I've been a client or patient of Mayo Clinic's Community Internal Medicine department for over twenty years. I haven't been seen since before COVID because, well, COVID. But I had been corresponding with my care team about vaccinations and so on.

Well, I figured it was probably about time to get seen, check how my kidney is doing, get my hide inspected for suspicious moles or lesions and so on. Went to schedule an appointment and discovered I've been dis-enrolled.

With no notice. No warning. Nothing.

Many phone calls, lots of wasted time on hold. It turns out I'm too old. You see, Mayo no longer offers primary care to Medicare patients, Tricare for Life or not.

Very disappointing. Perhaps more so because of the gratuitous telephone messaging about putting "patient care first" while waiting on hold and not receiving a return phone call when one was promised.

So now I have to figure out a primary care solution. Or I can just go without periodic testing and wait until I develop something catastrophic and go to emergency room like most of the rest of America, I guess.

Don't get old, boys and girls. It'll kill ya.

Nothing personal. Just a business decision.