I don't remember us interacting on this topic at TOP. We used to have a Lyme Disease Awareness group, and for a couple years we did a diary series in May.

Took me 5 years and 24 docs before someone suggested Lyme - I was unaware of it. Was CDC positive. Figured out I'd been infected 16 years before I was diagnosed, but I'd only really been debilitated the last 5. Since we know pretty clearly when I was infected (because of a medical incident which came about soon after), I also suspect my father's Parkinson's diagnosis was incorrect. He was seated next to me in tall grasses when I was infected. He and my stepmother refused to complete testing. Every time he would get abx for various infections, he would rally from the shape he was in due to 'Parkinson's'. It was torture for me that they refused to see somebody who could rule it in or out. He passed on a few months ago now. I'm furious at what they do to obfuscate this disease.

I trust you're aware there are at least a small handful of Lymies (or people with family member Lyme) here who were previously at TOP. I tried for two or three years to get a panel at NN on the topic. Never made the first cut. Dr. Dworkin believes it's CT, of course, and that belief pervades.

I once had a running tally of people who said they got tested when they read the Lyme diaries - pretty sure it was more than a half dozen.

that we would almost certainly knock ourselves out of eligibility for Medigap Insurance, if we postpone enrollment until Mr M retires--likely by the end of next year.

Since we'll both become eligible for Medicare by next Spring, I'm still checking out all the Medigap and Part D plans.

If it weren't for the Medigap policy glitch, we would do the same thing (that you're doing), since we have extensive health insurance offerings--dental, eye, mental health, supplemental, cancer, etc.--through Mr M's employer.

Of course, our medical plan benefits have rapidly deteriorated since the ACA was enacted. OTOH, it would work really nicely as a 'primary' insurer, with Part A (which has no premium) and Part B as the 'secondary' insurer. It would have been less expensive, and better coverage for us, as well.

But to do that, we'd have to risk carrying twenty percent of the uncovered Medicare expenses, once Mr M retires. And we're not prepared to take that risk.

We can already see that we'll be 'taken to the cleaners'--compared to only carrying Medicare Part B, and our Group health premiums--when we enroll in Traditional Medicare, plus the other two types of plans.

BTW, some of the better, or more comprehensive first and/or high dollar Medigap Plans will be discontinued in 2020--due to the 'Doc Fix' legislation passed last Spring. We're keeping that in mind, as we make our selections.

Nice to chat with you!

Postscript: Did the Medicare folks inform you that you can be rated, or denied coverage altogether, if you don't sign up during your one-time initial Medigap enrollment period?

Mollie

“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit, and, therefore, to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)

National Mill Dog Rescue (NMDR) - Dogs Available For Adoption

Update: Misty May has been adopted. Yeah!

Thalidomide.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/08/science/frances-oldham-kelsey-fda-doct...