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Seniors may get help with their Medicare Part D coverage at open enrollment events offered by volunteers with the Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance, or SHIBA, program at the following times and locations. The events are free and open to the public:
n 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays from now until Dec. 22 at the Douglas County Library, 1409 Diamond Lake Blvd., Roseburg.
n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Valley View Retirement Center, 100 Cordelia Drive, Myrtle Creek.
n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Umpqua Discovery Center, 409 Riverfront Way, Reedsport.
n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 5, Drain Civic Center, 205 W. A Ave.
n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 8, Sutherlin Senior Center, 202 E. Central Ave.
n 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 10, Winston Community Center, 440 Grape Ave.
For more information on the SHIBA program, leave a message at 440-3506 and a volunteer will call you back.
n 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays from now until Dec. 22 at the Douglas County Library, 1409 Diamond Lake Blvd., Roseburg.
n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Valley View Retirement Center, 100 Cordelia Drive, Myrtle Creek.
n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Umpqua Discovery Center, 409 Riverfront Way, Reedsport.
n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 5, Drain Civic Center, 205 W. A Ave.
n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 8, Sutherlin Senior Center, 202 E. Central Ave.
n 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 10, Winston Community Center, 440 Grape Ave.
For more information on the SHIBA program, leave a message at 440-3506 and a volunteer will call you back.
More than 1,900 senior citizens in Douglas County could get help paying for part of their Medicare benefit, but they don’t.
That’s a situation that could change if seniors take advantage of special events being held throughout the county to show them how to tap into that resource.
The events are called open enrollment events for Medicare Part D and are being led by trained volunteers with the Senior Health Insurance Benefit Assistance program, or SHIBA.
Diana Circle is one of those volunteers, something she’s been doing since 2004. She and seven other trained volunteers are leading the events in Roseburg, as well as in Myrtle Creek, Reedsport, Drain, Sutherlin and Winston from now through Dec. 22.
SHIBA volunteers want seniors to know there’s another way to educate themselves, by attending the open enrollment events.
“We’re going throughout the county, doing the very best we can to reach these people,” Circle said. “Tell your friends, tell your neighbors. If you know somebody down the street that’s struggling, help them get there.”
Medicare Part D refers to prescription drug coverage for Medicare recipients. It is a benefit that has been offered since 2006. Although other Medicare benefits are offered through the federal government, Medicare recipients have to obtain Part D through private health insurance carriers.
And they have a chance to change their carrier, their only chance of the year, between now and the end of December. Any changes would take effect Jan. 1.
But just as Part D has been offered since 2006, so has an opportunity to have Medicare help seniors pay part, or all, of their premiums and co-pays for the Part D benefit, Circle said.
That opportunity is called the limited income subsidy. In Douglas County, 1,943 seniors are eligible for that help, but haven’t taken advantage of it, she added.
For example, a senior who applies as a single person may earn up to $1,650 a month, even if they have up to $11,900 in resources, Circle said.
She and other SHIBA volunteers, given the slumping economy, particularly want to get the word out now about the benefit.
“I see people in here all the time that have qualified since 2006. They haven’t come forward because they’re being able to get their needs met,” Circle said. But she fears this year, given the financial freefall, that may no longer be the case for those same seniors.
“This is a benefit as a Medicare recipient that’s available for you,” she said. “The big push is to find these 1,900 people.”
At the enrollment events, SHIBA volunteers can help seniors determine if they qualify for the limited income subsidy and then help them apply online for the benefit.
If they qualify, they would receive a letter of notification within two to five weeks of how much of their premium and co-pays would be covered.
Even those seniors who don’t think they qualify for the limited income subsidy should attend the open enrollment events, Circle said.
That is because the volunteers can help seniors determine if they have the best rates and coverage for the Part D benefit with their current carrier.
At the events, volunteers ask seniors about their current prescription needs. They then enter that information into a program on Medicare’s Web site.
That Web site will rank the senior’s present plan against the plans offered by 44 other insurance carriers in the county, ranking the plans by which offer the best coverage at the most cost-effective rates.
