BirdTalk Featuring the letters & concerns of our members SEND YOUR LETTERS TO Bird Talk, c/o CSANews 180 Lesmill Road Toronto, Ontario M3B 2T5 or by e-mail: csawriteus@snowbirds.org Bird Talk which performs this service for a very reasonable cost. If I remember correctly, we paid around $35 per screening. This was in the Phoenix area and I don’t know if they are in all states. You can go on their website and get dates and locations for months in advance. They set up inmany areas, including grocery and hardware stores. It is a registered nurse or practitioner who draws the blood. If you require urine analysis, you have to contact them so that they will have the proper equipment at the place where you are going to attend. We found this by an advertisement in the paper and it was far more reasonable than the quote of $450 from labs which we contacted. The results were usually in the mail about two days later and then we faxed them to the specialist. Hope this helps. Shannon Hammer Millet, Alberta Ed.: As most of you know, your travel insurance does not cover the regular care and monitoring of a chronic condition. Kidney dialysis and heart monitoring are the two most common requirements and these can be either very inexpensive or exorbitant, depending on where you go. We found the care for my mother’s dialysis in the local paper, too, and it was excellent AND cheap. We were in the Tampa area at the time. We also had an incredible battery of tests at a bus in a pharmacy parking lot for $149, again found in the local paper. They found my aortic aneurysm and probably saved my life. We now go every year. Dear Bird Talk, We are snowbirds who have been filling out the Form 8840 yearly. We understand that the B2 visa allows us ‒ as visitors ‒ to stay in the U.S. for up to six months in a 12-month period. What confuses me and others, I would think, is how to enter the number of days you were present in the U.S. on the Form 8840. These are two different issues, one being for tax purposes and one for immigration, I believe. On filing out the number of days on the Form 8840, I have submitted the actual days we were present in the U.S., excluding days where we returned home for a week or so. Is this the right way to fill out the form? Sherry E. Vancouver, B.C. Ed.: That is the correct way to fill in the 8840 – using only the actual days in the U.S. If you are travelling for less than 41 days and you are under the age of 56, you do not have to complete sections A, C and D of this application. If you are uncertain of your answer to any of the medical questions, consult your doctor. A. ELIGIBILITY ✓Check Yes or No APPLICANT 1 YES NO APPLICANT 2 YES NO 1 Have you been diagnosed as having a terminal illness, been advised by a physician not to travel or do you have HIV, AIDS or AIDS-related complex? 1 YES NO YES NO ACCOUNT NUMBER TRAVEL EMERGENCY MEDICAL INSURANCE 2017 EARLY BIRD PLAN Must be postmarked on or before August 14, 2017 *123 4 5 6* Paying your premium just got easier and more secure! Pay your premium online with your bank’s website or mobile app. Here’s how… 1. Complete your Early Bird Travel Insurance application and calculate your premium. 2. Log into your bank’s website andaddMEDIPACas a payee. 3. Enter your Medipac account number, found under the bar code on your application. 4. Pay your premium. 5. Send your completed application to Medipac. CSANews | SUMMER 2017 | 9
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