What tips do you recommend to Medicare beneficiaries dealing with large medical bills? My partner is recovering from heart surgery. The medical bills are coming in quickly and straining us financially.

Medical debt has become a widespread issue in the United States. According to U.S. Census data, 19% of American households carry medical debt, including 10% of households headed by someone age 65 or older. Even seniors on Medicare can struggle with complicated billing and coverage problems. To help lower your medical bills, here are some tips recommended by health care experts.

Double check your bills: Medical bills may contain errors, including duplicate charges or in some cases charges for services you never received. If you are facing a high bill and are required to pay for some portion of it, request itemized invoices from the hospital and other providers that detail the charges. Go through the invoices line by line and if you find something you do not understand or come across something you do not recall, contact the provider for an explanation or a correction.

Wait for your EOB: Doctors' offices and hospitals may mail initial bills to you before they even submit them to your health insurer. Hold off on any payment until you receive an explanation of benefits (EOB) from your provider – Medicare, supplemental Medicare, Medicare Advantage, or private insurer. This will show what you owe after your insurance has paid its portion.

If your EOB shows that your insurer is refusing to pay for services that you think should be covered, call them to see whether it is a correctable mistake, such as a coding error for a certain test or treatment. If it is truly a denial of coverage, you may need to file an appeal. For details on how to file a Medicare appeal, see Medicare.gov/claims-appeals/how-do-i-file-an-appeal.

Ask for a discount: You can also call the hospital's accounting office or the billing staff at your doctor's practice and ask if they can reduce your bill. If you do have the funds to pay the entire bill, ask the hospital or provider for a "prompt pay" discount which may save you between 10% to 25%.

If it is best for you to pay your bills over time, ask the billing office to set up a no-interest payment plan for you. Many providers offer payment plans to help ease the burden of medical debt.

You can also call the hospital directly and ask a billing specialist if the facility offers financial assistance. According to the American Hospital Association, almost half of U.S. hospitals are nonprofit. This means they may offer free or discounted services in some instances. This is usually reserved for low to moderate-income patients who have limited or no health insurance, but requirements vary from hospital to hospital.

Get help: If you have not had any success on your own, contact the Patient Advocate Foundation to see if they can help you. If the Patient Advocate Foundation is available, they may offer assistance with understanding and negotiating your medical bills, free of charge. You may also consider hiring a medical billing professional to negotiate for you. However, be aware that these services can be costly. Be sure to choose someone who is credentialed by the Patient Advocate Certification Board.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living" book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization's official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

The Secure Act 2.0 was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (H.R. 2617). It includes many changes that are intended to enhance and facilitate retirement benefits.

Since passage of the original Secure Act in 2019, both House and Senate Members have been working on further changes to encourage saving for retirement. The Secure Act 2.0 will increase the required minimum distribution age, allow a larger catch-up contribution limit, facilitate rolling some Section 529 plans into Roth IRAs and generally expand access to retirement plans for moderate and lower-income employees.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is Chair of the Senate Finance Committee. He stated, "Americans deserve dignified retirements after decades of hard work, and our bill is an important step forward."

Brian Graff, CEO of the American Retirement Association stated, "We are grateful to the many members of Congress and staff who worked tirelessly to get Secure 2.0 included in the omnibus legislation…This important legislation will enhance the retirement security of tens of millions of American workers – and for many of them, give them the opportunity for the first time to begin saving."

Paul Richman from the Insured Retirement Institute, noted, "Including Secure 2.0 retirement provisions in the last major legislation of the year means that Congress is poised to help millions more workers and retirees with significant improvements to the nation's private retirement system."

1. Required Minimum Distribution Age — Starting in 2023, the age for required minimum distributions (RMDs) will increase from 72 to 73. The RMD age will increase again in 2033 to age 75. Individuals who are currently taking RMDs will continue to take a distribution each year based on their age.

