Q&A

Q.: I’m reaching my full retirement age and thinking about retiring early next year. When is the best time of year to apply for Social Security benefits?

A.: You can apply as early as four months before when you want your monthly benefits to begin. To apply, just go to www.ssa.gov/applytoretire. Applying online for retirement benefits from the convenience of your home or office is secure and can take as little as 15 minutes. It’s so easy!

Q.: Will my retirement benefits increase if I wait and retire after my full retirement age?

A.: Yes. You can increase your Social Security retirement benefit in two ways: retirement and disability benefits, Social Security-related scams, and much more. We also offer some of our videos in Spanish. You can view and easily share our videos at www. youtube.com/SocialSecurity.

• You can increase your retirement benefit by a certain percentage if you delay receiving retirement benefits. We will add these increases automatically from the time you reach full retirement age until you start receiving benefits or reach age 70.

• If you work, each additional year you work adds another year of earnings to your Social Security record. Higher lifetime earnings may result in higher benefits when you do retire.

For more information, visit www. ssa.gov/pubs to read, print, or listen to our publication, "When to Start Receiving Retirement Benefits." You also can use our retirement estimator at www.ssa.gov/estimator to determine your estimated future benefits.

4. You can join our many Twitter followers at www.twitter.com/ socialsecurity. We use Twitter to announce new my Social Security features and other service or program changes.

5. We’re also on Instagram. We share stories and resources that can help you and your loved ones. Check out our Instagram page at www. instagram.com/SocialSecurity.

Connect with us on social media to learn helpful information. Follow along and share our pages with a friend, neighbor, or loved one today. Check out all our social media channels at www.ssa.gov/socialmedia.

Q.: What is the earliest age that I can receive Social Security disability benefits?

A.: There is no minimum age as long as you meet the Social Security definition of disabled and you have sufficient work to qualify for benefits. To qualify for disability benefits, you must have worked under Social Security long enough to earn the required number of work credits and some of the work must be recent. You can earn up to a maximum of four work credits each year. The number of work credits you need for disability benefits depends on the age you become disabled. For example, if you are under age 24, you may qualify with as little as six credits of coverage. But people disabled at age 31 or older generally need between 20 and 40 credits to qualify, and some of the work must have been recent. For example, you may need to have worked five out of the past 10 years. Learn more at www.ssa.gov/disability.

Q.: What is the purpose of Supplemental Security Income, or SSI?

A.: The purpose of SSI is to help aged, blind, and disabled people who have little income and few resources to support themselves. It provides financial assistance to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. You can receive SSI even if you have not worked and paid into Social Security. SSI is a federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes). Find out more at www.ssa.gov/ssi.

Excellus among best employers America: Forbes

Excellus BlueCross

BlueShield was ranked No. 2 on the Forbes 2023 list of America’s Best Midsize Employers.

HCR Home Care hires new staff

HCR Home Care, a leading

She previously served as regional director and as director of nursing of HCR’s LHCSA. She resides in Spencerport.

“Optimal Resources for Geriatric Surgery,” drives the application and is used as a guideline in the review.

RRH hospitals receive geriatrics verification

“We’re a top employer in America thanks to our employees, who take great pride in our culture of passionately serving our customers and fulfilling our mission of improving access, affordability and the quality of healthcare in the communities we serve,” said Excellus BCBS President and CEO Jim Reed.

provider of home health services to individuals, physicians and other healthcare professionals across New York state, recently announced new hirings.

Jim Reed

“We’re proud of this recognition and are committed to supporting our employees with our inclusive culture, comprehensive employee benefits, flexible work environment and more,” Reed added.

This award is presented by Forbes and Statista Inc., a worldleading statistics portal and industryranking provider.

Forbes and Statista selected the America’s Best Employers 2023 through an independent survey applied to a vast sample of about 45,000 American employees working for companies with more than 1,000 employees. Across 25 industry sectors, 1,000 employers have been awarded, 500 large employers and 500 midsize employers. Midsize employers are companies with 1,000 to 5,000 employees.

The evaluation was based on direct and indirect recommendations from employees who were asked to rate their willingness to recommend their own employers to friends and family. Employee evaluations also included other employers in their respective industries that stood out either positively or negatively.

• Rory Burrill joined as vice president of growth strategy and business development.

