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.
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