Upcoming shine events and presentations
MEDICARE AND YOU, KNOWING YOUR OPTIONS
Are you or a loved one approaching Medicare eligibility, already have Medicare, or curious about how Medicare will work for you? This class will help you understand the different parts of Medicare,and the different health insurance options within Medicare. Discussion will include Medicare enrollment periods A, B, C and D and what these mean for you. Medigap and how these plans function, the pros and cons for Medicare Advantage Plans, and other Massachusetts benefit insurance/health costs related information. A state certified SHINE counselor, an unbiased source of Medicare health insurance information, will address this and answer other Medicare related questions.
Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - 6-8 PM
ASHBY SENIOR CENTER
895 Main Street
Ashby, MA 01431
978-386-2424 x27
Registration Required
Great News for Massachusetts Medicare Beneficiaries!!!!
UPDATE JULY 1, 2019
When Governor Baker signs the state budget thousands of Massachusetts Medicare Beneficiaries will become eligible for increased benefits from Medicare Savings Programs (MSP). Created in 1966, MSP uses both state and federal funds to help beneficiaries pay for their Medicare Part B premium, as well as other out of pocket expenses such as assistance with Medicare Part D Plan costs. But you must first satisfy certain income and asset limits in order to be eligible. Currently the income limit is 135% of the federal poverty, this income limit will change to 160% of the federal poverty level once the new budget becomes effective.
This change will make thousands of low income Massachusetts residents eligible for the MassHealth Buy-in Program that will pay your Medicare Part B Premium ($135.50) every month. You could also be eligible for partial extra help from Social Security that would assist you with your Medicare Part D costs.
MassHealth is working to implement this change to the MSP Programs. Our understanding is they hope to streamline applications to make applying for all MSP programs easier. They would like to complete this work and implement the new income levels in January of 2020. We will provide more information when it is available.
