Mountain Views News          Saturday, January 24, 2015

12

THE GOOD LIFE

Mountain Views-News Saturday, January 24, 2015

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! … January Birthdays

 Mary Tassop, JudyWebb-Martin, John Johnson, Mary Bickel, Marlene Enmark, Ross 
Kellock, Ruth Wolter, Sue Watanabe, Sandy Thistlewaite,Bobbi Rahmanian, Fran 
Syverson, Shirley Wolff, Judy Zaretzka and Becky Evans. * To add your name to this 
distinguished list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737. YEAR of birth not required

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ACTIVITIES: Unless listed differently, all activities are at the Hart Park 
House (Senior Center) 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre

 

 YMCA San Gabriel Valley Intervale Senior Café: Monday-Friday at 12:00 Noon 

(Participants are urged to arrive no later than 11:45 A.M.) 

All seniors 60 and up can take part in the lunch program. There is a suggested donation of $2.00 
for those 60 and over and $3.75 for non-senior guests. Daily reservations are necessary as space is 
limited. Please call 24 hours in advance...626.355.0256

Free Balance Class: Every 3rd Monday, from 11:00 to 11:45 am with Shannon. All ability levels are 
encouraged and welcomed.

Hawaiian and Polynesian Dance Class: Every Tuesday morning from 10:00am to 11:00am. Join 
instructor Barbara Dempsey as she instructs you in the art of hula.

Bingo: Every Tuesday beginning at 1:00pm. Cards are only $0.25 each! Everyone is welcome to join. 
May be canceled if less than 5 people. Canceled on August 5th and 12th.

Free Blood Pressure Testing: Held 2nd Tuesday of the month from 11:00am to 12:00pm. No 
appointment is necessary.

Free Legal Consultation: Wednesday, August 27th from 10:00am to Noon. Attorney Lem 
Makupson is available for legal consultation. He specializes in Family Law, Wills, Trusts, Estates, 
and Injury. For an appointment call 626-355-7394.

Chair Yoga: Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:00 to 11:45 am, except on the third Monday of the 
month when the balance class is held. A suggested donation of $5 at one of the classes is requested, 
but is not required.

Birthday Celebrations: Every second Thursday of the month the Hart Park House Senior Center 
celebrates birthdays of our patrons. The free birthday cake is provided by the Sierra Madre Civic 
Club.

Game Day: Every Thursday starting at 12:45pm. A regular group of seniors play poker. Other 
games available for use.

Free Strength Training Class: Every Friday from 12:45pm to 1:30pm with Lisa Brandley. The class 
utilizes light weights for low impact resistance training. All materials for the class are provided.

SENIOR HAPPENINGS

WHAT MEDICARE DOESN’T COVER


Dear Savvy Senior:

I’m about to sign up for Medicare Part A and B and would 
like to find out what they don’t cover so I can avoid any 
unexpected costs down the road.

Almost 65

Dear Almost:

While Medicare covers a wide array of health care 
services, it certainly doesn’t cover everything. If you need 
or want certain services that aren’t covered, you’ll have to 
pay for them yourself unless you have other insurance or 
you’re in a Medicare Advantage health plan, which may 
cover some of these services. Here’s a rundown of what 
original Medicare generally does not cover.

 Alternative medicine: This includes acupuncture or 
chiropractic services (except to fix subluxation of the 
spine), and other types of alternative or complementary 
care.

 Cosmetic surgery: Elective cosmetic procedures are not 
covered, however, certain surgeries may be if necessary 
to fix a malformation. For example, breast prostheses are 
covered if you had a mastectomy due to breast cancer.

Long-term care: This includes nursing home care, the 
costs of assisted living facilities and adult day care. 
Medicare does, however, help pay up to 100 days of skilled 
nursing or rehabilitation care immediately following a 
three-day inpatient hospital stay.

 Personal care: The cost of hiring help for bathing, 
toileting and dressing are not covered unless you are 
homebound and are also receiving skilled nursing 
care. Housekeeping services, such as shopping, meal 
preparation and cleaning, are not covered either unless 
you are receiving hospice care.

 Routine dental and vision care: Medicare will not cover 
routine dental checkups, cleanings, fillings or dentures. 
Nor do they cover routine vision care like eye exams, eye 
refractions, contact lenses or eyeglasses – except when 
following cataract surgery. 

 Hearing: Routine hearing exams and hearing aids are 
not covered either, although some hearing implants to 
treat a severe hearing loss may be covered.

 Foot care: Medicare does not cover most routine foot 
care, like the cutting or removing of corns and calluses, 
nor does it pay for most orthopedic shoes or other foot 
supports (orthotics). Medicare will, however, cover foot 
injuries or diseases like hammertoes, bunion deformities 
and heel spurs, along with foot exams and treatments if 
you have diabetes-related nerve damage.

 Non-emergency services: Medicare does not pay for 
copies of X-rays or most non-emergency transportation 
including ambulette services.

 Overseas coverage: In most cases, health care you 
receive outside of the United States is not covered.

 The best way to find out if Medicare covers what 
you need is to talk to your doctor or other health care 
provider. Or, visit medicare.gov/coverage and type in 
your test, item or service, to get a breakdown of what is 
and isn’t covered.

