<p>depending on her income you can check to see with social security if she qualifies for low income subsidy help with her rx costs.</p>
<p>Yes, done that, fender. Thanks for the reminder, though, so I can educate others.</p>
<p>My mother used to pay about 60 dollars a month for her Medicare Part B.</p>
<p>I went over to the local Council on Aging to look for any kind of programs she could qualify for. She was still living at home.</p>
<p>I was able to get her Meals on Wheels. I put her on a list to get housekeeping assistance, but that never came about. But the big help was working with something called SHIPS, I believe. I think the program she finally got was something called QMB. </p>
<p>I may be wrong on the letters, but basically, because of her income level, she no longer had to pay her Medicare B premium out of her SS check. </p>
<p>Also, when came time for the Medicare Part D program, she qualified for that, without having to pay a premium.</p>
<p>Another thing I had been doing for years for my mom was to get her commodities. She had done this for my grandparents, so she knew of its existence.</p>
<p>Quarterly, I would go to a community center and get her grocery staples. Powdered milk, cheese, rice, noodles, oatmeal, beans. In the old days, you even got eggs.</p>
<p>Catholic Charities offered a monthly program as well, with similar grocery items.</p>
<p>Now, you don’t sit in the nicest neighborhoods for these “handouts”, but since my grandparents lived during the Depression, we were always taught: beggars can’t be choosers.</p>
<p>I laugh now when I sit waiting for hours for benefits and listen to others around me complain. A few hours of inconvenience will be worth it in the end. </p>
<p>Oh, almost forgot. Prescription drugs. Before the Medicare Part D plan came into effect, after a while, we were able to get my mother’s Depakote for free through the drug company, Abbott, I believe. We had to fill out a lot of paperwork. The doctor had to fill out paperwork. And I actually used to have to go to the doctor’s office to pick up the medicine. Boy, was that worth it. When my mom was initially prescribed Depakote, it was 200 dollars a month. I was more than happy to take a couple of hours off every month to pick up her paper bag of meds. Thankfully, now, she has a Medicare D plan, and there is only a small copay every month for the meds.</p>
<p>If your parent takes a prescription drug that is not generic, I would definite look into whether the drug company offers assistance for low income people. I think Montel Williams was doing commercials for this, and I still hear some drug ads say, If you have trouble paying for your meds, Company X, Y, Z may be able to assist you.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Just trying to understand IF a retiree needs anything in addition to the medical insurance their govt provides that includes a good Rx plan + Medicare A & B. H just got Medicare A, as he reached the age but is still working so we haven’t explored the various other options. We do plan to pay for Medicare Part B & he’ll still have his federal employee’s medical insurance when he retires. Thanks for any enlightenment. My folks also have Medicare A & B. plus the very good health insurance with Rx, dental & vision for retired state employees as a pension benefit.</p>
<p>Don’t understand all these permutations and supplements for Medicare. HELP!?!?!?</p>
<p>As I talk to others with older parents, many do respond, Oh, they have great insurance, they retired from a state/government job. I don’t know anything about these policies. My mom has a Medicare Supplement, through Blue Cross, which apparently, there are different plans available.</p>
<p>My husband is in his fifties, and his company changes insurance every couple of years, and his premiums for the family are deducted from his paycheck. Usually, we’ve just had a copay. However, this year, we’ve had some blood work and visits with specialists, which we had to pay all of, because we apparently now have a deductible. Surprise!</p>
<p>OK, I guess the question is where is the best & most comprehensive source for evaluating medical insurance PLUS all the myriad of Medicare options people can add on? I can read a contract and get a decent idea of what it says but have no idea where to go to find out more about these many morphing Medicare supplements & policies–other than Parts A & B that I mostly understand.</p>
<p>Thanks for any help on this.</p>
<p>[Medicare.gov</a> the Official U.S. Government Site for Medicare](<a href=“http://www.medicare.gov/]Medicare.gov”>http://www.medicare.gov/)</p>
<p>The very Medicare web site itself has tons of links to things and it is a proper .gov site. </p>
<p>Medicare is Medicare is Medicare. But please be careful with Medigap (a.k.a Medicare Supplemental) policies for certain things. </p>
