Shingles vaccine.

[SheilaT]

7. I suspect Medicare will cover all of it

since it's considered necessary for those over 60.

I got my shingles shot about three years ago, at the very end of the year, while I was still working and had very good health care. I expected it to be somewhat expensive and to use up the money left in the account that was used to pay for copays and such. Turns out, I didn't even have a copay at all.

I am now on Medicare, and I'll be paying attention to when it looks like I need another one.

Even if you've had the vaccine, you can still get shingles, but by all accounts it will be a less nasty case.

My younger son got it at age 20 (he's now 28) and I think he may be at higher risk of getting it again. It's my understanding that they just won't give the vaccine to younger people.

It also helps to know that those of us who got chicken pox in the first place, will continue to be at risk of shingles the rest of our lives. Those who got the chicken pox vaccine, if I understand it correctly, will pretty much never get shingles, which is nice to know.