Number 247 - December 2003

More Computing for Seniors
by Roy J. Reese , Novacom Computer Club From the September 2003 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter
Back in the spring of 2001 I realized that I was heading into a long period of surgery and rehabilitation. My wife and I have enjoyed good health most of our lives so this was something new. I decided then to start keeping track of all the medical expenses. One reason for this is that my doctor requires money up front and it is up to Medicare and Tricare to reimburse me. If there are many of these visits I want to be sure I am getting all my money back.    I had never questioned whether Medicare or Tricare had done their job properly. I paid, got my refunds along with the Explanation of Benefits, put the money in the bank and that was that.    My record-keeping paid off from the beginning. My first claim to Tricare for Life was denied. Many phone calls, faxes, e-mails and letters followed. I was finally paid part of the claim about six months later. A charge of $8.95 for a chest x-ray was not paid and I finally paid the x-ray service. On June 3 of this year Tricare has finally paid the x-ray company. Hopefully I will get my money back.    Since then I have had to make five other claims of which only three have been satisfied.    One glitch turned up on a review of the 2002 record. It seems that the doctors insurance clerk simply forgot to send in a claim. I had to have a talk with her.    The spreadsheet described below is designed for my personal use. I have Medicare, Tricare for Life and Tricare Pharmacy insurance. We have no medical care requirements other than ourselves and a demanding cat. Most of our medicine comes from military pharmacies. One item that I left out is the cost of insurance. All that I have is the type B Medicare charge which comes out of our Social Security. Since I never get my hands on it I just add the total paid to the balance at the end of the year.    If your requirements are different then adjust the sheet to fit. For instance if you are not on Medicare you should add a column for your primary insurance and one for your secondary insurance. The insurance premiums should be added to the balance as paid. It is possible, of course, that you could have more than two policies. I don't have to deal with a deductible but you might want to factor it in with a separate column and a formula.	Construct a spreadsheet with thirteen columns (A - M) and as many rows as you think you might have doctors visits. I would suggest at least 50, more can be added later.    Label your columns as follows: A - Date, B - Doctor, C - Prescription, D - Med Cost, E - Payment/Co-payment, F - Medicare Refund, G - Tricare Refund, H - Total Paid, I - Balance, J - Medicare EOB, K - Tricare EOB, L - Remarks and M - Temporary Remarks.    Format your columns as follows: A - Date, B, C, J, K, L, and M as text and D, E, F, G, H, and I as currency.    Column H uses the formula @SUM(+En-Fn-Gn) where n is the row number. This places the total charge for a visit or prescription in column H. The formula in Excel reads =SUM(+En-Fn-Gn). The formula for the first active line for column I is @SUM(+Hn), for succeeding lines it is changed to @SUM(+In-1+Hn). These formulas continue down the columns and show the money you have spent to date. If you should be so lucky as to get a refund it will automatically adjust the bottom line.    For column B - Doctor - fill in the doctor's name and the initials of the patient. I am assuming that this will be used for a family. The Med Cost (Medicare Approved Cost) column is included so that you may calculate what your medical cost might have been without Medicare. The Medicare and Tricare Refund columns come into play when you see a doctor who does not Accept Assignment. These doctors are permitted to charge 15% over the Medicare approved charge and to collect at the time of service. The doctor sends a claim in your name to Medicare and to any secondary insurance for your reimbursement.    If all goes as planned the total cost for each visit or prescription purchase will show up in column H and the total spent to date will show in column I. Columns J and K are used to check off the Medicare and Tricare EOB (Explanation of Benefits) when it arrives. In some cases there will be several EOBs for one visit or procedure due to the way the doctors bill the insurance companies.    I think you will find plenty of uses for columns L and M. I use L for the purpose of the visit and M for reminders or questions.
Number 247 - December 2003