Opinions

Savvy Senior Dear Savvy Senior, A few months ago, I took an ambulance to the hospital emergency room because I had a nasty fall at home, but just received a hefty $1,050 bill from the ambulance company. Doesn’t Medicare cover ambulance rides? Frustrated Beneficiary Dear Beneficiary, Yes, Medicare does cover emergency ambulance services and, in limited cases, nonemergency ambulance services too, but only when they’re deemed medically necessary and reasonable.

From the Editor’s Files Summer is coming to an end, and with a new school year quickly approaching, many families are spending some quality family time together. My family took advantage of this window of opportunity over the past weekend.

Random Thoughts Looking around, it is hard to miss all of the students and their families getting ready for a return to school. Most of our local schools started back this week, with a couple more welcoming back students next week.

On one of the last mornings during our recent trip to the Rocky Mountains, Kim and I awoke to find ourselves surrounded by a herd of Angus cows. Yes...we were camping in a yurt at the base of the mountains in Idaho, and the mooing of cows just a few feet away from us woke us up.

Mother Nature smiled on us at the end of last week, and it made for a wonderful trip to the Sumner County Fair. I spent a chunk of my Saturday in Caldwell covering some livestock competitions, looking for story ideas for our upcoming fair results special section, and snapping photographs of anything that look interesting.

Dear Savvy Senior, My husband and I are in our 50s and would like to know what resources you recommend for locating senior discounts, and what age do they kick in? Frugal Fay Dear Fay, One of the great perks of growing older in America is the many discounts that are available. There are literally thousands of senior discounts on a wide variety of products and services including restaurants, travel and lodging, entertainment, retail, health, grocery stores, automotive services and much more.

A milestone birthday earlier this month got me thinking about my parents and what their lives looked like at my age, which is vastly different from my life. In reflecting on the differences, it was interesting to see how my parents’ choices in their 20s and 30s have had a foundational impact on who I am and what my life is like today.

Here's a little test: Take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds. Now let it out fast and stand up at the same time.

The hatchet continues to fall on chunks of the federal budget – funds that already have been approved by Congress – with the latest cuts aimed at Elmo, Big Bird, and a host of locally- operated radio and television stations that operate with, but independently of, the Public Broadcasting Service for television and National Public Radio for radio.

Savvy Senior Dear Savvy Senior, I will be enrolling in Medicare in a few months and would like to know if I initially enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan, am I able to switch back to original Medicare and get a supplemental (Medigap) policy and prescription drug plan later with without paying a fine? Almost 65 Dear Almost, You won’t be subject to any fines for switching Medicare plans, but you will be subject to medical underwriting for the supplemental (Medigap) policy. That means the private insurance companies that offer these plans can deny you coverage or charge you a lot more for preexisting conditions.