SHIBA volunteers then usually explain the top three choices that the computer program brings up, Circle said. “We’re not selling insurance. We’re educating the public to what’s available.”
She encouraged seniors to come to the events and “shop” for Part D carriers for two reasons. First, their prescription needs may have changed during the year, which could affect their premiums, co-pays and coverage.
Second, carriers could have renegotiated drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and made other changes to their plans over the year.
Although seniors annually receive information about carriers’ changes in the mail by Oct. 31, Circle gave the example of her 100-year-old father-in-law.
“He’s not going to analyze it himself,” she said. “Seniors are overwhelmed with stuff like that and don’t pay attention to it.”
• You can reach reporter Kathy Korengel at 957-4218 or by e-mail at kkorengel@nrtoday.com.
That’s a situation that could change if seniors take advantage of special events being held throughout the county to show them how to tap into that resource.
The events are called open enrollment events for Medicare Part D and are being led by trained volunteers with the Senior Health Insurance Benefit Assistance program, or SHIBA.
Diana Circle is one of those volunteers, something she’s been doing since 2004. She and seven other trained volunteers are leading the events in Roseburg, as well as in Myrtle Creek, Reedsport, Drain, Sutherlin and Winston from now through Dec. 22.
SHIBA volunteers want seniors to know there’s another way to educate themselves, by attending the open enrollment events.
“We’re going throughout the county, doing the very best we can to reach these people,” Circle said. “Tell your friends, tell your neighbors. If you know somebody down the street that’s struggling, help them get there.”
Medicare Part D refers to prescription drug coverage for Medicare recipients. It is a benefit that has been offered since 2006. Although other Medicare benefits are offered through the federal government, Medicare recipients have to obtain Part D through private health insurance carriers.
And they have a chance to change their carrier, their only chance of the year, between now and the end of December. Any changes would take effect Jan. 1.
But just as Part D has been offered since 2006, so has an opportunity to have Medicare help seniors pay part, or all, of their premiums and co-pays for the Part D benefit, Circle said.
That opportunity is called the limited income subsidy. In Douglas County, 1,943 seniors are eligible for that help, but haven’t taken advantage of it, she added.
For example, a senior who applies as a single person may earn up to $1,650 a month, even if they have up to $11,900 in resources, Circle said.
She and other SHIBA volunteers, given the slumping economy, particularly want to get the word out now about the benefit.
“I see people in here all the time that have qualified since 2006. They haven’t come forward because they’re being able to get their needs met,” Circle said. But she fears this year, given the financial freefall, that may no longer be the case for those same seniors.
“This is a benefit as a Medicare recipient that’s available for you,” she said. “The big push is to find these 1,900 people.”
At the enrollment events, SHIBA volunteers can help seniors determine if they qualify for the limited income subsidy and then help them apply online for the benefit.
If they qualify, they would receive a letter of notification within two to five weeks of how much of their premium and co-pays would be covered.
Even those seniors who don’t think they qualify for the limited income subsidy should attend the open enrollment events, Circle said.
That is because the volunteers can help seniors determine if they have the best rates and coverage for the Part D benefit with their current carrier.
At the events, volunteers ask seniors about their current prescription needs. They then enter that information into a program on Medicare’s Web site.
That Web site will rank the senior’s present plan against the plans offered by 44 other insurance carriers in the county, ranking the plans by which offer the best coverage at the most cost-effective rates.
SHIBA volunteers then usually explain the top three choices that the computer program brings up, Circle said. “We’re not selling insurance. We’re educating the public to what’s available.”
She encouraged seniors to come to the events and “shop” for Part D carriers for two reasons. First, their prescription needs may have changed during the year, which could affect their premiums, co-pays and coverage.
Second, carriers could have renegotiated drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and made other changes to their plans over the year.
Although seniors annually receive information about carriers’ changes in the mail by Oct. 31, Circle gave the example of her 100-year-old father-in-law.
“He’s not going to analyze it himself,” she said. “Seniors are overwhelmed with stuff like that and don’t pay attention to it.”
• You can reach reporter Kathy Korengel at 957-4218 or by e-mail at kkorengel@nrtoday.com.
