Get Help Understanding Your Medicare Benefits

Every year, seniors throughout the country get to the open enrollment period – a time when they can review, adjust, renew or change their Medicare coverage.  It is also a time when many more seniors sign up for Medicare for the first time.

In many cases, seniors have important questions regarding their coverage and need to find the answers.  Where do they go to get these questions?  There are a lot of places.

Most of the places you can go are right in your own community.  No matter where you live, most towns, cities and counties have a senior center and at this time of year, your town – or one close to you will be providing information through meetings and workshops as well as one-on-one meetings in some cases.

Especially during this time of year – between now and the end of the year – you should be able to find various meetings because of this all-important open enrolment period.  This is not just to help seniors who are looking at their current coverage, but also for helping individuals new to Medicare – who will be enrolling for the first time.

The meetings regarding Medicare are generally free, offer a talk providing general information, offer time for answers to questions, and also have individuals and printed information available to help people understand what Medicare has to offer and how to understand how it works.  Because there are some states that have over 40 plans and there are income limits that can change from year to year, the information available is essential.

Every year there is a flurry of meetings and information at this time of year.  Your local newspaper, senior center, Social Security Office, Healthcare Services Office and Office on Aging should all have information regarding dates and times of any meetings being offered to help Medicare recipients understand their current coverage, review or adjust/change it or enroll in Medicare if this is your first time.

If you need information, find out where there are meetings right away, since open enrollment ends on December 31st, and your Medicare coverage starts over on January 1, 2010.  If you can’t find a meeting or a workshop close enough to where you live, you can get information from Medicare at cms.gov or medicare.gov.  In addition, you can call Medicare at 1-800-772-1213.

Filed under: General-Medicare