Posts by Sandra Wells5

I’m not looking for a specialist here; instead, I’m searching for patients who have firsthand experience with Deep Brain Stimulation—the procedure performed by Dr. Chudy in Brooklyn. Specifically, I’m hoping to connect with those who had electrodes implanted to help wake someone out of a coma. I’d love to exchange experiences via private message, of course. A family member of mine underwent this procedure, and we are trying to understand what the actual "awakening" process looks like. Doctors are being very cautious with statistics since it’s still technically considered an experimental procedure, even though they’ve been doing it for 12 years now. There are only a handful of articles about it on Google, which we’ve already combed through. We would truly value hearing personal stories directly from patients or their family members. If there is already a specific thread about this, could the moderators please point me in the right direction? I haven't found anything in the general coma discussions. Thanks in advance

Looking for a private cardiologist in the Indianapolis area or somewhere nearby. Should I go with Medikol, Sunce, or someone else entirely?

My daughter is 14, and while she hasn't been the "sweet child" type for a while, things have become incredibly difficult over the last few months. We recently caught her with cigarettes; she claimed a friend's friend gave them to her. My husband and I had a bit of a standoff with her about it, and she promised she was done. Then, just the day before yesterday, I catch her with them again. She claims she’s just holding them for a classmate so I won't find out—I told her if she's busy being a storage unit for her friends, who's looking out for her? It's the same story with alcohol; she's tried it, and honestly, she can outdrink me when she thinks I'm not watching. Just two months ago, she was insisting she didn't need a boyfriend, and now she's suddenly in a "serious relationship" (in teen terms, anyway) that's only a month old. The guy is nearly 17, and he seems just as immature for his age; apparently, he has ADHD. He is exhausting—he talks non-stop, and then they just lock themselves in her room when he comes over. As her mother, I obviously don't approve, so I feel like I'm just getting in their way. I demand they unlock the door or that they only hang out if others are around. I'm genuinely scared because they both seem so reckless, and I worry they'll rush into sex, which feels way too early at 14. I realize she needs to experience life, but it feels like she's trying to cram everything into the next month or two. Officially, she doesn't go out much; she just hangs with her group at a local coffee shop or Starbucks nearby, but she has a 10:30 PM curfew. My struggle is that I was a pretty good, obedient kid. I might have had a few cigarettes in my life, but I never got drunk, never went overboard with alcohol, and only had a couple of crushes before meeting my current husband at 17.5—we were each other's first. I know life doesn't have to be perfect, but it shouldn't all happen at 14 either. Academically, she's great, so school isn't the issue. What bothers me most is this snobbish, materialistic worldview she's developed. Everything is about money—designer clothes, the latest iPhone, you name it. It's like she only values friends based on their social status. She dreams of working multiple jobs starting at 18 just to buy a condo and a luxury car. Every time I try to ground her or give her some perspective, we end up fighting because she says I'm being negative or unsupportive. How do I change this part of her upbringing? Is there any hope? My husband and I both work and make enough for our needs, but we aren't flashy spenders. Her motto is that it's better to work three jobs if it means making more to spend more. Because, in her eyes, money is just meant to be burned through, right?

I’m a little out of the loop here, please excuse me... we only issue transaction accounts and never handle any cash collections, so are we actually required to register that business location? I mean, it's possible we might need it down the road, or maybe one day we'll have to accept cash...

I’m looking for recommendations for a solid cardiologist or internist in Indianapolis. I'm relatively young, just 35, but I've been dealing with high blood pressure for a few years now. It's one of my biggest symptoms, and even though I'm on medication, my readings still fluctuate quite a bit. On top of that, there's some underlying anxiety, so I really want to figure out if this is purely physical or if it's mostly psychological—just so I can have some peace of mind. My current clinic hasn't been particularly interested in running more detailed tests; my EKG and blood work came back fine, and my TSH is just slightly above the limit, so they're basically telling me it's nothing to worry about. Would you recommend checking in with Phoenix or maybe Quest Diagnostics?

David Green642 said:Has anyone else filed their Social Security paperwork recently only to get hit with more forms from Medicare via email? Is this some new thing they're doing?

Me! I’ve been waiting forever and nothing has come through. Eventually, I just set up my online Medicare portal and printed out the employee and dependent forms myself. Looks like they've updated things...

