The Alexander City Outlook

May 15 is Medicare Rx deadline for Tallapoosa seniors

WASHINGTON, DC-For the past several months, seniors across the Third District have begun to take advantage of Medicare’s historic new prescription drug benefit.

Thanks in part to this program, Federal health officials reported recently that over 71,000 seniors across East Alabama now have some sort of drug coverage.

Here in Tallapoosa County, over 5,000 seniors now have prescription drug assistance. This is indeed good news. While this program is far from perfect, and has certainly seen its share of bumps in the road, many of our seniors are finally beginning to get relief from high prescription drug prices.

The deadline for enrollment is May 15, 2006. Tallapoosa County seniors who have not yet enrolled, but are still interested, have until that date to enroll.

As of now, seniors who enroll after that date will have to pay a small penalty.

Fortunately, help is available. In Tallapoosa County, seniors or their family may receive assistance by calling 1-800-239-6741 or 256-237-6741.

Folks can also call 1-800-AGELINE to speak with a state health official. You may also call Medicare directly at 1-800-MEDICARE, or call any one of my offices for assistance.

Of course, it’s important to remember this benefit is entirely voluntary. If you’re satisfied with your current coverage, or simply don’t want to enroll, there is no need to do so.

However, for many of our seniors, these plans have helped them save significant money on their prescriptions.

Given the large number of plans from which to choose, folks should research these plans carefully and evaluate which plan could be best for his or her individual needs. The folks at the numbers listed here should be able to help with these choices.

It’s also important to remember that extra assistance may be available for seniors with lower incomes.

For the past several months, my staff and I have held information forums across the Third District to help seniors with this benefit.

We’ve also spoken with many of our pharmacists to hear their concerns about the implementation of this program.

Clearly, as with any large new program, we should expect some growing pains, but I am hopeful the kinks are being ironed out. Please let one of my offices know if you are still experiencing any issues with your coverage so we may try to be of assistance to you.

Again, while this is not a perfect new benefit, it is a good first step. After years of talking, Congress finally got this done for our seniors. I was proud to support this legislation, and was also pleased it included over $109 million for the Third District’s rural hospitals.

Remember, the enrollment deadline is May 15. Tallapoosa County seniors interested in enrolling should act before that date. Please let me or one of my staff members know how we may be of assistance.

You probably saw that President Bush made a visit to Alabama this week. I appreciate the President for visiting our state, and thank him for recognizing Tuskegee University’s world-renowned academic and research excellence.

The Third District, of course, is home to a number of advanced colleges and universities like Tuskegee. I hope the president will return one day to see first-hand other examples of how East Alabama’s institutions are helping educate the leaders of tomorrow.