Respondent Newsletter

What’s Inside:
Taking Care of
Your Mental and
Physical Health
page 2
A New Way to
Get Information
about Your
Medicare Benefits
page 3
Word Search
page 4

WINTER | 2020

Greetings! Thank you for your participation in the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS).

The success of the survey depends upon the cooperation of every MCBS participant. We thank you for
your continued support and hope you find this newsletter both enjoyable and informative!

What is the MCBS?
The Medicare Current Beneficiary
Survey (MCBS) is a continuous
survey of people who receive
Medicare benefits. This survey
is designed to represent the
entire population of individuals
currently receiving Medicare
benefits, including people living
in a community setting or in longterm care facilities. The survey’s
main goal is to collect information
pertaining to costs associated with

health care services provided to
people with Medicare. The MCBS
collects comprehensive data on
beneficiaries’ health insurance
coverage, health care utilization and
costs, access to care, and satisfaction
with care. The MCBS is sponsored
by the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) and
is conducted by NORC at the
University of Chicago.

About NORC

NORC is an independent,
nonprofit organization whose
mission is to conduct high
quality social science research
in the public interest. NORC has
offices in Chicago, IL; Bethesda,
MD; Atlanta, GA; Boston,
MA; and Sacramento, CA. In
addition, we have interviewers
across the nation working on
the MCBS. NORC is deeply
committed to protecting the
privacy of all respondents’
personal information; all of your
information will be kept private
to the extent permitted by law, as
prescribed by the Federal Privacy
Act of 1974.

To learn more about NORC or to contact the MCBS team please call NORC
toll-free at 877-389-3429 or email NORC at [email protected]. You can also visit
the website: https://mcbs.norc.org/.
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Taking Care of Your Mental and Physical Health

Taking care of your mental and physical health is essential for living a healthy and happy
life. It is also easier than you may think! Regularly participating in activities you enjoy
as well as regularly exercising are effective ways to maintain and improve your mental
and physical health.
Everyone has activities they enjoy, whether it’s reading, playing games,
gardening, cooking, volunteering, attending local events or belonging to
a social group. Many do not realize, however, that besides being fun and
relaxing, these activities are also good for your mental and physical health.
As people grow older, they often spend more time at home alone. This isolation
may lead to depression and negative impacts to overall health.1 Regular
participation in activities you enjoy may improve your mood, overall happiness
and lifespan as well as reduce your risk of developing depression and dementia.
Recent research found that adults who participate in activities they find meaningful report feeling happier and less
depressed. Other studies revealed that adults who participated in social activities, such as playing games, attending local
events or traveling, and participated in productive activities, such as cooking, volunteering or gardening, lived longer
than adults who did not participate in these types of activities. Additional research showed that participating in hobbies
and social activities may lower the risk of developing dementia.1
Regular participation in activities you enjoy can be beneficial for your mental and physical well-being. It is also
important to try new activities. You can visit: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/participating-activities-you-enjoy for a list
of new activities to try!
Exercising regularly is also important for your physical and mental health, no matter your age. This is because regular
exercise and physical activity can help you stay strong and fit, allowing you to continue doing what you enjoy. When
older adults are no longer able to do activities on their own, it is often because they’re not regularly active.2
Regular exercise and physical activity have
many benefits for both your physical and
mental well-being, which include:1, 2

The great news is everyone can experience
these benefits, no matter your age,
health and/or physical abilities, through
participating in as little as 2 ½ hours of
physical activity per week.2 Simply find
activities that keep your body moving as
well as meet your fitness level and needs,
such as:2

• Increasing energy level
• Improving sleep
• Maintaining and improving your physical strength
and fitness
• Improving your balance

• Brisk Walking

• Reducing feelings of depression and improving
mood and overall emotional well-being

• Bicycling
• Wheelchair Rolling

• Improving your ability to participate in daily
activities such as cleaning the house or grocery
shopping

• Lifting Weights
• Yard Work (e.g.
gardening, raking, mowing the lawn)

• Managing and improving diseases such as
diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis.

