Adell Area Community Center

09/01/2026

Aging in Place Mary Kempf for the GWAAR Legal Services Team (for reprint)

The goals of aging in place are staying in your own home and maintaining independence for as long as possible. For many older adults, aging in place can provide significant emotional, social, and economic benefits. People who age in place welcome the emotional security of knowing they will remain supported by the same connections to family, friends, and community that have enriched their lives over many decades. They take comfort in the fact that they are familiar with their external social environment
– the local park, pharmacy, grocery store, and post office. And aging in place can be the most financially sensible housing option.
Older adults can take steps to preserve their ability to age in place and maintain their independence:
 Assess your homes’ livability. It is important to do a thorough assessment of your home to ensure that it properly enables you to comfortably live there. Here is a link (https://www.seniorresource.com/aging_in_place/ ) to a website that has common issues that someone may confront and possible remedies to these issues.
 Ensure household maintenance is performed. One of the main reasons older adults move to senior living communities is because they have trouble quote; keeping up with the house." But if you make a list of household tasks -- both routine and intermittent (mowing the lawn, cleaning the rain gutters, taking the trash cans to the curb) -- and figure out which tasks you can still handle and which ones you need help with, you may be able to avoid an unwanted move. If you are no longer able to perform a task, there may be a professional, neighbor, or nearby loved one who can help.
 Utilize technology to stay safe and connected. Technology can be extremely helpful in accomplishing several important steps to remaining independent:
o Many medical alert buttons use cellphone technology that works anywhere you go and links to a call center 24 hours per day. The buttons come with a monthly monitoring fee.
o Laptops and smartphones enable video chatting with loved ones, so you can see a friendly face. And you can also place a video camera in your home (for example, the living room) that then connects to an app on your loved one’s smartphone. This will enable your loved one to get a visual check on you at any time.

 Arrange transportation. If public transportation and taxis are not an option, learn how to use an on-demand ride-sharing service ordered via smartphone. In addition, sometimes local governments provide low-cost bus or taxi rides to seniors.
 Address in-home safety. Do a top-to-bottom review of your home for comfort and potential safety hazards. Look for (and be prepared to install) things like bright lighting throughout the house, light switches at the top and bottom of stairs, and grab bars in the bathroom, for starters.
 Personal care. Some older adults find bathing, washing their hair, or dressing to be difficult tasks. Ask if a relative or friend could help. Or you can hire a trained aide for a short time each day.
 Have food delivered. While it remains important to get out and about and going to the grocery store may be one way of achieving this goal, sometimes not having this responsibility may help with remaining in your home. Many large grocery stores and online retailers offer grocery delivery. You can also order subscription meal kits that deliver fresh, premeasured ingredients ready to
prepare. And there are nonprofit meal delivery services specifically for older adults, such as Meals on Wheels. Some nonprofit groups also deliver medically tailored meals based on a person’s individual needs.

09/01/2026

Home Improvement Loans and Grants are Available for Low-Income Rural Homeowners
Mary Kempf the GWAAR Legal Services Team (for reprint)

USDA Rural Development (RD) provides low-income and senior rural homeowners the ability to apply for loans and grants to make health and safety improvements and/or to modernize their homes. The USDA offers these programs because it believes that helping individuals to stay in their homes and to maintain their homes in good repair strengthens families and helps them to build savings and wealth over time. This, in turn, helps to support and develop strong communities and local economies. Here is what to know if you would like to apply for a USDA RD loan or grant: Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for the programs, you must:
 Own and occupy the home
 Be unable to obtain affordable credit elsewhere
 Meet certain income threshold for your county
 Be at least age 18 and older for a loan or age 62 or older for a grant
 Live in a qualifying rural area. You can utilize the USDA Eligibility Site to enter your specific address to see if you qualify Loan Information
 The maximum loan amount for which an owner can qualify is $40,000
 Loans must be used to repair, improve, or modernize homes or to remove health and safety hazards
 Loans have a term of 20 years
 Loan interest rate is fixed at 1%
 Full title service is required if the total outstanding balance on the loan exceeds $25,000

Grant Information
 The maximum lifetime grant amount is $10,000, except in presidentially declared disaster areas in which they have a $15,000 lifetime limit.
 Grants must be used to remove health and safety hazards
 Grants must be repaid if the property is sold in less than 3 years
Loans and grants can be combined for up to $50,000 in assistance. Applications for the program are accepted through your local Rural Development office year-round. Approval times depend on funding availability in your area. You can speak with a local USDA home loan specialist in your area for help with the application.