2. Catch-Up Contributions — Individuals who are age 50 and older are permitted to make an additional catch-up contribution. During 2023, the catch-up contribution for retirement plan participants over age 50 is $7,500. However, starting in 2025 individuals who are 60, 61, 62 or 63 will be permitted to make a larger catch-up contribution. The new amount will be the greater of $10,000 or 150% of the catch-up limit for that year, indexed for inflation.

3. Matching Contributions for Student Loan Payments — Many younger workers have substantial student loans and may not be able to make both their student loan payments and fund a retirement plan. Employers will be permitted to match the student loan payments with a contribution to a Section 401(k) or 403(b) retirement plan.

4. Roth 401(k) Plans Exempt from RMDs — The Roth IRA is currently exempted from distributions even if the owner has reached the normal RMD age. Starting in 2024, Roth 401(k) plans also will be exempted from RMDs. With no required distributions, Roth IRA and 401(k) plans will be permitted to increase in value during the life of the owner.

5. Required Minimum Distribution Penalty — The existing penalty for failing to take a required minimum distribution is 50%. Starting in 2023, this penalty will be reduced to 25%. If the plan participant corrects the failure in a timely manner, the excise tax on the penalty is reduced further to 10%.

6. Section 529 Plans Rollover to Roth IRAs — A Section 529 plan is frequently used for college savings. If the 529 plan is no longer required because the beneficiary has completed his or her education, then up to $35,000 of that plan may be rolled over into a Roth IRA for the benefit of that individual.

7. Qualified Charitable Distributions Enhanced — The IRA charitable rollover or qualified charitable distribution (QCD) limit of $100,000 for 2023 will be indexed for inflation starting in 2024. Individuals age 70½ or older are permitted to make distributions from their IRA directly to charity and avoid recognition of income. The act expands the QCD by allowing a one-time transfer of up to $50,000 to a charitable remainder annuity trust, a charitable remainder unitrust or an immediate charitable gift annuity.

8. Roth Catch-Up Contributions — Individuals age 50 and above are permitted to make a catch-up contribution to a retirement plan. Starting in 2024, individuals who have incomes over $145,000 will be required to transfer their catch-up contribution to a Roth IRA. This will require them to pay tax on the catch-up contribution, but the future distributions from the Roth account will be tax free.

Sen. Wyden concluded, "We are making significant progress for millions of low- and middle-income workers, who are far less likely to have retirement savings. These workers often have demanding, physical jobs, and depend solely on their Social Security income. For the first time, millions more workers would access resources for retirement and see federal retirement contributions year after year, even if they have no tax liability. These are reforms that will make a meaningful difference for workers who have struggled to save."

What tips do you recommend for long-distance caregivers? I help take care of my 86-year-old parent who lives independently about 150 miles from me.

Providing care and support for an aging parent who lives far away can present a variety of challenges that can make the job difficult and stressful. Below are some tips and resources that may help.

Long-Distance Caregiving

There are a couple of options when it comes to monitoring and caring for an aging parent from afar. You can hire a professional to oversee your parent's needs, manage things yourself by building a support system, tapping into available resources, or utilizing technology devices that can help you keep an eye on your parent.

If your parent needs a lot of help, you should consider hiring a geriatric care manager. A geriatric care manager will give your parent a thorough assessment to identify their specific needs and will set up and care for them accordingly. Geriatric care managers can be a worthwhile expense, but it is typically between $100 and $250 per hour after an initial assessment of $150 to $750 and are not covered by Medicare. To find a geriatric care manager in your parent's area, search for a list of providers using your preferred online search engine or contact the nearest Area Agency on Aging by calling 800-677-1116.

Geriatric care managers can be a great option for those who require around the clock care. If, however, your parent only needs occasional help or if you cannot afford to use a care manager, here are some things you can do to help.

Create a care team: Put together a network of people (nearby friends, family, neighbors, clergy, etc.) who can check on your parent regularly and who you can call from time to time for occasional help. You can also put together a list of reliable services to call for household needs such as lawn care, handyman services, plumber, etc.

