Page 14 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024 GIRLS TRACK | FROM Page 12 set a new personal record by clearing 5-6 for second place.” Youness Chahid scored a team-high 16.5 points placing second in the 1,000-meter, third in the mile, and by being part of the winning 4x800 meter relay team in 9:18.32 with Kenan Batic, Edwin Alarcon and Mohammed Fares. “If he could have, Youness would have run in every race,” Fleming said. “Nobody wants to win more than Youness. He put his heart and soul into his races and helped lead the team to the win. Kenan’s incredibly strong fi rst leg (in the 4x800) put us in a lead that we never gave up. The second leg of the 4x800 was run by sophomore Edwin Alarcon, one of the unsung heroes of the meet. Edwin got spiked during the baton exchange and ran the entire leg with just one shoe. Somehow, he was able to extend our lead.” The other relay teams were important to the Revere title: 4x200 meters: second place: Bellemsieh, Oliver Escobar, Geo Woodard, Jeremy X. 4x400 meters: first place: Isaiah DeCrosta, Bellemsieh, Yousef Benhamou, Cunha Savvy SeniorSavvy Senior Does Medicare Cover Weight-Loss Treatments? Dear Savvy Senior, Does Medicare cover any weight-loss treatments for overweight retirees? I just turned 65 and need to lose about 100 pounds and would like to know if Medicare can help. Overweight Owen Dear Owen, Yes, traditional Medicare does indeed cover some weight-loss treatments like counseling and certain types of surgery for overweight benefi ciaries, but unfortunately it doesn’t cover weight-loss programs or medications. Here’s what you should know. Who’s Eligible For benefi ciaries to receive available Medicare-covered weight-loss treatments your body mass index (BMI), which is an estimate of your body fat based on your height and weight, must be 30 or higher. A BMI of 30 or above is considered obese and increases your risk for many health conditions, such as some cancers, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and sleep apnea. To fi nd out your BMI, the National Institutes of Health has a free calculator that you can access online at nhlbi.nih. gov/health/educational/lose_ wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm. What’s Covered If you fi nd that your BMI is 30 or higher, Medicare Part B will cover up to 12 months of weight-loss counseling conducted by a medical professional in a primary care setting (like a doctor’s offi ce). Most counseling sessions entail an initial obesity screening, a dietary assessment and behavioral therapy designed to help you lose weight by focusing on diet and exercise. Medicare also covers certain types of bariatric and metabolic surgery for morbidly obese benefi ciaries who have a BMI of 35 or above and have at least one underlying obesity-related health condition, such as diabetes or heart disease. You must also show that you’ve tried to lose weight in the past through dieting or exercise and have been unsuccessful. These procedures make changes to your digestive system to help you lose weight and improve the health of your metabolism. Some common bariatric surgical procedures covered include Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, which reduces the stomach to a small pouch that makes you feel full even following small meals. And laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, which inserts an infl atable band that creates a gastric pouch encircling the top of the stomach. What’s Not Covered Unfortunately, original Medicare does not cover weightloss programs such as fi tness or gym memberships, meal delivery services, or popular weight-loss programs such as Jenny Craig, Noom and WW (formerly Weight Watchers). Medicare also does not cover any weight-loss drugs, but it does cover FDA approved diabetes drugs that have unintentionally become very popular for weight loss. Medicare Part D plans cover Ozempic and Mounjaro for diabetes only, not for weight loss! So, your doctor will need to prescribe these medications for diabetes in order to get them covered. Medicare also does not cover Wegovy or Zepbound because they’re approved only for weight loss. The reason behind the weight-loss drug omission is the Medicare Modernization Act, which specifi cally excluded them back when the law was written 20 years ago. They also excluded drugs used for cosmetic purposes, fertility, hair growth and erectile dysfunction. Without insurance, weightloss medications are expensive, often costing $1,000 to $1,300 a month. To help curb costs, try websites like GoodRX. com or SingleCare.com to fi nd the best retail prices in your area. Or, if your income is limited, try patient assistance programs through Eli Lilly (LillyCares.com) which makes Mounjaro and Zepbound, or Novo Nordisk (NovoCare.com) the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy. Medicare Advantage If you happen to be enrolled in a private Medicare Advantage plan, you may have coverage for gym memberships and some weight loss and healthy food delivery programs. These are considered expanded supplemental benefi ts and have gradually been added to some plans to provide coverage for nutrition, health and wellness. Contact your plan to see what it provides. