He takes an anti. because he was in a car accident 3 yrs ago, crushed hip, had hip replacement, developed infection and had it removed. Had another hip replacement and now has to take the anti. for the rest of his life. Can't get rid of infection, it'll always be there. 2 months ago he was taking 28 medicines a day, went on a sit down strike for 4 days and didn't take anything. Dr convinced him to take 15 of them. Neverending problems. RAA

Well, we seem to have some sort of a resolution, so I thought I would post a follow up. We spoke with the law firm that was to handle the sale of the house back in May. Online it looked like it had sold then. However, the law firm said that the out of town owners wanted to sell, but weren't allowed to because of existing tenants. Get this, the tenants had stopped paying rent and were essentially squatting. The electrical wasn't being paid, so it was cut off. The renters complained and it was turned back on and the rent (that wasn't being paid) was to be garnished (is that the right word?) to cover it. One of the renters was hauled off to jail, but left his girlfriend behind and she then invited many of her criminally involved friends to move in (rent free - how could they resist?). The law firm was trying to get them out so they could sell the house and last Saturday the house was swarmed with police and animal services cars (again) and it seems they are now gone. We let the law firm know the house seems empty and they said they were going in to try to secure it (new locks) and get it ready for sale. Fingers crossed we get a better owner this time. Everyone on the block is going to spread the word to friends and family looking for a place. I wish I had money and energy to take on the project to flip and sell - it's a gorgeous old house.

Please do not buy drugs online. It's not safe and it's illegal. Online "Canadian" pharmacies are often not even located in Canada. The websites are an outright lie. And "pharmacies" located in Canada are not regulated like real pharmacies unless they actually do business in Canada with Canadian patients. If you want medications from Canada, go to a real physical pharmacy that dispenses to Canadian patients. And since drug names are different in different countries, make absolutely sure both the brand and generic name of the medication is written on the prescription as well as what it is for. That way if there are any questions, that information can be important for the pharmacist to determine if clarification is needed. For example, when Bextra was available in the US, it was a brand name anti-inflammatory medicine. In at least one European country that brand name was for blood pressure medicine, a completely different drug. Brand names are made up for recognition and marketing, while generic names are the chemical name for the medicine molecule, which can vary slightly from region to region but are pretty consistent. In addition, if he US regulations on importation and manufacturing keep our drug supply reasonably safe. We have, at least as of a few years ago, about a 2-3% counterfeit rate. Many other countries buy on the world market which has about 8-10% , or higher in some regions, rate. Drugs purchased online are even worse, as they are often completely outside the medical system of any country and completely unregulated. There was a great article in I think Health magazine if I remember correctly back about 6 or so years ago that followed an investigation of medicines purchased online. It was astounding how bad things were. And some of the "manufacturing" facilities they had pictures of I wouldn't step inside even with a whole truckload of bleach and sanitizer at my side! At the very least, any physical or online pharmacy that does not require an exam by a healthcare provider and an actual prescription should be avoided like the plague. Any online pharmacy that is not VIPPS registered should also be avoided. Please remember criminals lie, so any site claiming to be VIPPS registered should then be verified by searching the registry, not by linking through that website to verify! Working with your doctor or pharmacist for suggestions is helpful. If you use multiple pharmacies, PLEASE keep a list of ALL your medications and ask each pharmacy to enter them on your profile for screening. Paying out of pocket takes away the only screening tool the pharmacy has for seeing major interactions with meds from other places, IF your insurance company provides those alerts to them. Pharmacy shopping and paying cash puts a lot of responsibility on YOU to make sure your medications are safe, so do your best to keep everyone involved well informed. It's in your best interest.

alisande -- If I were you, I'd go with the cheapest premium. Yes, you *could* pay that $320 deductible -- IF you are prescribed enough meds to reach that limit. (Even if you did, it's still less than your current Part D will be in 2015.) That Humana/Wal-Mart plan is offered here, too. DH and I will each breeze right through that deductible with our outrageously priced meds, regardless, so it may make sense for us too. Our 2014 WellCare Part D is going up from $20/mo. to $30/mo. I don't see keeping that if we can do better. Have you 'run the numbers' on Part D plans on www.medicare.gov Re:Deductibles. In 2012 and 2013 we had a Medicare Supplemental Plan F that paid for everything and the kitchen sink. For 2014 we took a Plan F- High Deductible ($2200/pp deductible) and are money ahead. We could afford to pay that $2200 each if necessary, but I have only had about $300 in out of pocket and DH less. We were still protected in the event of HUGE medical bills. Re: Filling prescriptions. We are fine with 90-day supplies from mail order on our maintenance meds. This year my cost for Advair was a third lower via mail order. (It's still a big rip-off, but that's because the US doesn't negotiate pricing with the pharmaceutical companies.)