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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 2021)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 | 9A Biggest Raise in Decades for Social Security? Don’t count your mon- ey before it’s in hand, of course. But word is that the Social Security increase we see in January could be as much as 6.1%, the largest since 1983. For the average bene- fit recipient, currently re- ceiving $1,543, that could amount to $94 per month. It’s a few years too late for a serious increase, but cer- tainly better than the 1.3% bump we saw for 2021 and the 1.6% the year before. Social Security is calcu- lated by the cost-of-living adjustment in the third quarter each year. For 2021, they calculated that a 1.3% increase should be plenty. We know that was wrong, as prices of everything had climbed. It’s all in how and what they calculate. They use the Consumer Price In- dex for Urban Wage Earn- ers and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which measures prices on certain goods and services. But we’re not wage earn- ers, and we don’t work in offices. We spend our mon- ey on different things. We wonder why they don’t use the index for the elderly (CPI-E), which takes into consideration the things we do buy, such as medi- cal care, medical services, housing and health insur- ance. (There’s a bill in the House of Representatives -- H.R.4315 -- to do that very thing.) We spend less than the CPI-W group on trans- portation, food, clothing, entertainment, education and communication. The Federal Reserve Bank did a midsummer survey on what consumers are expecting for the rest of 2021. The expectation of responders is that we’ll see a 4.8% increase on top of what we’ve already seen this year. Keep an eye on the news in October, when the rate of next year’s Social Se- curity increase is finalized Meanwhile start planning for next year as soon as you can. Look for savings everywhere you can find them. Listen Up: Engage Your Brain With Podcasts Have you ever listened to a podcast? A podcast is a digital audio or video file that you can access from the internet. They’re often in a series that you can tune into one at a time, almost like radio on demand. They’re usually associated with a website where you can find out what’s available and a schedule for new ones. You can listen or watch on your computer, phone or tab- let, but you’ll need an app (application) if you want to download and take it with you, unless your phone has one pre-installed. One way to find enter- taining podcasts is to plug one of your areas of inter- est into a web browser and add “podcast” to see what comes up. Or as a place to start, look at AARP’s web- site (www.aarp.org/pod- casts) and see what it offers. Right now, there are pod- casts about various scams, protecting your finances and high prescription-drug prices, all worth a listen. Scroll to the bottom of the page for instructions. If you search the inter- net for podcasts, you’ll find vintage radio programs, celebrities, financial infor- mation, stories from histo- ry, news, brain stretchers, sports themes, stress re- duction and so much more. There must be hundreds of thousands of podcasts out there to choose from. Try a search for “podcasts for se- niors” to see what surprises pop up. Another way to keep your brain stretched is with online classes, called MOOCs, which stands for massive open online cours- es. There are thousands you can audit for free, attending remotely without ever leav- ing home. You don’t receive credit for audited classes. Coursera (www.coursera. org) is your go-to source for online learning. (At this writing, it lists 1,782 free courses from 200 univer- sities.) Or see Edx (www. edx.org), co-founded by Harvard and MIT, for in- formation on their 3,000 classes to audit for free. For more listings, see MOOCs at www.mooc.org. Is that A/C not blowing as cold as last year? SUMMER A/C SERVICE SPECIAL $ We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two. #SeenItCoveredIt. * 99 (Normally $136.00) Bring your car in today and take advantage of our Summer A/C service special! Jim Goodling - Mike Grant 330 OR-99 Suite C • Cottage Grove, OR 97424 541-942-0165 *Excludes automatic temperature control vehicles. Includes up to 2 lbs. of R134A TURNING 65 AND NEED HELP WITH YOUR MEDICARE CHOICES? 1445 N Gateway Blvd Cottage Grove, OR 97424 Call Paul to help simplify the complicated. Contact our New Patient Coordinator at 541.640.7625 541-517-7362 What fully vacci- nated seniors should know about travel The efforts of research- ers and public health offi- cials in developing safe and successful COVID-19 vac- cines was nothing short of historic. Vaccines typically take years to develop, but a combination of factors en- abled researchers to make COVID-19 vaccines avail- able to vulnerable popula- tions by December 2020, or roughly nine months after the World Health Or- ganization declared a glob- al pandemic. Researchers had already conducted years’ worth of vaccine research on hu- man coronaviruses, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes were first identified in the mid-1960s. That re- search proved invaluable as pharmaceutical com- panies raced to produce COVID-19 vaccines. In addition, a less linear ap- proach to testing and vet- ting vaccines than was tra- ditionally applied in past outbreaks enabled the vac- cine to be rolled out more quickly, potentially saving millions of lives. Men and women over the age of 65 were among the first groups to be giv- en the COVID-19 vac- cine. Many people with- in that group are retired and had looked forward to traveling, only to have those plans interrupted by the pandemic. Now that they’re fully vaccinated, seniors are setting their sights on travel once again. Though the COVID-19 vaccines have made vul- nerable groups like seniors less likely to suffer severe illness from the virus, there’s still a few things adults over 65 should know when making travel plans. The virus Data from the CDC in- dicated that more than 87 million people in the United States had been fully or partially vaccinat- ed as of April 20, 2021. Among those, just 7,157 had become infected with COVID-19, and only 331 of those required hospital- ization. That’s an encour- aging figure that illustrates just how effective the vac- cines are at preventing in- fection and serious illness. Recognizing that efficacy may help calm any con- cerns fully vaccinated se- niors have about traveling. Restrictions Though a significant portion of the eligible populations in the Unit- ed States and Canada had been fully or partially vac- cinated by mid-spring, overseas travel restric- tions may still be in place. Some countries, such as India, continued to con- front devastating waves of the virus and may not be allowing overseas visitors anytime soon. In addition, in mid-spring the Europe- an Union was still devising a strategy to allow fully vaccinated foreign tour- ists to visit the continent. Proposals suggested such travel could be allowed by late June, but it’s important that seniors learn of any potential restrictions be- fore booking trips. Attractions When planning a trip, seniors may want to look for areas with plenty of outdoor attractions. The CDC continues to recom- mend that people, even those who are fully vac- cinated, gather outdoors, where the virus is less like- ly to be transmitted. When traveling, seniors may be spending time around people who have not yet been vaccinated, and de- spite the efficacy of the vaccines, that might make some travelers nervous. So choosing locales with plen- ty of outdoor attractions can be a great way to quell any travel-related concerns seniors may have. The remarkable achieve- ments of researchers in- volved in developing COVID-19 vaccines has helped seniors return to something resembling normal life. Seniors with their eyes on travel can safely book trips after do- ing some research about their destination and giv- ing careful consideration to their comfort levels. One solution for oxygen at home, away, and for travel Your Partners in Wellness Paul Henrichs ~ Independent Agent coverage4oregon@gmail.com NovaHealthPrimaryCare.com Introducing the INOGEN ONE – It’s oxygen therapy on your terms No more tanks to refi ll. No more deliveries. No more hassles with travel. 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FOR EMERGENCY DIAL 911 Serving South Lane County. www.southlanefi re.org 148 1 Gateway Blvd (Bi Mart Plaza) 14 za) Cottage C o Grove, OR 97424 4 541-225-5443 43 4 3 grovemedical@outlook.com Join us on Facebook