Always check with your health care provider before engaging in new activities. You can also ask your health care
provider for exercises they recommend. If you are unable to partake in 2 ½ hours of physical activity per week due to a
health condition, do as much as you can.
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A New Way to Get Information
about Your Medicare Benefits

Did you know you can now find a copy of your Medicare Card
online and print it at any time? If you need a replacement card,
you no longer have to wait for one to be delivered in the mail!
This is part of a new initiative called eMedicare, which seeks to improve the way Medicare
beneficiaries get information about their benefits. To view or print a copy of your
Medicare Card online, visit MyMedicare.gov to log in or create an account.3
The text below is an excerpt from a blog post on the CMS website written by Seema Verma, the Administrator of the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. You can find the full text here: https://www.cms.gov/blog/empoweringpatients-and-unleashing-innovation-emedicare-today-and-future-generations
eMedicare is a multi-year initiative to modernize the way people with Medicare get information about their benefits,
and create new ways to help them make the best decisions for themselves and their families. eMedicare empowers
patients with the kinds of tools they are used to using in the private sector and other parts of their lives. Tools in the
eMedicare suite include enhanced interactive online decision support to help beneficiaries and their caregivers better
understand and evaluate their coverage options and costs between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, a new
online service that lets people see how different coverage choices will affect their estimated out-of-pocket costs, new
price transparency tools that let consumers compare the national average costs of certain procedures between settings,
and a new webchat option in the Medicare Plan Finder.
As part of eMedicare, CMS created the “What’s covered” app, which lets people with Original Medicare, caregivers,
and others quickly see on a mobile device whether Medicare covers a specific medical item or service. People can now
get accurate, consistent Original Medicare coverage information more easily—at the doctor’s office, in the hospital, or
anywhere else.
The eMedicare initiative expands and improves on current consumer service options. It doesn’t replace them. If
beneficiaries like the convenience of apps, we now have one. If they prefer to search online, Medicare.gov has tons of
content. If they prefer to leaf through a book, the Medicare & You handbook continues to be a great resource. And if they
want to talk to a person, our 1-800-MEDICARE call center is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Recipe: Apple Oatmeal Muffins4
Ingredients

Directions

1/3 cup applesauce

2. Place 6 cupcake holders in baking tin.

1/2 cup flour, all-purpose

3. In a mixing bowl, add milk and applesauce. Stir until blended.

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
(uncooked)

4. Stir in flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix
until moistened (do not over mix).

1/4 cup sugar

5. Gently stir in the chopped apples.

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

6. Spoon into cupcake holders.

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes
out clean.

1/2 cup milk, non-fat

1 apple (tart, cored & chopped)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

8. Cool in pan 5 minutes before serving. Store unused portions
in an airtight container.
For additional flavor, try adding raisins or walnuts! You can easily store the muffins in the freezer to enjoy another time.
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Words to find:
NORC

CMS

OATMEAL

MCBS

SURVEY

HEALTH

APPLE

EXERCISE

ACTIVITY

MENTAL

PHYSICAL

MEDICARE

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Meet the Field Interviewer: Norma Ortiz

Hi there! My name is Norma Ortiz. I am a Manhattan-born, Coney Island, Brooklyn-raised,
native New Yorker, of Puerto-Rican descent.
I was raised in the Big Apple by my Spanish-speaking Grandmother, who had little schooling,
but plenty of education. She bestowed her wisdom on me and taught me gratitude, kindness and
honesty. My dad, whom I saw only a few times a year, taught me to dream. He would always say:
“Honey, you can be anything you want to be in the future. You can even grow up to be President of
the United States one day.”

My family is my pride and joy; they inspire and motivate me every day to be a better person. My love for my son and
my two granddaughters are infinite; they are my future. My cousin is the embodiment of compassion and hospitality. I
also have three dogs, all of which are happy as can be. My oldest dog is blind and deaf and my
second oldest dog uses a wheel chair; he is a celebrity everywhere we go.
I started my career on MCBS in 2005 working in Puerto Rico, a U.S. Territory, as a Bilingual
Field Interviewer. In June of 2018 I moved from Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico to Giddings, Texas.
Today, I mainly work in central Texas, but often travel to other cities to help when needed.
My fellow Field Interviewers and I work with pride, respect and dedication for and because of you. It is only through
your participation that we can continue to make the necessary changes and improvements to the Medicare Program.
Thank you for all you have done, thank you for all you do, and thank you for all you will continue to do.
References:

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OMB No. 0938-0568 | Expires 08/31/2023

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/participating-activities-you-enjoy
https://go4life.nia.nih.gov/how-exercise-can-help-you/?hilite=%27emotional%27%2C%27well-being%27
https://www.medicare.gov/blog/emedicare-another-step-to-strengthening-medicare
https://whatscooking.fns.usda.gov/recipes/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/apple-oatmeal-muffins
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