Tap local resources: Most communities offer a range of free or subsidized services that can help seniors with basic needs such as home delivered meals, transportation, senior companion services and more. Contact your nearby Area Aging Agency to find out what is available.

Use financial tools: If your parent needs help with financial chores, arrange direct deposit for income sources and set up automatic payments for utilities and other routine bills. You can also set up your parent's online banking service to allow you to be an authorized user, so you can pay bills and monitor your parent's account. If you need help, hire a daily money manager to help manage your parent's finances which may cost between $25 and $100 per hour.

Check essential documents: This is also a good time to make sure your parent has essential legal documents like: a will, a living will and health-care proxy, which allows you to make medical decisions on your parent's behalf if your parent becomes incapacitated and a durable power of attorney, which gives you similar legal authority for financial decisions, if needed.

If your parent does not have these documents prepared, now is the time to complete them. If they have been executed, make sure they are updated and know where they are located.

Hire in-home help: Depending on your parent's needs, you may need to hire a part-time home-care aide that can help with things like preparing meals, housekeeping or personal care. Costs can run anywhere from $12 up to $25 per hour. To find someone, search for home-care aide using your favorite online search engine.

Utilize technology: To help you keep track of your parent from afar, there are various technologies that can help. For example, there are medical alert systems, video camera monitors, wearable activity trackers, and electronic pill boxes that can notify you if your parent has taken their medications. There are also websites to help you coordinate your parent's care with members of your parent's care team.

For more tips, call the National Institute on Aging at 800-222-2225 and review their free booklet "Long-Distance Caregiving: Twenty Questions and Answers."

I recently learned about a property tax relief program for homeowners and apparently, there are hundreds of these programs across the country that many are eligible for but do not know about. What can you tell me about this?

Residential property tax refund and credit programs exist in nearly every state, but unfortunately few people know about them. These programs can help retirees and many other Americans reduce their property taxes. Here is what you should know.

Rising Property Taxes

Property taxes are a major source of income for local governments. While they help fund key public services, they can be a financial burden for many homeowners, especially retirees who live on fixed incomes.

According to Attom Data Solutions, a real estate and property data provider, the average American household paid $3,785 in property taxes in 2021. This amount can vary widely depending on state tax rates and a home's estimated value. For example, New Jersey residents paid $9,476 per year on average in 2021, while West Virginia residents paid $901.

To help ease this tax burden, some states offer several property tax relief programs. Homeowners typically need to research what is available in the county or city of residence, determine eligibility and apply.

Relief Programs

Property tax-relief programs, sometimes called "exemptions", release eligible homeowners from paying some or potentially all of their property tax obligation. How long the exemption lasts can vary depending on where the homeowner lives and the reason for their application.

The tax-relief process varies by county, city or state. In general, certain eligibility requirements must be met, an application is submitted and documents are provided to support the request. Most programs will either reduce, waive or freeze property taxes. Programs often exist to benefit seniors, veterans, surviving spouses, disabled and low-income taxpayers.

There are some counties that also offer basic homestead exemptions to homeowners regardless of age or income. Others may provide exemptions to homeowners that have recently made energy-efficient improvements to their home.

Where to Look

The best way to learn about local property tax relief programs and their eligibility requirements is to visit the county, city or state website that collects the property tax. Most of these websites will provide applications and instructions, and host an application either online, by mail or at the local tax office.

There may be additional resources available online. Using buzz words such as "residential property tax relief programs" in your favorite search engine may return helpful results. There may also be property tax aid services in your areas, look for free programs. Be wary of services that require payment since the programs are free to apply for in every state.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living" book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization's official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

During the holiday season, fraudsters are likely to send many phishing emails. Billions of phishing emails are sent each year because they work well for identity thieves. The average person receives a significant number of emails each day and may not take the time to examine an email. Fortunately, protecting yourself from emails is a learned skill and can be easily accomplished.

