Senior Living

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I’m turning 65 with retiree benefits … why do I need Part B?

Senior Living / Toni Says /

Good day, Toni:

We saw your article about Medicare Part B enrollment in our local newspaper, but my wife’s and my Medicare enrollment situation is different. We will both turn 65 this year, me in June and Carol in September. I have signed up for Medicare Part A only and Carol will enroll for Part A soon.

I retired when I turned 63 with ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Steve Lopez: In this senior league, where love of the game never gets old, softball is 'better than medicine'

PICO RIVERA, Calif. -- Infielder Eddie Castorena, 75, wore two braces under his Old Spice uniform, one for his knee and one for his back.

Big Red catcher Tony Spallino, 67, was moving pretty well behind the plate, hoping he won't need a second hip replacement.

His teammate Agustin Quezada, 83, limped through the dugout between innings, leaning...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Steve Lopez: In this senior league, where love of the game never gets old, softball is 'better than medicine'

PICO RIVERA, Calif. -- Infielder Eddie Castorena, 75, wore two braces under his Old Spice uniform, one for his knee and one for his back.

Big Red catcher Tony Spallino, 67, was moving pretty well behind the plate, hoping he won't need a second hip replacement.

His teammate Agustin Quezada, 83, limped through the dugout between innings, leaning...Read more

Social Security and You: Retirees With Adult Children Who Are Disabled

Whenever I see a parent with a disabled child, it tugs at my heartstrings. On the one hand, I can't imagine the hardships they must face almost every day. I think of our neighbors -- a retired couple our age (in their 70s) whose only child is a 40-year-old son with cerebral palsy. So much of their lives seems to revolve around the care for their...Read more

Mykola Nisolovskyi/Dreamstime/TNS

How some emergency rooms adapt to the needs of older adults

A visit to the emergency room is no fun for anybody. But older people face challenges that can make a tough situation worse.

The lights, noise and endless activity can be confusing and even trigger delirium. Slick floors pose fall risks, as do hospital beds that can be hard to get in and out of.

Some emergency departments, however, are taking ...Read more

Does Amazon’s ‘RxPass’ qualify as a Medicare Part D Plan?

Senior Living / Toni Says /

Hello Toni:

In September, I turn 65 with my Medicare beginning Sept. 1. I recently read your article from Greg in Texas who had received wrong information about enrolling in Medicare when self-employed. I am also self-employed and need your advice about enrolling in Medicare Part D.

Currently, I am enrolled in Amazon Prime’s Pharmacy ...Read more

Social Security and You: More Clarification of the 'Spousal Bump'

I don't think I coined the term. But I may have helped spread it around the world of Social Security. I'm referring to the "spousal bump." Every time I hear it, it makes me chuckle. It sounds like some "dirty dancing" move by an old married couple in a shady nightclub! But of course, I know that's not what the spousal bump is. It is a term that ...Read more

‘Strong Grandma’ is record-holding powerlifter at 95

At 95 years old, Catherine Kuehn wasn’t just lifting weights. She was a competing powerlifter — one worthy of her own documentary.

Presented by The New Yorker, “Strong Grandma” follows Kuehn as she reminisces about the love and loss of her husband while preparing for what may be her final competition.

According to Open Power Lifting, ...Read more

Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group/Doug Duran

50-year legacy: Vietnamese boat people thrive as fishermen

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Aboard his boat in Moss Landing harbor, Tai Huynh, 71, bent over a pile of grenadier, then flung one of the deep sea fish into a large bin. Next to him, Tham Vo tipped them into a 500-pound crane lift box, swigging glass bottles of Heineken between loads.

In just over two hours recently, the pair offloaded 3,854 pounds of ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

When they don’t recognize you anymore

It happened more than a decade ago, but the moment remains with her.

Sara Stewart was talking at the dining room table with her mother, Barbara Cole, 86 at the time, in Bar Harbor, Maine. Stewart, then 59, a lawyer, was making one of her extended visits from out of state.

Two or three years earlier, Cole had begun showing troubling signs of ...Read more

Medicare changes its telehealth rules

Senior Living / Toni Says /

Toni:

I have been researching the changes to Medicare’s telehealth services over a computer video service that I saw on the news recently. I am concerned because my mother lives in an assisted living facility and her primary care doctor uses the telehealth computer service, so I do not have to take my mother, who uses a wheelchair, to the ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

When they don't recognize you anymore

It happened more than a decade ago, but the moment remains with her.

Sara Stewart was talking at the dining room table with her mother, Barbara Cole, 86 at the time, in Bar Harbor, Maine. Stewart, then 59, a lawyer, was making one of her extended visits from out of state.

Two or three years earlier, Cole had begun showing troubling signs of ...Read more

Social Security and You: Time for Another Survey of SSA Services

Sadly, there has been more than a little bit of "government bashing" going on lately. In addition to general rants about alleged government inefficiency, government employees come in for more than their share of criticism. All I really know is Social Security and the services provided by the Social Security Administration. So that's what I am ...Read more

Andrey Kiselev/Dreamstime/TNS

Why cameras are popping up in eldercare facilities

The assisted living facility in Edina, Minnesota, where Jean Peters and her siblings moved their mother in 2011, looked lovely. “But then you start uncovering things,” Peters said.

Her mother, Jackie Hourigan, widowed and developing memory problems at 82, too often was still in bed when her children came to see her midmorning.

“She wasn�...Read more

Andrey Kiselev/Dreamstime/TNS

Why cameras are popping up in eldercare facilities

The assisted living facility in Edina, Minnesota, where Jean Peters and her siblings moved their mother in 2011, looked lovely. “But then you start uncovering things,” Peters said.

Her mother, Jackie Hourigan, widowed and developing memory problems at 82, too often was still in bed when her children came to see her midmorning.

“She wasn�...Read more

Rules for enrolling in Medicare when self-employed are confusing

Senior Living / Toni Says /

Dear Toni:

I am self-employed with an individual health plan and confused about enrolling in Medicare when I turn 65 in July. I cannot find the answer to my situation in the Medicare & You handbook. A business associate who is also self-employed delayed his Part B because he is under his wife’s company benefits. He is sure that I can delay ...Read more

Social Security and You: Ponzi Schmonzi

There has been a lot of talk over the years about Social Security being a "Ponzi scheme." I have addressed this issue many times before, so I don't want to bore my regular readers with another long dissertation. But since a certain billionaire friend of President Donald Trump brought it up yet again, I will make three quick observations.

One: ...Read more

Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Retired officer called an ‘inspiration’ at birthday bash. At 104, he may be oldest cop in US

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. — Two days after his 104th birthday, retired Oakland police Officer Toft Jessen was celebrated Thursday by dozens of Oakland police officers past and present, along with many others who lauded him as “an impressive individual” whose achievements are inspirational.

Jessen, a World War II veteran who during his nearly 37...Read more

Why was I denied enrollment in Medicare Part B?

Senior Living / Toni Says /

On April 1, I went to the local Social Security office to apply for both my Social Security check and Medicare Part B, since I am turning 70 on April 20. On April 11 I received a letter from Social Security stating that the $3,200 Social Security benefit check will be issued in May to my bank account. To my surprise, the letter states that ...Read more

Social Security and You: Explaining Little Quirks in Social Security Law in 1,000 Words

I doubt if any of you have ever bothered to count, but my average weekly column comes out to about 1,000 words. I bring this up because the other day, a national newspaper asked me to write a one-time Social Security column for them. They told me that wanted me to answer five questions (of their choosing) and that they would give me 500 words of...Read more

 

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