By Lindsay Engle for the NABBW It’s been almost a year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and just as you’ve had to adjust parts of your life to protect yourself and your family, Medicare has also had to modify their coverage. The goal of this article is to help you, as a Medicare beneficiary, to know what changes and modifications the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have made. Increased Access to Telehealth Services First and probably most significant, Medicare has temporarily increased coverage for telehealth services. Telehealth includes telemedicine, or remote... Read More

By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate The Mexican people call retired persons “Jubilants.” I was so busy I never thought much about retirement, but suddenly, due to COVID, here it is. I am unable to sell real estate because dealing with the public is just too dangerous now. My partner, who has been loving and supportive for 35 years, is convinced he will die if he gets Covid-19. Consequently, I have not gone out to dinner, hiked with a friend, or had a haircut for eight months. The virus didn’t just clip my travel wings, it ripped them out of their sockets. I was flying... Read More

By Phyllis Stoller, NABBW’s Group Travel Associate Most Boomers are being told we cannot travel during this time of COVID, as we are in an especially dangerous situation: our age. Of course, by the time we’ve reached our current ages, almost all of us have at least one pre-existing condition, but as you know, many of these are controllable. We now live for years with conditions that used to be death sentences for our parents. Age 70, as we compare it to our mothers, is the new 50 We regularly work out at gyms More than 50% of us are still working We are always on the hunt for opportunities... Read More

By Trina O’Quinn for the NABBW I ended my last blog post,  in which I discussed how I was dealing with the losses generated by the COVID pandemic, with a plan to Reflect, Remember, Rest, Recharge, Refocus, Resolve and have Curiosity while doing the “six Rs of grief.” As time has moved forward, I have tried to separate the steps and work on them in a vertical progression. A month later, I am finding that as I try to go through the stages of grief, I am not achieving the usual result. So I have decided to grieve on a continuum, knowing that the stages will overlap or at least bleed... Read More

If you’ve been wondering about the cost of being tested for COVID-19, here’s a letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services which spells out what is covered under the recent CARES Act: By Seema Verma, Administrator, U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services If you have Medicare and want to be tested for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Trump Administration has good news. Medicare covers tests with no out-of-pocket costs. You can get tested in your home, doctor’s office, a local pharmacy or hospital, a nursing home, or a drive-through site. Medicare... Read More

By Trina O’Quinn, for the NABBW One would think that the stay-at-home and self-isolating orders issued by our various states in response to the COVID-19 pandemic would be food for an introvert’s soul. In some ways it is. It’s working well for my introverted personality, which tends to want to isolate to the point of invisibility. However, deep in my soul I know that it is working too well, and undoing all the therapy I have done around socialization. Socializing takes a lot of my energy, so I need isolation and rest to recharge. My extroverted friends, on the other hand,... Read More

By Meryl Ain for the NABBW It’s a beautiful day in my neighborhood and a wonderful morning for a walk. It’s early so hardly anyone is out yet, enabling me to pull my mask low on my face breathing in the sweet fragrance of the season, noting that this is exactly what spring smelled like when I was a child. I stop to take photos of the gorgeous pink and yellow and orange tulips, which remind me of how my mother lovingly planted the bulbs in our backyard garden each year.  I spot a couple of robin redbreasts. I haven’t yet encountered a cardinal, but sure as it’s spring, I know I will. Ever... Read More