicare at age 65.” I hadn’t planned to retire at age 55, but circumstances made it difficult for me to continue being a full time educator. I also felt I could scrape by working part time given my income and expenses at the time.

I receive $2,055.87 a month from the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association and I receive a health care subsidy as part of my retirement benefits. Since retiring, these are my out-of-pocket monthly premiums for identical coverage for one person with a $6,000 deductible:

  • $131.00 beginning August, 2015
  • $131.00 in 2016
  • $170.00 in 2017
  • $210.00 in 2018
  • $334.00 in 2019
  • $384.00 in 2020 ($4,608/year)

Since I am only 60, I have five more years before I can receive Medicare. I already work part time as a substitute teacher but I may have to get another job to keep up with the increase in health care. For instance a recent visit to the dermatologist for minor skin cancer treatment cost me over $800 and they want me to come back in January. I have already decided to cancel this appointment.

What options do we have if we aren’t 65? We could save our premiums and put them in a self-pay fund or maybe look into Medi-Share or Liberty Healthshare. “Medi-Share is a healthcare sharing ministry where members share each other’s medical bills and pray for each other’s medical challenges.” Liberty is similar. The Fidelity Viewpoint article cited above offers other possibilities.

The silver lining is my pension is eligible for a 1.25% cost of living increase in July. Let me see, that comes to an increase of $25.70/month. Wow! I guess it’s better than nothing.

What is your health care situation like? I would love to hear from you about what you are doing to offset this cost. Please leave me a comment and do have a Happy New Year!