Medicare Drug Plan Assistance Now Available

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Medicare Drug Plan Assistance Now Available

Sat, 10/24/2020 - 16:06
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PRESS RELEASE

Assistance is now available for Kay County area residents in evaluating the best and most cost-effective Medicare Part-D Prescription Drug Plans for 2021, based on their particular medications. The Annual Open Enrollment is currently under way and continues until December 7. There is no cost for this assistance which is available to all area Medicare recipients.

To minimize in-person contact, a “mail-in” process has been created. This should protect the safety and health of all Medicare recipients as well as our volunteers. Medicare recipients are requested to mail a list of their personal information to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) at 445 Fairview, Suite 101, Ponca City, OK 74601. Please include your name, address, phone number, and a detailed list of your prescription drugs. Include the complete drug name, dosage amount, and the frequency the drug is taken. Also needed is their pharmacy preference and the name of their current prescription drug plan. Several insurance companies have more than one drug plan, so please include the complete name of the drug plan. If the Medicare recipient has a MyMedicare.gov Account, the Username and Login ID for the account can be extremely helpful. In Oklahoma for 2021, there are 30 Medicare Part-D prescription drug plans from which to choose.

Judy Rupp of RSVP, with Rich Terrill, Rick Coffelt, and a group of trained volunteers, will complete the computer analysis and report the results back to the individual.

It is important to note that spouses do not have to enroll in the same prescription drug plan, and in some cases, they could save a considerable amount of money by enrolling in a different drug plan.

If after the computer comparison, the Medicare recipient chooses to enroll or change their enrollment to a more cost-effective plan, the volunteers can help. Any questions about this free program should be directed to Judy Rupp at (580) 382-9099, Rich Terrill at (580) 763-3308, or Rick Coffelt at (580) 763-3273.

This is the 14th year this type of assistance has been offered. The average annual savings has been over $600 per person just by changing to the most costeffective drug plan. For the current year of 2020, more than 400 area Medicare recipients used this service, and it provided more than $250,000 in savings for those residents. Since its inception, this program has saved area residents a total of over 3.0 million dollars. This free service is spon

sored by RSVP of Kay County, the ConocoPhillips Retirees Association, Clark Gerontology Fund, Ponca City Senior Center, United Way of Ponca City, Pioneer Technology Center, and the Ponca City Community Health Foundation.

The sponsors encourage all Medicare recipients to make this computer comparison annually, whether on their own or with the assistance offered.