Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/89341
6A Daily News – Tuesday, October 23, 2012 Vitalityfitness health On Nutrition: Feedback By Barbara Quinn The Monterey County Herald (MCT) even though my computer suggests I replace this term with "comments" or "opinions," I prefer "feedback." This is, after all, a nutrition column. Sometimes the feedback is an advertisement for a This column generates interesting feedback. And new book or food item. (Stay tuned for a review of some of these products in the near future.) My favorite feedback is from readers, however. So I was delighted to hear back from a young man I men- tioned in a recent column. I met with him and his moth- er several years ago when she was concerned about his extremely limited food choices — mostly peanut butter sandwiches and spinach. & Medicare changes: What you need to know this year By Robin Erb I analyzed his diet at the time and found (to some surprise) that his basic nutritional needs were met … at least for the short term. Not to worry about temporary food jags, I advised. Kids usually outgrow them as their tastes mature. And then I received this letter last week: "Hello, Barbara! My mother sent me a copy of your article from August 29th after she recognized that you were probably talking about me! I'm the one who only eats peanut butter, bread, spinach and apple sauce. According to my mom, I saw you something like 20 years ago. I'll be 30 years old in December and I still eat pretty much the same way I did when we first met. "I still eat a peanut butter sandwich every day for lunch and dinner and I still eat spinach and apple sauce every night. Apparently the long term effects of eating this way aren't so bad either. I'm currently 6'1" and weigh 203 pounds according to my bathroom scale and I have no major health problems. I certainly could lose weight, but I'm working on it and making progress. "My wonderful fiancee figured out how to get the jargon and the tiny language changes — it's all stuff that makes choosing the right Medicare plan maddening. But a beefed-up federal five-star rating system for Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans may make the choice a whole lot easier this year. The new enrollment period opened Monday for beneficiaries of Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans. The annual eight-week window allows newly minted seniors — baby boomers who turned 65 this past year — to sign up for policies and for cur- rent beneficiaries to reassess their current policies. There are some general changes worth noting: Beginning this year, ben- Detroit Free Press (MCT) The fine print and the MCT photo Dr. Gwendolyn Graddy-Dansby, M.D. a geriantrician for Henry Ford Health Systems talks to her patient, Annie G.Watts, 81, after her dialysis treatment at the Henry Ford Center for Senior Independence in Detroit. peanut butter I eat in bulk and in order to figure out how much we needed, she figured out how much I actually eat. We kept track of my consumption over a few months and it turns out I eat a 26-ounce jar of Laura Scudder's All Natural Smooth Peanut Butter every 5 days on average. I've been eating this way for about 25 years, so if you use that average I've eaten around 3,000 pounds of peanut butter over my lifetime. "It was fun to read your column, I'm amused you still remember me. I'm glad I saw it so I could write in and say hi. It is almost dinner time, so I had better go make myself a sandwich." — F.Z. And I'd better go check my email… Barbara Quinn is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. She is the author of "Diabetes DTOUR Diet," Rodale, 2009. Email her at bquinn@chomp.org. redbluff.mercy.org www.redbluff.mercy.org Highs and Lows of Blood Sugar Bag City Leather Sale Community Basic Life Support SOI Candle Sale Grief Support Group Waterbirth Class Weekend Childbirth Class Diabetic Education 6pm-7:30pm 10/24 RB Community Center 9am-4pm 10/30-31 Main Hospital Hallway Community Diabetes Support Group6:30pm-8pm 11/5 Columba Cardiac Support Group 11/13 Columba 6:30pm-8:30pm 11/14 Columba 6pm-9pm 11/16 9am-3pm Columba 11/17 12:30pm-4:30pm 11/28 Columba www.redbluff.mercy.org 529-8026 Community for the Active A Retirement Senior Citizens EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY 750 David Avenue, Red Bluff • 527-9193 Complete Dental Care • Cosmetic Dentistry • Adults And Children • New Patients Warmly Welcomed! www.MooreandPascarella.com RANDAL S. ELLOWAY DDS IMPLANT DENTISTRY 2426 SO. 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This cov- erage gap is a period of time when seniors must pay a higher cost for prescription drugs — once the full-cost — until they spend enough to qualify for catastrophic coverage. When beneficia- ries reach that gap in 2013, they will pay 47.5 percent of the cost for brand name drugs and 79 percent for generic drugs next year. Knowing the intricacies of your plan may seem daunting, but it's crucial, senior advocates said. It's a case of what you don't know can actually hurt you — either financial- ly, health-wise or both, said Jennifer Therrien, who helps train about 110 paid and volunteer counselors with the Michigan Medicare/Medicaid Assis- tance Program. MMAP is a federally funded agency that helps beneficiaries weigh their options. For example, plans now may choose to cover benzo- diazepines, a class of drugs that includes Valium and is used to treat anxiety and insomnia, and certain barbi- turates such as those used to treat chronic mental disor- ders. Those drugs in the past were excluded from Part D and were typically covered out of pocket. It's up to individual insurers whether they want to cover those drugs. "Mental health issues really are problematic for a lot of seniors," said Kara Zivin, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Univer- sity of Michigan whose research has included health policy and Medicare. "A lot of seniors retire and are happy and are living out their lives. But for others, depression, anxiety and sleep disorders — they interact with other health problems. Rent Special $500 OFF first month rent! ◆ Warm & Friendly Staff ◆Recreational Programs ◆Scheduled Transportation ◆Private & Formal Dining Rooms ◆ Three Nutritious Meals Daily ◆ 24 Hour Secure Environment ◆ House Keeping Services ◆ Independent Living ◆ Private Apartments "It's real important that these medications are cov- ered the same way (medica- tions for) physical disabili- ties are covered," she said. This expanded drug cov- erage, along with the screenings that will be cov- ered now for mental health, alcohol misuse and sexually transmitted diseases, are the sort of services that not only thread through a senior's daily quality of life, they have deep impact on long- term mental and physical health, said Dr. Gwendolyn Graddy-Dansby, a geriatri- cian and the medical direc- tor of the Henry Ford Center for Senior Independence, a Medicare- and Medicaid- funded center that helps seniors avoid nursing homes and remain in their homes as long as possible That Medicare will now cover those costs signals a shift in understanding to the underappreciated issues that seniors face: "We need to talk about it and take it out of the closet," she said. Assessing all the options "Every year things change. And with prescrip- tion drug plan, the co-pays can change. The premiums can change, and the list of drugs can change. … It can be really frustrating" navi- gating the information, Therrien said. Even the informational brochures are printed in type large enough to read, said Betty Mitchell, 89, lan- guage can be sometimes jar- gon-filled and confusing. "I used to say to my hus- band, 'Do you understand this?' He'd say, 'Well, about half of it,'" she said. "It's like a matrix," agreed Page. it's difficult not to be dis- tracted by the noise of politicians' promises and predictions. And in an election year, isn't easy: Seniors and other beneficiaries must weigh short-term savings in premi- ums against long-term costs in co-pays or limited bene- fits. They have to consider developing health concerns and how easily they can get access to a favorite doctor or specialist. But this much is clear: Nothing — nothing — has been changed to substan- tially change Medicare yet. As it stands now, the heart of Medicare — the idea of offering health insurance to Americans 65 and older and those with certain disabilities — remains strong, said Jo Murphy, director of the state MMAP program. 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