I just processed an employee's paperwork and now I need to register his wife for health insurance too. For the employee, everything syncs up automatically with the NOAA filing and the insurance enrollment, but I'm stuck on how the process works for dependents. I tried using the Medicare online portal to register his spouse, but it keeps telling me she’s already covered. I have no idea why—maybe she's covered through her husband, or perhaps she's registered as unemployed? It used to be so much easier; the system would handle both the employee and their dependents automatically and then email me the confirmation. Now, they don't even send confirmations for the employees anymore! How am I supposed to verify what her current coverage is based on? I really don't want to mess this up and leave someone without insurance. I managed to find and print the employee's registration, but I'm completely lost on how to get the one for his wife.

I finally figured it out—it's in the exact same section where I found the employee's info. Total rookie mistake on my part...

An employee was working on a fixed-term contract as an assistant construction worker until June 30th. As of July 1st, he transitioned to a permanent role, but his job title changed too—he’s now a warehouse manager. I need to update his records with Medicare, but when I try to change both the occupation and the contract type at once, the system blocks me, saying I can only edit one field per filing. Does this mean I have to submit two separate M-3P forms—one for the job title and one for the contract status? I'm also a bit thrown by the fact that there isn't a "start date" box for the occupation change; I don't want to accidentally overwrite his original registration as an assistant worker since he held that position for a full year. Any advice?

I didn't say my notification for the dependent came before the one for the employee—the worker one hasn't arrived yet—but I can see it sitting there in their new app. It's strange, really quite strange...

Robert Sanchez6 said:Medicare will no longer be sending processed forms directly to our email addresses.
They have rolled out a new online portal for employers—a way to monitor enrollments, terminations, and various status changes digitally.

Has anyone actually managed to navigate through to that data yet? Has anyone successfully logged into the application? I am running into some technical hurdles—specifically some Java issues—and quite frankly, nobody seems to be responding to my inquiries.

Honestly, I'm pretty confused by this whole thing. Over the last few days, I handled several enrollments and terminations, and everything came through my email perfectly fine—I even got an enrollment notification for a dependent today🤔. Does that mean we don't have to register dependents anymore? I'm guessing this only applies to existing dependents, not newborns.

Also, I managed to log into the new app, but the print layout is a total mess; when I try to print a form, it stretches across three different pages. I tried looking for a print preview, but I can't find anything else. Honestly, since they're still emailing me, I'll just stick to printing the attachments from my inbox and handing them to the employees that way.

Brian Campbell36 said:Why on earth does the IRS fail to recognize the attachments submitted alongside my sales tax returns? They actually went so far as to call me about it, despite the fact that I have followed every single instruction to the letter—and this certainly isn't the first time I've filed these forms with them. 🤔

Is the staff at the IRS completely illiterate when it comes to basic technology, unable to even open a PDF attachment? Or is it simply that their electronic filing system is too broken to function in a real-world business environment?

I've been using the e-filing system for four years now. Every single year, I meticulously attach all my documents and include a clear list of everything I've uploaded so they know exactly what's there. Yet, despite all that work, I still have to physically drive down to the local IRS office every year to hand-deliver those same papers because they claim they can't see them online. Honestly, I've thought about just stopping the scanning altogether; it feels like a total waste of effort if nobody sees it.

An employee was offboarded from his previous company on March 31st and started with us on April 1st. In my rush to meet the filing deadline, I processed him as a fixed-term employee based solely on his termination notice, completely unaware his boss had actually signed him for a permanent position. Since the filing hasn't been processed yet, how should I fix this? Should I just wait until it clears and then send an amendment via the portal?

