ArcaMax

Year after year, Mary Bucklew strategized with a nurse practitioner about losing weight. “We tried exercise,” like walking 35 minutes a day, she recalled. “And 39,000 different diets.”

But 5 pounds would come off and then invariably reappear, said Bucklew, 75, a public transit retiree in Ocean View, Delaware. Nothing seemed to make much...Read more

Year after year, Mary Bucklew strategized with a nurse practitioner about losing weight. “We tried exercise,” like walking 35 minutes a day, she recalled. “And 39,000 different diets.”

But 5 pounds would come off and then invariably reappear, said Bucklew, 75, a public transit retiree in Ocean View, Delaware. Nothing seemed to make much...Read more

Morning, Toni:

Recently, you wrote a Medicare column about various life policies available after 65, and I have a retirement insurance question.

In June, I’m retiring when I turn 70 and my wife, Anna, will be 68. Our retirement insurance issue is that recently we applied for a long-term care plan and were both denied due to our health issues...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- One day my left foot hurt for no good reason. I stood up to shake off the pain and tweaked my right Achilles tendon, so I headed for the medicine cabinet, bent over like an ape because of a stiff back.

Actually, I lied.

It wasn't one day. It's pretty much every day.

None of this is severe or serious, and I'm not complaining at ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- One day my left foot hurt for no good reason. I stood up to shake off the pain and tweaked my right Achilles tendon, so I headed for the medicine cabinet, bent over like an ape because of a stiff back.

Actually, I lied.

It wasn't one day. It's pretty much every day.

None of this is severe or serious, and I'm not complaining at ...Read more

Hi Toni:

I recently enrolled in Medicare. This week, I went to see my primary care doctor and his office manager informed me that they are no longer accepting it. Instead I will have to pay the complete bill up front and be reimbursed by Medicare. His office is small, and the doctor will be retiring soon. I will need to find a new doctor.

Toni...Read more

In her house in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Barbara Meade said, “there are walkers and wheelchairs and oxygen and cannulas all over the place.”

Barbara, 82, has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, so a portable oxygen tank accompanies her everywhere. Spinal stenosis limits her mobility, necessitating the walkers and wheelchairs and considerable...Read more

In her house in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Barbara Meade said, “there are walkers and wheelchairs and oxygen and cannulas all over the place.”

Barbara, 82, has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, so a portable oxygen tank accompanies her everywhere. Spinal stenosis limits her mobility, necessitating the walkers and wheelchairs and considerable...Read more

Hi Toni: I am turning 65 and retiring from my current employer and will no longer have health insurance benefits, life insurance, dental and vision. My husband, James, will still be employed with benefits from his current employer.

James and I do not have a power of attorney or other legal documents in effect for both of us. A friend told me ...Read more

For the better part of this year my brain rejected that my father could not get the care he needed at home.

He has advanced Parkinson’s, and it took a turn for the worse early this spring. My siblings and I were convinced this flare up would be treated like the others in the recent past — a short hospital stay, a stint in rehab to regain ...Read more

LONDON — Frailty refers to a person’s mental and physical resilience, or their ability to bounce back and recover from events like illness and injury.

“Frailty is regarded as a syndrome, and a syndrome is a group of signs and symptoms that helps recognize frailty which includes things like being slower,” says Dr Nasrin Razzaq, GP lead ...Read more

The fact that Dick Van Dyke turned 100 on Dec. 13 is remarkable enough. But the entertainment icon hasn’t simply made it to the century mark; he’s remained purposefully engaged in life and with those around him: acting, dancing, mentoring younger performers, and spreading joy to millions.

Van Dyke is a reminder that aging does not diminish ...Read more

Hi Toni:

I never should have listened to my brother, who bragged about how his Medicare Advantage Plan was a great way to save money and not have to spend so much on my Medicare Supplement plan’s premium. I discovered that the eye doctor who was to perform surgery on my right eye in early January is not in my Medicare HMO plan. I should have ...Read more

There’s a new, bipartisan congressional effort underway to support senior legal hotlines.

Led by Reps. Derek Tran, D-Orange, and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania, the bill establishes a competitive grant program to ensure hotlines are appropriately staffed with trained attorneys and paralegals, can provide older adults with support services,...Read more

Dear Toni:

I have decided to retire when I turn 65 in February and need to enroll in Medicare Parts A and B. My husband, Harry, is 74, and he enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B when he turned 65, remaining on my employer benefits with health issues.

His primary doctor’s office manager expressed concerns because of my husband’s intense lung...Read more