If you are eligible for Medicare (the elderly and some handicapped qualify), this workbook guide will indeed explain the options in paying medical bills, and help you discover the least painful. Waller, a former syndicated columnist on family finances, uses a three-pronged approach: l) know what Medicare benefits you are entitled to, and how to get them; 2) know how and why to purchase other insurance policies (offered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield and others) as supplements to Medicare; and, 3) know how to take income-tax deductions for healthcare expenses that aren't covered by either of the above. He supplements his clear--but not oversimplified--explanations with sample government forms, worksheets, record-keeping suggestions, and checklists by which readers can lay out their own needs and resources. Those looking into Medicare coverage for the first time may have some illusions dispelled: as Waller reports, medical expenses for seniors are only partly covered by Medicare--and some of the most common, like eyeglasses and hearing aids, aren't covered at all. This is right up to the minute, and Waller includes information on legislation due to go into effect in 1982 (minimum standards for supplemental insurance policies)--making it a handy resource until the new administration changes all the rules.