News

Garden: A recent long-term study followed more than 2800 men and women aged 60 and older for 16 years. The study measured admission to hospital, and nursing homes with any kinds of dementia, while assessing a variety of lifestyle factors. Researchers found daily gardening to represent the single biggest risk reduction for dementia in both sexes, reducing incidence by 36%. Gardening involves many critical functions, including improved vitamin D levels from exposure to the sun for good health, exercise, learning and observation, problem solving, sensory awareness and maintenance of sanity, that its benefits are believed to a synthesis of various aspects..If you have limited income and savings, there are three Medicare Savings Programs that help pay Medicare costs. If you qualify, your Medicare Part B premium will no longer be deducted from your monthly Social Security check. Over the rest of the year, that could be worth an extra 4.60 per month in your Social Security check, and more than ,300 in higher Social Security income through the end of the year. If you qualify, you will automatically get Extra Help, the Medicare program that helps with Part D prescription drug costs..Data from the Social Security Administration suggest that a substantial portion of the estimated 8.1 million undocumented immigrants who illegally work in this country already have taxes withheld. According to the most recent data, the Social Security Administration received about 7 million "mismatched" wage reports in 2012 in which the name and Social Security number don't match those on Social Security's records. This most often occurs when undocumented immigrants work under invalid Social Security numbers..Rx for Medicare's Doctors' Pay Formula.On Monday, the CBO released its highly anticipated analysis of the BCRA health reform legislation released late last week by Republican leaders in the Senate. The report shows that if signed into law, the bill would leave 22 million more individuals uninsured than current law, and it would hit older, poorer people the hardest especially those between the ages of fifty and sixty-four with less than ,200 in annual income. Those individuals would see health insurance premium increases of 200 percent or more under the BCRA..In 2015, the monthly Medicare Part B premium for people with incomes less than ,000 was 4.90. When the Social Security Administration announced that there would be no COLA in 2016, Barbara - like 70 percent of all other Social Security recipients - was protected from reductions in her Social Security benefits by a provision of law known as "hold harmless." Barbara's Medicare Part B premium stayed the same, at 4.90, even though Medicare Part B premiums that year rose to 1.80 for people like new enrollees who were not protected by hold harmless..The study examined the increase in costs of 32 key items between 2000 and January 201The items were chosen because they are typical of the costs seniors must bear. Of the 32 costs analyzed, 20 exceeded the COLA. The selected items represent eight categories, weighted by approximate expenditure..While the legislation made some changes to Social Security and did not cut benefits of any current retirees, it did end a complicated benefit claiming strategy known as "file and suspend" for people very close to retirement. Although the legislation closes an unintended "loophole," the strategy was one of the few means married couples had to maximize their payouts. A similar provision was contained in Obama's 2015 fiscal year budget and was estimated to cut Social Security costs by as much as .5 billion annually..You can also get one-on-one counseling and assistance in applying through your State Health Insurance Program. Find the contact for your area online at: shiptacenter.org.