(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Fall Shots Season: Some Medicare Changes [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-09-03 Last week Hubby and I were in our pharmacy, picking up refills. Since I’d read here on KOS a couple days earlier that the new version of covid shots were starting to hit the market, I asked. Good news! They’d just come in that morning, so recently, in fact, there were no people with appointments yet to get theirs. We obviously were geezers, qualifying to get ours ASAP. Did we want ours now? Boy, sure, you betcha! Did we need our covid cards? Nope. The “system” kept track. Since we’d changed states, it must be national. So just fill out a sheet of information, like always required before any shots, and wait on their chairs. While the shots were getting ready, whatever that entailed, the man preparing to give them stepped out with a few questions. Did we also want our flu shots? We declined, saying we always got them in October. It was just simpler to remember, October = flu shots, go get them. And they lasted longer into the flu season. How about pneumonia shots? Hubby’d had one, I had both after 65, for bacterial and fungal kinds. I’d been told I was set for life. Au contraire! The old ones didn’t last that long after all, but a new one had come out which was much better. And yes, Medicare covered it. We signed up for that too. How about tetanus? Hubby had no clue when his last one was, so he signed up. I knew I didn’t need one, but threw a question back: Last time I was required to get a DPT, not just a tetanus shot. I wasn’t worried even then about diphtheria and whooping cough, having had all those shots decades before, but it was the only alternative. Had things changed? Yes, a tetanus only booster was now available, also covered by Medicare. Good to know for a few years out. Last on his list was shingles. We’d both had our Shingrix shots. We’d also both paid for them, at a rate of $175. Apiece! I’d bitten that bullet a few years earlier, managing to fit it into the budget, even after having the original shingles shot. Dad had shingles and was tormented by it for a long time. Like me, my brother got the shot when it first came out, but then also had shingles. So when Shingrix came out, I wasn’t taking chances, and with each shot regretted the practice from earlier years of having “chickenpox parties”, where one kid came down with them so parents exposed everybody to “get it over with while they’re young” with the belief we’d be sparing them increased misery if they caught it as adults. Now, Hubby and I didn’t need to repeat the Shingrix shots, but if we hadn’t had them yet, Medicare paid for those now also. Same for the RSV shot. Hubby walked away with three jabs, I with two. Yes, our arms are a bit sore yet, but only when pushed on. Our budgets are fine, and we’ll be back next month for flu shots. I know most of us here support getting immunizations and keeping up with them. I have no clue about insurance for the younger set, but for everybody on Medicare Part D, I suggest you check into the most recent recommendations and find out what is covered now that wasn’t before. There’s a lot as we age we can’t control. Why not do the simple, free things we can? [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/3/2267617/-Fall-Shots-Season-Some-Medicare-Changes?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/