LYN’S LEDGER
Lyndon Thomas Insurance
WINTER 2019
We Help You With Medicare.
WATER AND HEALTH
TWO THINGS WE ALL TAKE FOR GRANTED
A view that is prevalent in the area is to connect to the Metropolitan Water District (see Owens Valley and Los Angeles above) via a pipeline through neighboring communities. Time will tell the wisdom of paying tens of millions of dollars for a connection to a system that has never yet delivered the full contracted amount of water to its customers. Those from the southwest outside of the desert may find the attention, if not obsession, given to water somewhat interesting. I grew up in an area of the country where water supply is plentiful and stable and not much time is spent thinking about water. Isn’t it ironic how the threat of losing something makes us stand up and stop taking it for granted? An extended drought certainly undermines the easy confidence we have enjoyed in our water supply. In earlier years, when we were young and healthy, it was difficult to imagine the degree to which our health needs would grow. Medicare was not a priority; now it is! Our goal is to assist you in navigating Medicare as the time given to your health needs increases and demands more attention.
Living as we do in drought-ridden southern California, the announcement last week that we were officially in an El Nino weather pattern was pleasant news. Declining east to west winds have allowed increased equatorial moisture patterns to prevail and come ashore. While we have reached — or may be slightly above — annual average rainfall amounts across the region by late February, the rainfall in March and April will verify or disprove this happy announcement. In the meantime, officials affirm we are still in a drought and all water usage restrictions remain in place. The drought conditions of the past several years have made everyone in southern California more aware of how our water gets to our faucets. Personally, we have adjusted to the 36 percent mandated reduction based on 2013 usage. From the historical battle of the Owens Valley Davids against the Goliath City of Los Angeles and the fictional 1974 movie “Chinatown,” which serves in cultural lore as a stand-in for the real story, to the Colorado River aqueducts to southern California, transportation of water to distant places is both a technological marvel and a source of great conflict. Some readers of this newsletter are served by these massive water movement projects. Many more readers here in the Ojai Valley are not hooked up to these projects and are served by local aquifers or the local reservoir Lake Casitas. The current multiyear drought and 80-foot drop of Lake Casitas have rightly spurred a new urgency regarding the source of our water.
And may the raindrops keep fallin’ on our heads!
–Lyn Thomas
1
www.LT-ins.com
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.NewsletterPro.com
Published by The NewsletterPro • www.NewsletterPro.com
Lyndon Thomas Insurance
STRENGTH OF MIND Tips to Keep Memory Sharp and Improve Cognitive Function
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT AMBULANCE RIDES It’s time for a couple of annual reminders … In the event of a medical emergency transport, the EMT staff most likely will not get your insurance information. Their job is to get your broken leg or heart attack to the hospital ASAP! Stopping to get your insurance information would be a dangerous delay, so they take your name and address and send you a bill for the full amount. Here is the important part: even though the bill may be for the full amount, you are responsible ONLY for a portion based on how you are using Medicare. • Medicare only You are responsible for 20 percent of the bill after you pay the annual deductible ($185 in 2019). Action to take: Give them your Medicare number and pay the 20 percent to the provider. • Medicare plus Supplement Supplement F pays the annual deductible and the 20 percent; you pay nothing. Supplements G and N pay the full balance of the ambulance bill after you pay the annual deductible. Action to take: Send your Medicare and Supplement information to the ambulance company for them to send the claim to Medicare, which also sends the claim to the Supplement. Send no money unless you have not paid the Part B deductible for the year. • Medicare Advantage You pay only the Emergency Transportation/Ambulance Co-Pay for the plan you are a member of. Action to take: Pay the copay to the provider, call the health plan Member Service number on your ID card, and ask them to take care of if from there. Having to take a ride in the ambulance is bad enough! Don’t pay more than you need to! If you have questions about this or other Medicare- related questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. If you have an ambulance ride and you have Medicare, never pay the full amount billed!
Irish poet Oscar Wilde once called memory “the diary that we all carry about with us.” Of course, in Wilde’s time, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years old. As modern medicine continues to enable people to live longer, these “diaries” tend to become muddled. Fortunately, there are ways to counteract the natural dulling of our memory that comes with time. PUZZLE YOURSELF Just like any other muscle, our brain needs a workout in order to stay strong. As Dr. Celeste Robb-Nicholson of Harvard Medical School writes, “Challenging your brain with mental exercise is believed to activate processes that help maintain individual brain cells.” Activities like solving puzzles, learning a musical instrument, or picking up a new hobby work wonders to keep your mind active and your memory sharp. These mental exercises are especially important after retirement, often to make up for the loss of stimulating challenges that work used to provide. GET PHYSICAL Taking care of our physical health has also been shown to help brain function. According to a study by Sydney University in Australia, aerobic exercise is particularly good at jogging our memory. The researchers note that “aerobic exercise acts by preventing the usual decrease in neurogenesis associated with aging, thus resulting in greater retention of neural matter —particularly in the hippocampus.” In short, exercises like swimming and running keep the part of our brain responsible for memory from shrinking. SPEND TIME WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY Humans are social creatures. Many studies have shown that being a part of a supportive social group can significantly benefit our physical and mental health. In fact, the American Journal of Public Health reports that people who have daily contact with friends and family cut their risk of dementia and mental impairment almost in half. Our mental diaries may be longer and fuller than they were in Wilde’s day, but if we fill those pages with hobbies, exercise, and close friends, our memories will remain sharp and vivid for the rest of our days.
