Imagine going to the grocery store, picking up the items you need for the week, but not knowing how much anything costs until the store sends you a bill two weeks later. Sadly, that’s how our healthcare system works every day. Healthcare costs now represent one in every five dollars spent in our country....

As we head into the holiday season, I wanted to let you know how much your Medicare will cost in 2019. Most people with Medicare will pay the standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B, which will be $135.50 next year, an increase of $1.50 over 2018. Part B covers physician services, outpatient hospital...

When you shop for a new car or truck, you don’t just buy the first one you see, do you? Probably not. You shop around, looking for the best deal you can get on a vehicle that fits your driving needs as well as your pocketbook. Well, it’s the time of year when you can shop for a Medicare health or...

At a family reunion, my Aunt Abby and Uncle Glen got into a squabble over the best way to get their Medicare benefits. Uncle Glen is an Original Medicare man, and has been for a decade or so. Aunt Abby prefers Medicare Advantage, which is similar to a health plan she had before enrolling in Medicare. When...

As a person with Medicare, do you have any rights and protections? You certainly do. You have rights whether you’re enrolled in Original Medicare – in which you can choose any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare – or Medicare Advantage, in which you get care within a network of health care...

Brittle bones could shatter your life. Every year, more Americans are diagnosed with osteoporosis, a disease that causes bones to weaken and become more likely to break. You mgiht not know that you have this “silent” disease until your bones are so weak that a sudden strain, bump, or fall causes...

Did you know that one in three American adults is at risk for kidney disease? Major risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, a family history of kidney failure, and being age 60 or older. The best way to fight kidney disease is to find it before trouble starts. But if you’ve...

Are you at risk for glaucoma? Glaucoma is an eye disease that causes loss of vision—usually side vision—by damaging the optic nerve, which sends information from your eyes to your brain. Some forms of glaucoma don’t have any symptoms, so you may have it even if you don’t have trouble seeing or...

Let’s hope it never happens, but there may come a time in your life when you need mental health care. Your Medicare covers a wide variety of such services, in both hospital inpatient and outpatient settings. If you have Medicare Part A (hospital insurance), you’re eligible for mental health services...

At a recent meeting of my staff, the topic of diabetes came up. When we went around the table, it turned out that 25 percent of them have problems with blood sugar. That figure exactly matches the percentage of Americans 65 years old and older who have diabetes or a condition called pre-diabetes. I’m...