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Medicare general enrollment

65 but not eligible for Medicare

Medicare Advantage plan -- it's OK to leave town

Get moving after 50

Internet scam alert

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The Human Resources communications division is compiling an e-mailing list of retirees. Just register your e-mail address here. We'll never give out your address. We'll use it to notify you of updates, important information and when we need sources for Benefits Pulse stories.

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Medicare general enrollment
The city’s medical plans require Medicare-eligible retirees and dependents to enroll in both Medicare Part A and Part B. A person can be Medicare-eligible at age 65, before 65, if disabled, or with end-stage renal disease. Medicare-eligible retirees and dependents not enrolled should do so during the Medicare general enrollment period, Jan.1 through March 2006. Coverage will become effective July 1, 2006.

The city’s plans will not pay the portion of medical bills that Medicare should pay. Plan members will have to pay that portion.

Apply for Medicare by contacting the Social Security Administration, (800) 772-1213, by visiting your local Social Security office, or going to the Medicare Web site.

If you haven’t done so, retirees should send a copy of their Medicare ID card to City of Houston, Human Resources Dept., Benefits Division, P.O. Box 248, Houston, TX 77001.

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65 but not eligible for Medicare
If you are 65, covered under the HMO or PPO, but don’t qualify for Medicare, you may keep the HMO or PPO health plan. You will not pay the portion of your medical bill that Medicare would otherwise pay.

You must apply for Medicare and obtain a declination letter that states you are ineligible for Medicare. The declination letter should be sent to City of Houston, Human Resources, Benefits Division, P.O. Box 248, Houston, TX 77001.

You will continue paying a monthly contribution that allows you to have HMO or PPO coverage without the Medicare “carve-out.”

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Medicare Advantage plan – it's OK to leave town
Medicare Advantage plan members may live outside their service area for up to six months and keep their MA plan coverage. Before leaving town, notify TexanPlus, (866) 556-4614 or Texas HealthSpring, (800) 846-2098. Your MA plan will help manage and coordinate your health care in your new location.

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Get moving after 50
Try this strengthening exercise in the privacy and comfort of your own home.

Arm raises strengthen and tone shoulder muscles, and can be done while watching TV. If you don’t have hand weights, try using soup cans to start.

In a just few weeks, you’ll feel the difference.
(Source: The National Institute on Aging, November 2005.)

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Internet scam alert
In the past year, Americans spent $20 billion on anti-aging potions: pills, creams and oils that promised to regrow hair, remove wrinkles, increase muscle mass, cause astonishing weight loss or otherwise reverse the normal aging process.

But there’s a wrinkle in the ointment.

Tens of thousands of complaints were filed with the Federal Trade Commission about these products uselessness. According to the FTC, these products were usually marketed over the Internet as complementary or alternative medicine “promising much in the way of expectations but delivering little in the way of results.”

One “age-defying, wrinkle-removing” skin cream was marketed on the Internet at $120 an ounce and advertised as a “miracle” that “defies the laws of nature.” According to several consumers who bought it, the only thing it defied was their wallet.

To date, medical researchers state that there is “absolutely no scientific proof that any commercially available product will stop or reverse aging.”

Aging is a natural process, based on many factors including genetic makeup. Proper nutrition, exercise, adequate sleep and a healthy lifestyle are the best anti-aging products.

Let the buyer beware. The Food and Drug Administration warns consumers that it doesn’t regulate Internet products, where marketers are not required to prove product effectiveness.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
(Source: AARP Consumer Bulletin and the Boston University School of Medicine, November 2005.)

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