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TIPS For Families |
Article written by Mary Ann Holland, Extension Educator Medicare needs your help to get seniors For the first time in the more than
40 years that Medicare has been around, beneficiaries are now eligible
to enroll for prescription drug coverage. The new program, Medicare
Part D, or Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage, began on January 1,
2006. Medicare beneficiaries, seniors over the age of 65 or disabled
Americans, are eligible to apply for benefits regardless of income.
The deadline to enroll is May 15, 2006. While signing up for the benefit
is voluntary, beneficiaries may incur a 1% penalty for each month they
are not enrolled; signing up before May 15 avoids the penalty. Medicare Plan D coverage is a “hot topic”
of conversation across America. Conversations are occurring in many
different places and in many different ways – it is happening across
the kitchen table, in senior centers, at churches, between friends,
neighbors, parents and their children, pharmacists and their customers.
It is important that all people with Medicare, and those who care for
them, understand this new coverage. As a family member, you have an
important role to play in seeing that your parents or grandparents,
aunts and uncles are in the best position possible to make an informed
decision about drug coverage enrollment. Like anything new, the plan
is complex and difficult for many people to understand. Because this
new coverage is a vital addition to Medicare that will help people save
money and live better, healthier lives, it's important to have information
about it. University of Nebraska Extension is
playing a vital role in the State of Nebraska providing educational
information to seniors and their families about options available to
them for drug coverage. In many areas of the state, Extension Educators
are coordinating or assisting with Medicare enrollment events. Contact
your local Extension office to find out who is providing Medicare education
in your area. University of Nebraska Extension is partnering with the
state agency, Nebraska Senior Health Insurance Information Program [SHIIP]
to assist seniors with decision making and enrollment. The Nebraska
SHIIP office can be contacted at 1-800-234-7119. Medicare beneficiaries
may want to contact Medicare directly by calling 1-800-633-4227 or visiting
their website www.medicare.gov
Another source of information for families about the Medicare Prescription
Drug plan is the Answers 4 Families website http://www.answers4families.org/
Family members who assist Medicare
beneficiaries in becoming better informed about the new drug coverage
through Medicare are encouraged to report their success by leaving feedback
on unlforfamilies.unl.edu and click on the TIPS
Feedback Form link below.
For more information on Medicare Part D go to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
publication website at www.ianrpub.unl.edu and click on Families. |
