We live in cyclonic times, but we live. We do so for more years and in better health than ever before. We do it with the help of prescription drugs and a health care system that, despite its flaws, is among the best in the world.

The trouble is, who can understand Medicare and its associated medigap plans? Who can afford them, especially when they include a prescription drug benefit? And for heaven’s sake, when will they settle down? The insurance companies launch their plans, get us to sign up, then pull the rug out from under us by dropping the plans. No profit in it, we’re told.

We seniors don’t handle it well when our rugs are pulled out.

“Sorry,” Mid America Health wrote to me and thousands of other seniors. No more Senior Excel after the end of the year. It’s back to health insurance school for us.

I’ve never heard so many politicians say that Medicare needs a prescription drug benefit as I heard last fall. Even after the election, they haven’t changed their tune. Now that one party controls both houses of Congress and the White House, maybe something will happen.

“Fine,” my fiscally responsible son said, “but they better not pass it without providing a way to pay for it.” In other words, don’t borrow the money with deficit spending. Don’t pass it on to our children and grandchildren. Bite the bullet now and pay as we go. It’s the way we’ve tried to operate all our lives.

Meanwhile we are left casting about for answers. Some risk contacting Canadian or Mexican pharmacies, where brand-name, made-in-USA drugs are sold at a fraction of their prices here. It’s a risk because U.S. regulators have no control over foreign pharmacies. Others cut their pills in half or skip taking them. Some mooch from the copious stores of samples that pharmaceutical salesmen deposit at doctors’ offices. And some find blessed relief from the pharmaceutical companies themselves, most of which offer prescription assistance programs for seniors who can’t afford the high prices.

I have tried to address most of the prescription drug issues in this package of articles. I have not tried to explain the health insurance jumble because there isn’t enough space and I haven’t yet found my way out of the maze. Luckily, Kansas has its SHICK (Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas) and a battalion of trained volunteers willing to help.

A good friend, 75, is dealing with his third case of cancer with awe-inspiring grace and good humor. “Life can be a bear,” he said, “but it’s all we’ve got.”

And so it is. Good luck. Good health. Good humor.