Insurance

Adapted from an article in the MESSA DiscoverYou March/April 2021 newsletter

Looking around your home, it may not feel like much of an oasis these days. Your counters and tabletops might be cluttered with magazines, lesson plans, Sharpies and the remnants of yesterday’s lunch. Maybe your living spaces are overflowing with more stuff than the norm.

A lot of living has been happening in homes across Michigan over the past year — the 24/7 work-from-home, parent-at-home, stay-at-home kind of living that’s been made necessary by the pandemic. With few breaks from the homestead, things can (literally) start to pile up.

MESSA logo RGB Blue no tag R 2 Having too much clutter in your home can increase stress levels. A study done by the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute found that the chaos of clutter limits your ability to focus and makes it harder for your brain to process information. Call it visual-stimulus overload.

Clutter has also been linked to increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which leads to tension and anxiety. As those feelings increase, so may your sense of helplessness of ever digging out of the mess.

Spring is here, so it’s the perfect time to reclaim your space from the mess and dive into some hardcore spring cleaning. Here are some tips to get started:

Start with the room you use most: In her book “Organizing Plain & Simple,” Donna Smallin suggests starting in the room where you spend the most time. Success in an often-used space will help motivate you to keep going. If an entire room is too much to tackle, start with a defined space like a counter, a table or desk. Every success will spur you to do more.
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MESSA is alerting members that imposters are calling and claiming they are from their health insurance company or a pharmacy working with MESSA. Here's the message MESSA recently sent out about how to handle these phone calls:

Alert: Scammers calling MESSA members

MESSA has been made aware that scammers are calling our members and asking them for personal information. These calls are fraudulent; MESSA never calls to solicit Social Security numbers from our members.

If a member receives one of these scam calls from someone claiming to be from MESSA, “your insurance company,” or a pharmacy working with MESSA, members are asked to hang up immediately and call our Member Service Center at 800-336-0013 to report it.

The Michigan Attorney General’s Office reports that these types of “imposter” scams are on the rise, and has provided some tips to help protect your identity.

If members have any questions, they can call us at 800-336-0013 or chat with us online through the secure MyMESSA member portal at messa.org. We’d be happy to help.

Vaccination rates plummet amid pandemic

Health news from MESSA

Michigan’s vaccination rates have plummeted during the pandemic, putting our kids at risk for other serious illnesses such as measles and whooping cough. In May, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported that child vaccinations were down 44.5 percent overall compared with the previous two years.

That is a significant drop that can have serious health consequences for kids, said Dr. Julia Spalding, MESSA’s medical director.

No one can deny that this is a tough time to be a parent. With COVID-19 cases rising across Michigan, the temptation to keep a healthy child far away from the doctor’s office is strong. However, keeping your child up to date on vaccinations is a crucial part of protecting their health that should not be ignored.

If you’ve been putting off a well-child visit, it’s time to get back on schedule. Being prepared for what to expect can help alleviate your concerns about taking them to the doctor. Here are some questions to ask your child’s doctor office MESSA logo RGB Blue no tag R 2 before visiting:

Is my child up to date on their vaccinations?
Do you have designated hours for well-child visits to keep healthy kids separated from children who may be ill?
Are there separate entrances for healthy children and those who may be ill?
Do you offer remote check-in from my vehicle?
Do patients wait in the waiting room or in the parking lot?
Do you offer vehicle visits, where the provider meets the patient in the parking lot?
How often are the waiting rooms and patient rooms sanitized?

Improve mental, physical health by getting enough rest

Excerpted from an article in the MESSA DiscoverYou March/April 2020 newsletter

Do you get at least seven hours of sleep each night? If not, you should plan to hit the sheets earlier tonight.

Overworked or overstressed adults often tend to treat sleep as a luxury rather than a necessity. However, getting enough sleep is as critical to your overall well-being as eating and breathing. Research shows that robbing yourself of sleep can impact your ability to store memories and concentrate, as well as regulate your mood and appetite. It can lead to weight gain and a weakened immune system.

The problem is that too many people don’t get as much sleep as they should. The National Sleep Foundation recommends adults get at least seven hours of sleep every night. However, more than one-third of adults report they usually get less than that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Shorting yourself on sleep puts you at greater risk for developing chronic conditions, according to the CDC, including:

Cancer
Heart disease
Diabetes
Depression
Heart attack
Kidney disease
Stroke

Insurance Services

Tackle mess to reduce stress, especially during pandemic

MESSA warns members about fraudulent phone calls

Don’t let your child fall behind on vaccines

Vaccination rates plummet amid pandemic

Skip the trip: Choose Rx home delivery

The Power of Sleep

Improve mental, physical health by getting enough rest