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. “Medy Bellemsieh has had an MVP-like season,” Fleming said. “I decided to move Yousef Benhamou out of his usual spot in the 4x200 and into the 4x400. This allowed us to move Kenan Batic into the 4x800, which gave us much more balance.” Danny Hou, a football standout competing in his fi rst year of track, came in fourth in the long jump with a leap of almost 19 (18-9.25). Fleming said he knew it was going to be a close one with Somerville for the overall title. “It was amazing to watch the team come together and pull this out,” Fleming said. “The credit goes to team captains JV Cunha, Medy Bellemsieh, Isaiah DeCrosta, Allen Hou and Kevin Purcifull.” Revere girls basketball picks up three convincing wins Revere topped Greater Lowell Tech, 50-30, Everett, 5130, and Lynn English, 51-37. The Patriots improved to 13-5 overall and 11-2 in the Greater Boston League. Belma Velic had 15 points and eight rebounds against Greater Lowell Tech. Shayna Smith added 10 points and nine rebounds. “It was a solid win with great offensive tempo,” Revere coach Ariana Rivera said. “We were able to share the basketball and create open looks. Our discipline defense led to our success on off ense.” Celebrating Senior Night “It was a great defensive effort across the board,” Rivera said. “We saw a lot of success in our full-court press causing chaos and following it up with some nice transition off ense.” Senior Alisha Jean had 16 points and seven rebounds. Senior Haley Belloise added 11 points and three steals. Senior Bella Stamatopolous had seven points and two steals. Senior Rocio Gonzalez scored two points and pulled down four rebounds, and senior Juliana Bolton came up with some great hustle plays and minutes. All fi ve girls hit the fl oor together to start the game and helped propel the hometown squad to a 14-8 lead after one quarter. Everett cut into the lead with a strong second quarter, and Revere went to the half with Revere clinging to a 22-18 lead. Whatever Coach Rivera told the team at halftime worked, because the girls put up a dominant 17-5 third quarter to extend their lead to 39-23 and the rout was on. A balanced scoring attack in the period had Shayna Smith and Nisrin Sekkat sticking threes and a plethora of Patriots contributing a bucket apiece including, Belloise, Jean, Gonzalez and Stamatopoulos. The fourth quarter brought more of the same as Revere doubled up Everett, 14-7, with Belloise contributing eight of those points. On a tougher note, junior captain Velic left in the third quarter with an ankle injury. She did not return and may miss the next few games, every indication since then has her being ready to go when Revere hits the postseason tournament. This was Revere’s ninth win out of 10 games at home, with the lone blemish coming against Milton in the finals of last year’s holiday tournament. Against Lynn English, Belloise had 15 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Marwa Riad added a huge spark off the bench with 13 points and eight rebounds. Jean domined the boards with 13 rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Revere fi nishes out the year with two consecutive road games, at Somerville on Feb. 8 and Feb. 9 at Gloucester. Revere boys hoop picks up win over Greater Lowell The Revere boys basketball team (5-11) took the long bus ride up to Tyngsborough last Monday night to take on non-league opponent Greater Lowell. Revere won, 58-49, against a young Gryphons squad. Junior guard Ethan Day had 18 points, six rebounds and fi ve assists. Senior Center Amir Yamani added nine points and eight rebounds, and senior guard Domenic Belmonte added seven points and three steals. Everett topped Revere, 66-61. “So proud of our guys,” Revere coach David Leary said. “We were down 12 at half and down 15 mid third, but we never quit. We just ran out of gas.” Junior guard Avi Lung had a fi ne night with 20 points, fi ve assists and four steals. Day dropped 15 points and five boards, and senior co-captain Andrew Leone added 13 pts and six rebounds. Lynn English beat Revere, 77-45. Day scored 22 points and added fi ve boards, and junior guard Josh Mercado added six points and four steals. Revere has its senior night against Somerville Thursday, Feb. 8.
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