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Living the Berry Sweet Life By Mary Beth Magee My earliest memory of berry picking takes place in elementary school. We had gone to visit our “country” relatives for the weekend. The planned activity for the weekend was berry picking. I remember the fruit as huckleberries, but I may have mixed up my berries over the past (mumble, mum- ble) decades. Never one to miss time with my Daddy and beloved adult cousins, I went along for the trip into the woods. My own little bucket swung from my hand and I was thrilled to participate. Hmm. No one had mentioned the one big expense to foraged berries – thorns! Although long pants protected my legs, my sleeveless top did nothing to protect my arms. Every berry I picked cost me another prick or stab. In the bucket of my memory I picked gallons of berries. Reality was probably closer to a few cups. But I persevered and picked them and was rewarded with a bowl of my very own berries topped with cream at supper that night. I was hooked on picking. These days, I’m wiser in my choice of attire for fruit pick- ing and usually come away with far more produce than pain. After the picking comes the joy of preserving the harvest. I blame all those cousins for my love of making jams, jellies and preserves. I learned a lot of recipes through the years for various treats. Each of them brings a different delight. From the jewel-like tones of jellies to the aromatically lovely tex- ture of jams, from the clear, pure notes of a single fruit product to the joyous symphony of smells in a blend, I love preserving the bounty of God’s goodness. In addition to the rainbow of colors and range of sweet aromas, I love the rhythmic rattle of jars in the water bath and the beautiful song of “pings” as each jar sets its seal. Every sense seems to receive a gift from the process. One of the best things about canning is the fact there needn’t be much waste. If a jelly recipe calls for six cups of fruit cooked down, crushed and drained to yield four cups of juice, I’ll start with eight cups of fruit. Once I get my four cups of juice, I’ve still got usable crushed fruit for a cobbler instead of dried and depleted remnants to dis- card. If a batch of jelly doesn’t set, I can go back and add Footbath Fraud on the rise Footbath fraud occurs when someone receives a call or fills out an online questionnaire that asks about ill- nesses such as diabetic ulcers, bone infections, in- grown toenails, pitted keratolysis and, cellulitis. The beneficiaries give out enough personal health infor- mation and Medicare billing information for the per- petrators to sign them up to receive a footbath and monthly supplies of medications . Some examples of footbath fraud include the following: Suppliers who offer “innovative techniques, hy- drotherapy, or specialized antifungal treatments;” Suppliers who are also the company that sell the drugs; Suppliers who offer “free” medications but bill Medicare; Suppliers who want you to use their doctors (not yours), who then prescribe unnecessary or danger- ous medications; Suppliers or doctors who provide a footbath and medications or supplies you never requested or do not need; Suppliers or doctors who charge for items you never received; In addition to the upfront cost for the initial treatment, which could possibly amount to thousands of dollars, beneficiaries are being enrolled in an auto-ship pro- gram for these kits and have difficulty opting-out of receiving the items. Also, some beneficiaries are rarely seeing a doctor to set up these services and are being targeted by companies via telephone and online questionnaires. Your local SMP is ready to provide you with the in- formation you need to PROTECT yourself from Medicare error, fraud, and abuse; DETECT poten- tial error, fraud, and abuse; and REPORT your con- cerns. SMPs use trained senior volunteers to help educate and empower seniors in the fight against health care fraud. Your SMP can help you with ques- tions, concerns, or complaints about potential fraud and abuse issues. It also provides information and educational presentations. Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP): Call 1-877-272-8720 or visit . Funded by the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL), Administration on Aging (AoA), Grant Number 90MP0194-01-01 www.southernsenior.info 5 Cont. pg. 7