09/01/2026

Flu Vaccines
Mary Kempf for the GWAAR Legal Services Team (for reprint)

Influenza, aka the flu; is a serious disease. Thankfully, you can protect yourself and others by doing one simple thing - getting vaccinated! The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone 6 months and older get a flu vaccine every year (with some exceptions). The vaccine is
especially important for people 65 years and older, those with asthma, heart disease, or diabetes, and people who have had a stroke, etc. These individuals have a higher risk of developing serious complications from the flu, including being hospitalized. While every flu season is different, a typical flu season will see millions of diagnoses, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, and tens of thousands of deaths.The vaccine is the best way to prevent getting the flu and reduce the likelihood of serious complications if you do. Unfortunately, only about half of Americans get their fluvaccine each year!
Lets address some common misconceptions about the flu:
1. It’s not just a stomach bug. Many people believe that the flu vaccine is for stomach flu – a stomach bug that causes nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. However, the flu vaccine protects against influenza – a respiratory disease that can cause fever, chills, cold-like symptoms, and muscle aches. The worst cases of flu occur
when it gets in your lungs, which can lead to complications like pneumonia.
2. ⏰Don’t delay. The CDC recommends that people get their vaccines in September or October. It takes about two weeks for the vaccine to build full
immunity. Delaying the flu vaccine could mean putting your health at risk as flu season begins.
3. Get your vaccine every year. The virus that causes influenza changes overtime, and the vaccine is changed each year to keep up with it. Just because you got the vaccine last year, doesn’t mean you’re protected from the flu this year. Additionally, the protection you receive from vaccination declines as you get older, so by getting the vaccine annually, you’re giving yourself the best
protection possible.
This year, protect yourself, your friends, your loved ones, and your community by getting vaccinated. You can get your vaccine at your local pharmacy, such as Walgreens or CVS, or at your primary care doctorss office or another health clinic.
The flu vaccine is covered by Medicare Part B. If you have Original Medicare, you will not pay any out-of-pocket costs for vaccines covered by Part B if your provider accepts assignment. If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan, it must cover the influenza vaccine without applying deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance if you meet the criteria for coverage and see an in-network provider.

09/01/2026

Voting in Wisconsin’s November 2026 Elections
Mary Kempf for the GWAAR Legal Services Team (for reprint)

Wisconsin’s general election is on November 3, 2026. Online registration is available up to 20 days before the election you wish to vote in. Otherwise, you can register in-person up to and including the day of the election. To register in-person, you must bring a driver’s license or state-issued identification card AND a proof of residence document such as a utility bill with your name and address on it. More information on what qualifies as a proof of residence document is available here:
https://elections.wi.gov/resources/voter-guides/proof-residence-por-vs-proof-identification-poi. Then, you only need your driver license or state-issued identification card to get your ballot – either absentee or at your polling location. You can register to vote, or if you are already registered, you can check your registration status here: https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/. On this site, you may also request an absentee ballot, find out your polling location, see what is on your ballot, and more. If you do not have access to a computer or the internet, you can call or visit your city or municipal elections clerk for assistance. If you need assistance to vote due to a disability, you have rights. First, all Wisconsin voters are eligible to request a mail-in absentee ballot for any reason. You may also
indicate that you are indefinitely homebound or in an institution due to age, illness, or disability and receive mail-in ballots for every election going forward. All polling places must have accessible voting equipment and must honor any request to vote curbside in your vehicle. If you need additional accommodations, you may
request them from your municipal clerk. For more information on disability voting rights, visit: https://disabilityvote.org/.

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09/01/2026

Medicare Summary Notices
Mary Kempf for the GWAAR Legal Services Team (for reprint)

Understanding your Medicare costs can be challenging and can become even more challenging when trying to decipher a Medicare Summary Notice or MSN. If you have Original Medicare, every six months you’re mailed an MSN that explains how your
medical claims were processed. You can also access your MSN online by logging into your Medicare.gov account. You should review the MSN because the notice contains
information about your benefits, your out-of-pocket costs, and your right to appeal coverage determinations you don’t agree with.

