HARRISBURG, Pa. – Medicare's annual open enrollment period is under way, a time for recipients to look at their options for medical and prescription drug plan coverage for the coming year.

Pennsylvanians on Medicare have until Dec. 7 to decide to keep their current coverage or make changes. Plans often modify their coverage and cost sharing, and notify consumers about those changes for the coming year.

Bill Johnston-Walsh, state director for AARP Pennsylvania, says recipients need to be aware of those changes to both medical and prescription drug plans.

"We strongly recommend that they look and review those notices of change carefully, compare current choices with other available plans, and change to a different plan during open enrollment if it better meets their current needs," he stresses.

If no changes are made, existing coverage will renew automatically. But AARP notes that some consumers can save hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses just by switching to a different plan.

Johnston-Walsh breaks the considerations down into four categories – cost, coverage, convenience and customer service.

"Compare monthly premiums, annual deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance,” he advises. “Review the doctors and pharmacies as well as the prescription drugs and other services that you'll need in the upcoming year.

“Look at the local doctors, the pharmacies, the services that are included in the plan. And then consider the quality of service that a plan provides."

There is help available to sort through the options. Johnston-Walsh says free assistance is available by phone from Pennsylvania's APPRISE program.

"There's counselors there that will explain the Medicare benefits, sort through the health and prescription options and help complete the enrollment process for the individuals," he states.

APPRISE counselors can be reached toll-free at 1-800-783-7067.




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Pennsylvania voters aged 50 and older are expected to play a pivotal role in the upcoming election, motivated by key issues, and could affect the results.

At a recent AARP Pennsylvania Women's Roundtable, suburban women 50 and older discussed top concerns, with an AARP poll revealing 60% felt the country is on the wrong track.

Betty from Chester County agreed and said coming out of the pandemic, inflation rose 8%, affecting families and the economy.

"Those prices that are out there, coming down very slowly or perhaps they're not increasing as much because the inflation is higher," Betty observed. "That is the difficult part to understand for families that have to buy groceries. Groceries are 25% more."

The AARP poll showed 94% of women are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports making sure workers get the Social Security they paid into and earned through a lifetime of hard work.

The poll found the biggest cost concerns to voters 50+ in Pennsylvania are food, utilities, health care and prescription drug costs.

Colleen from Bucks County said health care costs in Pennsylvania look promising and are headed in the right direction.

"One of the things that I'm seeing are some reductions in our health care costs, especially through Medicare, and with the opportunities to see that across the board," Colleen pointed out. "But for now, through Medicare, we're seeing that, and that's going well."

Elizabeth of Mount Lebanon in Allegheny County said leaders do not seem to be listening to communities' concerns. She added a big part of the issue also stems from the misinformation and disinformation spread by candidates, leaving people uncertain about who truly represents their perspective and interests in daily life.

"I am of Puerto Rican heritage, and I find that not only in Pittsburgh but even in Pennsylvania, during the elections, everyone's out looking for Latino votes," Elizabeth explained. "I don't think that the Latino population as a whole is listened to, except for to say negative things about immigrants."

Charlotte is also from Mount Lebanon. She recommended policymakers be more aware of the resources for grandparents who are caregivers of their grandchildren because of the opioid crisis. She added she has been taking care of her grandson for quite some time. In Pennsylvania alone, more than 235,000 grandparents are raising grandchildren.

"The opioid crisis has left a generation of children who have great needs," Charlotte emphasized. "There was settlement money provided to Pennsylvania, and I did look into that, but of the $73 million of the opioid settlement money, none of it was earmarked for these families."

The poll found 71% of women 50+ and 70% of suburban women are more likely to vote for a candidate who would help provide a tax credit for unpaid family caregivers who work to help cover the costs associated with caring for a family member.


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October is Long-Term Care Planning Month, and a few tips can help people when talking with their loved ones about this topic. Conversations about long-term care can be difficult.

Bandana Shrestha, AARP Oregon state director, said approaching the topic with compassion and care is key and noted that the 470,000 family caregivers in Oregon provide most of the care for close friends and family members, and need to be part of planning conversations.

"Making sure that you're talking early is really important, and also making sure you are involving all parties who may responsible for supporting somebody is really important," Shrestha said.

The population of people over age 65 is increasing rapidly in the U.S. and most will need long-term care supports of some kind, underscoring the need to begin planning for how that care will look.

Open enrollment for Medicare began this week and lasts through December 7th. But Shrestha noted the insurance program doesn't cover long-term care.

"There are certain provisions within Medicare where you can get some supports for being able to have short stays in long-term care facilities," Shrestha continued. "But otherwise, Medicare is really about your health care. It's your health insurance."

Oregon performed well on AARP's recent Long-Term Services and Supports Scorecard, ranking number seven in the nation. Although the state could do better in areas such as affordability, Shrestha says the state ranks high in terms of support for family caregivers.

"The reasons for that are policies like our recent paid leave law, which really is designed to help ensure that people have supports and can take time off when they need to care for themselves or for their loved ones," Shrestha said.

Medicare's open enrollment period starts tomorrow and runs through Dec. 7.

AARP Nebraska is encouraging Medicare recipients to review their supplements and Part D prescription drug plans. The good news for 2025 is the implementation of a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap for those on a Medicare prescription drug plan, which takes effect Jan. 1. It's one of several prescription cost-savings measures in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Todd Stubbendieck, state director of AARP Nebraska, said the cap should benefit a lot of Nebraskans.

"AARP fought to include this provision in a 2022 prescription drug bill that Congress passed," Stubbendieck pointed out. "About 15,500 Nebraskans will directly benefit, which means those people are currently paying more than $2,000 a year for their prescription drug coverage."

The Biden-Harris Administration estimated the cumulative out-of-pocket savings for Medicare Part D enrollees in 2025 will be more than $7 billion.

Stubbendieck reminded Nebraska seniors there can be considerable cost and coverage differences between plans, so it is important to review them during open enrollment. Nebraska's State Health Insurance Assistance Program and Volunteers Assisting Seniors can help, as can the online Medicare Plan Finder.

Stubbendieck stressed Medicare prescription plans can change from one year to the next.

"It's always important that you don't just assume what worked for you last year will work for you this year," Stubbendieck advised. "This is that moment of open enrollment where people should take that time. There are resources to help you go out there and review that plan to make sure you are getting the most cost-effective coverage."

In 2021, Volunteers Assisting Seniors helped 6,500 Nebraskans save a total of $1.2 million in Medicare costs.

Stubbendieck pointed to other money-saving provisions AARP helped secure in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act Medicare prescription drug law.

"For the first time in our nation's history, Medicare is allowed to negotiate prescription drug prices," Stubbendieck emphasized. "The other thing that this bill did is it capped insulin prices for those on Medicare at $35 a month and a whole range of vaccinations are now free for folks who are on Medicare."

Some Nebraska seniors on expensive cancer, osteoporosis, pneumonia and Alzheimer's medications will also see lower co-payment costs from now to the end of the year because of another provision in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate program. And when the lower prices negotiated for the first 10 commonly used medications go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026, seniors nationwide are expected to save a cumulative $1.5 billion.