Senior News November, 2004 Vol. 25. No. 11

 

Published by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in Eureka, California. HSRC is a non-profit community-based organization offering services for senior citizens, multi-generational families and caregivers.

Memories in the making taps into always-present creativity

Last chance to get $600 credit for Rx costs

Think About It - Not driving

CSL decides priorities

CNA cites judicial decision about covering patients

Media Q&A regarding the Informational Picketing

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Discount cards
Last chance to get $600 credit for Rx costs
by Anne Antoville

You must enroll in the Medicare Discount Card Transitional Assistance Program by December 2004 in order to get $600 credit toward prescription costs.

You are eligible if you are single with income of $1,047/month or less or married with income of $1,405/month or less. There is no asset test. The $600 credit cannot be counted as assets for any federal program.

You can get this $600 credit if you apply for a Medicare discount card and use the Transitional Assistance Application. You can use the Medicare web site www.medicare.gov to choose a discount card, or you can contact HICAP, the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program, for free assistance.

If you sign up for Transitional Assistance this year, you will automatically get the $600 credit for 2005 as well. If you don't use all the $600 credit by the end of December, it will roll over to be used next year.

The applications take about two weeks to process and must be processed by December in order to get the credit for this year.

Call HICAP if you have questions or need help with the Medicare Discount Card. HICAP now has regular appointments available at the McKinleyville Senior Center. Call 443-9747 in Humboldt and 464-7876 in Del Norte.

Anne Antoville is manager of HICAP, a program of the Area Agency on Aging.