ArcaMax

On stage, at the beach and in the mountains: New, enriching and sometimes life-changing experiences wait for you in the new year. Here are three play-cations, each a unique and original journey that promises not only an adventure but a way to reconnect with yourself and the world through art, camaraderie and peaceful solitude.

‘Come From Away...Read more

Year after year, Mary Bucklew strategized with a nurse practitioner about losing weight. “We tried exercise,” like walking 35 minutes a day, she recalled. “And 39,000 different diets.”

But 5 pounds would come off and then invariably reappear, said Bucklew, 75, a public transit retiree in Ocean View, Delaware. Nothing seemed to make much...Read more

Year after year, Mary Bucklew strategized with a nurse practitioner about losing weight. “We tried exercise,” like walking 35 minutes a day, she recalled. “And 39,000 different diets.”

But 5 pounds would come off and then invariably reappear, said Bucklew, 75, a public transit retiree in Ocean View, Delaware. Nothing seemed to make much...Read more

Morning, Toni:

Recently, you wrote a Medicare column about various life policies available after 65, and I have a retirement insurance question.

In June, I’m retiring when I turn 70 and my wife, Anna, will be 68. Our retirement insurance issue is that recently we applied for a long-term care plan and were both denied due to our health issues...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- One day my left foot hurt for no good reason. I stood up to shake off the pain and tweaked my right Achilles tendon, so I headed for the medicine cabinet, bent over like an ape because of a stiff back.

Actually, I lied.

It wasn't one day. It's pretty much every day.

None of this is severe or serious, and I'm not complaining at ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- One day my left foot hurt for no good reason. I stood up to shake off the pain and tweaked my right Achilles tendon, so I headed for the medicine cabinet, bent over like an ape because of a stiff back.

Actually, I lied.

It wasn't one day. It's pretty much every day.

None of this is severe or serious, and I'm not complaining at ...Read more

Hi Toni:

I recently enrolled in Medicare. This week, I went to see my primary care doctor and his office manager informed me that they are no longer accepting it. Instead I will have to pay the complete bill up front and be reimbursed by Medicare. His office is small, and the doctor will be retiring soon. I will need to find a new doctor.

Toni...Read more

In her house in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Barbara Meade said, “there are walkers and wheelchairs and oxygen and cannulas all over the place.”

Barbara, 82, has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, so a portable oxygen tank accompanies her everywhere. Spinal stenosis limits her mobility, necessitating the walkers and wheelchairs and considerable...Read more

In her house in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Barbara Meade said, “there are walkers and wheelchairs and oxygen and cannulas all over the place.”

Barbara, 82, has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, so a portable oxygen tank accompanies her everywhere. Spinal stenosis limits her mobility, necessitating the walkers and wheelchairs and considerable...Read more

Hi Toni: I am turning 65 and retiring from my current employer and will no longer have health insurance benefits, life insurance, dental and vision. My husband, James, will still be employed with benefits from his current employer.

James and I do not have a power of attorney or other legal documents in effect for both of us. A friend told me ...Read more

Hi Toni:

I never should have listened to my brother, who bragged about how his Medicare Advantage Plan was a great way to save money and not have to spend so much on my Medicare Supplement plan’s premium. I discovered that the eye doctor who was to perform surgery on my right eye in early January is not in my Medicare HMO plan. I should have ...Read more

Dear Toni:

I have decided to retire when I turn 65 in February and need to enroll in Medicare Parts A and B. My husband, Harry, is 74, and he enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B when he turned 65, remaining on my employer benefits with health issues.

His primary doctor’s office manager expressed concerns because of my husband’s intense lung...Read more

Dear Toni,

I am currently on COBRA with dental benefits. I will need dental insurance when I lose my COBRA benefits after enrolling in Medicare at 65 in March. The only dental plans I am finding are in Medicare Advantage HMO/PPO plans. The office manager of my cardiologist’s office advised me not to go in the Medicare Advantage direction ...Read more

Hi Toni:

Recently, you wrote an article explaining hospice. Please let readers of your column know that there are other ways hospice comforts the caregiver when a loved one passes. My mother’s hospice case manager and also her social worker made sure that I knew exactly what to do for her final needs when she finally peacefully passed away.

...Read more

Hello Toni:

In the new Medicare & You Handbook that I received about a month ago, I cannot find what the 2026 Medicare costs and premiums will be. I would like this information because I have been diagnosed with a heart condition and will need to undergo heart surgery next year. I have looked online and cannot find the costs there either.

Do ...Read more