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Dear Marci,
My mother is too frail to leave the house. Will
Medicare pay for her to receive care at home?
�Tom (Boston, MA)
Click on the blue, underlined
hyperlinks for related
information available through Medicare Interactive!
Dear Tom,
Medicare will cover your mother's home health care if she meets
Medicare's definition of "homebound,"
needs skilled nursing care on an intermittent or part-time basis or
physical or speech therapy (with a continued need for occupational
therapy) and meets a few other
requirements.
Your mother should ask her
doctor whether he thinks she might qualify for Medicare home
health benefit.
 To find out which types of home health care Medicare
will and
will NOT pay for, visit Medicare Interactive.
� Marci
 Looking
for past Dear Marci Answers? Have other Medicare questions?
Find your answers with Medicare Interactive (MI), an independent,
public resource of the Medicare Rights Center. MI offers expert
information and advice on Medicare.
Visit Medicare Interactive today!
Do you need individual counseling? Call the Medicare Rights Center's consumer hotline at 800-333-4114, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Eastern Time,
Monday through Friday. A Medicare counselor will be happy to answer
your question.
You can also call your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) for
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Feel free to
send comments about Dear Marci or suggestions about topics you would like Dear Marci to cover.
Health Tip of the Week
April is
alcohol awareness month. According to a 2008 study funded by the
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and
published in the
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, one in 10 older
adults with
Medicare reports drinking more alcohol than is
recommended�consuming more than 30 drinks per month, or drinking
four or more drinks on any day in a typical month. Here are some
useful tips to help you toast to good health:
- Moderate, moderate: Responsible drinking
requires
moderation and may also have health benefits. Studies have
long touted the potential
benefits of red wine, and a new
study suggests that moderate alcohol consumption may help keep bones strong.
- Get multivitamins: Most multivatmins
contain
folic acid, which can help lower the risk of heart disease,
as well as breast and colon cancers. Because alcohol is known to
deplete the body's folate supply, taking folic acid may help
re-up your levels.
- Talk to your doctor: If you have questions
about how drinking may affect your health or if you are worried
that a loved one may have a problem with drinking,
talk to your doctor.
For more tips on how to balance alcohol consumption with a
healthy lifestyle, visit Harvard University's
School of Public Health. To find out more about how Medicare
covers substance abuse treatment, visit
Medicare Interactive.
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According to a new
study published in
Archives of Internal Medicine, Americans are not
getting enough
vitamin D.
Researchers found that the number of people who get
adequate amounts of vitamin D fell by almost half between
2001 and 2004 and from 1988 to 1994. They speculate that the
plunge might be due to people spending more time indoors,
getting too little sun and using a lot of high-protection
sunscreen. Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with
rickets in children and lower
bone density in adults. Recent research has also linked
insufficient vitamin D to cancer, heart disease, infection
and poorer health overall. Optimal levels range from 30
nanograms/ml to 40 nanograms/ml.
For a summary of the study, visit
USA Today. Leading a healthy lifestyle is only part
of being healthy. To find out how Medicare covers preventive
services, visit
Medicare Interactive.
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Find answers to your
questions about your Medicare rights and protections on
Medicare Interactive.
For information about
services and resources for older adults and persons with
disabilities, visit the
National Association of Area Agencies on Aging.
For free one-on-one
counseling and assistance on Medicare and related issues, contact
your
State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP).
For help getting screened
for benefit programs available to older adults with limited incomes,
visit
Benefits Check Up.
For state-by-state legal
information about Medicare, visit
ElderLaw Answers.
* * * * * *
 The
Medicare Rights Center's Hotline for Professionals
Do you help people with
Medicare? Where do you turn to for help? Call the Professional
Hotline, a national service offered by the Medicare Rights Center to
support people serving the Medicare population. Dial 877-794-3570
from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time for accurate, up-to-date
information and ongoing technical support.
* * * * * *
 Need
help paying for your Medicare health carecosts?
Check out a recording of the Medicare Rights
Center�s next FREE educational web seminar, "Medicare
Savings Programs: Assistance with your Medicare Health Costs" to learn about government programs that can help pay your Medicare
costs.
The recording will be available on Friday, April
10, 2009 on
this page.
* * * * * *
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the Word About Dear Marci!
Tell your
friends, colleagues and clients to sign up to receive
Dear Marci and other Medicare policy and news updates from
the Medicare Rights Center!
Subscribe to the Medicare Rights Center's other e-
newsletters.
Dear Marci is a weekly e-newsletter designed to keep you�people with Medicare,
social workers, health care providers and other professionals�in the
loop about health care benefits, rights and options for older
Americans and people with disabilities. Dear Marci is a free service
of the
Medicare Rights Center.
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Click here to learn more! 
