As of February 2022, 37 states have legalized comprehensive, publicly available medical marijuana/cannabis programs and 10 have approved use of “low THC, high cannabidiol (CBD)” products for medical reasons in limited situations.

With this widespread adoption of using marijuana for health conditions, including pain management, alleviating anxiety, and improving sleep, it’s become a viable alternative to pharmaceuticals, especially for people with chronic conditions, mental illness, or undergoing chemo.

It’s especially attractive to older Americans who are in constant pain due to arthritis or other conditions, who have trouble sleeping, or are battling mental health issues.

All that said, this leaves the question of how accessible medical marijuana is to Medicare beneficiaries. We’ll dive into the specifics in this piece, including whether or not Medicare provides coverage, the associated costs, and options available.

Does Medicare Cover Medical Marijuana?

As of July 2022, Medicare does not provide coverage for medical marijuana because it is still a federally controlled substance. In order for a medication to be covered by Medicare, it must have FDA approval. But because marijuana is not authorized on a federal level, Medicare will not cover it even if you buy a Part D plan.

So far, the only FDA-approved marijuana-based drug is Epidiolex, which is a medication for children two years old or younger suffering from epilepsy.

Thus, even if your doctor believes marijuana is the best treatment choice for you and writes you a prescription, you will still be required to pay entirely out-of-pocket should you choose to move forward.

Will Medicare Advantage Cover Medical Marijuana?

Similar to Original Medicare, insurance carriers that sell Medicare Advantage plans need to abide by the federal guidelines, so they will not offer coverage for medical marijuana prescriptions. However, some Advantage plans may provide coverage for the use of cannabinoid-based medications such as Epidiolex.

What About Medigap?

Despite the wide array of benefits offered through Medigap plans, they too have to follow federal guidelines and will not provide coverage for medical marijuana.

So, What Are My Options?

Although Medicare does not cover marijuana, Part D may cover cannabis-based medications. Currently, there are four medications available that contain marijuana compounds and have FDA approval:

Marinol and Syndros

A synthetic version of the marijuana compound Dronabinol is contained in the brand-name medications Marinol and Syndros. If you pay out-of-pocket without any drug coverage, you could end up paying around $130 each month for Marinol and a whopping $1,300 for Syndros. Having a drug plan that covers these medications can be a massive benefit.

Cesamet

Cesamet is another medication that contains a synthetic compound similar to those in marijuana. The average out-of-pocket cost for Cesamet is more than $2,000 for a month’s supply.

Epidiolex

As mentioned above, Epidiolex has an ingredient derived directly from marijuana. Epidiolex has CBD in it, which can help reduce a plethora of symptoms. However, the average out-of-pocket price of Epidiolex is astronomical, costing more than $32,000 per year.

Does Medicare Cover CBD Oil?

Given the growing popularity of CBD or cannabidiol as a treatment for chronic pain, anxiety, and sleeplessness, it’s a great holistic solution for older adults. Moreover, it doesn’t have the psychotic effects of THC as CBD is typically sourced from industrial hemp plants as opposed to marijuana plants.

Yet, despite the availability of CBD products in health and wellness stores and its proven benefits for managing pain, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and many other unpleasant symptoms, Medicare will not provide coverage for it.

Unfortunately, just like marijuana, CBD is yet to be considered legal on a federal level. Until the FDA approves CBD oil, Medicare won’t help pay for it.

The upside here though is that CBD products are not nearly as expensive as medical marijuana. Depending on factors including strain, dosage, and dispensary you purchase from, the cost can range from $50–$1,500.

Do Your Research

While Medicare does not currently provide coverage for medical marijuana or CBD products, that’s not to say it never will, especially since more states are legalizing both recreational and medical marijuana use, and there’s a push to make it federally legal as well.

But for right now, my best advice is to listen to your doctor’s recommendations and do your research on benefits and costs associated with medical marijuana and CBD products to ensure you’re making a well-informed purchase.