First, you should be alert and use sound judgement to check each email. Are you familiar with the sender? Is the content you would expect from that person? Do they regularly send information to you? These are good questions to ask. It is especially important to review the email if it claims to come from your bank, a certified financial planner (CFP) or certified public accountant (CPA). Many fraudsters have been successful by impersonating the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), another government agency or your credit card company. For example, you may be asked to click on a link to resolve an immediate problem with a charge on your credit card. These types of emails should immediately raise red flags and require further exploration before clicking any links or entering personal information.

Many phishing emails can generally be identified because of the abnormalities in the text. Emails from fraudsters that are overseas often have typographical errors. There may be names that are misspelled or do not fit the organization. Some emails may use a name that is similar to your bank, financial service company or your professional tax advisor, but it is not exactly correct. Phishing emails may claim to come from financial organizations you regularly work with but may lack the logo or other identifying information. If there is anything unusual about the email, it is much more likely that it is a phishing email.

A primary solution is to not click on a link, but to contact the sender directly, not as a reply to the suspicious email. For a bank or credit card issue, there is a public access phone number for the bank or a phone number listed on the reverse side of your credit or debit card. Call the official phone number for the bank or credit card company to discuss the claimed problem. You may be able to review the sender’s email address in the header to also verify you recognize it. However, by simply calling the claimed sender, you can confirm whether or not this email is legitimate. If you do know the claimed sender of the email, you might send a new email to the purported person to ask if the suspicious email address is a correct email.

You can quickly determine whether a link is legitimate to a bank, financial institution or other organization by hovering with your cursor over the link, but do not click on it. The hovering will allow you to review the address link. If it is a short link or strange email address, it is likely that the link is to a fraudster's website. Do not click on that link as doing so could load malware on your computer.

The holiday season is a prime time for fraudsters to try to collect access to your accounts and personal information. Scammers plan to steal your information and file a tax return in late January or early February so that their tax return arrives first at the IRS and the fraudulent refund will be sent to them.

Email is now a common fact of life, even for seniors. The Pew Research Organization estimates that 75% of individuals aged 75 and above now use email. Because fraudsters are becoming more clever each year, everyone needs to understand how to exercise best practices, common sense and basic exploration methods to find, identify and delete phishing emails.

At any given time, the average American maintains between 30 and 50 online accounts. These may be with banks, financial institutions, utility companies, email providers, social media outlets, commercial shopping or travel sites and accounts unique to technology such as an account to purchase apps for a smartphone.

Modern estate plans should include an "ePlan" to manage online accounts and online data. There are four specific steps to creating an effective ePlan. These include compiling a list of each account along with an explanation of how each is used; developing a plan for storing electronic information; naming an executor to manage the accounts; and providing appropriate direction to your executor.

1. Compile a List of Accounts and How to Access Them

The first part of an effective ePlan is to gather information and to compile a list of your accounts together with information about the accounts. Your list should specify the username, password account number and a description of what is included in each account. Because passwords frequently change, you should be sure to keep this list up to date.

There are four major types of online accounts: personal, financial, business and social media. Examples of personal accounts include email accounts and those used in conjunction with photos, videos, music and apps for smartphones or tablets. The information associated with these accounts is typically backed up on a computer hard drive, a backup drive or cloud account.

Financial accounts might include savings and checking accounts, retirement accounts, utility accounts, and accounts related to travel and shopping. Increasingly, people are using electronic devices to bank online, including linking accounts for automatic payments, to manage retirement and investment accounts, and to shop online at sites such as Amazon, eBay, airlines and other companies. Online financial accounts also allow for the management of digital currency such as Bitcoin. In many cases, the estate executor will need the account holder’s username, password and account number to identify and access any online financial accounts and to ensure that they can be left to family.

Business related accounts could include intellectual property that is part of a website or blog, including written work, photos, videos and musical compositions and software. If you own business assets like these, be sure to discuss these specific assets with your attorney.

Examples of social media accounts are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These accounts may be valuable or sufficiently sentimental because they contain photos and comments that should be passed on to family. A good ePlan will instruct the executor how to dispose of these assets, such as whether the executor should copy the data from these accounts to share with family and whether to wind down and close these accounts.

