Baltimore County, MD Time of Your LIfe, 4 Nov 2019

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From YouTube: SHIP to the Rescue: What You Need to Know About Medicare Part D

Description

Sherry Kolbe, Program Manager, State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), Baltimore County Department of Aging.

The Time of Your Life is hosted by:
Ethel Rasmussen, MA
Manager, Office of Communications
Baltimore County Department of Aging

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(Bright, upbeat music).

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Welcome to "the time of your life" with the baltimore county department of aging., I'm your host, ethel rasmussen..

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Our goal on "the time of your life" is to keep you in the know by conveying important information about the contemporary topics, events, and resources that benefit you,. Our viewing audience.

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today's show demonstrates the impact of volunteer service.

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We are visiting jacksonville senior center to talk with barbara franke,, the center director, and john donohue,, a member of the center,, but also the award recipient of the baltimore county's rsvp volunteer of the year. Award.

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Learn about john's many volunteer activities and how they benefit his community.

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also, enjoy a glimpse into jacksonville's senior center's train garden with their dedicated volunteers who support it..

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The show continues with alison vogrin, rsvp project director at the baltimore county department of aging..

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Alison will share information about several volunteers who were honored at bcda's rsvp luncheon.

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Also,, this segment is a wonderful chance to learn about the value of volunteering and the range of opportunities that await you..

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The show concludes with debbie orlove, community business liaison at the baltimore county department of aging., learn about senior center travel, senior box office, and what's happening at your local senior center..

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Let's start today's show, with sherry kolbe, program manager of the state health insurance assistance, program,, also known as ship, at the baltimore county department of aging, to talk about medicare. sherry,. Welcome to the show.

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Thank you for having me.

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Before we begin talking about medicare,, can you tell our viewers the responsibilities of ship at the department of aging?.

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Well, the ship office has one mission, and that is to teach,, educate, baltimore county residents.

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About their medicare benefits., we assist the beneficiaries and their families.

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As they weave through what can be a confusing path.

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You're on the show to educate us about medicare., so explain, what is medicare and who is eligible for it?.

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Well, medicare is a federal benefit..

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It's national. people who get it are either 65 years, old,, which is most of us,, or they have successfully applied.

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For social security, disability and they get medicare.

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At the 25th month of disability, or they have end-stage renal disease., so all of us get medicare..

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Medicare has a hospital piece, part a,.

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A medical piece, part b,, but it does not cover 100% of the costs.

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So therefore,, another thing that we talk about is.

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What do you do with the holes in medicare insurances such as medigaps to fill in the holes, or some people just switch and think of a medicare advantage? Plan,, which is another avenue to get your medicare benefit.

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Okay,, let's turn our attention to part d,, which is the prescription drug benefit..

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Can you tell our viewers some of the important facts that they should remember?.

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Well, the first fact is that you do have to have a part d plan or what's called credible coverage.

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Through your retiree health benefit or have va benefits.

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So you need drug coverage,, okay?

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part d,. There are actually 27 plans right now.

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For baltimore county in the year, 2020, 2020.

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Okay, the premiums range from like $13 to $80.

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Most of them now have deductibles of $435.

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Very few are zero deductible..

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The main thing about the annual open enrollment is that these plans are allowed to change their formularies, tier structures,, pharmacy, contracts,, premiums, and deductibles every year..

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Some of these companies really changed this year.

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So it behooves every listener out there,, if you're on a part d plan, to really do the research.

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We are right, now,, we are in the throes of helping people one-on-one.

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You can call the office and make an appointment.

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For a center near you., we're not going to every senior center, but we're going to quite a few scattered throughout the county.

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Excellent. for those beneficiaries on limited income,, can you talk about some of the programs that may assist them with medicare cost?.

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Okay, we're always assessing income and assets 'cause. These programs are income and asset based., one of the big ones that we're looking for is extra help,, which is a federal benefit, run.

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Through social security and it helps with premiums, deductibles, and the copays,, which is very important. so then at the same time, we're always assessing.

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Also for what's called qmb and slmb., these are programs through the department of social services.

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That help with either the part b,.

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Well, they actually do help with the part b prem-.

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Oh sorry, deductible,, oh,, sorry, premium!, (laughs),.

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And qmb actually helps with all the medicare copays.

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And deductibles also., so those are very important programs that we're always trying to find 'cause. There are people out there who aren't on them and really, really could benefit from them.

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[Ethel] excellent. is there any other information you'd like to share about medicare?.

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Well, the main challenge this year is that there is a new medicare plan finder with the software. That's on medicare.gov.

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The design of it is completely different from what it was before., it's supposedly very friendly for your phone or your ipad, and so go on and see.

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If you find you have issues with it,, then let 1-800-medicare know how you feel about it.

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All right, I just want to remind our viewers that they can call ship for assistance at 410-887-2059.

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Thank you, sherry for being on the show. Today.

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we're gonna, take a short break., but first, remember to renew your senior center membership for the 2019-2020 year..

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If you're not a senior center member,.

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What are you waiting? For? next, travel with us to the jacksonville senior center, where we will learn about the wonderful programs, special events, as well as meet one very special volunteer.

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(Soft acoustic music).