For additional assistance, please contact us at seattle12cs@gmail.com or 206.283.2300 ChristianScienceTwelfthSeattle.com
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Dr. Frank J. Calvo & Family Cosmetic, Implant, & General Dentistry 400 Boston St. 206-284-7812 www.QADG.net
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Savvy Senior: Does Medicare cover vision care and eye exams?
By Jim Miller
Dear
Savvy Senior,
What all does Medicare cover when it comes to vision care? I currently have good vision insurance through my employer but will lose it when I retire.
Almost 65
Dear Almost,
Many soon-to-be retirees are a bit blurry with what Medicare does and doesn’t cover when it comes to vision care. The good news is that Medicare covers most medical issues like cataract surgery, treatment of eye diseases and medical emergencies. But unfortunately, routine care like eye exams and eyeglasses are usually the beneficiary’s responsibility. Here’s a breakdown of what is and isn’t covered.
Eye exams and treatments: Medicare does not cover routine eye exams that test for eyeglasses or contact lenses, but they do cover yearly medical eye exams if you have diabetes or are at high risk for glaucoma. They will also pay for exams to test and treat medical eye diseases if you’re having vision problems that indicate a serious eye problem like macular degeneration, dry eye syndrome, glaucoma, eye infections or if you get something in your eye.
Eye surgeries: Medicare will cover most eye surgeries that help repair the eye function, including cataract surgery to remove cataracts and insert standard intraocular lenses to replace your own. Medicare will not, however, pick up the extra cost if you choose a premium multifocal lens that restores full range of vision, thereby reducing your need for glasses after cataract surgery. The extra cost for a premium lens can run $1,500 to $4,000 per eye.
Eye surgeries that are usually not covered by Medicare include refractive (LASIK) surgery and cosmetic eye surgery that are not considered medically necessary.
Eyeglasses and contact lenses: Medicare will not pay for eyeglasses or contact lenses, with one exception: If you have had a conventional intraocular lens inserted during cataract surgery, Medicare will pay for eyeglasses or contact lenses following the operation.
Ways to save
Although original Medicare’s vision coverage is limited to medical issues,
there are ways you can save on routine care. Here are several to check into.
Medicare Advantage plans: Many of these plans, which are alternatives to original Medicare and sold through private insurance companies, cover routine eye exams and eyeglasses, but coverage is limited so be sure you understand the specifics.
While I don’t recommend enrolling in an Advantage plan just to get vision coverage it is an option you should know about. To locate Advantage plans in your area that provide vision coverage, go to Medicare.gov/plan-compare or call 800-633-4227.
Purchase vision insurance: If you get routine eye exams and purchase new eyeglasses annually, a vision insurance plan may be worth the costs. These policies typically range between $5 and $30 per month. Most plans will also have copays or deductibles you’ll be responsible for.
Check veterans’ benefits: If you’re a veteran and qualify for VA health care benefits, you may be able to get some or all of your routine vision care through VA. Go to VA.gov/health-care/about-va-healthbenefits/vision-care to learn more.
Find cheaper shopping options: Many retailers provide discounts – between 10 and 50 percent – on eye exams and eyeglasses if you belong to a membership group like AARP or AAA.
You can also save by shopping at discount retailers like Costco Optical, Sam’s Club Optical or Target Optical, which are all recommended by Consumer Reports.
Or consider buying your glasses online at retailers like ZenniOptical.com, EyeBuyDirect.com or GlassesUSA.com which offer big savings.
To purchase glasses online, you’ll need a valid prescription from an eye doctor (no more than a year old), plus your pupillary distance number, which is the distance, measured in millimeters, between the centers of your pupils in each eye.
Look for assistance: There are also health centers and local clinics that provide free or discounted vision exams and eyeglasses to those in need. To find them put a call into your local Lions Club (see Directory.LionsClubs.org) for referrals.
Send your questions or comments to questions@savvysenior.org, or to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.
What’s next for Rite Aid?
By The Associated Press
Rite Aid customers can expect their local store to close or change ownership in the next few months, as the struggling drugstore chain goes through another bankruptcy filing.
The company plans to sell customer prescription files, inventory and other assets as it closes distribution centers and unloads store locations. Stores will remain open for now, but the company isn’t buying new inventory so bare shelves are likely become more common.