2. Store and Protect Your Information

The second part of an effective ePlan is the development of a plan for storing information. This will involve saving the list that you compiled as well as backing up important data files and account information.

Because an ePlan account list contains sensitive information such as usernames and passwords, it is essential to maintain the security and confidentiality of this list. There are three basic options for securing an ePlan account list. First, this list could be handwritten and stored in a safe place. Second, it could be in electronic format such as a spreadsheet saved to a thumb drive. Extra security measures can be taken to password protect or encrypt the file or drive. Third, there are programs that manage, save and encrypt passwords. These programs allow people to connect multiple devices to a password management program and the program will keep the passwords up to date on each device. If you password protect a file, encrypt a drive or use a password management program, be sure to provide your executor or a loved one with the file password or encryption key or with access to one of your devices so your executor can access the password program.

For purposes of security, and in order to keep the list up to date, maintain a single list. Avoid saving the list on a computer in case of data loss or a data breach. Do not include this list in a will or living trust; these documents may become public. Save the list in a secure location such as in a locked, fireproof home safe or safety deposit box. Some states require that a safety deposit box cannot be opened after the owner passes away without the approval of the probate court. Ask your attorney if you live in one of these states. If you do, consider storing your list in a home safe.

There are several options for maintaining a backup of important electronic information such as pictures, videos, music and archived email. You can back up this information on your personal computer, in a cloud account or on an external backup drive, thumb drive or DVD, which can then be stored in a home safe or safety deposit box.

3. Select Your Digital Executor

After compiling a list and selecting a storage method, the third part of an ePlan will be the selection of a digital executor. Many states have passed laws that give access to online accounts to the executor of an estate. In some cases, however, state law may limit access if the executor does not have the password or an estate plan does not clearly grant powers to the executor to access these accounts. Accordingly, your estate plan should be explicit in the granting of authority with respect to online accounts, and the ePlan should provide the necessary passwords to the executor. Institutions that provide online account access may give the executor access upon a showing of appropriate authorization in the estate plan or, in some cases, may require an order from the probate court. For some accounts such as Bitcoin, the executor will need the password to access the account.

4. Provide Your Executor with "Digital Directions"

The fourth and final part of an ePlan includes a letter of instruction to the digital executor. This letter will tell the executor how to manage your online accounts and digital assets. It may also provide recommendations for the distribution of various accounts, assets, files and information to family. Information in personal accounts, such as photos and videos, can easily be duplicated. Accordingly, the letter may instruct the executor to produce copies of those files to share broadly with family. Assets in any financial accounts will be transferred to your chosen heirs according to your will, trust or beneficiary designation form, after which the financial institutions will close your accounts. A letter can also tell the executor how to manage social media accounts. Options for dealing with social media accounts include transferring account management to a loved one so that the account can remain active and serve as a memorial to the original account holder, or the account can simply be closed down.

Account Specific Information

Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple and other companies have adopted policies to address the situation when an account holder has passed away. These policies may allow an account holder to designate a "Legacy Contact" to manage the account; require specific documentation before a deceased person’s account can be closed, such as a copy of a death certificate, court order, notarized letter or obituary; or automatically close an account after an extended period of inactivity, such as three to twelve months. These policies are subject to change, so a digital executor should familiarize themselves with the policies of each account provider and may need to act quickly to preserve important and sentimental information for family and loved ones.

Protect Your Digital Assets

Digital estate planning is a new and rapidly changing field. By incorporating an ePlan into your estate plan, you can ensure that your executor will take the right steps to preserve and protect these accounts and that valuable and sentimental data can be passed on to family and loved ones.

I am interested in getting the new over-the-counter hearing aids that just became available a few months ago. Can you offer any tips to help me with this?

The new FDA approved over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids have proved beneficial for the roughly 48 million Americans with hearing loss. The FDA approved this new class of hearing aids in efforts to lower prices and increase their availability. Adults with impaired hearing can now purchase hearing aids at pharmacies, big box chains, consumer electronics stores or online, without a prescription.

