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Editor’s note: This press statement was received March 15, 2022. A new survey by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) indicates that even after receiving the highest Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) in 40 years, seniors report they are worse off than before. The majority of Social Security recipients say their monthly expenditures from January 2021 to January of 2022 grew far more than the amount the COLA-boosted benefits. The COLA increase of 5.9 percent raised average Social Security benefits by $92 per month. But 73 percent o...
Preventive care is the care you receive to prevent illness, detect medical conditions and keep healthy. A service is considered preventive if you have no prior symptoms of the disease. In contrast, diagnostic services address symptoms or conditions that you already have. Today we will discuss how Medicare covers preventive care. Medicare Part B covers many preventive services, such as screenings, vaccines, and counseling. A list of these services is available at: https://www....
Hidden brain benefits come with pet ownership Owning a pet, like a dog or cat, especially for five years or longer, may be linked to slower cognitive decline in older adults, according to a new study. In fact, having a dog for more than 10 years may have important brain benefits. “Prior studies have suggested that the human-animal bond may have health benefits like decreasing blood pressure and stress,” said study author Dr. Tiffany Braley with the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann...
The Social Security Administration encourages you not to carry your Social Security card with you every day. The best way to “Guard Your Card” is to keep it in a safe place and share it only when required. In fact, in most cases, just knowing the Social Security number should be enough. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, a Social Security card isn’t required to request a Real ID. Only Pennsylvania requires it. Please be careful about sharing your number when asked for it. You should always ask why your number is needed, how it will...
Hello, my name is Lee Coray-Ludden, I am a Medicare counselor based at the Soldotna Senior Center. I serve Southeast Alaska, and anywhere else in Alaska that my skills can be of use. I almost feel like I am traveling Alaska having worked with people in Nome, Soldotna, Kodiak and of course the many communities of Southeast Alaska. I travel by phone, not by plane or boat. I am trained through SHIP (Alaska State Health Insurance Program) and coordinate with them. I have lived in Alaska since 1969, and on the Kenai Peninsula since 1974. Give me a...
Medicare-related decisions can be quite challenging, especially when you or your spouse areabout to turn age 65, during your Initial Enrollment Period. The decisions can be even more complicated when you have other health insurance coverage. Deciding if and when to enroll in the various parts of Medicare, when you are first eligible, is an important choice, including how to avoid potential penalties or gaps in coverage. Most people enroll into Medicare Part A (hospitalization insurance) as this...
Dear Savvy Senior: How effective is the shingles vaccine and what is the CDC recommendation for getting it? My older brother and sister, both in their fifties, got COVID a few months back followed by shingles. Do you know if there is a connection between these viruses, and would the shingles vaccine have protected them? - Scared of Shingles Dear Scared: Great question. Many healthcare professionals across the country have been urging their older patients to get the shingles vaccine (in addition to the COVID-19 vaccinations) during the pandemic...
Editor’s note: This press statement was received on Jan. 19, 2022. Medicare beneficiaries may have grounds to ask for a refund on a portion of their 2022 Part B premiums, according to The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a Washington D.C.-based senior advocacy organization. “It appears that Medicare is overcharging 57 million older and disabled beneficiaries for their Part B coverage this year,” says Mary Johnson, a Medicare and Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. The increase in Part B premiums in 2022, which cover...
Your Medicare costs and coverage can change every year; this year is no exception. Here is an overview of changes and opportunities to consider. Medicare Part A Part A inpatient hospital services, skilled nursing facility services, home health care and hospice are covered by Medicare Part A. Most people do not owe a premium for Part A. If you have less than 10 years of Social Security work credits, you may owe a monthly premium, depending on the number of years worked. If you are admitted to...
Each household in the U.S. can now have four free COVID-19 at-home tests shipped directly to their home at no cost. All you need to do is visit COVIDtests.gov and enter your contact information and mailing address. The tests are rapid antigen “at-home” or “self” tests — not PCR tests, which require a lab drop-off. The “at-home” or “self” tests can be taken anywhere and give results within 30 minutes. Guard against scammers trying to steal your personal information. When ordering tests, use the official, secure government website: https://...
Editor’s note: This press release was received on Dec. 8, 2021. If the annual Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) did a better job of keeping pace with Medicare Part B premiums, benefits over the past decade would be 42 percent higher in 2022, according to a new analysis by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). “Medicare Part B premiums are the fastest growing cost that most older Americans face in retirement, but those costs aren’t fairly accounted for by the method used to adjust Social Security benefits for inflation,” says Ma...
Medicare may include coverage of diagnostic-level genetic testing for patients when the test is ordered by a physician, as long as certain requirements are met. Genetic tests of this sort are performed in order to help identify medical traits which may be cancer-related. The development and availability of genetic tests continues to evolve, especially in the diagnosis and early treatment of many diseases. Tests of this sort may be able to confirm or eliminate an appropriate diagnosis, far...
