Cow time! Today's topic: Medicare, or to be specific the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) (with a gratuitous mention of knitting on the job).

Now I work with a medical system and handle Medicare claims for a living. I've been working with Medicare (and for a time Medicaid) for 15 years. I enjoy it. Really. I'd rather deal with Medicare than the other insurance companies who are out there. And when they decide to make changes, I pretty much go with the flow, make my adjustments, and move on.

Today was not a good day. I sat for 4 ungodly hours with only my knitting to keep me sane during a training session where my fellow listeners and I sat and heard the presenter give out incorrect information. There were folks who were very new to Medicare billing receiving time-consuming directions on sending their claims. Now these training teleconferences aren't Academy award winners by any means, but at least give correct information gang! I did 6 rows on my Tasha Tudor shawl until I ran out of yarn then switched to making a preemie cap. I knew I kept a set of needles at work for a reason....=8)

CMS has also let someone loose on their website to revamp and reorganize it. The results are broken links, missing information, and a website that had before been a valuable tool to a worthless piece of crap.

I'm glad I don't have to handle anything that was affected by the Medicare Modernization Act. I tried to figure out what I would have to pay if I was a Medicare beneficiary and signed up on the plan and gave up. And I deal with them for a living, kids! Can you imagine what your parents, grandparents, older siblings, and so forth are dealing with?

So that's my cow for today. Oh yeah. When buying canned cream soup to use for cooking, be sure to read the label carefully. I thought I had picked up two cans of cream of celery. One turned out to be cream of broccoli. It smelled of old man fart when heated and could only be disguised by very cheap tuna fish. You know, the 49 cents a can generic label stuff that your cats won't touch.