Medicare – Part D deadline nears

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

The Methodist Healthcare Ministries and Lockhart”s Wesley Nurse Susan Fuqua are taking steps to help Medicare recipients enroll in Medicare-Part D programs.
On Wednesday, April 19, the Methodist Healthcare Ministries will host a organization called My Medicare Matters at the First United Methodist Church beginning at noo

n.
“My Medicare Matters is an un-biased group that is not selling or representing any programs,” Fuqua said. “They don”t have any special interest except to help Medicare Part D recipients find the program that will work best for them.”
This service is offered free of charge by the First United Methodist Church and the Methodist Healthcare Ministries, Fuqua noted.
Since Medicare made prescription benefit plans available at the beginning of this year, thousands of Texans have enrolled. The government set a deadline of May 15 for Medicare recipients to enroll.
The plans can be confusing, though, with several options and dozens of providers available. Questions about eligibility and late enrollment are only a few of those that representatives from My Medicare Matters can address for program participants.
“If you have or are eligible for Medicare Part A or Part B, you are eligible for the new drug coverage,” the My Medicare Matters website notes. “You do not have to join the Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage if you don”t want to, but if you are eligible to enroll… and you do not join, you will have to pay a penalty… later.”
The first time My Medicare Matters came to Caldwell County to work with Fuqua, the representatives were able to help several Medicare recipients make sound choices about prescription plans.
“They work with about six people each hour,” Fuqua said.
Appointments to work with My Medicare Matters representatives are still available between noon and 3 p.m., she said.
“I hope that when the community finds out about this service, they will come out and let us help them, because these plans can be so tricky,” Fuqua said after the first free enrollment workshop. “Some people might not sign up for programs because they can be so confusing, but these folks [from My Medicare Matters] are providing a great service for them.”
To make an appointment to discuss Medicare Part D coverage with Fuqua or the My Medicare Matters volunteers, call the First United Methodist Church at 398-5837 and leave a message.