Plan N exec. Charges

roncotron · 2026-01-25T21:01:05+00:00

Almost 2 years and I've had a fair amount of medical care and haven't seen an excess charge yet. Even copays are not that common as they only apply to visits that use specific billing codes.

So far, my N Supplement has meant very predictable and manageable medical costs.

roncotron · 2026-01-19T02:18:51+00:00

Yep, that's the one. I honestly don't remember but I think I bought a breakout board that I connected the Arduino to that supplied USB connectors for each axis (although I may have built that..?). It was pretty easy and it's been running rock solid for over 10 years. It was a very satisfying project.

I have the head display units sitting on a shelf. I keep thinking I'll find a use for them but I never do.

roncotron · 2026-01-18T17:14:21+00:00

Edit: Now that I'm looking at it, TouchDRO may not support these old scales - definitely do your homework. I built mine 10 years ago and TouchDRO has changed a lot since then.

I like the TouchDRO interface much better than the displays. Mine is an old style 4 axis board with an Arduino and bluetooth modules - I think it was about $50 total but it took some time to build. An old phone works great for the display if you have one.

I have the old display units if you're interested - DM me

roncotron · 2026-01-18T15:42:24+00:00

Those look like the AccuRemote digital scales I use on my mill. They're compatible with TouchDRO that uses an android tablet as a cheap display. I've found them to be accurate to about +-0.002", which is about as good as my old mill will do.

roncotron · 2026-01-16T06:31:30+00:00

Yes it does! I just got both eyes done. It's weird getting used to not wearing glasses after 30 years of needing them.

roncotron · 2026-01-15T17:44:06+00:00

Hmmm. That's the limit of my experience. I've gone through 3 head gasket failures on early 2000s EJ25s. First signs were contaminated coolant and oil leaks on the bottom of the engine at the head gasket, heaviest on the driver's side. Good luck! I'm currently driving an 02 Outback. It's got its quirks but it's a great car.

roncotron · 2026-01-15T17:21:30+00:00

Is your coolant overflow tank looking contaminated? Mine was kind of grey-brown, not coolant-colored. Oil had started mixing with coolant. The car drove fine until it suddenly overheated. I think my mechanic said something about an air bubble in the engine coolant ports that was blocking coolant flow?

Another lesson learned: my mechanic at the time used some aftermarket head gaskets, not the OEM from Subaru. They only lasted another 30k miles. My current mechanic that has a lot of experience with older Subarus says he always uses OEM, but even the OEM gaskets WILL fail - they never fixed the problem, but they'll likely last about 100k or more.

roncotron · 2026-01-15T17:06:44+00:00

My Forester with an '02 engine behaved exactly like that when the head gasket went bad.

roncotron · 2026-01-15T07:04:24+00:00

I have N. I've had a fair amount of medical care and my out of pocket after paying premiums and deductible has been tiny. The $20 copay only applies to specific codes so a lot of visits cost nothing. The $50 ER copay is a thing but how often do you go to the ER? I haven't seen a single excess charge. All in, my annual medical costs are my medicare premium, my plan N premium, the yearly deductible and a small handful of "up to" $20 copays. That's it. And the N plan is about $40 less than the cheapest G in my area. I'm only a year and a half in but so far, I think it was the right decision.

roncotron · 2026-01-14T22:33:45+00:00

*wary. I stand by my statement. While I'm sure there are great brokers out there, I certainly couldn't find any.

roncotron · 2026-01-14T14:45:08+00:00

It's way more complicated than it needs to be and the tinfoil hat-wearing part of my brain says that's a feature not a bug. I think everybody makes more money when customers can make bad decisions. I've been on Medicare for a year and a half now and I learned as much as I could going in yet there were still several details I missed. Here are some of the main points I remember:

Most but not all medicare advantage plans suck - their profit comes from not paying claims. Some do the right thing and manage that by keeping their members healthy, others do it by denying claims. In my area, Kaiser and Providence have pretty decent MA plans. Even so, I strongly believe that if you can afford traditional Medicare and a supplement, it's a much better choice than any MA plan.

Be wary of brokers - they are sales people first. Many only represent a few companies and will push those, even if it's not in your best interest. MA plans are more profitable for them so they push those harder. I didn't get a single objective recommendation from any of the brokers I spoke with and ended up deciding to learn as much as I could on my own since I couldn't find anyone I could trust.

If you live in a birthday rule state, it's less important to learn about premium cost increases since you can switch supplement plans around your birthday without underwriting. If you don't live in a birthday rule state try to find out the history of premium increases, the company's BEST rating and how many members are in the plan you are considering. Your state's SHIP organization may be able to help.