According to the National Institutes of Health, about 25% of people age 65 to 74 and half of those over age 75 experience hearing loss severe enough to affect their daily life. Yet about 80% of people who would benefit from hearing aids do not wear them because of their exorbitant price.

Traditional hearing aids ordered cost anywhere from $1,000 to $7,000 per pair and are not covered by most private insurers or traditional Medicare. The new OTC hearing aids range anywhere from $200 to $3,000.

An Inexpensive Option for Certain Groups

OTC hearing aids are specifically designed for adults who have mild to moderate hearing loss. No hearing exam or prescription is necessary in order to purchase them and they are designed for self-fitting and tuning at home.

Some signs of hearing impairment are having trouble hearing or understanding conversations, especially in noisy environments, over the phone, or if the speaker is out of view. Additional warning signs may be a higher volume on the TV, radio or music is needed or have to ask others to speak more slowly, louder or repeat what they said.

While OTC hearing aids are more attainable, they are not suited for all types of hearing loss. If the hearing problem is more severe, for example, if there is trouble hearing loud sounds such as power tools or motor vehicles, or if quiet conversations are hard to hear, then the hearing loss may be considered more significant and a hearing assessment with an audiologist may be the best fit. OTC hearings aids are not intended to address significant hearing loss.

To help get a basic sense of hearing abilities, there are app-based tests that can be downloaded onto a smart device. If you find that your hearing loss is significant, you will need to work with an audiologist or hearing instrument specialist to find a custom hearing aid solution.

What to Look For

To help you choose a good OTC hearing aid, here are some important points to keep in mind.

Return policy: It can take weeks to adjust to hearing louder sounds through the use of a hearing aid, so be sure to choose a brand that offers at least a 30-day trial period or has a money back return policy. The FDA requires manufactures to print their return policy on the package.

Set up: Many OTC hearing aids require a smartphone or computer to adjust and operate the devices, while others have the controls on the device. This will also be labeled on the box. Choose one that fits your preference and comfort level.

Battery: The package should also indicate what kind of battery the device uses. Some of the older versions of hearing aids have replaceable batteries, but many of the newer ones have rechargeable batteries that come in a charging case, where it is usually recommended to charge them up every night.

Customer support: Some companies offer unlimited customer support to help with adjustments or fine-tuning the hearing aids. However, other companies might limit support or charge an extra fee. Be aware of the services offered before you purchase.

For more information, including product reviews, see the National Council on Aging's OTC hearing aids buyer's guide at NCOA.org/adviser/hearing-aids/over-the-counter-hearing-aids.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living" book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization's official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

Cyber Monday was November 28, 2022. On that date, the Internal Revenue Service and the Security Summit partners launched the National Tax Security Awareness Week.

During this busy holiday season, creative identity thieves will develop new strategies to steal personal financial information. Your risks increase when you are shopping online and using public Wi-Fi. Identity thieves also are successful with text scams that are called "smishing."

IRS Acting Commissioner Doug O'Donnell stated, "With holiday shopping starting and the 2023 tax season quickly approaching, many people will be using laptops and personal devices to share sensitive financial information. In the months ahead, these same devices will be used to complete millions of tax returns by both taxpayers and tax professionals, making the holiday season the perfect time to take steps to protect your valuable information and watch out for scams."

The Security Summit offers multiple tips to protect yourself while shopping online or viewing emails.