I can’t exactly file a report either, because it would definitely get back to them sooner or later. My only interest is keeping things quiet there so they don't think some bitter competitor or jealous rival snitched on us—if they did, they'd start hunting for ten other violations. They certainly won't report us for gossiping, and besides, the fines they mention aren't enough to make my coworkers quit smoking. My boss definitely won't stop, and I doubt my colleague will either, since "that's her only joy in life." Plus, I work in accounting. This is how it goes when an inspector shows up: "Oh, Sandra Wells5, I have this incredibly vital meeting right now—literally the fate of the universe depends on it—could you handle this with the inspectors? If you need anything, just call my cell," and then—poof. Just like that, I end up stuck dealing with them myself, even though I really don't have the bandwidth for it... When I said we were "good," I meant we're tolerant, considering the kind of toxic relationships people deal with at work; we're actually a great team. Conversations with the boss are casual; there's no fear, no harassment, no bowing and scraping when he walks into the office. You can be totally blunt with him and push back without issue; he's a great guy, but in the business world—especially with clients—he's such a smooth talker, charming everyone while hiding his true intentions. My colleague is a few months away from qualifying for early retirement, so she could practically be my mother; I don't really argue with her, except when she starts lecturing me about health. She'll tell me I need to buy only the highest quality food and medicine, saying, "You're young, take care of your health," all while having a cigarette dangling from her mouth... like, wtf? I think things will just stay as they are, unless something clicks in their heads or I hit the jackpot on a Powerball ticket and quit. There isn't much else. The bills and the kids at home don't care if Mom can tolerate smoke at work; people endure much worse than this. I know my answer sounds like something out of those "he hits me, but I love him" stories, but what else am I supposed to do?

I don't have much advice to offer, other than saying I truly empathize with you. I work at this small firm where the boss goes through three or four packs a day, and my coworker manages another one or two. We actually almost had a bet going regarding what color the walls in the boss's office used to be; because of all the blue and yellow cigarette smoke, they've turned this weird yellowish-green shade. Honestly, they're decent people, and there aren't many other job opportunities around here right now. Reporting them to the authorities isn't an option either—even the local IRS agents have been known to light up in the office from time to time. I’m joking, but it’s not funny; I feel like I'm going to end up with lung cancer despite never having touched a cigarette in my life. For the past year, I've been dealing with daily headaches, and this massive amount of secondhand smoke is almost certainly a culprit. When I get home, my husband, who is also a non-smoker, is constantly horrified by how much my hair and clothes smell like smoke. It's awful... I'm just looking forward to summer, when we can finally keep the office doors and windows open.

I’ve been scrolling through previous posts where you all mentioned which number from the digital ID card goes into the access list for the Medicare portal, but I’m still totally lost. Should I be using that five-digit code nnnnn.1.1 (the ID I found following the instructions from Sandra Wells5), or is it actually the HROIB.2.1 number?

It’ll work, but we don't even have an electronic health record system set up yet since it isn't mandatory. They handle our transfers and discharges through the portal just fine, though nothing goes through until the Social Security Administration processes the registration—you need that barcode first. That said, you can always work something out. I usually just have my people keep the physical paperwork to meet the eight-day deadline, then I'll follow up by emailing a scan of the processed Social Security filing to the representative once it's ready (assuming they actually have an email address, which not all of our staff do).

Brian Campbell36 said:Honestly, this entire IRS e-filing system is an absolute disaster. I submit my tax forms along with all the necessary supporting documentation—the balance sheets, the schedules, you name it—and yet, despite the system confirming everything was sent successfully, those bureaucrats on the other end act as if they’ve seen nothing.

I try submitting them a second time, only to run headfirst into the exact same wall. Everything worked perfectly last year, so what changed?
What is the point of even having such a digital infrastructure if they can't actually see the attachments we provide? 🤣

It’s the same story here; my filing didn't even register, let alone the attachments. I emailed tech support and they had the nerve to tell me they could see the form, asking for my agent's info... meanwhile, I just coordinated with my agent to resubmit, and this time it actually went through. Still, I ended up having to hand-deliver all the physical attachments anyway. Honestly, I'm thinking about skipping the scanning process entirely next year since I'll probably have to walk down to the local IRS office regardless.

I know I’m not the one at fault here, but our point of contact is being a bit much. I sent an email over to the IRS, so if someone gets back to me in a day or two, great—if not, I’ll just tell her I’m dropping by the office in person to handle it myself since I’ve already done my part.

Has anyone else run into a situation like this? I submitted my PDU back on April 30th and have the receipt to prove it. Today, an agent calls me claiming she doesn't have the form and says we never filed. I faxed her the confirmation receipt, and even though she eventually saw that we did submit the application, she claims it isn't showing up in the system at all. On my end, everything looks perfectly fine—I can see the filing, all the attachments, and the status is listed as "in progress." I could even print it out if needed. What should my next move be, and who is the right person to contact? She mentioned that out of all her clients, ours and one other are the only ones missing from her view.🤷