Medicare know-how erases age brackets.

Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

JUNCTION CITY - Mona Skinner, 79, needed help weeding through the insurance plans for her Medicare Part D enrollment forms, so she turned to the experts: two twentysomethings serving in the AmeriCorps service organization.

"I've been procrastinating," said Skinner, a retired homemaker from Junction City. "There's too many plans. ... I just didn't know which way to jump."

After a 30-minute consultation inside the Junction City branch of Lane Community College, Skinner had a good idea of the plan she wanted. AmeriCorps members Megan Peters, 24, of Lexington, S.C., and Komal Soin, 23, of Philadelphia, ran the numbers on a computer screen, and sent Skinner on her way with a handful of printouts detailing the pluses and minuses of several insurance plans.

"It's very satisfying (work)," Peters said. "It's awesome to have that satisfaction of knowing that you helped them save money."

Peters and Soin are part of a 10-member team that will be in Lane County this month providing Medicare enrollment assistance to seniors in outlying communities. The group, which arrived last week, is staying at a summer camp in Veneta. Each day they'll meet with seniors in different communities, answering questions on everything from eligibility to avoiding the so called "doughnut hole," which provides no coverage for prescription drugs.

"A lot of seniors are very confused by all of the plans that are there," Soin said. "It really is a case-by-case (process) of seeing what works better with their incomes."

"We're just trying our best to save them money and find a good plan."

With 46 plans available to Lane County seniors and a May 15 enrollment deadline looming for those who want to participate without being penalized, seniors have plenty of reasons to feel overwhelmed, said Brent Wood, a case manager with Lane County Senior & Disabled Services who trained the AmeriCorps team.

"I think that people have gotten pieces of the puzzle, but it's hard to see a clear picture when you don't have all the pieces," Wood said.

Medicare used to cover doctor appointments, hospital stays and disease management, but starting this year, the program will begin offering insurance coverage to help pay for prescription drugs. All medicare recipients are eligible for drug coverage, but there are still many questions, Wood says. The array of plans available, the different brand name and generic drugs that come with those plans, and the lists of eligible and ineligible pharmacies means it's necessary for most seniors to weigh the pros and cons of several plans.

Another daunting task for seniors is using the wide variety of tools available to them online, Wood said, citing statistics that show only 30 percent of seniors use the Internet. The fact that most AmeriCorps volunteers are well-versed in using computers makes the pairing between youth and seniors a viable one, said team leader Kelly Aspin, who hails from Chanhassen, Minn.

Aspin says her AmeriCorps group is the only one of its kind in the country doing Medicare consultations. The enrollment assistance sessions are a joint project between AmeriCorps' National Civilian Community Corps, the United Way Volunteer Connection and Lane County Senior and Disabled Services.

"The one-on-one contact is nice," said Aspin, 24. "It's been great to hear some of the seniors' stories. It's been very rewarding."

MEDICARE PART D

AmeriCorps members will be hosting free counseling this month. For an appointment, call [phone]. Seniors seeking assistance must bring three things to their appointment: their Medicare card, a list of their medicines and each dosage, and the name of their pharmacy. The team will be at the following locations through March 24:

Mondays: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Elmira Lane Community College Community Learning Center, 24936 Fir Grove Lane

Tuesdays: 9 a.m. to noon, Florence LCC Outreach Center, 3149 Oak St.

Wednesdays: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Junction City LCC Community Learning Center, 505 Maple St.

Thursdays: 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., Cottage Grove LCC Outreach Center, 1275 S. River Road

Fridays: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Oakridge Family Resource Center, 48119 1st St.

CAPTION(S):

AmeriCorps volunteers Komal Soin and Megan Peters (right) assist Mona Skinner with Medicare Part D forms during a workshop in Junction City.