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August Special Section
2 | August 2021 | NorthFulton.com | ForsythHerald.com
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Your Local Broker for Medicare Insurance Needs Specializing in Medicare Advantage & Medicare Supplement Plans Serving North Atlanta Seniors for More Than 10 Years Representing Most Medicare Insurance Companies • Experienced Medicare Insurance Broker • Provides Personalized Plan Analysis Paige Gorman Agent
• Annual Plan Updates, Including Upcoming Trends • No Cost to Use Our Services
770.315.8145
www.SeniorSourceMedicare.com
Your Local Broker for Medicare Insurance Needs Specializing in Medicare Advantage & Medicare Supplement Plans Serving North Atlanta Seniors for More Than 10 Years Representing Most Medicare Insurance Companies • Experienced Medicare Insurance Broker • Provides Personalized Plan Analysis Logan Steele Agent
• Annual Plan Updates, Including Upcoming Trends • No Cost to Use Our Services
770.596.6650
www.SeniorSourceMedicare.com
Can I Get My Monthly Medicare Premium Back?... The Commercials Say I Can. Brought to you by- Jay Looft, Medicare Insurance Broker, SeniorSource Medicare Solutions By now, you have probably seen the commercials on Medicare insurance advertising that you can receive your monthly Medicare Part B Premium back in your Social Security Check... Just Call Now! While Medicare Advantage companies do offer a Part B Premium Reduction plan, some television advertisements you may have seen don’t live up to their expectations. Somewhere in the United States, I’m confident there is a Medicare Advantage plan that will give you the entire Part B Premium back (currently $148.50 per month). However, this level of reduction is not currently available in the Atlanta area for the average Medicare beneficiary. Most of the Medicare Advantage plans that offer the Part B Premium Reduction in Georgia for plan year 2021 do provide a reduction between $25-$75 per month. These plans come at a $0 monthly premium cost that include both
medical and prescription drug coverage. These plan types can be a good fit for many Medicare beneficiaries! A Part B Reduction Plan comes with different coverage amounts for areas such as doctor and hospital copays and brand name drug deductibles. It’s important to study the differences in the Part B premium reduction plans and the non-reduction plans (the “standard” Medicare Advantage plans), while evaluating your specific health needs, before choosing a new Medicare plan. For questions about these Part B Premium Reduction plans, or other Medicare plan questions, contact us by phone at (770) 315-8145 or check us out online at www.SeniorSourceMedicare.com. **As a reminder, we are quickly approaching the start of the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period that runs from October 15 - December 7th, 2021. During this time, anyone on Medicare can make coverage changes for the upcoming year. We have several upcoming educational “Medicare 101” sessions that are open to anyone who wishes to learn more about the Medicare options- contact us for details.**
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Benzene in Certain Sunscreens – What You Need to Know Brought to you by – Dr. Brent Taylor, Premier Dermatology and Mohs Surgery of Atlanta Alarmingly, a laboratory named Valisure detected toxic levels of benzene in 78 common sunscreen and after-sun products such as certain brands of aloe vera gel. Their findings are important because benzene is a carcinogen – a substance that causes cancer, and we apply sunscreen specifically to avoid cancer. Benzene is known to cause leukemia and lymphoma. How exactly benzene usually causes cancer has not been fully characterized. It appears that benzene can create toxic breakdown products in the lungs and the liver. These products react with DNA to result in broken DNA and altered chromosomes. The disrupted genes can no longer keep cells from growing or can get cells stuck in a permanently growing state, and cancer is set in motion. Benzene is a chemical solvent and a basic ingredient in the manufacture of many chemicals. According to the CDC, benzene ranks in the “top 20 chemicals for production volume” and is used to make plastics, resins, lubricants, dyes, rubber, detergents, drugs and more. Benzene is found at significant levels in cigarette smoke and in some e-cigarette vapors. As an aside, I recently saw a billboard on the side of the highway that said “Be Patriotic. Vape!” A grand American flag was in the background of the billboard. If you know a youngster who is considering vaping, please let him or her know that there is no proven connection between vaping and patriotism (though scientists employed by the vaping industry may be working on it). Given how common benzene is, it may be surprising to learn just how dangerous it can be even in small doses. In the United States, OSHA (the Occupational Health and Safety Administration) defines the permissible exposure limit as 1 part per million (ppm) in the air during an average work day. This is a limit for on-the-job exposure. In contrast, the limit set by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is 2 parts per million (ppm) for a drug product “with a significant therapeutic advance.” The guidance is that benzene is not to be used at all if its use is avoidable, and the laboratory Valisure found no detectable benzene in over 200 sunscreen and aftersun products tested. Therefore, there is no reason that we should tolerate benzene in any of our sunscreens. Valisure’s list of benzene-containing sunscreens and after-sun products was broad and included major manufacturers. To see the lists of products that did and did not test positive, visit: https://bit. ly/3w8LyJL and https://bit.ly/3v8KzYP. Well-respected companies such as Neutrogena, CVS Health and EltaMD made both
