Perhaps most important, if you’re a smoker …
5. STOP
According to the National Diabetes Education Program, smoking doubles the risk of heart disease in people with diabetes.
Whether you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes or not, smoking can do you no good. It’s a filthy habit that’s likely to shorten your breath and shorten your life.
Every smoker knows that—and most try to quit at some point. For some people, trying to quit is almost as much a habit as smoking itself. Addictions can be powerful, and inability to quit smoking isn’t an indication of character. Some people need medical and professional help to stop smoking, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
6. Medicare Smoking Cessation Services
If you’re a Medicare recipient who uses tobacco, you’re eligible for up to eight Medicare-covered visits with a doctor or other Medicare-recognized practitioner qualified to provide counseling services to help you stop smoking.
If you’ve already been diagnosed with an illness caused or made worse by tobacco use or you take a medicine affected by tobacco, you can continue to get up to eight Medicare-covered face-to-face counseling visits every 12 months.
When it comes to preventing or battling diabetes, you’ve got to use everything at your disposal. Diabetes is a formidable foe, and one that’s set on doing your heart no good. Fortunately, Medicare is a powerful ally in your quest to escape diabetes, or at least to escape its most serious effects. Taking precautions like staying tobacco-free, eating right, getting screened, managing stress, exercising, and adopting a general lifestyle conducive to good senior health will reduce your risk of diabetes and heart disease—and Medicare can help in each of these areas.
7. But what’s the catch? What does all this cost?
It depends on the service, but in most cases you’ll have to pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount. The Medicare Part B deductible will apply.
Costs of diabetes-related services—like the costs of any other hospital and medical services you may need—can add up quickly in your only health coverage is through Original Medicare. If you’re looking for additional coverage to help protect you against diabetes, you ought to consider Medicare supplement (or Medigap) insurance, which is a great tool for helping budget your healthcare costs.
If you want to keep costs in check, you definitely ought to check into Medigap Plan F, which is designed to fill all the high-risk gaps in basic Medicare coverage. With Plan F you won’t have to worry about paying one penny out of pocket for any Medicare-approved costs including deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance charges. Plan F covers all Medicare-approved costs not covered by Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B—and it may be just the backup you need to take advantage of all the Medicare services that can help protect you against diabetes and the heart disease that often goes with it.
On Valentine’s Day you don’t want to give any old heart away. Give that special someone the healthiest heart you can—this year and for many more years to come.
To learn more about Medigap Plan F and all your other healthcare options, why not give MedicareMall a call today?
What measures are you taking to protect yourself against that dangerous combination of diabetes and heart disease?
Manage Diabetes to Protect Your Heart © 2013 MedicareMall.com