 Also keep in mind that even if Medicare covers a 
service or item, they don’t usually pay 100 percent of the 
cost. Unless you have supplemental insurance, you’ll have 
to pay monthly premiums as well as annual deductibles 
and copayments. Most preventive services, however, 
are covered by original Medicare with no copays or 
deductibles.

 For more information on what original Medicare 
does and doesn’t cover, see the “Medicare and You” 2015 
booklet that you should receive in the mail a few months 
before you turn 65, or you can see it online at medicare.
gov/pubs/pdf/10050.pdf. 

 You can also get help over the phone by calling 
Medicare at 800-633-4227, or contact your State Health 
Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), who provides free 
one-on-one Medicare counseling in person or over the 
phone. To find a local SHIP counselor visit shiptalk.org, 
or call the eldercare locator at 800-677-1116. If you enroll 
in a Medicare Advantage plan, you’ll need to contact you 
plan administrator for details. 

 Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 
5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim 
Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author 
of “The Savvy Senior” book.


KATIE Tse..........This and That

THE GOAT’S GOT RHYTHM

If you’ve read my column for any 
length of time you’ll probably 
remember stories I’ve lifted from 
others (my mom’s friend, Florence, 
my dad’s cousin a.k.a. “The Most 
Interesting Man in the World,” etc.). 
This week it’s a story from Mom’s 
days teaching third grade at a public 
school and playing the piano for their glee club.

 I’ve never seen the show, “Glee,” but I’ve got a stinking 
suspicion it presents a picture of school glee clubs that’s 
infinitely more glamorous and interesting than they 
are in real life. In addition to the bona fide members 
who auditioned for the 
privilege, the glee club 
participants at Mom’s 
school included her 
homeroom students, 
some of whom did not 
have a musical bone in 
their body. One year, she 
taught them to tap dance 
--or at least that was the 
plan.

 With technical 
help from Dad, Mom 
distributed copies of a 
very old tap dance tutorial 
video for the children 
to practice at home (this 
was before You Tube). 
Half the class got it. 
We’ll refer to them as the 
“sheep.” The other half 
failed miserably. They 
were the “goats.” Mom 
tried to teach the goats to 
simply walk heel-to-toe 
to a beat. This, too, was 
beyond them. So, Mom 
gave them sparkly green 
St. Patrick’s Day hats and 
had them walk back and 
forth across the stage, 
vigorously shaking their 
hats. All this was to the 
tune of Gershwin’s “I Got 
Rhythm.” The goats were so bad that the music teacher 
did not include them in the regularly scheduled spring 
performance. They were allowed to be in a small show 
for the parents, but that was it. To make matters worse, 
one goat parent bought her son a very expensive pair of 
leather tap shoes. Mom felt that this child had to perform 
at least twice to make it worth the parent’s investment.

 So Mom called a couple other schools within walking 
distance to ask if they’d be interested in having her 
students perform their numbers for the student body. 
Days went by and no one responded. One fateful 
afternoon while Mom was leaving for the day, she noticed 
the voice mail light for her classroom phone flashing. 
Teaching is a draining job, and in her exhausted state, 
Mom would have normally left it until the next morning. 
But something told her to listen to the message, which 
turned out to be from the principal of one of the schools 
she had called. “Yes, we’d love to have your students 
perform for us! The entire school will be assembled to 
watch them TOMORROW MORNING at 9:00 (caps 
mine).”

 Mom was too busy calling the music teacher with this 
last minute change of plans to imagine what would’ve 
happened if she hadn’t listened to that message. As the 
music teacher likes things well organized in advance, this 
news didn’t go down well. Also, they had to pull students 
from other classes. 
Usually they put in a 
polite request several days 
in advance before taking 
the students. But that day 
they burst in, said “I’m 
taking Johnny and Suzy,” 
grabbed them, and took 
off.

 Then they all had to walk 
to the other school. This 
may sound simple, but 
the school is in Monterey 
Park, which isn’t exactly 
the safe driving capital. 
Eventually they arrived, 
did their thing, and 
left. Disaster avoided. 
However, there was still 
the parent show to get 
through. All this time 
Mom had been playing 
their two songs, “I Got 
Rhythm” (which, for the 
goats, was a bold face lie) 
and “Sidewalks of New 
York” on a CD in a stereo. 
For some reason, the CD 
decided it didn’t like the 
player being used for the 
parent show. 

 There they were, all the 
parents, grandparents, 
and other relatives in 
folding chairs under the hot sun waiting while different 
teachers scrambled to find other boom boxes to play 
the CD in. Finally one of the more flamboyant teachers 
offered to help Mom out. “I don’t know the lyrics,” he 
explained, “but I can make myself sound like a kazoo.” 
So the goats walked back and forth, waving their hats to 
the sound of a grown man imitating a kazoo to the tune 
of “I Got Rhythm.” This is an example of the flexibility 
needed if one plans to work in public education. In the 
end the parents were happy, especially the goat mother 
with the leather tap shoes. Oh by the way, the CD worked 
as soon as Mom put it in the stereo in her own classroom, 
go figure!


626-355-5700245 West Sierra Madre Blvd, Sierra Madre, CA 91024 • www.TheKensingtonSierraMadre.comRCFELicensePendingThe Kensington promises to love and care for yourfamily as we do our own, and we’re opening soon