lists with some products testing positive and others not. More than 75% of the identified products are sprays. Unfortunately, there is no easy rule of thumb to avoid benzene. Dermatologists typically divide sunscreens into physical blockers (those that contain zinc and titanium to reflect the sun) and chemical blockers (those that use chemicals to “quench” ultraviolet rays). Regretfully, both physical and chemical blocker sunscreens are on the list of benzene-containing sunscreens. Importantly, Valisure’s tests on the sunscreens did not identify benzene as a breakdown product of the tested sunscreens. Therefore, the presence of benzene appears to be from contamination [during the manufacturing process] and not from breakdown of the ingredients. What should we do? The best approach is likely to pick a sunscreen from the noncontaminated list or not on the contaminated list and continue using sunscreen. We know that the sun causes more than 3 million skin cancers per year in the United States. And we should be thankful that the FDA and laboratories like Valisure are helping to keep us safe. What did my family do? We threw away a sunscreen that happened to be on the bad list and still applied sunscreen during our most recent beach trip. No company is perfect. No process is perfect. No product is perfect. Our job as parents, spouses or children is not to eliminate risk but to manage it to the best of our ability, and sunscreen continues to be a very important and proven method for reducing the risk of skin cancer. This was true even before Valisure’s research report. And Valisure appears to be helping us make sure that a good product gets even better. If you or a loved one has a skin care need, consider Premier Dermatology and Mohs Surgery of Atlanta. Dr. Brent Taylor and Kathryn Filipek, PA-C are delighted to help you achieve your skin health goals. Dr. Taylor is a Harvard-graduate, a board certified dermatologist and vein care expert, and fellowship-trained Mohs surgeon. Kathryn Filipek has greater than 15 years of dermatology experience with expertise in medical, surgical and cosmetic dermatology.
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Tried & True - Classic Recipes from Our Community Brought to you by – Village Park Senior Living There is something universally inviting, comforting, and connective about the family dinner table. It’s the place where we not only share meals but where we share ideas, stories, and traditions with those we hold dearest. While the gatherings and the tables themselves may shift over the years, there are certain dishes that go from being passed around the dinner table to being passed down through generations. For Village Park Milton resident Sue H., one of those beloved family recipes is her signature dish—Sue’s Sesame Chicken & Asparagus Pasta. This flavorful pasta dish has been one of Sue’s go-to meals for occasions ranging from a ladies’ luncheon to dinner on the boat at Lake Lanier, to a summer holiday dish when plated with a little sense of style. Loved by her husband and five children, all three of Sue’s daughters make this light and refreshing dinner for their families now on a regular basis. While many residents at Village Park choose to gather with friends for chef-prepared meals in the community’s bistro and full-service
restaurant, Village Park Milton’s Cottages & Bungalows, Independent Living, and 2-bedroom Assisted Living homes feature beautifully appointed kitchens where residents can continue to enjoy the classic recipes served at their family tables for years. We hope you enjoy this delicious meal passed down from Village Park families to yours. This dish easily serves 4-5 people and takes less than 30 minutes to enjoy. Sue recommends serving it with crispy bread and a crisp white wine. Sue’s Sesame Chicken & Asparagus Pasta Ingredients: 8 ounces linguine 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon brown sugar 6 tablespoons chunky peanut butter ¼ cup soy sauce 6 tablespoon sesame oil 1 tablespoon hot chile oil (Sue says to use to taste) 2 boneless and skinless cooked chicken breast halves 5 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted 1-pound thin asparagus, trimmed
Bungalows & Cottages City Homes Independent Living Assisted Living Memory Care Village Park Milton 555 Wills Road Alpharetta, GA 30009 470.509.4557
Village Park Alpharetta 12300 Morris Road Alpharetta, GA 30005 678.740.3499
3 scallions (green onions), white bulb and 3 inches green, cut into 2-inch julienne 1 small cucumber, halved, seeded, and cut into ¼ - inch dice Directions: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook at a rolling boil until just tender. Drain, rinse under cold water, drain again, and set aside in a large mixing bowl. Place the garlic, vinegar, brown sugar, peanut butter, and soy sauce in a food processor. Process for 1 minute. With the motor running, slowly add the sesame and hot chili oils through the feed tube, and process until well blended. Shred the chicken into 2-inch julienne and toss with the linguine. Add the sauce and 4 tablespoons of sesame seeds and toss to coat well. Cut the asparagus on the diagonal into 1-inch lengths. Blanch in a saucepan of boiling water for 1 minute. Drain, rinse under cold water, and pat dry. Place the linguine and the chicken in a large flat serving bowl and arrange the asparagus on top. Sprinkle with the
scallions, cucumber, and remaining 1 tablespoon sesame seeds. Serve at room temperature.
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NorthFulton.com | ForsythHerald.com | August 2021 | 5
Your Local Broker for Medicare Insurance Needs Specializing in Medicare Advantage & Medicare Supplement Plans Serving North Atlanta Seniors for More Than 10 Years Representing Most Medicare Insurance Companies • Experienced Medicare Insurance Broker • Provides Personalized Plan Analysis Jay Looft Owner/Agent
• Annual Plan Updates, Including Upcoming Trends • No Cost to Use Our Services
770.913.6464
www.SeniorSourceMedicare.com
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