Nebraska Department of Insurance
THE NEBRASKA HEALTH INSURANCE INFORMATION, COUNSELING, AND ASSISTANCE (NICA) PROGRAM
SEPTEMBER 2001 NICA NEWS
THIS AND THAT
Name Tags and Business Cards
NICA Volunteers who have lost or misplaced their nametags can order new ones at no charge. Also, if any NICA Volunteer needs more business cards, they can be ordered at no charge. We encourage NICA Volunteers to wear their nametags and give a business card at every meeting or outreach event. Contact your Regional Representative and let her/him know if you need to order a nametag or business card.Key to Legislative Alphabet Soup
BBA = Balanced Budget Act of 1997BBRA = Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999
BIPA = Benefit Improvements and Protection Act of 2000
Beneficiaries Asked: Are Exams for Hearing Loss Covered by Medicare?
Not generally. If there is a medical reason for the hearing loss, an exam may be covered. Hearing aids are never covered.When Medicare is Secondary:
Coordination of Benefits (COB)
Contractor:
GHI Group Health Inc.
1-800-999-1118
Medicare-Coordination of Benefits Contractor:
MSP, Claims Investigation Project
PO Box 125
New York, NY 10274-0125
(Calls about claims-related questions are still handled in Topeka.)
Reporting Form Update
NICA Volunteers have given some excellent suggestions for clarity on the new Client Contact Sheet.One Volunteer suggested that rather than loose sheets of paper, we make them into a notepad. This has been done and you all should have received your first notepad. If you need more, please contact your NICA Regional Representative or the NICA Program Office.
Another NICA Volunteer suggested that the Client Contact Sheet have a date on the bottom of the page. This date will indicate the issue date of the material. This suggestion was also adapted.
Finally, a Volunteer suggested that in the demographic section, the SLMB rate for the year should be printed on the form. This suggestion was great and we quickly made the change.
If you have any suggestions on the Client Contact Form, the Training Manual, or anything else produced by NICA, please call Tiffany Geis at (402) 471-4506.
Reporting Form Clarification
Some of the NICA Volunteers wanted to know if they could count themselves or their families as clients. The answer is yes you can! Thanks for the great question. If you have others, please call Tiffany Geis at (402) 471-4506.New Expense Form
I can't tell you how many Volunteers thought the expense form was confusing. The NICA Program Office has updated this form. The requested information is basically the same, but it should be easier for everyone to complete. We hope you like it. If you have any additional questions or suggestions, please call Rebecca Hasty at (402) 471-3845.The Crabbit Old Woman's Poem
What do you see nurse, what do you see?Are you thinking when you are looking at me -
A crabbit old woman, not very wise,
Uncertain of habit, with far away eyes,
Who dribbles her food and makes no reply
When you say in a loud voice - "I do wish you'd try."
Who seems not to notice the things that you do,
And forever is losing a stocking or shoe.
Who unresisting or not, lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding, the long day to fill.
Is that what you are thinking,
Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse,
You're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am as I sit here so still;
As I use at your bidding, as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of ten with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters, who love one another.
A young girl of 16 with wings on her feet,
Dreaming that soon now a lover she'll meet;
A bride soon at 20 - my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows that I promise to keep;
At 25 now I have young of my own,
Who need me to build a secure, happy home.
A woman at 30, my young now grow fast,
Bound to each other with ties that should last.
At 40, my young sons have grown and have gone,
But my man's beside me to see I don't mourn.
At 50 once more babies play round my knee,
Again we know children, my loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead.
I look at the future, I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing young of their own,
And I think of the years and the love that I've known.
I'm an old woman now and nature is cruel -
'Tis her jest to make old age look like a fool.
The body it crumbles, grace and vigor depart,
There now is a stone where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass a young girl still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys, I remember the pain,
And I'm loving and living life over again.
I think of the years all too few - gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, nurses, open and see,
Not a crabbit old woman, look closer - see me.