News : SHIIP office open to help with Medicare questions and problems

SHIIP office at 307 1st Avenue, Vinton

25 Years of volunteer service to Iowa seniors

Are you on Medicare or expecting to sign up for Medicare in the near future? Are you overwhelmed with all of the information you are getting in the mail? Do you have questions about your benefits or how to select health plans? Peggy Moran, Benton County’s experienced Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) volunteer is here to help.

Your local SHIIP volunteer can explain your Medicare benefits, help you compare and evaluate Medicare Supplements and Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug plans, find assistance for programs that help with Medicare costs and help organize your medical bills to file and appeal claims.

Peggy is available on the first Tuesday of each month from noon to 3:00 and otherwise by special arrangement. To make an appointment call 319 472 4091. Peggy checks messages on Fridays and Tuesdays. She will call you to set up an appointment.

“ By making an appointment I can help assess your needs so you can make informed decisions about your Medicare”, explains Peggy. “Medicare can be very confusing and sometimes people just need someone to explain how it all works.”

Here are some examples of the complexities, all issues your SHIIP volunteer is ready to help with.

· People who live in Nursing Homes can change their Medicare Part D drug plans any time of the year. If you are paying high out of pocket cost for medications or have drugs that aren’t covered in your current plan, we can change it.

· If you were in a Skilled Nursing Facility you have 63 days from discharge to change your Medicare Part D plan.

· If you are having trouble paying for your medications you may qualify for extra help with those costs.

· If you have been on a Market Place plan and now qualify for Medicare you will not stay on a Market Place plan.

· If you have been on Medicare due to disability and are now turning 65, you have a guaranteed issue to get a Medicare Supplement with no questions asked.

SHIIP has information on Medicare wellness and preventive benefits, COBRA, working with Employer Retiree plans, Medicare and disability, Veterans / Medicare Health Benefits and much more.

In 2015 the 360 SHIIP volunteers statewide met with clients for more than 65,000 appointments and saved Iowans more than $20 Million by helping them find the least costly drug plan best suited for the individual’s needs. “We think that’s money that helps families and the local economies”, explains Becky Groff, Program Development Coordinator, “because that money is available to purchase goods and services in the local community.”

Peggy Moran, the volunteer at the Virginia Gay SHIIP office in Vinton recently moved to the area after living in Albany, New York, where she as a volunteer coordinator for SHIIP before health issues made living closer to family a priority. “It makes me feel good to be active, involved and volunteering in a way that helps people,” says Peggy.

SHIIP is a program of the Iowa Insurance Division and is sponsored in Benton County by Virginia Gay Hospital. SHIIP services are free, objective and confidential. To make an appointment call 319 472 4091. The SHIIP office is located west of the Benton County Courthouse at 307 1st Avenue, Vinton.