“I think what we’ll progressively see is the stores will become more and more spartan,” said retail analyst Neil Saunders.
The company runs 1,245 stores in 15 states, according to its website. It has a heavy presence in New York, Pennsylvania and California, which alone has 347 locations.
Here’s what customers can expect next.
How long will stores remain open?
Rite Aid says a few months for most of its stores. All locations will eventually close or be sold to a new owner.
Until then, customers will still be able to fill prescriptions, get immunizations and shop in the stores or online.
Rite Aid has said that it will stop issuing customer rewards points for purchases. It also will no longer honor gift cards or accept returns or exchanges starting next month.
What will happen to my prescription records?
Rite Aid will try to sell them to another drugstore, grocer or retailer with a pharmacy. The company says it is working to put together a “smooth transfer” of customer prescriptions to other pharmacies.
But there’s no guarantee those files will wind up at a retailer near the location that is closing.
That may be challenging because some Rite Aid stores are in rural areas, miles away from another pharmacy, noted Saunders, managing director of the consulting and data analysis firm GlobalData.
Prescription files can be valuable assets because they can connect the acquiring drugstore with a regular customer if that person sticks with the new store.
How did Rite Aid get to this point?
Philadelphia-based Rite Aid had been closing
CLOSING, 4
KeyBank Foundation makes $1M investment into advancing housing equity
Submitted
KeyBank has announced a grant of $1 million its largest single grant in Seattle to date —to Civic Commons on behalf of the Black Home Initiative (BHI) Network. Civic Commons focuses on racial and economic equity by bringing people and communities together to make transformational, rather than incremental, change; build
a shared sense of regional community; and advance equity in all respects rather than focusing on a single issue in isolation.
The focus of the KeyBank investment will help fund two high-impact efforts through Black Home Initiative (BHI), a Black-led, regional network of 120 public, private and nonprofit organizations, initiated in 2021 by Black community leaders determined to
transform the policies and practices that have created and perpetuated the area’s racial wealth gap.
These transformational programs include: the BIPOC Developer Program, which aims to mentor and support emerging developers/builders of color; and BHI’s Got Land campaign, which will produce an aggressive land acquisition strategy co-created by public, private, nonprofit
and community stakeholders. Ultimately, the campaign’s beneficiaries are the families and neighborhoods whose long-term stability and prosperity benefit from the unique potential of homeownership.
“At KeyBank, our mission is to help our community thrive, and we believe in homeownership as a cornerstone of economic mobility and wealth creation,” said Brian Marlow,
KeyBank’s Washington State market president.
“Through this significant grant—the largest we’ve made in the state to date— we are demonstrating our wholehearted commitment to help level the playing field and empower the next generation of families to build lasting wealth and prosperity.”
“Owning a home can provide the keys to unlock financial security and wealth,” said Michael Brown, chief architect for Civic Commons. “Yet, today, only 35% of Black households in Washington state own their own homes compared with 68% of white households. This generous gift from KeyBank Foundation will enable Black Home Initiative to establish new development and land-acquisition strategies that will have an impact for generations to come.”
ADOBE STOCK
Get ‘A Glimpse of China’ at the Seattle Chinese Culture & Arts Festival
Chinese and other local communities through arts and culture.
Explore the traditional and contemporary influences of China at A Glimpse of China –Seattle Chinese Culture & Arts Festival from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on May 17 at the Seattle Center Armory Food & Event Hall.
This free one-day event will allow attendees to participate in cultural traditions covering 5,000 years of Chinese history. Attendees can enjoy painting and calligraphy activities, admire vibrant artwork and traditional Chinese outfits on display, play fun Chinese games, and watch live folk-dance performances on the Armory stage.
There will be seven new vendors this year, including new food vendors, that will showcase a wider variety of China’s food culture.
“Our main theme is still to foster understanding, friendship, and appreciation between
This event will showcase the unique Chinese arts and culture through Chinese performing arts/dance, music, visual arts/ calligraphy interactive activities, lifestyle exhibitions, and seminars to the Seattle multicultural communities,” said A Glimpse of China organizer Dandan Ran.
This festival is in partnership with Washington Chinese Arts & Culture Committee (WCACC).
