THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, DECEmbEr 12, 2025 Page 17 Savvy Senior by Jim Miller How to Locate an AgeFriendly Doctor Dear Savvy Senior, My husband and I are relocating Beacon Hill Roll Call Volume 50 -Report No. 49 December 1-5, 2025 Copyright © 2025 Beacon Hill Roll Call. All Rights Reserved. By Bob Katzen T HE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll call votes in the House or Senate last week. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call reports local senators’ roll call attendance records for the 2025 session through December 5. The Senate has held 116 roll calls in the 2025 session. Beacon Hill Roll Call tabulates the number of roll calls on which each senator voted and then calculates that number as a percentage of the total roll call votes held. That percentage is the number referred to as the roll call attendance record. Senate rules allow a senator, who is not physically present at the session in the Senate chamber, to vote remotely from any location inside or outside of the Statehouse -- without giving a reason for his or her absence from the Senate chamber. Sometimes a senator is not able to attend only one or two sessions during which roll calls are held, but since there are sometimes multiple roll calls on each one of those days, the number of roll calls they missed can be high even though they only missed one or two sessions. Thirty-four (87.2 percent) out of the 39 senators did not miss any roll call votes and had a 100 precent roll call attendance record. Five (12.8 percent) out of 39 senators missed one or more roll call votes. The senator who missed the most number of roll calls is Sen. Lydia Edwards (D-Boston) who missed 23 roll calls (80.1 percent roll call attendance record.) Edwards did not respond to repeated requests from Beacon Hill Roll Call asking her why she missed so many roll call votes. There were only four other senators who missed one or more roll call votes including Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield) who missed 20 roll calls (82.7 percent attendance record). “As a major in the Massachusetts National Guard, Sen. Velis is currently on an active-duty deployment to the southern border,” responded Velis’ office. “Due to the senator’s deployment, he was not able to participate in roll call votes during two Senate formal sessions in November.” Sen. Mike Barrett (D-Lexington) missed 2 roll calls (98.2 percent roll call attendance record) and Sen. Adam Gomez (D-Springfield) missed one roll call (99.1 percent roll call attendance record.) Neither one responded to repeated requests from Beacon Hill Roll Call asking them why they missed roll call votes. It is a Senate tradition that the Senate president only votes occasionally. Current Senate President Karen Spilka follows that tradition and only voted on 30 (25.8 percent) of the 116 roll calls while not voting on 86 (74.2 percent) of them. SENATORS’ 2025 ROLL CALL ATTENDANCE RECORDS THROUGH DECEMBER 5, 2025 Here are the 2025 roll call attendance records of local senators through December 5. The attendance records are based on 116 roll calls. The percentage listed next to the senators’ name is the percentage of roll call votes on which the senator voted. The number in parentheses represents the number of roll calls that he or she missed. Sen. Brendan Crighton 100 percent (0) ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE – The Healey Administration announced that the Trump Administration, after a monthlong delay, released federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and that all applications can now be processed. LIHEAP is a federal program, referred to as the Massachusetts Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) in Massachusetts, that helps more than 150,000 Massachusetts households, representing over 300,000 people, afford to heat their homes during the winter each year. “Home energy assistance is one of the most important tools we have to keep people safe in the winter,” said Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus. “For many of the households we serve each year, HEAP is the difference between a warm home and an impossible choice between heat, food and medicine. Now that this funding has been released, our team and our local partners are moving quickly so that seniors, families with children and people with disabilities can get the help they need as the cold weather sets in.” PROTECT ALL PUBLIC TRANSIT WORKERS FROM ASSAULT AND BATTERY (S 2697) - Gov. Maura Healey signed into law legislation that would expand the current law which punishes anyone who commits assault and battery against a public employee including police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel. The bill ensures that all transit workers are covered, including those who are not directly employed by the state, such as workers employed by Keolis, the state’s contracted commuter rail operator. The bill would also add “assault and battery by means of a bodily substance including saliva, blood or urine” to the current law. “Public transportation employees do important work evBEACON | SEE PAGE 18 to a nearby state to be closer to our daughter and will need to find a new primary care physician when we arrive. We are both in our late 70s and are interested in getting a geriatrician to oversee our health care going forward. Any suggestions for finding someone? Searching for Care Dear Searching, Choosing a geriatrician as your primary care doctor in your 70s is a good idea, especially if you’re dealing with various age-related health problems. But if you’re in relatively good health you may not need a geriatrician. A good primary care doctor with an age-friendly philosophy may be all you need. Here’s what you should know. Who Needs a Geriatrician? Geriatricians are primary care doctors that have additional specialized training in treating older patients. Those who can benefit the most from seeing a geriatrician are seniors age 75 and older with multiple health and age-related problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, incontinence, osteoporosis, cognitive decline, frailty, depression, or trouble with balance and falls. Geriatricians are also particularly adept at tackling medication problems. Because many seniors take multiple medications at the same time for various health conditions, and because aging bodies often absorb and metabolize drugs differently than younger adults, unique side effects and drug interactions are not uncommon. A geriatrician will evaluate and monitor your medications to be sure they are not affecting you in a harmful way. Geriatricians can also help their patients and families determine their long-term care needs, like how long they can remain in their own homes safely without assistance, and what type of services may be necessary when they do need some extra help. Unfortunately, there’s a shortage of geriatricians in the U.S., so depending on where you are moving, finding one may be difficult. To help you locate one in your new area, use Medicare’s online find and compare search tool. Just go to Medicare.gov/ care-compare and click on “Doctors & Clinicians” and type in your location, then type in “geriatric medicine” in the Name & Keyword box. You can also get this information by calling Medicare at 800-633-4227. The American Geriatrics Society also has a geriatrician-finder tool on their website at HealthinAging.org. If you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, contact your plan for a list of network geriatricians in your new area. Keep in mind, though, that locating a geriatrician doesn’t guarantee you will be accepted as a patient. Many doctors already have a full patient roster and don’t accept any new patients. You’ll need to call the individual doctor’s office to find out. Age-Friendly PCPs If you and your husband are in relatively good health or if you can’t find a geriatrician in your new area, a good primary care physician (PCP) that practices age-friendly care would also be a viable choice. To search for new PCPs, use the previously listed Medicare tools. Once you locate a few, call their office and ask if they’re accepting new patients and if they practice the 4Ms of age friendly care, which include: What Matters (your goals and priorities); Medication safety and appropriateness; Mentation (cognition and mood); and Mobility (ways to keep you moving). You can also research new doctors at sites like Healthgrades.com and Vitals.com. If you’re finding it hard to get into a new practice, you might even consider looking for a geriatric nurse practitioner or advanced practice registered nurse to serve as your PCP. Send your questions or comments to questions@savvysenior.org, or to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.
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