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News from Area VI Agency on Aging
LAKE COUNTY – New Medicare cards have begun arriving in Montana. When you get your new card, destroy your old one. Take the new card to your doctor and other medical providers so they can take a copy. Even though the new cards are more secure, you should still guard your Medicare information like all your other personal information. Anyone calling on the phone or offering free goods in exchange for your Medicare information is a scammer.
The annual open enrollment period for Medicare is Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. We strongly recommend all people who have either Medicare Prescription Drug Plans or Medicare Advantage Plans to use this period to compare the plans offered for 2019. There are many changes and this is your chance to switch plans if a different plan would save you money. For example, the lowest cost Prescription Plan for 2018 is not the lowest cost plan for 2019. You can compare for yourself at medicare.gov. Just click the button that says “Find drug and health plans” to get to the “plan finder” tool or call us for an appointment and we can do it for you. We can sign you up for your new plan for 2019 online and it will automatically end the old plan on Dec. 31, 2018. We have state-certified Medicare counselors in Lake, Lincoln, Mineral and Sanders counties. Or there are insurance agents who can also help you with this. There are presentations by insurance agents scheduled at many senior centers and other locations.
Between Open Enrollment and the new Medicare cards arriving, the crooks will be working overtime to try and take advantage of all the changes going on. Be extra vigilant against fraud attempts. You can call us to report any suspicious calls or activity and we can send the information up the line to the right place.
For any Medicare help, call the Area VI Agency on Aging at 406-883-7284 or 1-800-266-4188. If you would like our help with Open Enrollment please call for an appointment. We are very busy at this time of year and often can’t accommodate those who just drop in. Be sure to bring your Medicare card and a list of your prescriptions to your appointment. At this time we can use either your old or new Medicare number to assist you. If you have the new one, bring that for sure.
