Big, Outside money is flooding our Alaska elections this season. Alaska’s strong, citizen-initiated campaign finance law was struck down by the courts last fall, and the Legislature failed to act to correct the problem, leaving our elections...

Dear Savvy Senior: What kind of changes can Medicare beneficiaries expect to see in the Inflation Reduction Act that was recently signed into law? I’m enrolled in original Medicare and have a Part D prescription drug plan but spent more than...

The surgery I needed this summer was not available in Alaska. I could have had it done in several places in the lower 48, but I picked Mayo Clinic because of its excellent national reputation. It is the number one ranked hospital by U.S. News and...

You may make changes to your Medicare Part D prescription drug plan coverage each year during Medicare’s Open Enrollment Period, which runs Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. Beginning in September, you may receive notices with information about possible...

It’s a good time to talk about the newest resource available to Alaskans: 988, the three-digit, nationwide phone number which connects directly to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Not only is this an easy-to-remember number – it’s a direct...

It is advisable for people who have recently been diagnosed with a serious illness that will result in declining mental or physical health to discuss and update their financial and health care affairs as soon as possible. People with Alzheimer’s...

Q. What is the least expensive way to improve Zoom calls? A. Adding more light and positioning the camera so you look straight ahead are the easiest things to upgrade. But the improvement that delivers the biggest impact is better sound. Most people...

I’ve been writing about the chance to participate in medical research by applying for clinical trials that could not only help oneself, but countless others. Being in the Chicago area, there are plenty of medical trials to choose from, so I decided...

It gives me a good feeling to spend my final days surrounded by family, friends and lovers. We are a great generation. We all were out at sea for our five year migration and life cycle. Most of us didn’t make it back. But look around... We are the...

I have noticed the last few years that although I love gardening and working outside, it seems a little harder each year to lift watering cans, bend and kneel on the ground, and work compacted soil. Gardening’s positive effects include relieving...

Regardless of the area you live in, there are ‘must dos’ for the summer months for Alaskans. It is a time to plant, gather, harvest and, for many, fish. On the Kenai Peninsula, fishing is active with subsistence, dipnetting, setnetting, drift...

Dear Savvy Senior: What types of financial resources are available to help seniors pay for long-term care? My 86-year-old mother will need either an assisted living facility or nursing home care in the near future, but she doesn’t have long-term...

Dear Savvy Senior: How do I go about selling unwanted burial plots in my hometown cemetery? When my parents died about 25 years ago, my husband (at the time) and I bought two plots near them in the same cemetery. But we’ve gotten divorced since...