Archive for the ‘Health’ Category
Today’s The Last Day . . .
. . . to sign up for a
free 15-minute chair massage
provided by LifeQuest starting at —
10 a.m. tomorrow (Tuesday) in the 2nd floor theater.
It Takes Effort to Collect on Insurance
Most of us have several types of insurance covering, among others, auto-accident damage and liability, mortgage, renters, long-term care, home damage and liability, and death (called life insurance for some strange reason). And when we take a trip, many of us pick up a travel-insurance coverage.
But there’s work to be done to collect any benefits after the trauma of a crippling auto accident or fire that destroyed your home. And it has to be done quickly, usually while you’re still emotionally addled and physically drained by the happenstance.
Your first step is to find the policies that apply to your loss with all the pertinent information about where to file your claim. In some cases, you can call to the agent who sold you the policy to get some advice. That means you should keep our insurance policies handy. Someone else in the family or your attorney should also know where they are because you might be hospitalized and someone will have to launch your claim for you.
Make sure all instructions are followed to the letter. Unanswered questions or an overlooked step will delay the process and require redundant correspondence and contact with the insurance company.
Keep every police and medical report and all other bits of information connected to the incident prompting the claim. And every receipt. If you’re in doubt about whether a document is relevant, keep it and let the company toss it out.
If our claim involves lost or damaged property, it helps if you have a prepared inventory – photographs are better – of all your property along with a list of what’s been missing or destroyed.
File all correspondence and conversations with the insurers and don’t take no for an answer. Their job is to avoid paying out for non-qualifying and fraudulent claims. Your job is to prove to them that your claim qualifies.
Be persistent. If you hit a wall in your initial stages, ask to speak to your contact’s supervisor and present your case. If this doesn’t work discuss the matter with your attorney.
When you file claims for long-term-care reimbursement, make copies of your receipts before sending the originals to the insurance company.
Bob Pakenas Sez . . .
Have a cool shmooz at our weekly ice cream social Sunday p.m.
Longevity Opens New World
The current senior mantra is “Things Will Never Be the Same” because of the changes wrought by the COVID-19 plethora of political proclamations designed to protect us from ourselves. But a deeper and more profound change was already under way before the pandemic encircled the globe.
The population is getting older. By 2030, the senior population around the world is expected to top 1.5 billion from the current 900 million. China’s over-65 phalanx that accounts for less than 10 percent of its population now is predicted to account for a quarter of its population in just three decades. By the end of this decade, more than 20 percent of the North American population will be 65 years or older. By 2060, one out four people will be in that age bracket.
This phenomenon is occurring for a few reasons. One is the graying of the post-World War II baby boomers, the 77 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964. Added to that is the fact that we’re living longer while the birth rate is diminishing. The 1950 U.S birth rate was 25 per 1,000 people compared with 12 per 1,000 last year.
By the beginning of the 2030s, workers will account for only 30 percent of the population. This shrinking workforce means a shrinking source of payroll taxes to finance Social Security and Medicare benefits for the aging population that no longer will be working. Counterbalancing this trend are recent reports that three-quarters of the current labor force plan to keep working past the age of 65. But pundits still predict Social Security benefits will have to be cut by at least 20 percent by the mid-2030s.
All of this movement not only affects financial-support programs, it puts a strain on the health-care industry, which already is looking at a shortage of more than 120,000 doctors and some 100,000 nurseds assistants and other medical aides over the next 10 years.
Got To Thinking . . .
. . .t’other day that
it’s OK for a gal
to wear her guy’s T-shirts, dress shirts, sweaters and such
but should he wear on of her dresses
it’s “we gotta talk” time.
Future of Telemedicine is Now
Telemedicine – the practice of getting diagnosis and treatment via your laptop or cell phone – has been gaining traction. Accelerating this drive is the unavailability of health care in rural (and some urban) areas because of the diminishing number of doctors as the over-65 crowd grows at the rate of 10,000 people a day.
One out of five residents live in areas identified as being short of health professionals. The advantage of being able to contact a doctor remotely became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when people were confined to quarters.
