Smoking: You Can Get Help to Stop

Nicotine craving is a major hurdle. Some people try to kick the smoking habit by applying an antidepressant drug delivered through a patch on the skin, hopefully to reduce the craving, making it easier to quit. The drug proved not to be better than a placebo.

According to studies taken place at Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, Dr. Joel D. Killen and his team determined that successful smoking cessation has to be a combination of pharmacologic aids and behavioral changes.

Good news from Medicare:

"Medicare will now pay for cessation counseling for any beneficiary who wants to quit (smoking). Until now, this service was covered only for Medicare recipients who had a smoking-related illness or symptoms of such an illness," according to a 9/1/2010 article written by Eleni Berger.

Smokers will be able to get counseling for 2 cessation attempts (at 4 sessions per attempt) but a qualified physician or other Medicare-recognized practitioner must provide the counseling.

Medicare Part D allows Medicare beneficiaries who are eligible to get prescription medication that can help the process.

Source: MedlinePlus, health information from the National Library of Medicine

For more on smoking, visit 50somethinginfo.com

An Alarming Trend Involving Medicare

David Olmos of Bloomberg Press reported that as of January of this year, the Mayo Clinic in Arizona has stopped accepting Medicare patients at one of its primary-care clinics unless they are paid in cash for their services.

"It's simply a matter of dollars and sense," some say.

Often physicians cannot afford to treat Medicare patients when increasing medical costs are not covered by Medicare payments. Statistics show that fewer American family doctors are accepting new Medicare patients.

For more on Medicare, visit 50somethinginfo.com

Medicare Part D Prescription Plan: Getting the Best One For You

Take Dale Carter's word for it.  She provides step-by-step instructions on how to select the right plan for you or your parent.  

Each year she reviews her mother's current plan to decide if that is the proper route to take for the subsequent year.  

Following her advice takes into account changes in congressional or state legislation, changes in prescription plans and changes in a person's medical and financial situation.  

You can check the estimated annual costs for comparisons and make the most prudent decisions.

Now there's no need to reinvent the wheel.  Thanks to Dale Carter, a daunting task is made easy.      

Benefits You or Your Parents May Qualify For

Feel like the middle of an Oreo cookie? Congratulations. Welcome to the sandwich generation.

Our kids may still need our help but so does mom and dad. The free time we anticipated is slipping through our fingers. Hobbies and travel are thrust to the back burner replaced by time-consuming dilemmas concerning parents' housing issues, medical conditions, and caregiving. And to make matters worse, funds stashed away to cover these impending expenditures are shrinking at a frightening pace.

We don't know where to begin to seek the assistance. We are justifiably anxious that our retirement funds will be in jeopardy should we accept this daunting financial burden.

Here are a few places to begin your search:

AARP has an internet tool which finds low or no-cost state and federal public benefits programs for qualifying older Americans, private prescription drug programs offered by pharmaceutical companies or Medicare RX extra help.

To target specific benefits, use the Benefits Quick Search. You may even tap into some of your state government's offerings to see if any program is applicable and available.

Be aware of the top 10 signs that indicate if a senior is in need of housing assistance.

The Housing and Urban Development provides financial assistance resources and guides. Should you opt to speak to a HUD-approved housing counselor, one is only a phone call away.

Medicare Interactive is a one-stop source for federal and state information about health care rights, options, and benefits.

There may be extra help from Medicare to help reduce the costs for prescription drugs or consider tapping into 475 public and private programs which offer assistance to patients who don't have prescription coverage.

AARP provides information on low-cost public loans which include reverse mortgages, deferred payment loans, and property tax deferrals.

The Department of Veterans Affairs provides a booklet which states eligibility for healthcare, home loans, education, life insurance, mental health, and memorial and burial, etc.,benefits for veterans and dependents.

These are just a few places to begin getting the help you need. I wish I had the magic wand to answer all your questions. If you let me know precisely what you want, I may be of further assistance.

Helpful Tip - Medicare Physician Search

Phone rings. I recognize the phone number, answer, and not one for lengthy conversations, I say,

“Hi, Mom. What’s going on?”

And mom, equally one to not mince words, says,

“I need to find a new gynecologist. I just got a letter from my old one saying that she no longer accepts Medicare assignments. It’s so frustrating. I guess the doctors are receiving less from the government and because of the considerable paperwork as well as the lower payments, some docs are opting out of Medicare.” She continues to grumble, “I don’t blame them. Everyone’s got to earn a living. But I’d rather be bowling, playing cards, or watching 'Everyone Loves Raymond' than figuring out what to do and where to go.”

I’m not ready for Medicare yet but I am familiar with the angst accompanying the search for a new doctor when I relocated to a new city just 4 years ago.

It would only make sense, I reasoned (even with my recurrent skepticism about government efficiency), for the U.S. government to supply an up-to-date directory of Medicare-accepting physicians. So to my surprise and dismay and delight and whatever, I discovered the Medicare Physician Search.

When I supplied my lovely 88-year old, computer-literate widowed (but currently available for friendships and dating) mother with this site, she called me brilliant, resourceful, and all kinds of good things (very ego-gratifying, I might add).

As our conversation came to a close, I moved on to a more favorable topic,
“Well, Mom, tell me again how magnificent your great-grandchildren are.”

Then we talk endlessly about how happy Jonah is, how big Asher is, how sweet-natured Nicole is, and how bright Haley is. Did I ever tell you how much I love to talk on the phone?