Are medical marijuana and CBD legal in your state? Do you use such products? Why or why not? Do they help you with your particular health issues? What benefit have you noticed since you started using? How do you pay for this type of medication? Please share what you know in the comments below.

Kathryn Dennis’ Black Feather Trim Blazer Dress on Southern Charm

Southern Charm Season 8 Episode 5 Fashion

While Kathryn Dennis’ “type” may apparently be Hayden Christensen, the black satin blazer dress she wears on this week’s episode of Southern Charm is definitely ours. I mean, feathered trim and crystal embellishments…what more could a girl ask for?

Fashionably,

Faryn

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Originally posted at: Kathryn Dennis’ Black Feather Trim Blazer Dress

At some point, we women of a certain age start to question how much our offspring really know about us and our lives. All too often the answer comes back, “not much.”

We live such fast-paced and overscheduled lives that we never seem to have the opportunity to sit down with the kids and just reminisce about our past. So, instead of leaving them our memories, we obsess over leaving them our “stuff,” which, the experts say, they don’t want, anyway.

A Meaningful Legacy

Let’s reprioritize our legacy by leaving the kids something far more meaningful than our household goods. Let’s leave them a memory box with tangible evidence of who we were and what was important to us.

As part of a chapter for my book, Parents of Adult Children: You are Not Alone, I did some research into what thoughtful parents had assembled for their offspring.

I learned that men who served in the military left their sharpshooter medals, campaign ribbons, and discharge papers. Couples who loved to travel left stamped passports, cruise lanyards, and Club Med beads.

Athletes left trophies; educators left Teacher of the Year plaques; readers left favorite books; cooks left handwritten recipes, and so on.

These mementos must have been satisfying for the older generation to collect and for the younger generation to receive. There’s just something about 3-D objects that make our progeny literally “feel” our essence.

What Can a Memory Box Contain?

In addition to my research, I asked several people what they would put in their memory box. Here are a few of the more interesting answers I got back:

Susan L

Cards and letters of appreciation that I have received as a teacher and therapist. I would also include special cards or notes my children or grandchildren had written.

After my mom passed away, I found a box of a few notes I had written to my parents at important times in my life. I was touched to see that they had been saved and was surprised at what I had written!

Susette N

Our wedding certificate in Chinese showing that our marriage is legal in China – as performed by the Consul General in New York. Photos of me at the Museum of Natural History at the China Exhibit I helped curate; at a construction site in Namibia; and breaking ground for a house I designed as an architect.

I will also be giving Chinese calligraphic items and chops to my daughter, including the family poem from which all generational names would come and a chop my father carved with the old characters.

Rita G

Recordings of all the original songs I’ve written through the years, including songs I wrote for the children’s Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and their weddings, plus all kinds of photographs, videos of shows I was in and shows I wrote and directed for children.

John R

Baseball glove and baseball, Mets hat, a copy of McCullough’s Truman, photos of the dollhouses I build for charity, an example of my photography, recordings of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Louis Armstrong playing “When the Saints Go Marching In,” and the Cornell alma mater.

I’d also include a photo of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodger world series champions and my wife’s engagement photo with the crooked bangs she cut herself.

Donne D

I have three items I would put in a memory box for my children and grandchildren. They each represent a different creative project my husband, Sonny, and I collaborated on:

• Dreyer’s Official Ice Cream Taster Scrapbook – Sonny nominated me to be a taster, and I was one of 10 chosen out of 10,000 entries. I won a two-night stay at a hotel in Berkeley, CA, and a day at the Dreyer’s plant sampling new ice cream flavors.
• Invitation to Our 25th Wedding Anniversary – We wrote the words for the vows we spoke at our renewal ceremony, which our 30 guests found very moving.
• Off Center – A Collection of Cartoons by my husband dedicated to me,“his one true love, who always encouraged him to be creative and laughed at his jokes and cartoons whether she liked them (or even got them) or not.”

