(Spirit Lake)– An upcoming event at Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake will help guide those navigating Medicare benefits. Jennifer Gustafson, Vice President of Marketing and Retail Services at LRH says they’ll be holding a “Welcome to Medicare” program Tuesday, May 12th from 6:30 until 8:00 pm at the hospital…
“It is for people who are turning 65 and they’re starting to really look into Medicare and what they really need to sign up for. It can really be a really confusing thing. They’re going to be covering Medicare part A, part B benefits, the prescription drug benefit which is known as part D. They’re also going to be talking about Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare supplement insurance. It can be quite a process to know what to get in Medicare and how to go about it.”
She says the information will be presented by counselors from the Senior Health Insurance Information Program, or SHIIP…
“We have five SHIIP counselors and they go to training literally all year long to know what the latest things are with Medicare because plans change every year. One year your benefits that you get can cover certain medications and then the next year they might not, so. They know what’s going on with everything and what coverage to have to make sure you have the best coverage at the lowest price and so they are really experts in this whole subject. This is a great event to attend.”
Gustafson says the event is free but those planning to attend need to pre-register…
“We’re going to have coffee and cookies at the event and they’re going to have handouts, but in order for them to have enough handouts they need to have people register for the event by May 7th. It’s easy to do that. All they have to do is call 336-6698 and give their name and how many people will be with them in their part or if it’s just them, and that’s all they need to do.”
Again the May 12th Welcome to Medicare event will be going on from 6:30 until 8:00 pm in the Big Spirit Conference Room on the lower level of Lakes Regional Healthcare.
