Life After 50 Expo

Flu vaccine and Type 2 diabetes !

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A study conducted over the past seven years suggests that the flu vaccine may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease for those with Type 2 diabetes. Researchers found that people with Type 2 diabetes who got the flu vaccine had a 30 percent lower risk for stroke and a 22 percent lower risk of heart failure. Many people with Type 2 diabetes do not get vaccinated, even though flu season is for them as they are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease. This study demonstrates that the flu vaccine may have more benefits for people with Type 2 diabetes than just preventing the flu, and that individuals should strongly consider getting vaccinated during flu season.

Dear Marci,

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Dear Marci,

What is a health savings account? Can I have an HSA and Medicare?

– Paola (Juneau, AK)

Dear Paola,

A health savings account (HSA) is an account that works with a high deductible health plan (HDHP). Many people have an HSA through their current employer. If you have an HSA you can contribute to it on a tax-free basis and use those funds to pay for qualified health expenses as long as you meet certain IRS requirements.

If you have an HSA and you will soon be eligible for Medicare, it is important to plan ahead and understand how enrolling in Medicare will affect your HSA.

  1. You cannot be enrolled in Medicare Part A and/or B and contribute to your HSA. By law, people with any other health insurance, including Medicare, are not allowed to put money into an HSA. However, you may continue to withdraw money from your HSA. If you use the account for qualified medical expenses, including Medicare deductibles, premiums, and copays or coinsurances, it will continue to be tax-free.
  2. To avoid a tax penalty, stop HSA contributions six months before you decide to collect Social Security benefits. If you do not take Medicare when you first qualify, you must take special precautions if and when you do decide to collect Social Security benefits (either while working or when you retire). You should stop all contributions to your HSA up to six months before you collect Social Security. This is because when you apply for Social Security, Medicare Part A will be retroactive for up to six months (as long as you were eligible for Medicare during those six months). If you do not stop contributing to your HSA six months before you apply for Social Security, you may have a tax penalty. The penalty is because you cannot have contributed pre-tax dollars to the HSA while you had Medicare.

If you have an HSA through your current employer and are thinking of delaying Medicare enrollment, you should also consider if your employer plan will pay primary or secondary to Medicare, and therefore whether it is wise to delay Medicare.

Planning ahead can help you avoid penalties and gaps in coverage. You can speak with your employer’s benefits administrator about your situation and options.

– Marci

CMS Projects Relatively Stable Part D Premiums in 2017 !

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that the average basic premium for a Part D prescription drug plan is estimated to be $34 per month in 2017. This projected average premium is a slight increase over the average monthly premium in 2016 ($32.56) and represents the continued relative stability of Part D premiums.

Although Part D premiums remain stable, Part D costs continue to increase faster than other parts of Medicare. According to CMS, this increase is largely due to the high cost of specialty drugs, especially during the catastrophic coverage period. In all Medicare Part D plans, after the enrollee pays a certain amount in out-of-pocket costs (regardless of their total drug costs) for covered drugs, they will reach catastrophic coverage, when they pay a lower cost for their covered prescriptions. Part D plans receive capitated payments for portions of the Part D benefit, but Medicare is directly responsible for 80 percent of the cost of drugs purchased by people when they are in the catastrophic coverage period.

“Stable Medicare prescription drug plan premiums help seniors and people with disabilities afford their prescription drugs,” said Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of CMS. “However, I remain increasingly concerned about the rising cost of drugs, especially high-cost specialty drugs, and the impact of these costs on the Medicare program.”

For people with Medicare, they continue to see savings on their out-of-pocket drug costs due to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) closure of the Part D coverage gap, also known as the “donut hole.” To date, more than 10.7 million older adults and people with disabilities have saved over $20.8 billion (an average of $1,945 per enrollee) on prescription drugs since the ACA was enacted.

Omega-3 improves heart damage, function after heart attack!

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Once a person has had a heart attack, their heart may be damaged, raising their risk of further heart-related problems. But according to a new study, this risk could be reduced with a daily dose of omega-3.
[Omega-3 fish oil]
Taking omega-3 every day may benefit heart attack patients, say researchers.

Researchers found that people who took a high dose of omega-3 fatty acids every day for 6 months after a heart attack showed reduced heart muscle scarring and better heart function, compared with heart attack patients who took aplacebo.

Senior author Dr. Raymond Y. Kwong, director of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, and colleagues publish their findings in the journalCirculation.

A heart attack occurs when blood flow to a section of the heart muscle becomes blocked, which starves the heart of oxygen and causes damage.

Click on link below to continue reading:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/312049.php

Quitting Smoking may lower alcohol intake!

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Popular notion holds that people who are trying to stop smoking often increase their alcohol intake as a way of compensating. A new study published in BMC Public Health, however, suggests this may not be the case.
Researchers found recent attempts to quit smoking were linked to reduced alcohol intake.

Lead author Jamie Brown, of University College London in the United Kingdom, and colleagues found that adults who have attempted to quit smoking in the past week consume less alcohol than smokers who have not tried to quit.

While smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, with around 40 million American adults currently smoking cigarettes, 70 percent of smokers say they want to quit the habit.

As a way of helping the quitting process, health officials recommend reducing alcohol intake or abstaining from it altogether.

According to the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, drinking alcohol can act as a smoking trigger for some people, hindering their attempts to shun the cigarettes.

To continue reading go to:

http://Quitting Smoking may lower alcohol intake!