The Biden administration recently rolled out several steps toward getting more Americans vaccinated with two different new rules covering more than 100 million workers and specific guidelines for nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The first rule, issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) covers companies with 100 or more employees, applying to an estimated 84 million workers. It requires companies to ensure that their workers are either fully vaccinated...
As a primary care doctor, I believe Alaskans must understand that a critical portion of our Medicare dollars is bleeding away into privately held corporations, which inherently value profits over people. Recently, Direct Contracting Entities (DCEs) have been tapping into the Medicare trust. This is money held in trust by the federal government, which in 2020 was valued at $937 billion. During the Trump administration, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) vowed to pass all Medicare “risk” to “management” plans. “Risk” in this ca...
Preventive healthcare is care you receive to prevent illness, detect medical conditions, and keep you healthy. Medicare covers many preventive healthcare services, including vaccines. Today I will discuss how the different parts of Medicare cover vaccines, along with some important notes about a few common vaccines. Part D coverage If your provider recommends that you get a vaccine, in most cases this service will be covered by your Part D prescription drug plan. Part D plans must include most c...
Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 5.9 percent in 2022, the Social Security Administration announced in October. The 5.9 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 64 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2022. Increased payments to approximately 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2021. (Note: Some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits). The Social Security Act ties the...
As you may know, Original Medicare Part B covers 80 percent of the cost of most health care needs. But what about the remaining 20 percent, or even the other out-of-pocket costs like deductibles or copayments? This is where supplemental insurance plans, also known as Medigaps, help to bridge the difference in costs. For some who already have other health insurance, such as for some company retirees, you are already adequately covered. For others, Medigaps can really help. Understanding Medigaps...
Get help through the Medicare maze from experts at the Alaska Medicare Information Office. Call to learn more about their “Medicare Monday” and other online trainings in October, which can be attended by phone or by webinar or Zoom. Call 907-269-3680 in Anchorage or toll-free statewide, 1-800-478-6065....
Making omelets for a group of people is often a messy process, inevitably breaking a lot of eggshells. Ingredients can be changed hundreds of ways to experiment and adjust flavors. Ultimately, if it’s done well, the result is a delicious omelet concoction at the end of the kitchen adventure. Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill are attempting to make legislative omelets with numerous committees getting their hands in the mix – and lots of eggs are getting broken along the way as they work to pass the most ambitious domestic agenda in more tha...
The end of another summer is fast approaching and one thing that means is Medicare’s Open Enrollment Period (OEP) will be happening soon. Each year from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, you can make changes to your Medicare insurance here in Alaska, primarily if you have Prescription Drug (also known as Part D) coverage, in order to meet your needs for calendar year 2022. As long as you make your decision and request any coverage changes by Dec. 7, the insurance coverage will be effective on January 1...
It’s never too late to get active A study in more than 30,000 heart patients shows that becoming active later in life can be nearly as beneficial to survival as continued activity. “These encouraging findings highlight how patients with coronary heart disease may benefit by preserving or adopting a physically active lifestyle,” says study author Dr. Nathalia Gonzalez of the University of Bern, Switzerland. This study investigated activity levels over time and their relationship to the risk...
Dear Savvy Senior: Can you tell me about stomach aneurysms? My father died from one about 10 years ago and I’m wondering if that can increase my risk of developing one myself. - Almost 60 Dear Almost: While you don’t hear much about them, stomach aneurysms, also known as abdominal aortic aneurysms, are very dangerous and the 10th leading cause of death in men over 55. They also tend to run in families, so having had a parent with this condition makes you much more vulnerable yourself. An abdominal aortic aneurysm (or AAA) is a weak area in the...
Reversing Trump's limits on fines The Biden administration recently quietly reversed a controversial Trump administration policy that had limited the fines levied on facilities that endangered or injured residents at nursing homes. While the numbers of deaths have plummeted since the release of vaccines, inadequate staffing, protective equipment shortages and poor infection control remain significant concerns at most of the nation’s 14,000 skilled nursing facilities, advocates say. The Trump policy favoring lower penalties was adopted in 2...
What are the chances that you will need services like these at some point in your life? - nursing home - assisted living - home health care - homemaker and chore services It turns out that the chances are quite good. The WA Cares Fund – a new program in the State of Washington, discussed below -- estimates that 7 in 10 Washingtonians over the age of 65 will need long-term services and supports within their lifetimes. That seems to parallel comparable national estimates. More to the point, these services can be extremely expensive. For e...
“Age Smart – Let’s Talk”, the series of forums sponsored by AARP Alaska, Older Persons Action Group and the Anchorage Senior Activity Center, returns Sept. 14, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Events are currently held virtually on the internet, using Zoom. This month’s topic focuses on Alaska’s Medicare Information Office: What it is and how they can help with all things Medicare-related. The timing is good, with the annual Open Enrollment for Part D drug plans starting in October. The “Age Smart – Let’s Talk” series is a monthly forum that focuses...
