Springfield Hospital to Host Meeting on Complicated Medicare Drug Benefit
Posted on: Tuesday, 18 October 2005, 00:00 CDT
By Dan Bustard, Eagle Times, Claremont, N.H.
Oct. 17--SPRINGFIELD -- The state's ongoing effort to explain the new Medicare prescription drug benefit will make a stop at Springfield Hospital on Tuesday. If participation at earlier meetings is any indication, it should be well attended.
Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, Health insurance benefits coordinator Marlene Eddy from the Council on Aging of Southeastern Vermont and representatives from the Vermont State Health Insurance Assistance Program will be on hand to explain the new program. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the hospital's new conference room on Level B.
On Jan. 1, the new Medicare D Prescription Drug Program begins. Seventeen different insurance plans will be available in Vermont with many variables.
The meeting is one of several being held by state officials as part of a public education campaign.
"There are tons of questions," said Anna Smith, who handles marketing and public affairs for the hospital. "It's really complicated. I'm going to learn as much as I can as everyone else is. It's going to be confusing." When the state held its first meeting in St. Albans, so many came out people were turned away and subsequent meetings were held at the local senior center.
Anyone on Medicare is eligible for the program. The estimated premium is $35 a month, with recipients paying the first $250 and meeting the annual deductible. From $251 to $2,250 recipients pay 25 percent and Medicare pays 75 percent. The plan's coverage gap comes into the play from $2,251 to $5,100 when recipients pay 100 percent of costs. Once people have spent $3600 out of pocket the catastrophic coverage begins. At this point recipients pay 5 percent and Medicare pays 95 percent.
Information will be available at the meeting outlining key issues for people with Medicare, those with Medicare and Medicaid who are dual eligible and those who currently qualify for the state pharmacy program that expires on Dec. 31.
Open enrollment begins in November and will run through May 15, 2006.
"It is very important you know what you're getting when you sign on the dotted line," Eddy said at a Medicare informational meeting held in Springfield a year ago.
The program is voluntary, with a catch. Anyone who does not sign up but chooses to do so later will be a penalty equal to 1 percent of the premium cost for each month not in the program. Senior citizens with equivalent private insurance coverage will not have to pay the penalty.
Smith said people have called to reserve places, but reservations are not being taken for the meeting.
If you have specific questions regarding program selection, call 1-800-MEDICARE or the Council on Aging at 800-642-5119.
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Copyright (c) 2005, Eagle Times, Claremont, N.H.
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Source: Eagle Times, Claremont, New Hampshire
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