2 216-B E. Matilija St., Ojai, CA 93023 www.LT-ins.com CA# 0D96309
We Help You With Medicare.
IT’S NOT THE IRS CALLING YOU!
Your experience is like mine, I’m sure. The scam phone calls never let up. You can fortify yourself against the scammers by keeping this rule in mind. The Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, and Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services/CMS, aka “Medicare,” make any needed initial contact to taxpayers and beneficiaries by mail, not by telephone. If you take a telephone call — no matter how urgent — from anyone claiming to be from these agencies, it is a scam! For example, in the mail each year, you receive your annual Social Security statement of benefits that also lists the amount deducted each month for Medicare Part B. If these agencies need to contact you regarding these benefits, they will do so by mail, not telephone.
SUDOKU
TIRAMISU
Ingredients
Instructions
1. In a large mixing bowl, use a whisk to beat together egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. 2. Add mascarpone cheese and beat until smooth. 3. Fold in 1 tablespoon of espresso. 4. In a small, shallow dish, combine remaining espresso with rum. Dip each ladyfinger into mixture for 5 seconds. Place soaked ladyfingers at the bottom of a walled baking dish. 5. Spread half of the mascarpone mixture on top of the first layer of ladyfingers. Top with another layer of ladyfingers and another layer of mascarpone. 6. Cover and refrigerate 2–8 hours. 7. Remove from fridge, sprinkle with chocolate shavings, and serve.
• • •
6 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar 1 pound mascarpone cheese
•
1 1/2 cups strong espresso, cooled
• •
2 teaspoons dark rum
24 packaged ladyfingers
•
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate shavings, for garnish
Inspired by foodnetwork.com
3
CA# 0D96309
805-646-6409
Lyndon Thomas Insurance
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
PO Box 207 Ojai, CA 93024
INSIDE
CA# 0D96309 | www.LT-ins.com | 805-646-6409
2 1
What the Drought Can Teach You About Medicare
3 Ways to Improve Your Memory
What You Should Know About Ambulance Rides
3 4
It’s Not the IRS Calling You!
Tiramisu
Getting Important Greens on Your Plate
THE IMPORTANCE OF GREEN FOODS ADDING NUTRIENTS TO YOUR MEALS
When you eat a well-balanced meal, you provide your body with the right nutrients and the calories it needs. If you’re unsure how many calories you should eat to maintain your current weight, multiply your weight in pounds by 12. If you want to lose weight, start by subtracting 500 calories per week to lose approximately 1 pound per week. You can start adding greens into your diet by adding them as side dishes. For dinner, serve a bowl of steamed broccoli or green beans. Instead of grabbing a burger at lunchtime, pack a leafy green salad topped with protein, such as nuts or chicken. This time of year, soups and stews that contain leafy greens will warm you up. If you don’t enjoy eating greens, hide them in smoothies and juices.
Being healthy is at the forefront of many Americans’ minds. The nutrients you put into your system are critical to keeping your mind and body healthy. Everyone knows that staying away from junk, fried, and sugary foods is a good start, but knowing what to add to your diet is equally crucial. Leafy greens, such as kale, mizuna, and spinach, are rich in dietary fiber, calcium, potassium, and iron. They also contain vitamins C, K, and E. Adding these greens into your diet can support weight loss and reduce your risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
To make sure you’re eating enough greens, divide your plate up between fruits, vegetables, grains, and meats. Vegetables or fruits should take up half of your plate. One-fourth should be lean proteins,
The more you eat leafy greens, the more you’ll develop a taste for them. Who knows? Before long, you might find yourself reaching for the broccoli instead of the potato chips when you’re craving a snack!
and one-fourth should be whole grains. This guarantees that you’re eating a well-balanced meal and not overloading yourself with large portions of unnecessary calories.
4
216-B E. Matilija St., Ojai, CA 93023
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.NewsletterPro.com
Published by The NewsletterPro •www.NewsletterPro.com
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online