Burrill brings to this role more than 20 years of leadership experience in strategy, sales and business development. Most recently, he served as the head of Health Systems at Healthy.io, where he built and executed the sales strategy for the company’s entry into the U.S. health system and provider market. He also served as vice president of sales and business development at VisualDx, a leading A.I.-enabled decision support technology for dermatology. He resides in Pittsford.

• Jessica Northrup joined as director of patient services for HCR Home Care’s Finger Lakes Licensed Home Care Services Agency (LHCSA).

In this role, Northrup supervises the dayto-day clinical operations and all patient care for the LHCSA. Northrup returns to HCR after serving as a registered nurse at Geneva General Hospital and as a care review clinician at Molina Healthcare.

Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic (CSHC) and Newark-Wayne Community Hospital (NWCH) have achieved “Level one—Comprehensive Excellence” verification status from the Geriatric Surgery Verification Program (GSV), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

A hospital with level one verification status recognizes its commitment to providing optimal care for its older adult surgical patients by meeting the GSV’s program standards. GSV program verification is granted only to those hospitals that are dedicated to providing the best possible surgical care for older adults.

To attain this level of verification, GSV program standards must be in place and verified across one or more surgical specialties and must reach 50% or more of the hospital’s total population of eligible surgical patients aged 75 years or older. These standards ensure that older adults undergoing surgery receive care under a multidisciplinary program with quality improvement and safety processes, data collection, and appropriate resources provided to them as patients at the hospital.

Only five hospitals in the country have achieved this level verification status from the GSV program — three are in the RRH system. Unity Hospital achieved it in 2020, and now CSHC and NWCH are also the only rural hospitals to obtain the same verification.

In order to become verified, CSHC and NWCH participated in a site review process by an ACS team of reviewers consisting of experienced experts in geriatric care who reviewed the hospital’s structure, process and clinical outcomes data. The current standards document,

“Attaining level one GSV designation is a major achievement for not only Newark Wayne and Clifton Springs Hospitals, but also for the American College of Surgeons,” said physician Matthew Schiralli, director of the geriatric program and Rochester Regional Health’s chief of surgery, Eastern Region. “With these hospital verifications we have proven that ACS-sponsored quality care programs can be effectively rolled out in small and rural hospitals in addition to the larger ones where they were developed. A new standard of surgical care for the elderly has been created at Newark and Clifton, raising the bar for everyone.”

Inclusion Med Spa expands in Webster

Inclusion Med Spa recently expanded its business and moved to a larger location at 2055 Empire Blvd, Webster.

Inclusion Med Spa originally opened in 2018. In the past five years, business grew to a point where a larger location became necessary.

Rebecca Brown

Rebecca Brown, owner, renovated the new location, formerly Howard Hanna Real Estate Service, and also increased the spa staff to five estheticians and four injectors.

The renovation resulted in a fresh, high-end, relaxing environment to welcome clients, said Broan. Inclusion Med Spa offers spa services and med-spa services, including injectables such as Botox/Dysport, fillers, laser hair removal and skin tightening, facials and waxing, among other services.

Birthing Center Nurse Wins Thompson’s DAISY Award

Registered nurse Dedevie “Dede” Booth of the Birthing Center at F.F. Thompson Hospital is the latest recipient of The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses from UR Medicine Thompson Health.

Booth, of Honeoye, was surprised with her award at work on March 2. She was nominated by a young couple grateful for the care and compassion she provided during the birth of their first child this past December. They described her as “phenomenal.”

“She was very knowledgeable and always made sure we knew what to do and how to do it,” they wrote, adding, “she went above and beyond explaining things and making sure we were comfortable and we had everything we needed.”

The couple, who live in Canandaigua, were on hand to see Booth receive her award from hospital administrators and nursing leaders. Booth was presented with a certificate, a pin, and a hand-carved sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch.”

As a DAISY recipient, she is also eligible for scholarships, discounts on certifications, and medical mission grants from The DAISY Foundation. She is the third recipient of Thompson’s quarterly DAISY award, which is part of a nationwide nurse recognition program.

Part

01 0203 Be Aware Be Engaged

Childbirth complications are 46% higher among Black mothers. Anyone can help by learning more about this urgent issue. (Tip: start with our podcast episode)1

Every expecting mother should receive unbiased, high-quality care. Examine your own implicit biases. What might need to change?

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