Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The new Medicare prescription drug benefit provides a confusing maze of options that can overwhelm people trying to take advantage of it, but help is available, two state politicians told people at a seminar on the issue March 29.
Politicians, those who voted for it and those who didn’t, are pondering what to do with the drug benefit, according to state Sen. Bill Morrisette and Rep. Phil Barnhart. In the meantime, senior citizens need to make sure they get enrolled or protect themselves from a cumulative penalty for enrolling after May 15.
The premium is $30.66 per month.
Barnhart and Morrisette held a town hall on the federal “Medicare D program” at Sweet Home Police Department on March 29.
“This is not our program,” Barnhart said. “This is a federal program.”
The two said they came to Sweet Home because “we consider it to be part of our job to help,” Barnhart said.
Barnhart and Morrisette represent Sweet Home-area residents along Highway 228 southwest of the city limits, including Holley, Crawfordsville and Brownsville. They also represent residents along Highway 20 toward Lebanon.
“(Congress) was busy trying to take care of other political and economic issues other than taking care of seniors,” Barnhart said. “I hope that Congress is going to look at the complexity of this program and do something to make it more user-friendly.”
The benefit is a brand new program, Barnhart said. “The federal government is actually paying for drugs. It never paid for them before.”
Seniors needed supplemental insurance to help pay for drug prescriptions, Barnhart said. The program has a number of problems. Among them, Medicare cannot negotiate for lower prices on drugs, like the federal government’s employee insurance program and every other insurance provider can.
Getting through the paperwork is also complicated, Barnhart said. Assuming they fill out the forms on the Medicare Web site correctly, Medicare clients can be offered hundreds of choices.
Many are already covered by other providers, such as a pension plan, Barnhart said. Those people must get letters from their providers and hang on to them in case they need to subscribe to the Medicare program later.
Without such a letter, clients pay a penalty of 1 percent per month for every month late they sign up, Barnhart said. Without the “letter of credibility,” someone signing up two years past the initial deadline would pay a 24 percent penalty on his or her Medicare premium.
“People are going to be bitten by this law, and they won’t know until it gets them,” Barnhart said. He told of one woman who said she shredded her letter when she didn’t understand she needed to keep it.
People are supposed to sign up when they turn 65, Barnhart said.
Banrhart and Morrisette invited Joyce Ohnesorge, Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance coordinator, to talk about what SHIBA offers seniors or their families to navigate the red tape.
People seeking help can call for an appointment, Ohnesorge said. They will be told what to bring, including the “letter of credibility,” their Medicare card and a list of the drugs they are taking.
SHIBA is signing people up right now for the drug benefit, Ohnesorge said. “We basically take people and put them through the Medicare Web site.”
SHIBA volunteers then sit down with them and go over the options they have and encourages them to discuss the decision with their family members and friends, Ohnesorge said. They can then enroll by phone or using the Internet.
The SHIBA program is sponsored by Linn-Benton Community College through a grant, Ohnesorge said.
For further information or to set an appointment, call the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program at (541) 917-4476 or Sweet Home Senior Center 367-4775 and leave name and phone number for contact by SHIBA.
A SHIBA volunteer will plug that information into the Internet-based forms.
Bob Johnson of Mennonite Village retirement community in Albany and Steve Herzog, administrator of Avamere’s Twin Oaks Rehabilitation Center in Sweet Home, both reported their staff have had few problems working with the seniors at their facilities and getting them enrolled.
They are used to dealing with similar paperwork, Johnson said, and it probably causes more problems for individuals living on their own.
Morrisette said a Springfield pharmacist with a staff of six reported having to hire an extra person just to deal with the new paperwork.
Barnhart and Morrisette also wanted to inform people about a Department of Human Services program that will provide more money to help pay for prescription drugs.
Using the Oregon Prescription Drug Program, Oregon residents 54 and older who did not have private insurance with prescription coverage for more than six months and with incomes of less than $1,510 per month can qualify for savings of 15 to 60 percent on medication.
The program works in conjunction with the Medicare drug benefit.
For more information, call (503) 378-2422 Ext. 409 or (888) 411-6737