Telemedicine opens the door to specialists as well as second medical opinions without taking up too much consulting time by the health experts contacted. It also reduces the stress on the patient as well as eliminating the need to travel to an appointment, which requires the patient to find a driver in many cases. Seniors fretting about their lack of computer equipment or skills find a telephone conversation may work as well.
Medicare has expanded its coverage of medical treatment by phone or computer. While not all health-insurance companies are following suit, several recognize telemedicine helps reduce the cost of health care. For example, it allows primary care physicians to schedule appointments at any time and not just the traditional “office hours” and reduces unnecessary office and emergency-room visits. It also lowers the cost of patient no-shows.
A barrier in the way of expanding telemedicine are reimbursement rules that require treatment to be conducted in specific sites, such as the doctor’s office or a health center. Government licensing laws also get in the way. Federal law requires telemedicine health-care providers to be fully licensed to practice medicine in the state where the patient is physically located. Health-care systems that have locations in more than one state may need to obtain multiple licenses.
How Can . . .
. . . a stationery store
move?
When It’s Time to Give up the Car Keys
A relative’s family keep casting hints and harpoons about his diminishing driving skills – loss of hearing, slow reaction time, eyesight not what it used to be, confusion in traffic, and on and on and on. So he lets his children drive him wherever he has to go – mainly medical appointments, although they do get out for dinner now and then. But when everyone’s away, he shuffles out to the garage, climbs in behind the wheel and takes the family flivver for a drive — around the block, around the parking lot of a neighboring mall and back into the garage.
He hasn’t told his family about these excursions but he could point out to them that older drivers are involved in fewer collisions and traffic fatalities on average than 70-plus-year-old motorists just a few years ago. One reason is safer cars. But the trend is important because the number of older drivers is growing as the population ages. And thanks to lifestyles, diet and medical advances, today’s geriatric drivers are healthier and more fit than their predecessors just a generation or two ago.
As long as you feel capable of driving and handling traffic situations, you should feel comfortable keeping your keys. You can take stock on when it might be time to give up your car keys.
Ask yourself if you can still read traffic signs readily and if you get lost or confused, especially in heavy traffic. Make sure your bad back doesn’t stop you from looking around to see if all is clear when you want to change lanes. Do family and friends still ride with you when you’re driving? And do you still like to drive?
Giving up our car keys means giving up our independence to most of us. But the money you save on car payments, insurance, fuel, maintenance, parking and tolls can pay for more than enough cab rides. You can still go where you want to go whenever you want to, and you don’t have to drive.
My Tablemate . . .
. . . was wondering out loud yesterday
if eating a clock
would be consuming too time.
Seeing is Relieving
Several years ago, a colleague joined a group of friends huddled around their hot chocolates on a frigid January day. After sweeping the snow off his overcoat, he took off his hat and tossed his sunglasses in it for safekeeping. Someone asked him why he was wearing sunglasses in winter. He explained that sunglasses don’t keep you cool in the heat of summer. They protect your eyes from the sun’s ultra-violet rays that can damage your eyes and help cut down the glare dancing off the season’s snow.
Many ophthalmologists recommend wearing sunglasses all year long whether it’s cloudy or sunny. Dermatologists also recommend using sun screen at all times to protect your skin from the sun’s damaging rays – even when it’s cloudy.
Eye-care experts have assembled a few simple steps to follow that focus attention on your eyesight.
They suggest you start with a good pair of walking shoes to get out for walks since even regular moderate exercise slows the development of glaucoma and cataracts as well as such sight-robbing diseases as diabetes and high blood pressure. Keep a pair of sunglasses right beside the shoes so you wear them when you head out the door.
While you’re out, you might visit your nearby drug store and pick up some eye drops. The pharmacist can suggest which might work best to protect you from dust, dirt and heat while keeping our eyes moist and comfortable.
When you get back home, check the lighting in all parts of the house and yard. Both harsh lighting and poor lighting can give you headaches. So can improper positioning of your television set and computer screen. Too high, low, close or far can also cause headaches as well as erode the health of our eyes. A good pair of readers will help for computer work by reducing eyestrain.
As with any health-related matter, start probing the problem and seeking solutions by discussing the matter with your family doctor.
If . . .
