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Peggy Pollard, Teacher www.PeggyDance.weebly.com Join the funnest social dancing in Santa Cruz! Santa Cruz Waltz & Swing In-Person & Online Dances & Lessons Meet cool & sophisticated new friends! Medicare Supplement Enrollment Periods. Before we talk about supplements, we need to know a bit about original Medicare to see why supplements exist. Original Medi- care is made up of Parts A & B. Part A is Hospital insurance, and Part B is Medical insurance. Parts A & B are provided through the federal government for seniors and people with disabilities who have worked and paid into Social Security for ten years or more. Medicare Part A has a $1600 deductible (2023) and this deduct- ible amount changes each year. A deductible means a patient has to pay this amount before Medicare will start to pay for the hospital services incurred by the patient. The deductible is not an annual de- ductible but a "benefit period" deductible. A benefit period ends when someone hasn't received inpatient hospital care (or skilled nursing care) for 60 days in a row. One can have multiple benefit periods in a year meaning they could have to pay multiple deduct- ibles in a year! Medicare Part B does have a monthly premi- um. In 2022 the pre- mium is $164.90 (for someone earning $97k or less annually) and there is a $226 annual deductible. Part B only pays 80% of the expens- es meaning the patient must pay the other 20%. As an example, a knee replacement surgery in the U.S. costs some- where between $30,000 and $50,000. So 20% would be between $6000 and $10,000 that the pa- tient would pay for Part B copay. Now that we have an idea of Medicare Parts A & B expenses, let's see how Medicare supple- ments play into Orig- inal Medicare. There are three different types of supplements sold by private insurance firms to enhance Medicare benefits: Part D pre- scription plans, Part C Advantage Plans and Medigap supplement plans. Part D plans are supplements that cover prescription drugs approved by Medicare. Part D plans are annual plans, meaning they expire each December and people should sign up for a plan be- tween October 15 and December 7th of each year for the following year. Each year, two things can change that can affect the cost of someone's prescrip- tions. The price of a Part D plan can change, and a person's prescrip- tion list can change. Any change to one of these three things can drastically increase someone's prescription drug cost in a year. It is recommended that Medicare beneficiaries conduct a Part D plan comparison each year. A ten-minute check can save a person hundreds to thousands of dollars. Medigap supplement plans are the only supplements that are not annual plans. When someone chooses to purchase a Medigap supplement plan, it is their plan for life if they choose. They are also labeled similarly to the different parts of Medicare by letters A, B, C , D and addition- al letters through N. Often, people will mix up Parts of Medicare with Medigap plans because of the lettered titles. As mentioned earlier these plans do not expire each year. In California we do have the Birthday Rule which allows owners of Medigap supplement plans to shop around for plans of an equal number of benefits or fewer on their Birthday and for 60 days after their Birthday. For details about these Medigap Plans look for our HICAP Medicare Basics 101 webinars or Medicare and U in-per- son presentations. The Part C Advan- tage Plans are like the Part D plans timeline in that they also are annual plans. Each year enrollees will receive a "Plan Annual Notice of Change" notification letter about changes to their plan. These letters are normally sent out in September by one's insurance plan. Indi- viduals should read this letter to determine if the plan is still the best plan to meet their medical needs for the following year. For more details on Medicare Advan- tage plans, look for our HICAP Medicare Basics 101 webinars or Medicare and U in-per- son presentations. Like the Part D prescription drug plans, Medicare Advantage plans can be changed from October 15 to December 7 for the following January. To wrap it up, if you are on Medicare, and have a supplement plan, October 15 through De- cember 7th you should be evaluating your Part D prescription plan or your Medicare Advantage plan which will start the following January. Your Medigap supplement plan can be a lifelong plan, but one can shop around at their Birthday and for 60 days after Birthday for a plan of equal benefits or less. See our website at www.seniornetworkser- vices.org and visit our FACEBOOK page at facebook.com/senior- networkservices By Bill Proulx Senior Network Services Bridging the Digital Divide for Older Adults Community Bridges is addressing the digital divide of older adults by providing free Amazon Fire tablets to qualifying Santa Cruz and North Monterey County appli- cants across the agen- cy's older adult–serving programs, including our Family Resource Collec- tive, Elderday Adult Day Health Care and Lift Line transportation. Low-income applicants age 55 and over who haven't already received a free tablet from Commu- nity Bridges are eligible to receive one today by do- ing one of the following: • Signing up for Elderday Adult Day Health Care (for adults with demen- tia or complex medical problems; program is free for those eligible for Medi-Cal) • Enrolling with Lift Line and downloading their free self-service mobile app to schedule medical and dental rides, social services connection, and essential rides. • Receiving, or have received, a COVID-19 vaccination or booster at clinics coordinated by our Family Resource Collec- tive As the world made an abbreviated virtual shift during the COVID-19 Pandemic, low-income older adults were one of many communities across the United States that were left behind in social isolation, with deleterious effects on their well-be- ing. It's estimated that nearly 1 in 4 adults 65 and over are considered socially isolated. Social isolation increases the chance of premature death and rivals the health risks of smoking, obesity, and inactivity, and the Center for Disease Control describes loneliness and social isolation as "serious public health risks." Over the past two years, Community Bridges has addressed the dig- ital divide by helping to establish the Senior Center Without Limits and distributing more than 350 tablets to qualifying older adults across Santa Cruz County in partnership with the County of Santa Cruz, and cities of Wat- sonville and Santa Cruz. Now, Community Bridges is able to offer tablets to even more older adults who are at risk of loneli- ness and social isolation. In addition to offering the free tablet, Elderday, Lift Line, and the Family Resource Collective all provide a lifeline to older adults and support their independence, dignity, and physical and mental well-being. "As we continue to move toward a more digitized world, it is critical that we ensure we don't leave older adults behind in the process and we work toward targeted and coordinated opportunities such as this to bring the connection of the digi- tal world a little closer to home for most older adults," said CEO Ray- mon Cancino. Along with keeping our older adults connected, Community Bridges has helped keep them protect- ed by offering COVID-19 vaccinations at clinics or- ganized by our Family Re- source Collective across the county. To date, more than 1,100 vaccinations have been administered at our FRC sites. To schedule a vacci- nation appointment at an upcoming clinic, call the Community Bridges Vaccine Helpline at (831) 219-8607. For more information about receiving a FREE Amazon Fire tablet, call our Digital Access Helpline at (831) 471-7197. The project was made possible by the generous support of the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County. Elderday is an adult day health care center that allows older adults and people with disabilities to live at home with inde- pendence and dignity. At Elderday, participants benefit from nursing care, physical and occupation- al therapies, referral to resources, therapeutic activities, healthy meals and access to onsite men- tal health and nutrition services. By Community Bridges

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