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As suburbs age, cities ponder the future of their community centers
MINNEAPOLIS -- Twin Cities suburbs that boomed in the 1990s built shiny new community centers as a place for residents, ranging from teens and young families to seniors, to congregate and be active.
Three decades later, many of those facilities are aging and outdated. Across the metro, city leaders are pondering the same question: At a time ...Read more
This cancer-surviving, hoops-playing 80-year-old has a need for a new teammate
PHILADELPHIA -- Bruce Rubin is getting a bit desperate.
How desperate? This isn’t an unlikely scenario ...
Rubin, 80, could be at a coffee shop with his son, Brad Brooks-Rubin, and the barista might be tall.
“Do you have a tall living grandfather who plays basketball?” Rubin might ask.
It’s a pretty unusual question. Maybe not the ...Read more
Travel Trending with Kathy Witt: Cruise Views: 6 surprises aboard Celebrity Cruises’ new Ascent
Celebrity Cruises’ Ascent casts a spell through the magic, music and magnificent art found aboard this beautiful new cruise ship, a Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Rated resort at sea—not to mention those little luxury moments that surprise and enthrall throughout.
Here are six such moments to experience aboard the cruise line’s fourth ...Read more
‘God’s been good to me.’ World War II veteran celebrates 100th birthday
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- If he could change one thing about the world, Glendell Bennett said, “I would change the way people treat each other. I’d make them love one another and enjoy one another. That’s what I would do.”
In his 100 years, Bennett has seen some of the worst people can do to each other in the forms of oppression, segregation ...Read more
North Philly is home to one of DoorDash’s busiest pickup spots in the world
PHILADELPHIA -- In the parking lot of the Share Food Program warehouse in Phildadelphia's Hunting Park neighborhood, stacks of food boxes marked for low-income area seniors were being loaded into the cars of drivers for DoorDash, the online food-ordering and delivery service.
After one car was filled, the next one rolled up, the operation rapid...Read more
Is there a new plastic Medicare card?
Toni,
I am concerned about a phone call I received yesterday from a representative with Medicare asking all types of personal questions and informing me that there was a new plastic Medicare card with a chip like a credit card. I told the caller what you said during your online Medicare webinar about not giving personal information over the ...Read more
Social Security and You: Spousal and Survivors Benefits for Men
In the past 27 years, I bet I have written hundreds of columns explaining spousal and widows benefits that are available to women on a husband's Social Security account. And usually if I have enough space, I try to squeeze in a line that says the same benefits are available to husbands and widowers, even though I know those benefits to men are ...Read more
Is at-home recovery after a transplant covered by Medicare?
Dear Readers: This week, I received a text message from a local Toni Says Medicare client that I would like to share with you:
Toni, I need to put together a 24/7 home care recovery plan after a liver transplant. The surgery is over a year out, but I would appreciate tips on how to plan for this medical event. Thanks in advance.
--name ...Read more
Social Security and You: You Are Being Paid Properly
In my 32 years of experience working for the Social Security Administration and the 27 years I've been writing this column, one of the more common complaints I've heard from people goes something like this: "I don't think I am getting the right Social Security benefit amount. It's less than it should be." Or like this: "Based on what all my ...Read more
Say that again: Using hearing aids can be frustrating for older adults, but necessary
It was an every-other-day routine, full of frustration.
Every time my husband called his father, who was 94 when he died in 2022, he’d wait for his dad to find his hearing aids and put them in before they started talking.
Even then, my father-in-law could barely hear what my husband was saying. “What?” he’d ask over and over.
Then, ...Read more
I thought Medicare covered long-term care
Dear Toni,
Recently in your Medicare column, you discussed services that are not covered by Original Medicare such as dental, vision, long-term care and other items. I thought Medicare covered long-term care but was wrong, because my mother suffered a severe stroke and her rehab facility notified me that Medicare is not paying for my mother...Read more
Social Security and You: Book Updates
Over the past couple of months, hundreds of you have written to me because you've had trouble getting my book called "Social Security: Simple and Smart" from Amazon. And other times, the problem was that you wanted to get the 2024 edition of the book and you were sent a prior edition.
I won't bother sharing with you the tales of woe my ...Read more
'We're not unicorns': Husband donates kidney to wife, showing possibilities for kidney transplants after age 70
CHICAGO -- Jon and Carol McCabe were in the Galápagos Islands with their family for the trip of a lifetime. The couple from Clarendon Hills, Illinois, shared 30 meals with their children and grandchildren and admired diverse wildlife.
But Carol’s health rapidly declined during the trip. She struggled to walk long distances and needed lots of...Read more
This leap year baby is about to turn 92 -- or is it 23?
PITTSBURGH — If Ethel Jean "E.J." Bergad Bonder hits the lottery, she plans to buy a Porsche for her granddaughter because they will both turn 23 years old this year.
Yep, Ethel was born on Feb. 29, 1932, and will technically turn 23 Thursday. She's a leap year baby.
The Gregorian calendar is based on 365.25 days — the amount of time it ...Read more
How do I enroll in Medicare?
Hello Toni:
I am turning 65 in July and am bombarded with mail and telemarketing calls. I am not receiving Social Security and a friend who just got Medicare is receiving her Social Security check. Do I have to be receiving my Social Security check to get Medicare?
Please explain what I should do because I was waiting to apply for Social ...Read more
Social Security and You: That's Not What I Meant To Say
I've always taken pride in the fact that I do a pretty good job of explaining Social Security rules in simple and easy-to-understand language. But every once in a while, I'm reminded that something I say or write that I think is pretty clear and simple can be misinterpreted. Here are some examples.
Q: I am 62 and have spent most of my life as a...Read more
Disabled, elderly rely on this transportation program. It’s leaving them behind
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Tom Newsome likes to stay busy.
Newsome, who has an intellectual disability, goes to Employment Solutions, an organization that provides a host of services for people with disabilities, a few times a week for adult day training.
He enjoys archery and takes ukulele lessons, said Peggy Petrilli, Newsome’s mother. Newsome was ...Read more
Study looks at the overwhelming cost of dementia care in senior homes
ATLANTA -- Thousands of families with loved ones who have dementia have turned to senior care homes for help, and a new study from Georgia State University details the heavy financial toll that care in these facilities can place on those with the condition.
The paper, which was done in conjunction with researchers from the University of ...Read more
Study: More older adults are using cannabis post-pandemic
A new study, published in the Cannabis and Cannabinoids Research journal, found more older Americans are using cannabis today than before the pandemic. According to researchers with the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, roughly 1 in 8 Americans over 50 currently use the substance.
“As the stress of the...Read more
These older women are feeding Philadelphians in poverty. What happens when they’re gone?
PHILADELPHIA -- Gloria White, 74, can’t remember precisely how long she’s been volunteering at the food pantry at the Second Antioch Baptist Church in West Philadelphia.
“Thirty, maybe 37 years,” said White, a retired investigator for the Consumer Product Safety Commission. “It’s a calling.” White, who now lives in Townsend, Del.,...Read more
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