. . . you want to get rid of your problems
today,
work on getting a hangover
tomorrow.
Grief Can Be Managed
One of life’s cruelest blows is the loss of a loved one. The first thing you have to do is face the fact that you’re mourning. Don’t fight your feelings as they gush onto you. They’ll range from self-pity to anger at the entire universe. They may strike right away or lay in wait to spring out at some unexpected later date. How long they last can be up to you.
Most everyone – experts as well as those who have experienced such a loss – suggest you conjure up and catalog the pleasant memories and consider how lucky you are to have had that person enrich your life. Be thankful for the happy times as you recall them. Keep trying to have the best day you can because your feeling of loss is not going to go away.
You may never whistle or hum a happy tune again, but don’t feel guilty when you get through the day without feeling tired all the time. Returning to your daily routine will help get you closer to normalcy – eat, sleep, and exercise like you used to. Go shopping, have coffee with friends, and call relatives like you used to.
If somebody in your circle is experiencing the same loss, reach out and share some time with them. Talking about your loss, and theirs, can help both of you climb out of grief. There’s no need to place the deceased person on a pedestal. The simple thing to remember is that they were your friend and you enjoyed time together.
You’re managing your grief well if you catch yourself smiling or laughing again.
All Things . . .
. . . must pass,
we’ve been schooled to believe,
but what do you when
you’re behind a school bus.
Strokes Kill More Women
Than Does Breast Cancer
One out of every five women between the ages of 55 and 75 will have a stroke. The risk factors include smoking, high blood pressure and obesity.
Because stroke robs the brain of blood and oxygen, it kills brain cells that can lead to
paralysis, loss of speech, loss of memory, diminished reasoning, coma — sometimes death. Stroke leaves more than 60 percent of its victims disabled.
To protect against stroke, avoid smoking. Studies indicate about one out of four women 18 and older are smokers. Eating a balanced, low-fat diet to control blood cholesterol levels also helps. And maintaining even a moderate level of physical activity helps control weight.
The Nurse . . .
. . . in the doctor’s office yesterday
was going to give me a memo
but when she reached into her pocket
she pulled out a rectal thermometer,
which prompted her to explain,
“Some asshole has my pen.”
Boomers Retirement Wealth
Surpasses Predecessors
The initial generation of baby boomers who are now in their 70s have accumulated more wealth
at the same age than their previous generation, according to research compiled by the University
of Missouri-Columbia. The results do not support the commonly held stereotype of free-spending boomers.
Boomers have more than triple the amount of savings in stock funds compared with their predecessors. This could affect proposed Social Security reform that encourages even broader investment in
equities since the government program is designed to be a hedge against increased exposure to stock-market risk.
Researchers compared financial records of the first generation of baby boomers – those
born between 1945 and 1957 – with those of the last generation of pre-boomers born between
1933 and 1945.
A Relative . . .
. . . who works in the movie business
said she just left a job
without making a scene.
Church-Goers Live Longer
Older Americans, especially women, who attend religious services at least
once a week have a better chance at longevity than those who don’t, according to gerentology study. The risk of dying for frequent church attenders was 46 percent lower than for those attending services less often, even after adjusting for demographic factors, physical- and mental-health conditions, social connections and health practices.
A number of psycho-social and behavioral pathways could be responsible.
First, frequent church-attendees have larger social networks and experience greater
support than infrequent attenders. Greater social support may also have direct effects on
the immune system to fend off disease and facilitate recovery.
Second, frequent religious attendance may foster attitudes of compliance and care for the
physical body.
And, finally, religious attendance is related to lower rates of depression, anxiety, and stress.
What has not been made clear is why women seem to have an edge over men in their survival rates.
There’s A Simple Reason . . .
. . .why a kangaroo can jump
higher than a house.
Houses can’t jump.
Don’t Say ‘Nuts’ to Almonds
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the claim that eating 1.5 ounces of most nuts may reduce the risk of heart disease.
Scientific evidence suggests that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, such as almonds, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease, according to the statement.
The claim, which is based on the rigorous review of scientific research citing the heart health benefits of nuts, is a result of a petition filed by the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research and Education Foundation.
Mature Life Features 