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April 21, 2006     Barnstable Patriot
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April 21, 2006
 
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o Barnstable TRIAD Your Telephone. What if? By Klaus Guttmann klausguttmann@comcast.net There are many telephone systems available to seniors. Some cost less than others. There is the traditional, hardwired system, such as Verizon. Then there are the wireless cellularphones. Late- ly, VoiP (Voice over Internet Protocol) systems, which are very attractively priced, have come on the market. Some of their names are Comcast, Packet8 and Vonage. These are complete stand- alone systems. Only one of the above mentioned are required for the average household. There are some limitations, however, which should be considered before making a choice. What if you feel faint and anticipate amedical problem? You dial 9-1-1 and drop the telephone handset. If you are connected to Verizon, within seconds, the Barnstable police dispatcher will call your num- ber to find out what the prob- lem is. If you are incoherent , they will dispatch emergency responders and gain access to your home. What if you have an Al- zheimer'swanderer registered with the police department? Or, what if there is a storm and you lose your electrical power? Can you call out to make a 9-1-1 call, alert the power company to an outage or contact your relatives and friends? At this time I must note that in many cases when the power lines are down, the telephone fines still work. If you are connected to Verizon or have a cellular phone, with its battery charged, you can make these calls. The quick response by the BarnstablePolice Department is the result of Verizon E-911 integration accomplished by the town'sengineeringdepart- ment and the police. The VoiP phones, at this time, do not offer this service. They will notify the E-911 dispatcher of a call from an address that you will have given them. They also require broadband, cable or DSL, ser- vice. These in turn require mo- dems, which require electrical power. If only your computer is down, these phones will still work. Now that I am mentioning electrical power, I must also advise against having a cord- less phone as the only one in the household.Makesure that you have a hard wired phone already connected or handy to be plugged in. It should be clear to the reader what phone system I prefer. Being along in years, I have taken all the "what ifs" into consideration. What ifyou are making a lot of long distance calls to friends and relatives? The VoiP phone system rates sure look attractive, but we allknow their shortcomings. I will tell you now what I do. As a supplement to Verizon, Iuse Skype. It is an Internet sys- tem. You do need a computer and a Broadband connection. You also need a VoiP phone which plugs into a USB port on the computer. Radioshack carries them. CONTINUED ON PAGE B:8 By Michael Lavender columnist@barnstablepatriot.com Forthe past severalmonths, seniors have been hopelessly asking me to help them un- derstand this new law, and continue to do so, and though I've certainly procrastinated on this, I finallytook the lib- erty of sitting myself down and trying to unravel it. The Act created a new drug benefit that will be known as "Part D" of Medicare: This is what I understand. Under the standard drug benefit that commenced this year on January 1, Medicare beneficiaries will: • Pay the first $250 in drug costs (deductible); • Pay 25percent of the total drug costs between $250 and $2,250; • Pay 100 percent of drug costs between $2 ,250 and $5,100 in total drug costs (the $2,850 gap or doughnut hole"); and • Pay the greater of $2 for generics, $5 for brand drugs, or 5 percent coinsurance after reaching the $3,600 out-of-pocket limit ($5,100 threshold). A couple of things are worth mentioning here. First, the prescriptiondrug benefit will be offered through private in- surance plans. The standard drug benefit described above will only apply to drugs that are included in a particular plans formulary. That means that if a drugisnot included in a plans formulary, the benefi- ciary willnot be able to avail him/herself of the benefits under Part D. Second , the beneficiary must pay out of pocket drug costs equal to $3,600 before the plan truly kicks in and begins to cover 95 percent of the costs (i.e. when the total drug costs exceed $5,100). The $3,600 out-of-pocket amount will be indexed an- nually and resets January 1 of each year. The initial enrollment pe- riod for participation in the Part D program runs from November 15, 2005 and ends next month on May 15. Last August 9, the Centers for Medicare and Medic- aid Services (also known as "CMS") announced that the base premium beneficiaries willpay for the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit will be $32.20 per month in 2006. This announcement was followed by a CMS press release dated August 29, 2005 indicating that some Medi- care Prescription Drug Plan mayhave premiums of $20 per month or less (it remainsto be seen if the plans will remain viable at this lowerpremium amount). And, while enrollment in a Part D plan is voluntary, there is a penalty for late enrollment equal to $.32 per month in 2006. Individuals who already have prescription drug coverage under Medi- care Supplemental policies (known as "Medigap" poli- cies) H, I and J or through a retiree health plan willhave to decide whether to keep their existing coverage or enroll in a new prescription drug plan. A word of caution here: Indi- viduals who decide to keep their existing coverage and who later decide to enroll in a new prescription drug plan may be penalized by having to pay a higher premium for late enrollment unless their other coverage is deemed to be "compatible" (or as good or better than the Medicare Part D benefit). Individuals will need to review any drug plan to de- termine which drugs are part of the plans formulary and which drugs are not included in a plans formulary.CMS has announced that all or most of the drugs in six categories must be covered under a Part D plan: anti-cancer, anticon- vulsants, anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, HIV/AIDS drugs and immunosuppres- sants. Certain drugs are spe- cifically excluded from the Part D benefit , includingbar- biturates, benzodiazepines (i.e., Xanax and Valium), weight loss/weight gain drugs, and certain over-the-counter drugs. If a drug does not ap- pear on aplansformulary,not only willthe beneficiary have to pay for the drug him/her- self,the cost for that drug will not count towards the $3,600 out-of-pocket amount or the 5 percent co-pay once the $5,100 threshold is reached. I hope this helps. Attorney Michael Lavender special- izes In Elder Law and is in private practice in Barnstable Village. The new Medicare prescription drug law Medicare mayhem... CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8:3 So what should seniors do? The consensus among all organizations encour- ages seniors to seek assis- tance when enrolling. Yeh said that Medicare is directing seniors toward their local SHINE directors. "When they go, we tell them to do three things first ,"she said. "One, make a list of all medications and their doses. Two, make a list of all pharmacies you use and three, add up all current drug expenses."Yeh notes that this information can be fed into a computer database, which will de- termine the best plans for an individual. In the end, said Yeh, "It will bring them peace of mind." Or, to be more precise, July 14 is the deadline to submit your design for the 10th Annual Senior Citizens Artistic Interpretation of the State House Holiday Card Contest. The theme is "Celebrating the Winter Holiday at the State House in Your Favorite Era." The Sate House must be either the focal point of the artwork or included as the main theme with other Boston landmarks. The scale of submissions may range from 5"x 7" to 18" x 24". Include your name, address, and phone number on the back. Send submissions to: ATTN: Dolores McCray, Com- monwealth Museum at Columbia Point, 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston MA 02125. Christmas inJuly? J ' mrumd 'craice Cape Cod's Premier Retirement Community INDEPENDENT LIVING Companionship & Security Waterfront Dining • Transportation ASSISTED LIVING Three Meals Daily • Caring Professiona l Staff Family Environment f WrheVillage at Thirwood Place Featuring 28 graciously appoin ted apartments. Come find out why so many people have chosen Thirwood Place as their home. Call 1-800-248-5023 or (508) 398-8006 fo rafree informat ion package 237 North Main Street • South Yarmouth , MA 02664 WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU LOOKED AT YOUR FAMILY PHOTOS? 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