Hey Guys ... You’re Not Invincible

By Jennifer Stubbe, wellness coordinator at Network Health

One of the biggest health challenges men face is their reluctance to seek care. Studies suggest men are 24 percent less likely to visit a doctor than women and only 40 percent of men go to the doctor if they fear they have a serious medical condition.

These numbers are surprising, considering men have a higher instance of heart disease and chronic liver disease. The good news is many of these potential health risks can be prevented or treated with early detection.

Take advantage of your annual visit with your personal doctor

Your personal doctor can help monitor your weight, blood pressure, cholesterol levels and blood glucose levels—all risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Stay up to date on age-appropriate preventive screenings, like a prostate exam and colonoscopy. Some conditions don’t show early symptoms, so preventive screenings can lead to the early detection of diseases, which provides better outcomes.

Maintain a well-balanced diet

Everything you eat and drink matters when it comes to nutrition, weight management and disease prevention. Making the right nutritional choices helps you be healthier now and in the future. Packaged and processed foods are often full of unhealthy fats, sugar, sodium and artificial additives. Instead of these items, consider the following. • Fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables • Whole-grain products • Lean cuts of protein-rich foods such as beef, wild game, turkey, poultry or fish like wild-caught salmon • Healthy fat sources from nuts and seeds

All of the above support your body to maintain a strong immune system, minimize inflammation and maintain prostate health.

Get up off the couch and get physical

Regular physical activity is one of the best ways to help prevent heart disease—the leading cause of death in American men. To maintain current weight and overall health, aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity levels each week. To promote weight loss and increase overall health, aim for about 300 minutes of intentional physical activity per week. Try to engage in strength training exercises that incorporate all major muscle groups at least twice a week. Try to do one set of each exercise, using a weight or resistance that is heavy enough to tire your muscles after 10-15 repetitions.

Watch your waistline

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, if your waist measures more than 40 inches around, you are at an elevated risk of obesity-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

The best way to get rid of excess belly fat is to improve the quality and adjust the quantity of your nutrition choices, in addition to increasing your physical activity. Talk to your personal doctor about developing a weight-loss plan that will be both safe and effective for you.

Take care of yourself

Don’t let contentment take a toll on your health. Taking care of yourself can be as simple as making healthy lifestyle choices. Consider creating or expanding your current support system to help hold you accountable to your health goals. Network Health offers one-on-one telephonic health coaching with a wellness coordinator, at no cost for our members, to discuss all topics referenced in this article.

I just want to take my time after I retire and see where each day takes me.

-Mary B., Network Health member

Getting Ready for a New Start

–Mary’s Story

By Jon Race

Photographs by Beth DesJardin, Trove Photography

When you talk to people who are approaching retirement, they are looking forward to the next chapter in their lives. For good reason, too.

Retirement signifies a new beginning. It’s the end of years spent working and the start of a more relaxed lifestyle. No more working 40+ hours a week. More free time to spend with family, traveling or doing anything else they want to do.

As the conversation about retirement continues, there is another topic that seems to weigh equally on their minds—the topic of health insurance and, of course, Medicare.

At that point, the mood may turn slightly. The wistful, happy thoughts about retirement change to serious questions about health and health insurance. What happens when I change insurance? What is

Medicare? Where do I get it? How do I sign up for it? What do all the Medicare letters mean—Parts A, B, C and D?

This is exactly what Mary Bruch and her daughter, Kelli Vanderwielen, are going through right now.

On the surface, retirement may not seem all that relevant to our Balance readers. However, though retirement and Medicare may be far way away for you personally, chances are there is someone in your life who will be dealing with it sometime soon, such as a parent, sibling, aunt or uncle. Just like Mary and her daughter Kelli.

“I just want to make sure she feels really good about her health insurance and her retirement.

-Kelli V., Mary’s daughter

“I want my mom to look forward to retirement and not have to worry about the decision of her health insurance getting in the way of that,” Kelli said. “I just want to make sure she feels really good about her health insurance and her retirement. She’s worked so hard to get to this point and deserves to enjoy each step of the journey.”

About Mary

Mary has lived in Little Chute, WI, for the past 34 years. She is retiring in August, which is something she has thought about off and on throughout her career as her coworkers have retired.

