Carroll?s Bureau on Aging wants to expand its educational outreach about Medicare?s prescription drug plan to include younger, disabled residents.
“We already do educational programs for senior citizens, but we want to go beyond the senior centers and reach citizens at doctors? offices and other places,” said Vivian Laxton, county spokeswoman.
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Carroll commissioners voted Thursday to apply for a competitive grant from the National Council on Aging, which is providing between five and 10 grants of up to $100,000 nationwide.
Carroll will request between $30,000 and $50,000.
“It?s very competitive, and the chances are low, but you never know who else is applying, so we may be surprised,” said Debby Standiford, county grants analyst.
“[The Council on Aging] may want a rural setting as a demonstration site.”
The money would help the county find, enroll and educate people with limited incomes on how to select a federal prescription drug plan under Medicare Part D, according to a briefing paper from the county?s Department of Management and Budget.
Medicare pays 85 percent to 100 percent of participants? prescription drug costs.
“The Bureau of Aging, within the Department of Citizen Services, currently provides counseling to Medicare beneficiaries about their choices under Medicare Part D,” the briefing paper reads.
“This grant would fund development of materials to educate the public about the bureau?s program, provide tools to better identify those residents of Carroll County who are eligible ? and enhance the bureau?s efforts to enroll these individuals.”
Richard Steinberg, chief of the bureau on aging, is still developing the specifics of the outreach, Standiford said, but the program should be innovative enough for other counties to replicate.
The county should learn by Jan. 26 whether it was awarded the funds.
