The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/60505
C-10 Wednesday, March 7, 2012 The Press-Dispatch Clarifying medical statements Ask SHIP: Q: I recently had a hospital stay that last- ed several days. I've received the bill, and I see charges for tests I don't believe I had. These tests have nothing to do with my cur- rent health problem. What should I do? A: Reading any lengthy bill can be confusing, but a medical bill can be especially confusing with the codes and technical information that is often used. You can always ask your hospital or doctors' office to clarify charges you don't understand. They may be able to clarify the charge. They may find that there was an error in the billing and cor- rect the charge. Any time you feel there are charges on your Spending hours in the gym burn calories Daily activities can Some people think they have to spend hours at the gym sweat- ing on the treadmill or elliptical trainer in order to burn calories and lose weight. As it turns out, the things you do every single day could be burning more calo- ries than you realized. Some dis- cipline with your diet and certain healthy habits can make the differ- ence for those attempting to lose weight. Getting eight hours of sleep can burn more than 300 calories for the average person. But there's a good chance you are interested in what activities you can do while awake to help burn calories. Courtesy of Discovery Health and Harvard Medical School, here are common everyday activ- ities and how many calories can be burned depending on weight. These figures are based on a per- son weighing around 150 pounds and a duration of one hour of ac- tivity. • Supermarket shopping: Pushing a wagon around the supermarket for an hour can burn 240 calories or more. Up the ante by bagging groceries yourself and packing and unpacking them from the car. • Raking leaves: If you spent time manually raking leaves this past fall, you were doing something good for your body. In addition to working several muscle groups, you may have spent 300 calories. • Dusting: Spring cleaning is right around the corner, and that can be good news for your health. Dust- ing alone can burn as much as 160 calories. • Cooking: Here's a reason to get fired up about cooking. Making a simple meal can add up to 200 cal- ories lost. Just don't sabotage those lost calories by cooking up a fatten- ing dinner. • Moving: Moving may seem like a big task one rarely looks for- ward to, but carrying boxes can burn 460 calories an hour. Pack- ing, moving and unpacking your- self may just help your waisteline. • Painting: Perhaps you've been procrastinating on that house painting project. Here's inspiration to break out the rollers and brush- es. Spending an hour painting can burn 350 calories. After several hours of painting, you may find you painted yourself thinner. • Community service: If you want to help the environment and your health, spending time picking up trash from a park or seaside can shed some serious calories—450 an hour. • Playing with kids: Engaging in some fun family time can burn around 400 calories. Plus, it's a great way for parents and children to bond. Enhancing Lives Through Innovative Healthcare Recovering from surgery or illness? Our exclusive Golden Rehab program provides skilled nursing and specialized therapy programs that can be customized to help you achieve results. We want to help you feel like you, only better! Our therapy services include: program with state-of-the-art Nautilus® equipment Our services can be customized to help patients who need recovery care after joint replacement, stroke or illness. We are also proud to offer a dedicated Alzheimer's care unit that follows the guidelines of the Alzheimer's Association. may not be the best way to burn calories. bill that might not have been necessary, wheth- er you had to pay for them or not, you should question them. If speaking with the provider does not clari- fy the charge to you, there are other resources to help. Medicare fraud and abuse costs billions of dol- lars each year. There are many kinds of fraud. Medicare fraud is purposely billing Medicare for services that were never provided or received. One example is having your Medicare number used to bill Medicare for supplies or services you don't need or want or that your doctor did not order. Identity theft is another form of fraud. It is im- portant to always keep your Medicare and Social Security numbers safe. You can help protect yourself and Medicare by looking out for the following: • Charges for products or services you didn't receive. • Companies that offer you free equipment. • Suppliers who want you to use their doctors. • Anyone you don't know asking for your Medi- care or Social Security number. • Calls from companies you didn't give your phone number to. If you've contacted the supplier and you sus- pect that Medicare is being charged for an item or supply you didn't get, or you don't know the dupplier on the claim, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1- 800-633-4227). TTY users should call 1-877-486- 2048. If you suspect identity theft, or think you gave your personal information to someone you shouldn't have, call the Federal Trade Commis- sion's ID Theft Hotline at 1-877-438-4338. TTY users should call 1-866-653-4261. Another option is to call your local Senior Medi- care Patrol (SMP) office. The SMP Program edu- cates and empowers people with Medicare to take an active role in detecting and preventing health care fraud and abuse. For more information, or to find your local SMP Program, visit www.wm- presource.org, or call 1-877-808-2468. If you need help with these or any other Medi- care related questions, call SHIP at 1-800-452- 4800. Golden LivingCenter – Petersburg www.GoldenLivingCenters.com/Petersburg This facility welcomes all persons in need of its services and does not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, gender, sexual orientation or source of payment. GLS-06859-11