AARP Bulletin - December 2009

Letters In the Know ;
WHAT I REALLY KNOW
About Holiday Travel
By Margaret Griffin, Austin, Texas

One Dec. 16, my sister called with the news
that my dad wasn’t expected to live more than a
couple of days. I faced the wearying task of finding a
last-minute roundtrip flight that would get me back
before Christmas. I was determined to spend the
holiday with my children and grandkids, a thought
that would sustain me through the week ahead. Mi-
raculously, I got a flight, reasonably priced, that would

NANCY JAMES, Brea, Calif.

What’s a citizen to do?

I don’t know what the average person can do to fight Medicare fraud and waste [“Busting Medicare Fraud,” November]. I had an incident with a physician I no longer use. My Medicare Explanation of Benefits form showed a payment for a procedure I had not received.

When I called the doctor’s office, I was told I had received it, but I knew different. So I called Medicare and really got the runaround, transferred from one section to another to another, with long wait times at each. After 30 minutes of waiting on hold, I finally just hung up and decided if they weren’t concerned, I couldn’t be either.

sional consultation. That’s why they
cost more than something bought off
the shelf.
PAUL J. TOBIN
United Spinal Association
Jackson Heights, N. Y.

LEFT: PLANE, ANDREW HOLT/GETTY IMAGES; WREATH, ISTOCKPHOTO; RIGHT: JURI SAMSONOV/ISTOCKPHOTO return me to them around midnight on Christmas Eve.

Pricey wheelchairs

“The Case of the Expensive Wheelchair” [Editor’s Letter] compares prices Medicare paid for wheelchairs versus the cost to suppliers and assumes the difference is due to fraud. We’re dead set against Medicare fraud, but this assumption fails to recognize that wheelchairs—like people—are not fungible.

A person with permanent paralysis needs an individualized wheelchair. Someone 6 feet 4 inches tall, paralyzed from the neck down with little use of hands, who depends on a breathing tube, needs a power wheelchair with individualized electronic controls and room for oxygen supplies.

Adapting wheelchairs to an individ-
ual is essential and requires profes-

Starting WWII
“Back on the Charts” [In the News]
began: “When Britain declared war
on Nazi Germany 70 years ago, it
not only launched World War II
but ….” How could you imply that
Britain, rather than Germany, began
World War II?
SIDNEY LEWINTER
Redondo Beach, Calif.

We appreciate hearing from you. Write to: Bulletin Editor, Dept. RF, 601 E. St. N. W., Washington, DC 20049; or e-mail to: Bulletin@aarp.org. Please include your address and phone number.

; Puzzle Answers (from page 21)

; YOUR TURN! Tell us what you really know about gossip. E-mail your true essay of up to 400 words to whatiknow@aarp.org or mail it to “What I Really Know,” AARP Bulletin, 601 E St. N. W., Washington, DC 20049. Please include your name, phone number and e-mail address. Volume of submissions prevents us from responding to all of them.