These Nurses Know Medicare!

ShiCk Counselors Mary Abitz (left) and Michelle Long review the Medicare and You book. Both advise every older Kansan to check their Medicare Part D options during Medicare’s Open Enrollment period.

Not everyone who connects with a Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas (SHICK) counselor during Medicare enrollment season will review their Medicare drug plan choices with a nurse. But those who have appointments with Michelle Long or Mary Abitz will.

The two have had careers as RNs, live in Pottawatomie County and are looking forward to helping people with their Medicare plan choices for 2023 during Medicare’s Open Enrollment Period from October 15 to December 7. They are among the 63 certified SHICK counselors providing help to people on Medicare in the NC-FH AAA region. Michelle, now retired from nursing, is in her second year as a SHICK counselor. An active leader at The Wamego Senior Center and a member of the North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency Board of Directors, she will be counseling people about their Medicare plans at the Wamego Senior Center weekday afternoons.

Mary, who was born in Frankfort and lives on a farm near Wheaton, works as an RN at Pottawatomie County’s Health Department. She will counsel people about their Medicare in Westmoreland, Onaga, Olsburg, St. Marys, St. George and at other places in the county. She first became certified as a SHICK counselor in the 2000s and later took a hiatus; in 2017 she completed the SHICK training again and has provided SHICK counseling since. “Anybody on Medicare should talk with a counselor,” Mary said. When people tell Mary they aren’t planning to talk with a SHICK counselor or to review their Medicare Part D options this fall, she becomes concerned. She knows that Medicare’s complexity and the fact that companies change their plans every year causes confusion — and can adversely affect older Kansans. “I hear people saying ‘my plan is going to be cheaper this year’ because they got something in the mail. I am betting that people are talking about information from a Medicare Advantage plan — and that’s not the same,” she said. Companies that provide Medicare Part D drug plans change their plans every year. Costs, plan features and the list of drugs covered under plans change and the drugs people need each year change. This means that the plan that was the best for someone on Medicare last year, may not be the best choice for 2023.

“People want the ‘biggest bang for their bucks’ when it comes to their drug plans,” Michelle said. “People need to check their Medicare plan every year — they might not save big every year — but they will save every year,” she said. Mary said that one person she counseled had to have a specific drug and believed that he could not change his Medicare Part D plan — his reluctance to change plans was costing $100 each month. Mary advised the customer to show the drug plan cost comparison to his daughter. The daughter got involved and helped convince the customer to switch plans. “This freed up more than $100 a month for an older Kansan who was struggling financially.” The counselors help people find other ways to reduce their Medicare drug costs including asking about generic alternatives and asking about their qualifications for Extra Help and other Medicare Savings Plans. Both counselors said that new plan choices — along with Medicare Advantage commercials featuring celebrities on TV — have given people more reasons to check with a SHICK counselor.

“It’s important that people look very carefully at their Medicare Part D plans and Medicare Advantage choices,” Michelle said. “Those who enroll in Medicare Advantage plans can get stuck in a plan for life if it has been more than a year since they signed up,” she said. “Older people get very attached to their doctors and the doctors and providers (with Medicare Advantage plans) might not be there year-after-year,” she said. “We all grew up knowing Medicare would be there for us,” Michelle said. “Now we have choices that we never thought about.” Another area of confusion about Medicare is the array of alphabet letters. Medicare uses alphabet letters to describe its different parts including Part A, Part B, Part C and Part D. Medicare supplement policies available from insurers use the alphabet to describe the type of plans available to people who want to cover costs not covered in traditional or original Medicare. “I ask people: ‘Did you get a Medicare and You book?”’ Mary said. This book that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services sends to people on Medicare each year explains Medicare’s alphabet. Mary takes her Medicare and You book with its many flagged pages when she helps people at SHICK appointments. Each person should bring their Medicare card, list of medications, dosages and frequency of each.