Review Your Drug Plan

Review your Medicare drug plan annually – especially on years like this, when there are changes in what is available.

Home Access Solutions, Inc. works with designs and equipment that help people live independently at home. We usually don’t have anything to do with drugs, but we work with, and know, people who rely on prescriptions for their health and well being. Many of those people use Medicare for their prescription coverage. I recently attended an educational forum and learned some interesting things about the Medicare Drug Plan. Some of those things frightened me a little because I know that so many people, who need medication, run the risk of poor coverage or interrupted coverage. I just had to do my part to to help educate people at risk.

To learn more, I visited the wonderful folks at Volunteers Assisting Seniors (402) 444-6614. They are part of Nebraska’s State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) and offer free personalized health insurance counseling.

They provided me with the following information about why Seniors should review their drug plan every year and information about some of the changes we can expect this year.

“Each year, Medicare drug plans change and your medication needs can change. It’s not uncommon for drug plans to change their premiums, the drugs they cover on their formularies and the pricing on drugs. It’s important to review and compare plans to make sure that you will have a plan for 2011 that will offer the best pricing and coverage for your specific medication needs. The best way to do this is to compare the plans that will be available in your area. To do a comparison, you would make a list of your drugs, the dosages and the amounts you take as well as your pharmacy of choice and then use the drug comparison tool on Medicare’s website to compare plans. You should look for the overall annual cost for the plan, if all of your medications are on the plans formulary, if there are any restrictions, such as quantity limits or prior authorizations and if your pharmacy of choice will accept the plan.

In 2011, there are 15 drug plans that will no longer be available. If you had one of these plans in 2010, you will need to find a new plan for 2011, as your coverage will end Dec. 31st. Notification of loss of coverage should be sent to beneficiaries in October. You will be able to find a new plan during the open enrollment period so that it will be effective on January 1 and you will not have any lapse in coverage. If a beneficiary does not find a new plan during the open enrollment period, Medicare will give them a “Special Enrollment Period” of one month (January) to enroll in a new plan. Coverage will not be effective until Feb 1, which means a beneficiary has the potential to be without coverage during January.”

If you want some information about what do do, one source of information is the 2011 Medicare handbook: http://www.medicare.gov/publications/pubs/pdf/10050.pdf . However, if you prefer to work with people who have already read the manual and have the training to decipher it, you have other options. You can contact Volunteers Assisting Seniors (402) 444-6614. to schedule an appointment with a trained volunteer who help you use the Medicare.gov website, help you with a drug comparison, and help with enrolling you in a new plan, if you find one that will better meet your needs in 2011.

You can also attend one of the several local events Volunteers assisting Seniors have planned. The Southwest 8 Area Aging on Aging and the Iowa SHIIP program also have some local events. I’ve attached both lists for you. Omaha  Council Bluffs If you don’t live in either of these areas, you can go to www.shiptalk.org to find your local SHIPS office.

The open enrollment period is November 15 through December 31. It is just around the corner. We at Home Access Solutions hope that if you use Medicare, you will take steps to help yourself. If you know people who use Medicare for prescription benefits, please make sure they know what they should do.

Is your bathroom the scariest room in your house?

Are you afraid of what may happen when you are in your bathroom? Do you stay up at night wondering just how safe your older parents are in their bathroom? If so, you are not alone. Ask anyone what is the scariest place in their home and if they have a disability or mobility/balance issues, they will probably tell you it is the bathroom. It doesn’t have to be that way.

We know instinctively that the bathroom is a dangerous place. Falls occur from slips and trips. Slips occur most often on wet surfaces. What floor do we tend to drip water on most often? Trips come from obstructions we don’t see. Which room is often small with limited storage so things may be placed on the floor or on storage shelves placed in the walkway? Many falls occur when lighting is inadequate. What room in older homes is usually lit by a single set of lights that we reduce even further when we close shower curtains? Better yet, if we wear glasses, what room do we routinely take them off in? Other falls occur when a person’s ability to balance isn’t adequate for the tasks they are engaged in. What room requires us to step over a 15” high barrier such as the side of a tub, get on the floor such as getting into a tub, bend over such as pulling up pants after toileting? To top it all off, which room of our house is so small that if we fall on the floor we are likely to block the door shut with our body so no one can get in to help us? Of course we know the bathroom is a scary place, but it doesn’t have to be.

Safety can be improved in most bathrooms with careful attention to matching the environment to a person’s abilities and a willingness to try something new. It may be as simple as a well placed grab bar or a rug to absorb moisture that is really slip resistant to. For some homes, it may be a little more involved such as replacing a standard tub with a barrier free or walk in shower, or adding a walk in tub. Thinking about making a change may be difficult, but consider the alternative.

Take a look at these facts from the article Falls Among Older Adults: An Overview the Center for Disease control www.cdc.gov

• More than one third of adults 65 and older fall each year in the United States (Hornbrook et al. 1994; Hausdorff et al. 2001).

• Among older adults, falls are the leading cause of injury deaths. They are also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma (CDC 2005).

• In 2005, 15,800 people 65 and older died from injuries related to unintentional falls; about 1.8 million people 65 and older were treated in emergency departments for nonfatal injuries from falls, and more than 433,000 of these patients were hospitalized (CDC 2005).

• The rates of fall-related deaths among older adults rose significantly over the past decade (Stevens 2006).

How can we look at facts like these, know the bathroom is one of the most useful, but most dangerous places in our home, and still not take action to save ourselves and people we love?

Take action today. Educate yourself on ways to make your bathroom safer. It may be easier and less expensive than you think it will be. If you want some help planning a functional and beautiful bathroom experience give us a call. You are worth it.