Baltimore County aging officials launched renewed efforts Wednesday to make sure seniors who need help choosing their prescription drug plans or haven?t yet registered for the complex program aren?t left in the dark.
The county will spend nearly $250,000 in state money over the next two months preparing seniors tochoose or change coverage plans under the Medicare Part D during an open enrollment session that starts Nov. 15. County Executive Jim Smith kicked off the campaign?s first stage ? training sessions at each of the county?s 19 senior centers ?Wednesday in Catonsville.
The county also will publish explanatory inserts in local newspapers and host enrollment sites between Nov. 15 and Dec. 31. The drug plan?s enrollment is largely Internet-based, county aging director Arnold Eppel said, which poses a problem for many computer-inept seniors.
“We?re starting all over,” Arnold Eppel, director of the county?s Department of Aging, told members of the county council at their work session last week.
The county already spent the past year educating seniors on Medicare Part D basics before the May 15 registration deadline. Some council members expressed displeasure with investing county resources to educate residents of a federal program.
Eppel estimated there are 131,000 county seniors and disabled Medicare-eligible clients in Baltimore County.
“Why is it Baltimore County?s role to do this?” asked Council Member Vince Gardina, D-District 5. “It?s disgraceful the federal government wouldn?t fully fund the educational component of this fiasco they created.”
The county is reserving $140,000 in state grant funds to pay for prescriptions for clients that can not resolve problems with their pharmacists or doctors.
PLAN-CHOOSING SESSIONS
» Friday, 10 a.m., Bykota Senior Center
» Monday, 10:30 a.m., Rosedale Senior Center
» Tuesday, 9 a.m., Mount Carmel Senior Center
» Sept. 14, 1 p.m., Fleming Senior Center
» Sept. 15, 10:30 a.m., Edgemere Senior Center
» Sept. 18, 9:30 a.m., Woodlawn Senior Center
» Sept. 19, 10:30 a.m., Reisterstown Senior Center
» Sept. 20, 9:30 a.m., Ateaze Senior Center
» Sept. 21, 10 a.m., Parkville Senior Center
» Sept. 22, 10:15 a.m., Pikesville Senior Center
» Sept. 25, 12:30 p.m., Jacksonville Senior Center
» Sept. 26, 12:30 p.m., Victory Villa Senior Center
» Sept. 28, 11 a.m., Lansdowne Senior Center
» Sept. 29, 1 p.m., Seven Oaks Senior Center
