Seniors concerned about prescription drug coverage should pay close attention. There has been a change in the enrollment period.
Medicare patients will have to sign up earlier or enroll earlier if they plan to take advantage of Part D, the prescription drug part of the program.
"So enrollment used to start November 15th. It now starts October 15th and will go to December 7th,” said Pam Cunningham of Sage Plus.
"Part of it was that in prior years we could enroll up until December 31st and the plan would start January first. It wasn't enough time for the plan to get all the information,” said Cunningham.
If you are a Medicare patient, chances are good that you belong to one of the major health care providers in Hawaii.
"So many of our health plans in Hawaii include Medicare Part D like Kaiser, HMSA, Humana, Secure Horizons, AlohaCare, they all contain that Part D component,” said Cunningham.
There is another major change this year. There is an opportunity to change your health and drug plan to a five star rated plan. It's a one time opportunity beginning December 8th and continuing through 2012. Contact your health care provider to find out whether it is in the five star category.
"Medicare has been collecting data for the past few years and now they're actually kind of grading the plans. And they've come up with this five star concept and so five star is the best and one star means they need a little more improvement,” said Cunningham.
This all may be a bit confusing, especially for those just signing up for Medicare. That's where Sage Plus comes in.
"We're a volunteer-based organization and so we have about 60-65 volunteers statewide, all different ages, all different backgrounds, an incredible group of people and we're Medicare counselors. So we sit down with people and help them navigate the Medicare maze,” said Cunningham.
Oahu #586-7299
Neighbor islands #1-888-875-9229
