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Can Medicare help
you lose weight?
I F YOU S T RUGGL E
with being overweight, you’re not
alone. More than a third of U.S. adults are obese, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Obesity is costly to a person’s health—it has been linked
to serious medical conditions, such as:
■
Heart disease and
stroke
■
Cancer
■
Diabetes
■
Gout
■
High blood pressure
■
Osteoarthritis
■
Gallbladder disease and gallstones
■
Breathing problems, such as sleep apnea and asthma
New coverage.
If you’d like to make a change for
better health, there’s good news. Medicare now provides
coverage for qualified patients to receive counseling
sessions—called intensive behavioral therapy (IBT)—to
help them lose weight. The counseling sessions are given
by a registered dietitian at your provider’s office.
Medicare covers a maximum of 22 sessions in a 12-month
period. The initial assessment will be a 45-minute session
with a registered dietitian. Each follow-up face-to-face
session will be 15 minutes long, scheduled as follows:
■
One session every week for the first month
■
One session every other week for months 2 through 6
■
One session every month for months 7 through 12 if
3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) have been lost in the first 6months
Who can participate?
You’re eligible to receive IBT
for obesity if you have Medicare Part A or Part B and:
■
Your BMI (body mass index) is over 30
■
You’re willing and able to attend counseling sessions
What does it cost?
Medicare beneficiaries pay
nothing (no coinsurance and no Medicare Part B
deductible) to participate in the program.
Talk to your primary care provider for a referral to
the program at PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center’s
Nutrition and Diabetes Center. We will verify your
benefits and then contact you for an appointment.
It’s never too late to become a healthier you!
R E T I R ED E L EMENTARY SCHOOL T EACHE R
Marsha
Hallett (above) has struggled with her weight since retiring
in 1996.
“I finally accepted my body was changing and I was
getting older,” she says.
Also a breast cancer survivor, Marsha says her weight
slowly crept up when she became a consultant—it
required regular travel away from home and eating out
frequently.
“I lost track of what I was eating,” she says. “It got to the
point I never cooked.”
Once Marsha fully retired, her exercise decreased.
After she spoke with her doctor about her frustration
with her weight, he suggested referring her to the
Intensive Behavior Therapy (IBT) program at PeaceHealth
St. John Medical Center’s Nutrition and Diabetes Center.
By reducing her weight, Marsha is hoping to avoid
diabetes, improve the ease of everyday activities, reduce
her cancer risk, and improve flexibility and strength.
“I want to stay healthy enough to take care of Ed,”
Marsha says, speaking of her husband.
Because IBT provides regular, planned support,
Marsha says, “There are four things: number one, you are
accountable; number two, it is motivating; number three, you
are sharing privately; and number four, there is structure.”
She has changed her eating pattern to include more
fruit as snacks. She also recently started using a FitBit Flex
(wireless activity and sleep tracking device) along with
My Fitness Pal, an online food diary, to track her daily
food intake and exercise.
“This is having a great effect on my husband,” Marsha
says. “He is eating everything I am.”
Since making these changes and starting the IBT
program, Marsha has lost 5 percent of her body weight.
Getting fit with IBT:
One patient’s story
PAT I ENT P ROF I L E
For more information
on our Medicare Weight
Loss program, call
360-636-4943
.
A smooth treat
for your heart
FRUIT AND FLAX
SMOOTHIE
INGREDIENTS
½ to 1 banana
1 cup frozen fruit
8 to 12 ounces low-fat milk
1 to 2 tablespoons ground
flaxseed
Use different fruits and milks
to add variety.
DIRECTIONS
■■■
In a blender
, combine all
ingredients, and blend until
smooth (may need to adjust
liquid amounts for desired
consistency).
■■■
Hint:
Add powdered
ingredients while blending
to prevent clumping and
sticking to the sides of the
blender.
■■■
For ground flaxseed:
Use
a coffee or spice grinder to
grind whole flaxseed into
a smooth flaxseed meal.
Grind just before using to
ensure optimum freshness.
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