1. Secure Web Sites — Always ensure that the site has "https" on the top left address along with the padlock icon in your browser window. These indicate that you are on a website with a secure certificate.
2. Public Wi-Fi — Do not shop on unsecured public Wi-Fi. Many restaurants, stores and other public places offer public Wi-Fi. These sites often do not use appropriate security and identity thieves can easily monitor the public Wi-Fi to steal your information.
3. Security Software — Use appropriate security software on laptop computers, tablets and mobile phones. The software should be updated daily.
4. Family Members — The computers and phones of young children and older adults should receive special attention. These family members may be more vulnerable to email and text scams.
5. Anti-Virus Software — Good anti-virus software will stop software specifically designed to steal personal data, known as malware, and has a firewall to protect from intrusions by identity thieves.
6. Passwords — Use strong passwords for online accounts. It is good to have a password with a capital letter, lower case letters, a number and a unique character.
7. Two-Factor Authentication — If possible, use two-factor authentication. A common two-factor method is a password and a multi-digit code sent to your cellphone. This reduces the risk of a thief attacking your account.

Other tips include a recommendation from the Federal Trade Commission to not buy things from sellers who request payment through a gift card, a money transfer through a vendor or through cryptocurrency. These types of payments are difficult to trace and reverse. Scammers use these payment methods because they can quickly depart with your money.

The latest mobile phone scam involve messages that claim to come from the IRS. Other scams offer COVID relief or provide help in setting up an IRS account. You should be careful with these texts because if the identity thief steals your data during the holiday season, they plan to promptly file a fraudulent tax return in January.

If you are working from home, you will benefit from additional protections. You should have a personal computer separate from your business computer. Do not send your business information to your personal email devices. If you use online business banking, only use your business computer for that purpose. Additionally, do not use your business computer for higher-risk activities including web surfing, gaming or video downloads. Lastly, consider changing your passwords regularly and use an encrypted password program to track your passwords.

I started a walking program a few months ago but I have been having problems with my legs and hips hurting during my walk. I thought the pain may be due to age, however I heard about a leg vein disease and believe I may have something similar. What can you tell me about it?

The health condition you are wondering about sounds like peripheral arterial disease (PAD). You should check with your primary healthcare professional to determine a correct diagnosis. This disease often stays under the radar, but affects approximately 8 to 12 million Americans. It happens when the arteries that carry blood to the legs and feet become narrowed or clogged over the years with fatty deposits or plaque, causing poor circulation. Because PAD is a systemic disease, people that have it are also much more likely to have clogged arteries in other areas of the body such as the heart, neck and brain, which greatly increase the risks of heart attacks or strokes.

Few Symptoms

Unfortunately, PAD goes undiagnosed and untreated way too often because most people that have it experience few, if any, symptoms. The most common symptom, however, is similar to what you are experiencing: pain and cramping in the hip, thigh or calf muscles, especially when walking or exercising but usually disappears after resting for a few minutes.

Another reason PAD is under-diagnosed is because many people assume that aches and pains go along with aging and simply live with it instead of reporting it to their doctor. Other possible symptoms to be aware of include leg numbness or weakness, coldness or skin color changes in the lower legs and feet or ulcers/sores on the legs or feet that do not heal.

Are You at Risk?

Like most other health conditions, the risk of developing PAD increases with age. Those most vulnerable are people over the age of 50 who smoke or used to smoke, have elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, are overweight, or have a family history of PAD, heart attack or stroke. Ethnicity may also play a role in elevating risk factors.

If you are experiencing any symptoms or if you are at increased risk of PAD, consult your doctor or a vascular specialist about getting tested. The physician will perform a quick and painless ankle-brachial index test, which is done by measuring your blood pressure in your ankle as well as your arm and comparing the two numbers. Your doctor may also do imaging tests such as ultrasound, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and computed tomographic (CT) angiography.

With early detection, many cases of PAD can be treated with lifestyle modifications including an improved diet, increased physical activity and smoking cessation.

If lifestyle changes are not enough, your doctor may also prescribe medicine to prevent blood clots, lower blood pressure and cholesterol and control pain and other symptoms. For severe PAD, the treatment options are angioplasty (inflating a tiny balloon in the artery to restore blood flow then removed), the insertion of a stent to reopen the artery or a graft bypass to reroute blood around the blockage.

To learn more about PAD, visit the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at NHLBI.NIH.gov/health-topics/peripheral-artery-disease.