Sam Bauman: Reading ‘back when’ for seniors

Most seniors can look back on the readings of their youths — the “Nancy Drew” mysteries, “Through the Looking Glass,” “The Rover Boys” and “Pulp Fiction.” As adults, we gravitated to more serious works such as John Steinbeck or John O’Hara and the pages of The New Yorker. But the most important reading we had was that of Ernest Hemingway, “The Sun Also Rises,” “A Farewell to Arms,” and the prize-winning short novel “The Old Man and the Sea.”

I was reminded of Hemingway by an article in the New York Review of Books (December 2015) and I realized I hadn’t read anything by Hemingway for months or perhaps years. I dug around the nooks of my apartment, but I could only find one Hemingway book, “The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway,” (1939).

Then I remembered that I gave “A Farewell to Arms” and “The Sun Also Rises” to my son Nick a while back. (Have to check and see if he has read them). But I can remember some things such as the opening chapter of “A Farewell to Arms.” It’s a very subtle, quiet piece, just a battalion of Italian troops marching along a dusty road, coating trees and leaves with their dust. They are marching toward the Alto Adige to battle Austrians. (Hemingway was wounded in that battle while he was an ambulance driver.)

That opening chapter sets the tone, not much is gained, something is lost. It’s quiet but beautiful and foreshadows the section on the retreat from Caporetto that was such a disaster. (Personal note: while living and reporting from Italy I visited the site. About all I found was a high stack of bones of the unknowns who died there in the war.)

“The Sun Also Rises” is a biblical quote, and the novel brings the Running of the Bulls at Pamplona to public attention along with Hemingway’s statements that removing details can tell more than leaving them. “The Sun” was Hemingway’s first big success. “The Old Man and the Sea” is a story of a fisherman and his fight to bring in his catch. Beautiful.

Seniors might want to search out two of Hemingway’s short stories, “The Big Two Hearted River,” parts one and two. These are about a wounded man seeking a new life. He sets up camp, fishes and nets a trout and dines on it. In the morning he goes fishing, moving to the edge of a bog. He knows the big fish is waiting in there but he doesn’t want to face the challenge. Both stories are about coming back to life, and they are not the usual Hemingway. Find them and enjoy.

ER bill surprises

You need help so you head for the nearest emergency room, insurance in hand. A survey found that ER bills are the biggest section of what is owed.

Your insurance may not pay the two-thirds of ER doctors who are independent contractors who may not be in your insurance plan. Any out-of-network doctor or lab can bill you for whatever service your insurance doesn’t cover, commonly called balance billing.

If your insurance doesn’t cover ambulance, you may be billed more than $2,200, depending on where you live and the service you receiver en route. But there are strategies that may help, notes the Consumer Reports on Health.

Ask your insurance company for documentation of what is and isn’t covered. The insurer’s website or handbook may be out of date. Your insurer can tell you which local hospitals take your insurance. You can also ask the billing department at your hospital if the ER doctors take part in your insurance plan.

Under the Affordable Care Act, if you need emergency help the bill cannot be higher than your in-network insurance. But the law doesn’t prevent out-of-network providers from billing you for the remainder after you’ve received care. When you fill out admission forms, this is the time to request in-network health care providers. At discharge you should ask for all paperwork, including an itemized list of charges.

After discharge you will receive bills from each out-of-network provider involved in your care. Pay nothing until you receive an explanation of benefits (EOB) from your insurer that tells you what your plan covers and what it does not.

Compare bills with EOBs to make sure you received the services listed and that providers not in your plan are listed.

You can also ask healthcare providers to settle for what the insurance has already paid them. Some doctors will negotiate with you and your insurer may battle for you.

If your insurance company and the healthcare provider won’t budge, file an appeal with the insurance company. The Patient Advocate Foundation (patient advocate.org) offers guidance and help with no charge and professional consultants will help for a fee or a percent of reimbursement (nahac.memberlodge.com) or Alliance of Claims Assistance Professionals (claims.org).

Some states are working on or have consumer protections against surprise medical bills. For more state resources, go to consumersunion.org/surprise-medical-bills/ and click on “Get help with a bill.”

Sam Bauman writes about senior affairs, among other things, for the Nevada Appeal.