Shot in the arm; kick in the butt

I got my seasonal flu shot at CVS yesterday. Because CVS is the prescription provider with a relationship with my insurance company, I figured it would be covered in full or with a copay. After waiting in line for about 15 minutes I was informed that my insurance (covers lots of people in these parts) wasn't one of those accepted. Seems the company giving the shots was a subcontractor. I went ahead and paid the $30 and made sure I held on to my receipt hoping Southern Health would reimburse me.

The retired Navy veteran in line behind me, nudged me and showed me his Medicare card. He was a talkative and well-informed guy who started the conversation by saying "we should have Medicare for all. Works great." He went on to talk about all the misinformation (he actually said "lies") that had been spread a the town hall meetings. We had a long conversation which ended when it was my turn to get stuck. The last thing he said was, "President Obama promised a public option and said he'd veto anything that falls short. We need to hold him to it."

First we need to get a strong public option to the President's desk. And that means getting it through the Senate. Rachel Maddow has a suggestion for cracking heads and twisting arms:

To wrap up my story, I came home and called the insurance company's customer service. After dancing through the phone tree and listening to messages I finally got to a rep. She was very polite and helpful... and seemed surprised that my card wasn't accepted. She promised to mail a reimbursement form and indicated I should get about $20 back.

You might say "all's well that end's well." Perhaps so. But, why should something this simple be such a hassle? How many similarly situated people would forget to call or would lose the receipt... or worse, not gotten the flu shot? It shouldn't be this tough

The Navy vet had it right. We need Medicare for all.