"Festál has included a Chinese heritage festival since its launch in 1997," said Heidi Jackson, Managing Artistic Director of Seattle Center Cultural Programs. "Glimpse of China, curated by WCACC, offers a heartwarming day of traditional music and dance that showcases the outstanding multi-generational performers living right here in greater Seattle."
This festival is part of the
Give your salad a new and more delicious taste
By MetroCreative
When the weather starts to heat up, salad typically makes its return to dinner tables across the country. For those who want to give their salad a heartier and more flavorful look, consider the following recipe for "Cucumber and Shrimp Salad (Goi Du'a Chuot)" from Andrew Nguyen's "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen" (Ten Speed Press).
Cucumber and Shrimp Salad
Goi Du'a Chuot
Serves 4 to 6
■ 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
■ 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
■ 3 tablespoons fish sauce
■ 2 tablespoons water
■ 1 or 2 Thai or serrano chiles, finely chopped (optional)
■ 2 to 2 1/4 pounds pickling (Kirby) or English cucumbers
■ 1 carrot, peeled and finely shredded
■ 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
■ 1 teaspoon sugar
■ 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, about 1/4 pound
■ 1 boneless pork loin chop, about 1/4 pound
■ 1/4 pound precooked bay or small salad shrimp
■ 1/3 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped
■ 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted and crushed in a mortar
1. To make the dressing, in a small bowl, combine the lime juice, sugar, fish sauce, water, and chiles and stir to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to develop the flavors.
2. Trim off the ends of each cucumber, and then halve lengthwise. Use a teaspoon to remove the seeds from each half (the English cucumbers will have few seeds). Cut the halves crosswise into slices a scant 1/8-inch thick. A razor sharp knife or a Japanese Benriner slicer produces the most attractive, uniformly thin slices. A food processor can be used but will yield less satisfactory results. Put the cucumbers and carrot in a large bowl, add 11/2 teaspoons of the salt and the sugar, and toss to mix. Set aside for 30 minutes to weep. A pool of juice will accumulate at the bottom of the bowl.
3. Drain the cucumbers and carrot in a colander and place under cold running water to rinse off as much salt and sugar as possible. Working in batches, wring out excess moisture in a non-terry dish towel; position a mound of the vegetables in the center, roll it up in the towel, and then twist the ends in opposite directions to force out the liquid. Do these 3 or 4 times. You want to extract enough water from the cucumber yet not completely crush it. (The cucumber will become a beautiful translucent green, in marked contrast to the color of the carrot.) Return the vegetables to the bowl and fluff them up to release them from their cramped state. Set aside.
4. Trim any excess fat from the pork chop. Fill a small saucepan half full with water, add the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Drop in the chicken breast and pork chop. When the water starts bubbling at the edges of the pan, remove the pan from the heat and cover tightly. Let stand for 20 minutes. The pork and chicken should be firm yet still yield a bit to the touch. Remove them from the pan. Reserve the light stock for another use or discard. When the pork and chicken are cool enough to handle, cut the pork into matchsticks, and shred the chicken with your fingers into thin pieces, pulling the meat along its natural grain. Let the pork and chicken continue to cool to room temperate and then add them to the vegetables.
5. Place the shrimp in a colander and rinse with cold running water, then press gently to drain well. Add the shrimp to the bowl of vegetables and meat.
6. Just before serving, add the peanuts and sesame seeds to the salad and toss to distribute evenly.
Pour on the dressing and toss again.
(If you don't want to bite into a piece of chile unexpectedly, strain the dressing over the salad.) Taste and adjust the flavors to your liking, balancing the sour, sweet, salty, and spicy. Transfer to a serving plate, leaving any unabsorbed dressing behind, and serve.
Note: You may ready the vegetables, pork and chicken, and shrimp a day in advance. Keep them in separate covered containers in
the refrigerator and return them to room temperature before tossing the salad. The dressing may be prepared several hours in advance.
For a lighter salad, omit the pork and/or chicken and double the amount of shrimp. Or, you may eliminate the shrimp and add more pork or chicken. Whatever you decide, include at least one of these elements, as they lend richness to the salad.
Festál series of 25 cultural festivals presented by community groups and hosted by Seattle
Center throughout the year. Information on the festival is available at www.seattlecenter.