<p>The CMS web site has scads of links as well and it is also a proper .gov site. CMS stands for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.</p>
<p>[Centers</a> for Medicare & Medicaid Services](<a href=“http://www.cms.gov/]Centers”>http://www.cms.gov/)</p>
<p>Now. If your parent(s) as well as your own family is humble. Then, you might have to go through DHS to see what your senior qualifies for, but such a thing as that is regional. For example, I live in Tennessee and over here you would go through DHS for a really fair amount of things for a senior who is humble.</p>
<p>I personally do not know much about what all to look for when it comes to paying for Medicare Supplemental Insurance, mainly because it has become such a numbers racket money wise. I have only ever worked with two groups of folks. Ladies and gentlemen with intellectual disabilities. And, ladies and gentlemen with Alzheimer’s or various other memory impairments. Those two groups of folks as well as their very own families sometimes take it in the neck financially and so I only know of what those of humble means do.</p>
<p>Himom, if you PM me with your questions I can help you out…</p>
<p>Thanks, FG–did send you a PM. I believe a lot of folks who lurk & post could benefit from RELIABLE websites that provide info about this topic, as there has been an explosion of products & it’s tough for anyone to sift through them.</p>
<p>As was posted, clearly some products are for lower income folks while others are for those who can pay premiums. HELP on this is most appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>Like others on this board, we have gone through the maze of medicare, supplements and additional help. I have found that going to the social services office near our home has helped a bunch. Mom lives with us- has the entire basement. But like other parents, she doesn’t listen worth a darn about anything. ugh! I went online and applied for everything I thought she could get, so now she has SS paying her Medicare part D Rx supplement and like montegut, her medicare part B is also being taken care of.</p>
<p>I have to fill out a ton of parperwork every year to get them to cough up $16 per month in food stamps. Is it a pain? Yes. But it’s worth it. I make a copy of the form every year and then just update the information annually. Then Mom and I go in to social services for her annual interview and voila, she’s covered for another year.</p>
<p>As far as her meds, it took me over 6 months to convince mom to get her prescriptions in the mail. In the past, she would pick up her 'scripts at walmart- there was always something that had to be picked up. While she was there, she would wander around… and end up spending $80-100 each trip at Walmart. Now I have her meds mailed and the two that have to be picked up, I get. it has saved her money. She was finally convinced to let them come in the mail when I had her doctor fill our and fax the forms to start the mail order. He told her the SAME EXACT THINGS that I did, when she came home she was all “Dr. said this was a great idea, dr. said it was safer, etc. etc.” argh… </p>
<p>The only thing we need for her now is a hearing aid. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get these at a reduced cost? I’m tired of listening to mom’s tv.</p>
<p>You need to see if the policy is an 80/20 meaning that medigap covers the 80% and YOU cover the 20%. That REALLY adds up over time. My mom had a more expensive policy that covered 100% of what Medicare didn’t pay. Believe me, it was WELL worth the extra premium money (which really wasn’t all that much). Agreed…check the policies…and don’t get caught with paying 20%.</p>
<p>By the way…we did this with our son’s individual health insurance policy too. He has a high deductible BUT after that, the policy pays 100%. There is no way he could pay 20% of the bills on a catastrophic claim. No way.</p>
<p>So check the young ones and the old ones!!</p>
<p>On the hearing aid front – Costco has very reasonably priced hearing aids, but if it is primarily for TV, “TV ears” works pretty well. </p>
<p>Something ChuckleDoodle didn’t mention – if a parent qualifies for food stamps – even just a few dollars a month – that is often a “gatekeeper” qualification that automatically qualifies the person for other assistance without as much paperwork. In our area, that would help a senior citizen quickly get Energy Assistance (help paying utility bills), lifeline phone service (very inexpensive phone service), special rates on bus passes and on senior ride services, lower cost services at our Senior Center (like lunches and dinners, activities) and at our rec centers. Free weatherizing/caulking/insulation services would also be available, though I don’t know how much longer that would run since I think it is federal recovery money. Monthly health checks with the visiting nurse at the senior center would also be free. In some areas it might also help a senior qualify for a tax abatement.</p>