“I was always the youngest one at the bottom of the totem pole. I have so many great memories of friends I worked with in the past who retired,” Mary said. “So, it’s been something I’ve thought about here and there. You just don’t think about it being you who’s retiring. And, now I just can’t fathom that I am at the top of that totem pole, getting ready to leave. In my head, I’m still 25-years old … I just can’t believe I’m at that point.” For 38 years, Mary has worked as a dental assistant. “For the most part, I hold patients’ hands. I’m there to comfort and take care of them,” Mary said. “Actually, what I really do is vacuum spit all day,” she adds laughing. “But seriously, I work beside my doctor and try to keep our patients comfortable and relaxed.”

Mary is also a licensed massage therapist. She went back to school when she was 40 years old, earned her license and started her own side business. She entertained thoughts of continuing that practice after she retires from her dental assistant duties, but the coronavirus pandemic made her change plans. “I decided to let my little office suite go and I packed my table up. It’s in my trunk, so whenever my friends or family want a massage, I’ll just go to their house and do it,” Mary said.

Like most people, Mary is looking forward to her retirement, but she’s also a little nervous. “It’s bittersweet and I don’t know how I’ll adapt to not getting up every morning at five o’ clock to get to the office by seven. Maybe I’ll just have a cup of coffee in my PJs and just cruise into each day. I just want to take my time after I retire and see where each day takes me.”

Medicare

Many people who start looking at Medicare—whether they are looking for themselves or a family member—have a lot of questions. Mary’s questions include the following. • Do I get a choice of my doctor? • Are there copayments? • What are the out-of-pocket costs? • Do I get coverage for life or is it something I have to renew every year? • Are there deductibles? • How do Network Health and Medicare work together?

To Mary’s credit, she’s taking a proactive approach and is in a good spot. She may have numerous questions, but she is very early in the process and has time to get the information she needs and wants, so she can decide what’s best for her.

Deciding what to do, and how, is a concern of many people approaching Medicare eligibility. Figuring out the details of Original Medicare and the other Medicare options that are available is not an easy task. Further muddying the waters is the amount of advertising you may receive as your 65th birthday approaches.

“If I could change anything, it would be the flood of information I get in the mail. There’s so much of it. And it doesn’t really say anything,” Mary said. “Every day in the mail—and I can say this honestly—I get these cards from different companies about signing up with Medicare or information about a supplement or Medicare Advantage plans. It can be really confusing because there’s a lot of companies out there that do this kind of thing.”

Her daughter agrees. “It is a decision you have to make, but it is almost forced through those postcards she’s getting in the mail, and the TV ads. There’s fear, I think, that comes along with that.”

“It’s hard to find the right people to answer the questions,” Kelli continued. “My mom’s lucky because I can help her. But where does somebody go who doesn’t have the resources my mom has or someone to help them? Where do they go? How do they find answers to their questions?”

My mom’s lucky because I can help her. But where does somebody go who doesn’t have the resources my mom has or someone to help them?

-Kelli V., Mary’s daughter Do You Have Medicare Questions?

If you or someone you know is approaching 65 and has questions about Medicare or Medicare coverage options, you can get the answers you need by taking any of these actions.

1. Visit networkhealth.com/medicare/navigating-medicare to sign up for a free virtual Navigating Medicare educational meeting.

2. Visit networkhealth.com/medicare/new-to-medicare and sign up for The Next Chapter monthly newsletter, which walks you through the Medicare enrollment process, step by step.

3. Call a local Network Health Medicare advisor at 866-755-5233,

Monday–Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Choosing Network Health

Turning 65 in August, Mary has already decided to go with Network Health for her Medicare Advantage coverage. “I guess I must not have paid attention before when people talked about insurance, but I have so many friends and family that have Network Health Medicare Advantage Plans. And they’re all so happy with it. That was enough for me.”

Mary continued, “Now I just have to go through the process to figure out how I am going to make Network Health my insurance.”

Mary has some time to decide exactly which Network Health Medicare Advantage Plan she wants, and she plans to go through all the details to make sure she gets exactly what she needs. Kelli will be at her side helping with the process any way she can.

“Luckily, we had networkhealth.com to go to,” Kelli said. “It’s beautifully laid out and all the questions and answers are right there.”

With her Medicare insurance questions well in hand, Mary now can direct her focus toward other aspects of her retirement. “I have two beautiful children and four grandchildren. With my significant other, Doug, we have five more added to that, so it’s a big family all together. Doug and I just got e-bikes. They’re such a blast. And, I love swimming and kayaking. The list is a mile long … I don’t think I’ll be bored.”

“We’ll wait to see what happens. I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s all going to work out,” Mary said as she shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

Spoken like someone who is truly ready to embrace the start of something new.