Mark Harvey

HELP LINE: There are ways to get extra help

MONEY, MONEY MONEY. I’m hoping to get your attention. How did I do? Some of you with better long-term memories than mine (which is almost… Continue reading

HELP LINE: Documents for decisions when you can’t make them

THOSE OF US who have been mucking about in these columns for years are probably fairly aware of things such as advance directives and durable… Continue reading

HELP LINE: Use Medicare to avoid using Medicare

I CONCLUDED LAST week’s column with “Medicare happens,” implying that we were finished, at least for the time being, with talking about Medicare. I lied.… Continue reading

HELP LINE: Don’t panic and remember: Medicare happens

THIS IS WEEK No. 3 of describing the Medicare Machine. I am not going to regurgitate the past few weeks’ columns, because that would place… Continue reading

When is the time right to enroll in Medicare?

TODAY IS MARCH 26, 2017, and in the interests of “full disclosure” (which almost never happens in the real world), be warned that I have… Continue reading

HELP LINE: How to avoid the Medicare penalty

DESPITE A LOT of good advice to the contrary, almost all of us seem to be getting older on a daily basis. Thus, many of… Continue reading

HELP LINE: Time changes takes up too much time

I HATE TODAY. Well, actually I don’t hate today; I’m usually grateful for yet another opportunity to try to get it right, which happens every… Continue reading

HELP LINE: Tax question answers provided

ARE WE SETTLING into the idea that it’s 2017? Have we stopped writing checks dated 2016? Good. That’s progress. Now, several of you have been… Continue reading

HELP LINE: Remember to be responsible for you

“I’M RESPONSIBLE FOR me,” she said. Sounds simple enough, huh? Agreed. Most genuinely profound observations are simple enough. This particular “genuinely profound observation” came from… Continue reading

HELP LINE: How Medicare handles observed patients

THIS IS ABOUT Medicare. If you’re not on Medicare, not about to be and don’t know or like anyone who is, this won’t touch you.… Continue reading

HELP LINE: When you’re sad, remember the love you’ve experienced

YES, I DO know that Tuesday is Valentine’s Day. Apparently a lot of you do, too, because quite a few of you have been emailing… Continue reading

HELP LINE: Five questions to ask during doctor visits

LAST WEEK, WHILE whining about the whole Medicare “observation vs. admission” debacle, I concluded the column with, “So, what’s the real answer? Right: Stay healthy… Continue reading

HELP LINE: Tax-Aide volunteers available again this year

AFTER ALL THESE years, there’s a reason that we insist on continuing to call this little weekly effort “Help Line,” and that reason is that… Continue reading

HELP LINE: Remember to be careful online

not because I think there’s something wrong with it, but simply because I don’t have… Continue reading

HELP LINE: What to do if you miss open enrollment

THIS IS ONE of those columns, meaning it won’t touch all of us, so it’ll be easy to think “click” and move on. However, if… Continue reading

HELP LINE: Resolution suggestions for the unresolved

HERE WE ARE on Jan. 8 and while some of us are actually succeeding in achieving our 2017 New Year’s resolutions (bravo), some of us… Continue reading

HELP LINE: The best resolution is to simply try

CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME to 2017. Flying in the face of what many of us thought were impossible odds, we’ve actually made it to New Year’s… Continue reading

HELP LINE: Not feeling merry? Try faking it

IT’S CHRISTMAS DAY 2016, which is a rather big deal, regardless of your religious or philosophical orientation. At best, it’s a joy-filled day of significant… Continue reading

HELP LINE: For gifts, think about what elders need

THIS IS NORMALLY the time of the year when I’ve occasionally provided abnormal Christmas shopping lists for the errant gift-givers among us who, having an… Continue reading

HELP LINE: A new rule comes down for nursing homes

BEING A LEO and an only child, it probably doesn’t take an advanced degree in psychology to figure out that I sometimes … balk at… Continue reading