Every year, you and every other senior on the Vineyard need to think about how you are feeling, make a guess about your health needs in 2021, then decide whether you want to change any of your Medicare options. What’s great about Medicare D is that there are no pre-existing condition requirements. As your health needs change, you can change your plan to adapt. These Part D plans change every year. The premiums and/or the deductibles may have changed. Most important, the “formulary,” which tells you the drugs that are and are not covered on your plan and what the costs will be, may have changed. Since you are looking at your Medicare D plan anyway, you might want to take a look at your current Medicare Supplemental plan.
For help with all this, you can always contact the SHINE counselor at your senior center on the Vineyard, or you can reach out to the folks at Vineyard Health Care Access. Medicare’s open enrollment period will run from Oct. 15 until Dec. 7. I am also available, should you have any questions or would like more information; please feel free to contact me at 508-860-1470 or abergeron@mirickoconnell.com. Visit Frank and Mary’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/elderlawfrankandmary, and your local cable station during COVID-19, for my virtual elder law educational seminars, as well as Frank and Mary’s weekly local cable TV shows, where my co-hosts and I address many common issues facing seniors, and the resources available during the pandemic.
Arthur P. Bergeron is an elder law attorney in the trusts and estates group at Mirick O’Connell.
