#ad Staying on top of your health and fitness, especially as you age, is a gift you owe yourself. As many of you know, I am a strong believer in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and fitness routine. My proactive mindset saved my life twice.  While exercise and clean eating are some of the most important focus areas for a healthy life, it is so important to prioritize other areas of your health, like keeping up with prescriptions and hearing loss. As I age, I am so happy to be an AARP member and take advantage of the many health-related member benefits and discounts.

Hearing Care

A few months before Covid-19 struck, I had the fortunate opportunity to interview my friend Mike who had had severe hearing loss. He explained his emotional and stressful struggle to communicate with his family and friends. His lifestyle was extremely restricted; he missed conversations in movies, the ability to hear music and was totally shut out in noisy environments.  He smiled when he told me, “with the advance of hearing technology and innovation I no longer struggle to hear my grandchildren laugh.”

After my conversation with Mike, I made an appointment to have my hearing checked because I noticed I was asking my husband, family, and friends to repeat themselves. According to the National Institute of Health one in three people over 65 and one in every two people over 75 experience hearing loss.  My hearing problem was caused by the method I was using to clean my ears. I was unknowingly pushing wax down into my ear canal. My doctor personally cleaned my ears and told me that everyone over 50 should have their hearing checked and hearing aids professionally cleaned every six months. If you begin to notice, as I did, that you are having even the slightest hearing loss, it’s important to seek help.

One of the many great benefits of an AARP membership is access to the AARP® Hearing Care Program provided by HearUSA. Members can get a free hearing check-up, 20% off the retail price of hearing aids, a risk-free 90-day trial, free cleaning, an evaluation of your current hearing aids, and more! 

Me with my grandkids

I agree with Helen Keller’s words. She called deafness a worse misfortune than blindness. She said, “When you lose your vision you lose contact with things, when you lose your hearing, you lose contact with people.” 

On a personal level, I’d miss exchanging thoughts, explaining myself, sharing emotions, hearing the wind, the bird’s singing and the pitter-patter of raindrops, my husband’s laugh, my grandchildren telling me how much they love me and that’s just for starters. I believe my list mirrors yours. 

This is why getting regular hearing checks is so important. After all, the voices of our children, grandchildren, our spouses and friends, and even our pets, bring us so much joy! We have to be sure to protect our hearing so that we can continue to hear the music of our lives.

Stay Current with your Prescriptions

Prescriptions are another important piece of the puzzle to keep up with as you age. As I’ve gotten older, I have more prescriptions and added expenses for medications. Thanks to my AARP membership, I have access to prescription discounts that can save me money at the pharmacy. With my AARP® Prescription Discounts provided by OptumRx®, I have access to a free prescription discount card that can be used at over 66,000 pharmacies nationwide on all FDA-approved medications, an easy way to save money on prescription purchases I’m already making.  

The program (open to anyone!) not only saves you money on all FDA-approved medications, but it also offers added benefits to AARP members, including deeper discounts, home delivery, coverage for dependents, and more! More money saved on health expenses means more in your pocket for those fun adventures with the ones you love. I can attest to and recommend the punctual home delivery service, savings on your prescriptions, and the helpful telephone conversations with staff. This service is perfection. 

As I continue to take a proactive approach to my health, I love being able to rely on my AARP member benefits to save me money for the road ahead. Be sure to check out more about the AARP® Hearing Care Program provided by HearUSA, the AARP® Prescription Discounts provided by OptumRx®, and other great healthcare-related benefits and discounts your membership provides. Not a member yet? Become a member today! 

I am participating in a promotional campaign for AARP Services. I am receiving a fee for posting; however, the opinions expressed in this post are my own. I am not an employee of AARP Services and do not earn a commission or percent of sales.