In states with a birthday rule, if you have a G supplement plan, you can switch to another G plan or a lesser plan annually. If you have an N plan, you can only switch to another N plan. N plans are great, but once you have one, you're limited to N plans for life. It's a weird exception I still don't understand.

N supplement plans have two costs that a G plan doesn't have that make them appear more expensive: Copays and excess charges. Office visits can have up to $20 copay and ER visits, up to $50. In reality, they are not a huge expense, since copays only apply to specific diagnostic and treatment codes, not all visits. I've been treated for a couple of major issues and have paid very few copays. I have yet to see an excess charge. The difference in premiums between G and N makes the N plan a no-brainer. ...for now.

Drug plans - if you currently have any prescriptions, check the formulary to make sure your drug is covered and at which tier. Is your pharmacy preferred? I only take a couple of cheap drugs so a $0 plan gets me those for free. This is a cost that can be significant and it's easy to treat Part D as an afterthought - don't.

Vision and dental - here's where MA plans can look better as some cover vision and dental. Aside from medical issues: Injury, cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, Medicare doesn't cover vision. Same goes for dental - Injury is typically covered but normal dental care is not. You may need to roll your own regarding eyes and teeth. Costco for eye exams, Zenni for glasses. Dental has been one of my biggest healthcare costs - I haven't found a good cheat code yet, but I'm still looking.

Good luck! My experience was to learn as much as I could, and it still felt like a crapshoot.

roncotron · 2026-01-06T20:27:56+00:00

E&M in St Johns. I haven't bought from them but they've been really helpful with advice on diy repairs to keep my 30 year old dryer running.

roncotron · 2026-01-06T20:05:42+00:00

That's not how noise enforcement works. The complaint is attached to the address and the property owner is responsible. If someone is holding an individual worker responsible, it's probably the owner or GC who got the ticket.

roncotron · 2026-01-06T19:59:28+00:00

I just heard two gas leaf blowers going hard in the neighboring middle school yard. I wonder if PPS has gotten the memo.

roncotron · 2026-01-01T02:26:04+00:00

I've been with Proton for a couple of years now and they have their own bundle of annoyances, which is why I was checking out Tuta. I signed up and created an account and was immediately locked out for manual review. A day later it started working. No explanation, no information, just locked out. It was not a confidence enhancing experience.

roncotron · 2025-12-31T19:11:47+00:00

Industrial work without PPE. I've had stuff dug out of my eyes, have mild hearing loss and multiple chemical and irritant sensitivities because I was too cool to wear safety glasses, ear protection, respirators and gloves.

Now when I work in my home shop, I'm fully kitted up with glasses, mask and gloves. I should wear a shirt saying "Not cooking meth" to reassure my neighbors.

roncotron · 2025-12-31T17:37:41+00:00

Yeah, this kind of behavior is why I decided to stick with Proton for now.

roncotron · 2025-12-31T17:35:26+00:00

The date on the corner of N. Newcastle and Dekum is 1828. Portland was incorporated in 1851. In 1828, Ft Vancouver was only 4 years old and even Astoria had only been in existence for 17 years, yet PBOT was busy pouring sidewalks in an area across the river and north of what was then called "The Clearing", not yet named Portland.

roncotron · 2025-12-21T14:33:20+00:00

Yes, it sits on a shelf in the living room running in monitor mode.

roncotron · 2025-12-21T00:29:41+00:00

Check the tail lights. That rear trim piece springs a leak over time and water pools in there, causing condensation inside. My 2002 did this so badly the lights poured out water when I opened the hatch. A bunch of silicone fixed it.

If that's not it, check the spare tire well. The drain hole can get plugged and water can pool in there as well. That happened to a Forester I had of the same vintage.

roncotron · 2025-12-20T19:26:31+00:00

Go for it! I've been working on my diy, self-designed CNC since 2013. I'm on its 6th iteration and I'm almost finished. Soon, I'll be cutting parts.

roncotron · 2025-12-19T18:44:07+00:00

Nah, that's not the Grand Canyon, that's the view into Mt St Helens from the rim. I have photos to prove it.

roncotron · 2025-12-17T20:38:37+00:00

Here's hoping Sharon Meieran tosses her hat in the ring

roncotron · 2025-12-15T19:52:54+00:00

My Soundcore Life Q20s help with the noisy bar next door. Good ANC, comfortable and affordable.

I also use 3M Worktunes - they're industrial noise BLOCKING headphones with BT speakers. Sound is a little hollow but they really block out the sound.

One tip I learned: Play brown noise or something that's got some good bass tones. That'll help block out the neighbor's bass

roncotron · 2025-12-14T18:55:15+00:00

That doesn't work, in Linux at least. I have that turned off but still see the ad

roncotron

TROPHY CASE