Generally, the MSN will include:
 What services were provided
 What Medicare paid
 What you may be billed
 When the service was provided
 A count of how many days of inpatient or Skilled Nursing Facility care you received
 The provider
 Your deductible
 Your right to appeal
 The appeal deadline
 The benefit period
 It will state whether Medicare approved the service
 General definitions
To really understand an MSN, you need to have a general understanding of what Medicare covers and your out-of-pocket costs. If you are covered under Original Medicare, you will receive an MSN for your Part A, or hospital insurance, and your Part
B, or medical insurance, claims. The Part D, or drug coverage, will be described in the Explanation of Benefits from your Part D plan provider and will not be found on the MSN. It’s important to note that your MSN will not include your premium costs and only
reflects medical claims submitted to Medicare for coverage.
First, let’s look at a couple of terms that are used to describe Medicare coverage. The first term is deductible, which is a fixed amount you pay out-of-pocket for medical
services until your coverage kicks in and Medicare begins to pay a percentage of the service cost. The next term, co-insurance, is the percentage of the service cost that you pay out-of-pocket after you meet your deductible. The amount of co-insurance billed
depends on the cost of the service and the percentage Medicare pays for that service. The terms above describe your out-of-pocket costs, which can also be called cost- sharing. A link to a fact sheet outlining basic Original Medicare coverage is linked below
along with a link to the Medicare and You Handbook for more information about Medicare coverage. It is important to note that your out-of-pocket costs will be higher for services not covered by Medicare and services provided by providers that haven’t agreed to
Medicare assignment. You should review your MSN and provider bills to ensure your out-of-pocket costs are correct. For example, if your provider bills you for the entire amount of a service, the provider could have made a mistake when they billed Medicare
or the service was not covered under Original Medicare. When you look at the MSN, you can see that the service was denied because it was a service not covered by Medicare. If you believe the service should be covered, you can appeal the coverage determination found on the MSN. It’s important to read through the notice to ensure that the information is correct and that the provider billed the service appropriately. The MSN provides information on how to
appeal and the deadline to submit the appeal. If you need help determining if the coverage decision is correct or help moving forward with an appeal, you can call your local ADRC or 1-800-MEDICARE.

09/01/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPLaLyfDZxY

★ NEED ASSISTANCE ★✎ Schedule a free, 1-on-1 consultation: https:/...

09/01/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7l_bhhxH9w

✎ Schedule a free, 1-on-1 consultation: https://medicareschool.com/...

08/05/2026

How to switch to online claims statements
smaller lock

Log into (or create) your secure Medicare account at Medicare.gov/account and select "Edit my account settings."

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Under the "Document settings" section at the top of your account settings, select "Edit" next to Medicare Summary Notices (MSNs).

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Under "Medicare Summary Notices (MSNs)," select "Electronically" then "Save Changes."

Spot fraud
Help us fight fraud by making sure you're only billed for the services you've gotten. Check your claims online to help catch any errors in billing and services.

Sincerely,

The Medicare Team

07/30/2026

Food Safety when Grilling Outdoors
Mary Kempf for the GWAAR Legal Services Team (for reprint)

One of the joys of summertime is grilling and eating outdoors. With that comes additional considerations to keep yourself and your cookout guests safe from foodborne illnesses.
Here are some recommendations for safe outdoor food preparation and serving: Marinating
 Always marinate meat in the refrigerator, never on the counter or at room temperature.
 Marinade that was previously used on raw meat or poultry must be boiled for a few minutes to destroy any harmful bacteria before reusing as a sauce or dip.

Cooking
 Raw meat and poultry must reach a safe minimum internal temperature to ensure all harmful bacteria is killed during the grilling process.
 Use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature in multiple spots:
*Beef (steaks, etc.), pork, lamb, and veal steaks, chops and roasts: 145 degrees F
* Seafood (fish and shellfish): 145 degrees F
* Ground beef (e.g., burgers), pork, lamb and veal: 160 degrees F
* Poultry (whole and ground): 165 degrees F

Serving
*Use a clean platter for cooked foods. Never place cooked items on a plate that held raw meat or poultry because harmful bacteria can cross-contaminate onto the cooked food.
* Avoid the Danger Zone: Harmful bacteria multiply rapidly between 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F and can cause illness if foods stay in the Danger Zone for more than two hours (or one hour above 90 degrees F).
* If serving perishable food for more than two hours (or one hour above 90 degrees F), keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold:
* Keep hot foods at or above 140 degrees F using chafing dishes, slow cookers, or a preheated grill.
* Keep cold foods at or below 40 degrees F by placing dishes on ice or keeping them in a cooler near the serving area.