Officials working to guide seniors through prescription plan

Several local agencies offer help with new Medicare program

Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005

For the last several weeks, the Frederick County Department of Aging has been inundated with phone calls from older residents confused about the federal government’s new prescription drug program, Medicare Part D.

Sharon K. Lynn, coordinator for the department’s Senior Health Insurance Program (SHIP), said many people are asking for assistance in enrolling in the program and are worried their medications will not be covered.

‘‘We are getting so many phone calls,” Lynn said. ‘‘People just need to be patient... we really do want to help.”

In May, the Social Security Administration sent notices to roughly 20 million Medicare beneficiaries informing them that they may be financially eligible for subsidies to assist them with drug premiums and co-payments required in the Medicare Part D program.

The deadline to enroll for acceptance into the program Jan. 1 is Dec. 31. With the deadline so close, Lynn and volunteers are working nonstop to help local people understand the complicated new program.

According to Lynn, in the last year the department has made every effort to prepare residents for the new drug plan.

‘‘We did presentations to seniors,” she said. ‘‘We have been very proactive the whole way through.”

The department has set up four computers at the Frederick Senior Center on Taney Avenue in Frederick. Computers are also available at Frederick Community College and the Frederick County Extension Office on Montevue Lane in Frederick.

At these locations, Lynn helps seniors log onto the government’s Web site, www.medicare.gov, and choose from the 48 drug plans in Medicare Part D that will adequately cover their medical prescriptions.

The new Medicare program is voluntary and senior citizens can choose not to enroll. But those seniors deciding to join are quickly learning that understanding the program and its 48 different drug plans is not easy.

On Tuesday, several seniors were leaving the computer room at the Frederick Senior Center after meeting with Lynn and two of her volunteers.

Though grateful and relieved with the help and information they were given, all were adamant the new federal drug plan is confusing and hard to digest.

‘‘It’s very complicated,” said Helen Lowe of Frederick, who came for help with her husband, Harold. ‘‘It’s really complicated, especially for seniors. They [Lynn and volunteers] have tried to help us and I’ve been reading information.”

Neal Cory of Jefferson agrees.

‘‘It’s mass confusion,” she said. ‘‘I don’t understand it.”

But Cory is one of the lucky seniors. Accompanying her Tuesday, was her daughter, Cathy Tompkins of Jefferson.

Holding a stack of printed information, Tompkins was there to learn about the program in order to help her mother make the right decision. She encourages other families with elderly parents to do the same.

‘‘I’m here to be backup and understand what’s going on so I can help her,” Tompkins said. ‘‘We need more people to help their parents. It’s way too confusing and you’ve got to be proactive. Children need to go talk to their parents, whether they’re homebound or shut-ins.”

With help from Lynn and her daughter, Cory feels she will make the right decision.

‘‘I think we’re in good shape,” she said.

Deadline looms

Gail Herrington, director of Human Resources with q.d. Pharmacy, which provides medications to assisted living facilities in Maryland urges seniors to take look into the program as soon as possible.

‘‘Thirty percent of our population falls in the level that Social Security will help pay for their drug coverage,” Herrington said. ‘‘...Their first step is to see if they qualify for extra assistance from Social Security. It will help pay part of the premiums.”

Seniors who are currently not covered by Medicare also received notification of the plan.

‘‘They received a letter if they already have prescription coverage by their former employer that is better or equal to Medicare Part D,” said Herrington, who recently gave a presentation on the plan to residents of Sunrise Assisted Living of Frederick.

If they choose to stick with their current plan, Herrington advises individuals to keep their letter.

‘‘If there are any changes to their current plan and they need to go to Medicare Part D they need to have that letter,” she said.

The reason is simple. Seniors choosing not to enroll by Jan. 1, have until May 15 to join without paying a penalty.

If they wait past the May 15 deadline and choose to join at the next enrollment period, which is Nov. 15, they will be forced to pay a penalty fee. However, individuals will be exempted from the fee if they can show the letter from their former employer and state that they did not join during the enrollment period because they already had credible drug coverage.

But Herrington reminds seniors that this stipulation is nothing new.

‘‘They already have that for Medicare Part A and B,” said Herrington, who does admit Part D is ‘‘very complicated.”