DO WE ALL remember that Social Security numbers are coming off our Medicare cards?
Right: More than a few of us have been observing for years that, in a time when identity theft is rampant and the whole world is telling us to safeguard our Social Security numbers, it seems less than logical to have said numbers on our Medicare cards that get used, handed around, copied and recorded on a pretty regular basis.
Stunningly, last year Congress figured it out, too. (It was probably the “less than logical” part that got them).
So, Congress told the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to fix that.
Stunningly, they are.
We’re all going to get new Medicare cards with new numbers — unique, randomly assigned numbers — referred to as Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers.
Completed by 2019
CMS is going to start sending us our new cards in April of next year and plan to have the project completed by April of 2019.
I understand that there will be a 21-month transition period in which medical providers will be able to use either number.
Obviously, this isn’t a crisis and you don’t need to do anything.
Just try to remember this next year when a new Medicare card appears in the mail and you think, “What the … ?”
As always, if you’re not sure, call any of the numbers at the end of this column and decent people will help you figure it out.
Here’s something different: Not long ago, I was honored to spend an evening with a number of pretty bright folks during which we discussed all manner of things such as Medicare, Medicaid, durable powers of attorney, etc.
They asked, in their own way, what was most likely to “get” them, expecting to hear Alzheimer’s, stroke, heart attack, terminal national idiocy or any number of other things.
Alas, everyone looked a bit disappointed when I said, “Falls.”
Yep, regular old, down-home, run-of-the-mill “I fell over.”
I confess that falls seem to lack the drama or mythical proportions of some of these other afflictions, and certainly those will get a lot of us unless we do our best to avoid them.
But the fact is that falls will put more of us in rehab facilities, nursing homes and morgues than a lot of the others put together.
And trust me, good people, I’ve seen it happen way too many times: Someone falls over, for any number of reasons, and a chain of events begins that can — way too often — change a life forever and not usually for the better.
Anything could cause a fall
Maybe it’s an extension cord or a slippery throw rug.
Maybe it’s a slippery floor or slippery shoes.
Maybe it’s that one step down or one step up.
Maybe it’s a dark (or slippery) stairway.
Maybe it’s lousy balance due to prescription medications.
Maybe it’s standing on the dining room chair with the cracked leg in order to reach the first-aid supplies that are on the top shelf. (You think I’m kidding?)
Maybe it’s lousy vision because of lousy glasses.
OK, OK — you get the point, right?
And we can actually prevent most of these by just paying attention.
Ask a friend for help
Look around your house and see what you see. Better yet, get a buddy to come over and see what they see, because maybe we’ve stopped seeing “it.”
Then, when you’ve identified the domestic death traps that you’re living with, do something about them.
I know and I understand.
It often comes down to pride and ego: We don’t want to admit we aren’t 19 anymore, so we avoid grab-bars and sane shoes and nightlights and asking the real 19-year-old next door to move the Band-Aids to a lower cupboard, but I just can’t resist the opportunity to say it: Pride cometh before a fall.
And the damage is done.
If you’re lucky, only your pride will be damaged. If you’re not, you’re a statistic.
Yes, I am the one who often says that all of life isn’t about “safety,” but I’m also the one who doesn’t play chicken with freight trains.
Personally, and within the bounds of reason, I’d prefer to increase the likelihood of having the life I want to have, especially when it’s usually pretty cheap and pretty easy.
Move and walk
And, as long as I’m dancing on the edge of “preachy,” here’s how to improve how well you move and walk: move and walk.
Yeah, all rright, I’ll be done, but I’ll tell you this: I’d rather have you sitting there rolling your eyes than on the phone with your family whose first question is, “What do we do now?”
I’d just as soon see that you didn’t need to use that new Medicare number.
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Mark Harvey is director of Clallam/Jefferson Senior Information & Assistance, which operates through the Olympic Area Agency on Aging. He is also a member of the Community Advocates for Rural Elders partnership. He can be reached at 360-452-3221 (Port Angeles-Sequim), 360-385-2552 (Jefferson County) or 360-374-9496 (West End), or by emailing harvemb@dshs.wa.gov.
