Opinion
Make your New Year’s Resolution this year easy and fun by making a resolution to read more in 2018.
Besides enjoyment there are a host of other benefits that make a resolution to read something that can really have a positive impact on your life.
If your resolution is to get healthy in 2018 reading can assist with that. Not only can you read books about health such as “The Whole30” by Melissa Hartwig, but the act of reading itself has many health benefits.
Stress has a negative impact on your health. Research done at the University of Sussex found that reading was one of the most relaxing ways to combat stress. Just a few minutes of reading was enough to slow heart rate and ease muscle tension.
It also only takes a few minutes a day of reading to provide serious brain stimulation. Researchers have found that the things you read about can stimulate your brain in the same ways as if you live those experiences.
Research conducted with a grant from the Medical Research Council used neuroimaging to figure out that reading words like “cinnamon” caused activity in the same regions of your brain that process smell.
A different experiment found that reading action sentences related to movement activated the sensory-motor system in the brain.
Reading an action thriller might get your motor neurons pumping just like you were the main character in Dan Brown’s “Origin” and on the run from a homicidal secret society.
The stimulating effects of reading on the brain also helps build something called “cognitive reserve” that may help prevent a slowdown in our thinking as we age.
The Yale School of Public Health studied data about the reading habits of people over 50 and found that people who read books lived longer than those who didn’t.
The researchers speculate that reading helps forge new pathways between all the different regions of the brain. These extra pathways may help promote overall brain health and slow any age or disease related decline.
Getting lost in a story is good for more than just brain stimulation. It helps build literacy skills which in turn help you get more enjoyment out of life. Literacy is more than just the ability to read and write.
A high level of literacy allows people to communicate effectively and to understand complex ideas. People with a higher level of literacy tend to be more creative and have a positive outlook on life in general. The easiest way to increase your personal literacy skills is to make a habit of reading.
Building literacy skills is a lifelong endeavor and the best way to build a strong reading habit is to start when you are young.
Parents who read to children, even when they seem too young to understand the words, build a strong parental bond with their child and help them develop a love of reading. Clever picture books like “I Want My Hat Back” by Jon Klassen make reading fun for both children and adults.
The Lake County Library can help with your resolution to read.
The library has titles in multiple formats including eBooks, audiobooks, and large print so you can read however you prefer.
Visit the library’s Web site at http://library.lakecountyca.gov to request any of the books mentioned in this article and also check out information about getting a library card, library services, and library events.
Christopher Veach is the librarian for Lake County, Calif.
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- Written by: Christopher Veach
How much will your Medicare cost in the coming year? The numbers just came out, so let’s go over them.
We’ll start with the Medicare Part B premium. Part B covers doctor services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, durable medical equipment, and other items.
The standard monthly premium for people with Part B will be $134 for 2018, the same amount as in 2017.
Under the law, people with Part B pay 25 percent of the costs of running the program, with the government picking up 75 percent.
A statutory “hold harmless” provision applies each year to about 70 percent of Part B enrollees. For these enrollees, any increase in Part B premiums must be lower than any cost-of-living increase in their Social Security benefits.
After several years of no or very small increases, Social Security benefits will increase by 2 percent in 2018 due to a cost-of-living adjustment. Therefore, some beneficiaries who were held harmless against Part B premium increases in prior years will see a higher premium in 2018.
Part B enrollees held harmless in 2016 and 2017 will see an increase in their Part B premiums from the roughly $109, on average, they paid in 2017. An estimated 42 percent of Part B enrollees are subject to the hold harmless provision in 2018 but will pay the full premium of $134, because the increase in their Social Security benefit will be greater than or equal to an increase in their Part B premiums up to the full 2018 amount.
About 28 percent of Part B enrollees are subject to the hold harmless provision in 2018 but will pay less than the full $134 premium. That’s because the increase in their Social Security benefit isn’t big enough to cover the full Part B premium increase.
The remaining 30 percent of Part B enrollees aren’t subject to the hold harmless provision and will pay the full $134 per month in 2018. This group includes beneficiaries who don’t receive Social Security benefits; enroll in Part B for the first time in 2018; are directly billed for their Part B premium; are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid and have their premiums paid by state Medicaid agencies; and pay higher premiums because their incomes are higher.
Since 2007, beneficiaries with higher incomes have paid higher Part B premiums. These higher premiums apply to about 5 percent of people with Part B.
For a chart showing premiums at higher income levels, go to https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2017-Fact-Sheet-items/2017-11-17.html.
The annual deductible for Part B will be $183 in 2018, the same amount as in 2017.
Now let’s take a look at Medicare Part A, which covers inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing services, and some home health services.
About 99 percent of Medicare beneficiaries don’t pay any Part A premium since they’ve worked for at least 40 quarters in Medicare-covered jobs.
The Part A deductible that beneficiaries pay when admitted to the hospital in 2018 will be $1,340 per benefit period, a rise of $24 from 2017. The Part A deductible covers beneficiaries’ share of costs for the first 60 days of Medicare-covered inpatient hospital care in a benefit period.
Beneficiaries must pay a coinsurance amount of $335 per day for the 61st through 90th day of a hospitalization (versus $329 in 2017) in a benefit period, and $670 per day for lifetime reserve days ($658 in 2017).
For beneficiaries in skilled nursing facilities, the daily coinsurance for days 21 through 100 of extended care services in a benefit period will be $167.50 in 2018 ($164.50 in 2017).
You can find an explanation of benefit periods (and lots of other valuable information) in the “Medicare & You” handbook, at https://www.medicare.gov/medicare-and-you/medicare-and-you.html .
Happy holidays to you and your loved ones!
Greg Dill is Medicare’s regional administrator for Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific Territories. You can always get answers to your Medicare questions by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
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- Written by: Greg Dill
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