Medicare Drug Plan Open Enrollment

November 15th to December 31st is the open enrollment period for Medicare! Medicare Part D covers prescription costs, and can be added or changed during this period.

Please note that premiums may go up or down starting in 2008, so even if you are happy with your present Part D you should double-check whether the cost is going to go up and whether it is still going to cover your medicines. You can find out by calling 1-800-MEDICARE. This article in the Sacramento Bee discusses this.

While the drug benefit affects people differently depending upon their incomes, their health and where they live, the standard benefit looks like this: Participants pay the first $275 in drug costs. Then, the plan pays 75 percent of the tab until total drug costs reach $2,510. That's when beneficiaries hit the so-called doughnut hole, where they pick up all cost until they've paid $4,050 out of pocket. After that point, they only have to pay 5 percent of the tab for their medicine.

Medicare's website is a useful on-line resource.

This link is to the site's menu of the plans for 2008 in El Dorado County that have prescription drug coverage. Clicking on the names in the left column will give you details on each plan's benefits. It also allows you to filter or pick out plans based on other choices including dollar limits on the premiums.

This link is to the site's prescription drug portal. It includes ways to check out plans based on your list of medicines and by preferences including costs.

You can enroll in a plan here.

I hope this is helpful if you are looking into this for yourself, your spouse or your parents!

Also, remember that many medicines can be changed to suit your plan coverage with no sacrifice in quality of your care. Let us know if we can help you with this.

How much should I weigh?

Well, that depends! A good weight is one that is healthy for you, and where you feel good and are happy with your fitness and appearance.

Ideal body weight is an arbitrary concept, and largely a construct of life insurers more than doctors.

The body mass index you hear about (BMI) is an attempt to use easily available information to factor in your height and not just your weight.

The calculation is:

Weight (pounds)/Height X Height (inches), then times 703.

"Normal" is 18.5- 25
"Overweight" is 25-30.
Underweight is less than 18.5
Obese is 35-40
Morbidly Obese is over 40.

Thing is, this is also somewhat arbitrary. The idea here is an index using height and weight only, since this information can be gotten easily from medical records or even drivers' licenses. It does not include important factors such as muscle mass, body fat content or exercise tolerance.

This article neatly summarizes findings of two years ago that show that the "Overweight" category is actually the healthiest, in terms of lower rates of cancers, heart attacks and strokes.
The Underweights and Obese categories have about equally bad health outcomes. The Obese from certain cancers and heart disease, and the Underweight especially from trauma and infections (or at least poor recovery from them). See this article, too.

Basically, being slightly "overweight" by modern standards may be based more on modern standards of physical appearance than on actual health and well-being. The number on the scale is probably less important within the middle range of body weights than your fitness and activity level.