We wouldn’t necessarily call it a friendly split, but it was at least a civil one. The couple had separated. Both husband and wife had modest incomes. She, with her Medicare about to start, feared that she would be unable to pay the Medicare Part B premium of $170.10 a month. (It will be $164.90 in 2023.)
Her husband suggested that she make a Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance (SHIBA) appointment to see if she could get financial help with the Medicare premium, which she did.
The SHIBA counselor determined that her gross monthly income was less than $1,549, meaning the State of Oregon would pay the Medicare premium for her. The counselor referred her to an office of Northwest Senior and Disability Services, where she could speak with an eligibility specialist to apply by phone.
Because she was living separately from the husband, only her income would be counted in determining her eligibility for the benefit, called the Medicare Savings Program. This benefit has no assets test, and having it also reduces costs for prescription drugs at the pharmacy.
If you would like to make a SHIBA appointment, or to ask a question to be answered in this space, please see the end of this column.
Annual open enrollment began Oct. 15 for Medicare beneficiaries wishing to review options for Medicare Advantage insurance or for Prescription Drug Plans. The enrollment period runs through Dec. 7. If someone enrolls in a new plan during this 54-day period, the new insurance would begin Jan. 1, 2023. These are options for reviewing plans.
- Go online to Medicare.gov, and click on Find health & drug plans to review either Medicare Advantage or drug-insurance plans. You may create an account (recommended) or continue without logging in, choose the type of insurance that interests you, enter your drugs and preferred pharmacies, then review the insurance plans.
- Make a SHIBA appointment with a volunteer counselor by calling 800-722-4134. When prompted, enter your ZIP code so you will be routed to your county.
- Call the SHIBA helpline at 800-722-4134, but – please – only if you need immediate help or if you live in a county with no SHIBA counselors. If calls are backed up, your call may go to the Medicare line (see below) with its “Welcome to Medicare” greeting.
- Call Medicare at 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227) for assistance. This is a 24/7 service, and you may shorten your wait time by calling at an odd hour.
- Speak with a state-certified insurance broker. These agents have demonstrated their knowledge of Medicare insurance. You are not restricted to making an appointment with a broker in your county.
Oregon also has an excellent state-specific booklet, the Oregon Guide to Medicare Insurance Plans, which delivers a wealth of Medicare information. Besides a table of contents, the guide has a helpful index and a glossary toward the back.
You have written about a Social Security form that can help some people with Medicare save money. What was it again?
It was undoubtedly the Social Security form SSA-44, although it is helpful only to Medicare beneficiaries with special circumstances. The form allows the individual to alert Social Security that financial circumstances have become lesser, and therefore the elevated Medicare Part B premium ought to be reduced.
Submitting the form would very likely be most useful for someone who had an income while working that would trigger a higher Part B premium, but whose income in retirement was less. Among other “life-changing events” for which the form may be used are marriage, divorce or annulment, loss of income-producing property, loss of pension income or an employer settlement agreement. These are described in more detail in the instructions that accompany form SSA-44.
To obtain the form, log on to the Social Security website (ssa.gov) and use the search function (magnifying glass) to ask for SSA-44. Or you could ask Google to find it for you.
Jim Sellers of Salem is a certified Medicare counselor with the Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance (SHIBA) program. To ask a question to be answered in this column, e-mail [email protected]. To schedule a free SHIBA phone appointment with a volunteer Medicare counselor, call 800-722-4134.
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