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The INDEPENDENT, February 1, 2007
Open enrollment for Medicare is time to make changes, if needed
It’s that time of year again –
no, not the time for college bas-
ketball’s March Madness, but
the Open Enrollment Period
(OEP) for people on Medicare.
Even though someone may
have enrolled in a Medicare
plan prior to January 1, those
who are eligible can still make
one change to their medical
benefits for 2007. A “change”
can mean adding, dropping or
switching certain types of
Medicare health plan coverage.
Whatever change a beneficiary
wants to make, though, must
be consistent with whether they
have Prescription Drug cover-
age as of January 1. Medicare
beneficiaries are not permitted
to change from one PDP to an-
other PDP plan during this
time.
Confused? Here are some
examples that help illustrate
the rules.
The OEP, which began Jan-
uary 1, allows just one of the
following types of plan changes
through March 31:
• Enrollees in a Medicare Ad-
vantage plan with prescription
drug coverage (MAPD). These
beneficiaries may change to a
different MAPD plan, or may go
back to Original Medicare plus
a stand-alone prescription drug
plan (PDP).
• Enrollees in a stand-alone
PDP may choose to enroll in an
MAPD plan but they cannot
change from one PDP plan to
another.
• Medicare Advantage (MA)
members enrolled in a plan that
does not cover prescription
drugs may switch to another
plan that does not include drug
coverage, or may go back to
Original Medicare.
• Beneficiaries who are not
enrolled in an MA plan or a
PDP plan can elect to enroll in
an MA plan without drug cover-
age.
After March 31, Medicare
beneficiaries are "locked in"
through the end of the year to
whichever type of PDP or
MAPD plan is selected. So, it’s
important to be comfortable
with the plan you choose.
According to the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Ser-
vices (CMS), 122,500 benefici-
aries in Oregon are participating
in the Medicare Part D program.
To learn more about
Medicare prescription drug op-
tions, visit www.medicare.gov.
TOPS program offers tips and help for keeping those resolutions
New Year’s celebrations
have come and gone and win-
ter is deeply upon us. Chip-
munks and bears may hiber-
nate and we may tend to slow
down in physical and mental
ways, too.
This is a perfect time to set
goals regarding physical and
mental health. When it comes
to eating better and getting
more exercise, nothing seems
to work better than teamwork.
Committing to more and better
exercise and healthy eating
habits with a team or partner(s)
may improve both you and your
teammates health. Shared
goals can be fun, challenging,
even an opportunity to make
eating an adventurous event.
Team work can take the job of
better health from daunting to
doable; confidence increases,
fear of failure decreases.
A 2005 study of support part-
ners at Brown University Med-
ical School and the University
of Massachusetts show that
“people on a weight-loss and
exercise program who had a
partner who succeeded losing
weight, were themselves far
more likely to lose weight than
those whose partners were not
successful or those who had no
partner,” according to an article
in the Jan-Feb 2007 issue or
Arthritis Today magazine.
If you just can’t seem to get
moving, your mind may not be
listening to your body. Emotion-
al and physical conditioning are
truly a team. Be flexible mental-
ly as well as physically. Focus
on what the benefits of
changes in life style are apt to
be. Will it feel better? Being
afraid that pain may be worse
with exercise can prevent some
from trying. Do some light
stretches and calming deep
breaths before starting to exer-
cise. Be a partner with your
medical service provider to de-
termine which exercise is right
for you.
An “I can” attitude will open
many doors to a longer and
happier life for almost anyone
who reaches out for all the door
knobs available.
One door that has opened to
provide a team approach to
weight loss and healthy life
style for over 50 years is TOPS
(Take Off Pounds Sensibly), a
medically oriented program in
which you and your health care
provider team up to make sen-
sible weight loss and mainte-
nance decisions.
For more information about
TOPS call 1-800-932-8677 or
Louise Green at 503-755-2328.
TOPS team members can help
you through new, fun and excit-
ing doors to an improved life
style.
Men, women and teens are
all welcome to attend a TOPS
meeting at no charge to help
you decide whether TOPS is for
you.
Stay on exercise program with these timely hints
Despite annual resolutions
to get in shape, millions of indi-
viduals see their efforts fail time
and time again. If you are
among the 80 percent of Amer-
icans who struggle to achieve a
consistent commitment to exer-
cise. Don’t lose hope.
Give the following strategies
a try, and you may just keep
this year’s resolution!
• Stick with activities you en-
joy. Don’t drag yourself into an
indoor cycling class because it
will burn a higher number of
calories. If you really prefer
dancing, do that instead. Ex-
periment with several activities
until you find a few that you tru-
ly enjoy and stick with them.
• Keep a workout schedule.
Write down the date, time and
place where you intend to exer-
cise. Treat exercise as you
would any other important ap-
pointment.
• Find an exercise buddy.
Whether it’s your spouse, sib-
ling, child or friend, an exercise
partner can help keep your fit-
ness program on track.
• Mix and match your work-
outs. Cross training combats
boredom while varying the
physical demands placed on
your body. If you run on Mon-
day, scale back to a brisk walk,
bicycle ride or low impact
dance exercise class on Tues-
day or Wednesday. You’ll feel
better and reduce your risk of
overuse injuries.
• Use outside stimuli.
Whether it’s great music, a sce-
nic location or a fabulous in-
structor, the exercise atmos-
phere can do a lot to fuel your
enthusiasm.
• Set realistic goals. If you’ve
been inactive for any period of
time, make physical activity
your first priority, not losing 50
pounds! Break large goals into
small steps and take them one
at a time.
You can start slowly with a
few stretches. The following ex-
ercise can be done at work or
at home and is helpful in pre-
venting repetitive stress in-
L
juries, which are growing more
common in today’s office envi-
ronments.
Sit forward in your chair, and
place your feet firmly on the
floor. Lift your torso tall and
press your shoulders down.
Slowly turn your shoulders to
one side, maintaining good
posture as you do so. Stop
when you feel a mild stretch in
your waist and back. Hold for at
least 10 seconds as you
breathe naturally. Return to the
starting position and repeat the
movement to the opposite side.
Repeat the sequence two or
three times as desired.
For more information on
Jazzercise go to jazzercise.
com or call (800)FIT-IS-IT or
(760)476-1750.
eo n e t t i’ s
Pi zz a & Gr il l
Will soon be known as
Everything the Same
But the Name!
Mariolino’s
721 Madison Ave.,Vernonia • 503-429-5018