Sue G

Names and dates of my ancestors because a written genealogy is important. An address book with all the places I lived, eyeglasses, my various business cards, and articles I wrote or that were written about me.

I’d also add examples of old technology, such as a portable radio, princess phone, or Walkman. I will not include a list of medicines, pains, and aches!

What About Me?

What would I leave? The eight books I’ve written, a few of the crafts and quilts I’ve made, programs from the film festival I started, my junior high scrapbook, my husband’s declarations of love over the decades, photos of the whole family, and letters to both my daughters.

I would also leave the paper-covered wire hanger on which my younger daughter wrote this exasperated message: “Dear Tooth Fairy, I waited all night. Where were you?”

What would you put in your memory box? Do different children and grandchildren get different items? How else are you leaving them a legacy of you? Please share your creative thoughts with our sisters!

The Blue and Gold Candles at Blue Stone Manor

The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip Decor

We know our Housewives love a luxe candle. The blue and gold candles at Blue Stone Manor—which we first spotted in Vicki Gunvalson and Tamra Judge’s room—are part of a luxurious gift basket each lady received on arrival to Dorina Medley’s Blue Stone Manor for the Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, Ex Wives edition. While its unclear if the candles were a gift forbidden to be used at the Manor (lets not forget the fight inducing upstairs cupcakes scandal) there was no mention of fire being prohibited on the rules plaque. To be fair, no one really followed the structured, much discussed rules plaque anyway.

Until next time,

Chelsie

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Originally posted at: The Blue and Gold Candles at Blue Stone Manor

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Let’s be honest: Anything Billie Eilish recommends is a yes from me. Luckily, she recently shared her post-concert routine in a Vogue Beauty Secrets video for us all to see. If you’ve witnessed the 20-year-old superstar in person, you know she puts on quite a show, so it’s only right she does some proper self-care after each performance. One of the products she swears by? The TikTok-viral Olaplex No.6 Bond Smoother. 

“I use this after every single time I wash my hair. And you can use it on your dry hair before you go to bed and it’ll just kind of give some volume,” Eilish says, before demonstrating how to use the product. The singer says she uses a lot of Olaplex products on her hair, but as someone who is known for frequently dying her strands, it makes sense. Her healthy locks have to be credited to this hair repairing treatment.

Olaplex.

Olaplex No.6 Bond Smoother

Olaplex No.6 Bond Smoother adds hydration to the hair without weighing it down. The highly concentrated leave-in cream provides numerous benefits to damaged strands, such as speeding up blow dry time while smoothing and softening, defining the hair’s natural texture, and reducing frizz and flyaways for up to 72 hours at a time. It’s suitable from coily to finel hair types, and can be used on chemically-treated and colored locks. 

RELATED: This Shampoo Transforms Thinning, Brittle Locks—& Shoppers Confirm Their Hair Feels ‘10 Years Younger’

Beyond getting approval from Billie and thousands of TikTok users, the treatment has over 30,000 five-star ratings on Amazon from shoppers who love this product for dyed and damaged hair. 

One reviewer described the product as their “secret weapon.” They went on to say, “I have bleached, over-processed bright blonde hair which is thin and prone to breakage and split ends. I chopped a good deal of it off because I couldn’t get any decent length without it fraying completely and looking thin and limp. This bond smoother eliminates all frizz and has strengthened my hair and prevented breakage from styling. My hair is actually thicker and healthier than its ever been from using this line.”

Coming in at $30, this may not be the most affordable option, but everyone who has splurged on it has said the price is worth it. “I’m going to start this by saying I truly wanted to hate this stuff. I balked at the price and then was even more annoyed when I saw how small the bottle actually was. But oh man, this stuff is amazing,” another reviewer raved. 

While Eilish has boasted several hair colors, it’s safe to say her hair always looks flawless due to this Olaplex product, which I’ve now added to my cart too.