County offers assistance with Medicare part D
With the deadline to sign up for Medicare Part D fast approaching, the Ocean County Office of Senior Services is reminding residents that help is available.

"The Ocean County Office of Senior Services, under the direction of Freeholder Joseph Vicari, has done an outstanding job in helping Ocean County's seniors with navigating the paperwork and enrollment materials forMedicare Part D," said Freeholder Director John P. Kelly. "The office continues to provide invaluable assistance to our senior population."

According to Vicari, the deadline to enroll is Dec. 31 and staff from the Office of Senior Services continues to provide help to those who need it.

Vicari noted that most Ocean County residents receiving PAAD or PharmaceuticalAssistance for theAged and Disabled should have received a letter outlining any changes to the plan.

"Our Office of Senior Services has been working to reassure our seniors on PAAD that they will have a prescription plan that will continue to come with a $5 copay," Vicari said.

Ocean County has approximately 18,250 individuals participating in PAAD, said Jane Maloney, director of the Office of Senior Services.

Nearly all people enrolled in PAAD received a letter in late November explaining changes in their Medicare Part D plans for 2008, Maloney said.

She said PAAD is moving people to new, more reasonably priced Part D plans and PAAD is assuring individuals that they will continue receiving the same level of prescription drug benefits next year and they will still only have to pay, at most, a $5 co-pay.

Only PAAD participants in stand-alone Medicare Part D plans are potentially affected by the move.

"In New Jersey, people on PAAD receive comprehensive prescription benefits through both PAAD and federal Medicare Part D," Maloney said. "The PAAD program coordinates benefits and pays participants' Part D premiums. All people in PAAD enjoy the same level of benefits, no matter which Part D plan they have.

"As a result of the federal government's annual review of Medicare Part D prescription plan costs, New Jersey must move a significant number of enrollees to different Part D plans due to the plan no longer meeting the eligible monthly benchmark. This year's benchmark premium is $31.23 per month," she said.

Most of those affected will not have to take any action after receiving the letter, according to a press release.

Maloney said the PAAD program will match beneficiaries with a PAAD-approved Part D prescription plan that best meets their needs, based on prescription drug use and pharmacy choice over the past year. Beneficiaries will be automatically enrolled in the new plan for 2008, unless they write to the PAAD office within two weeks to decline the enrollment.

PAAD participants not affected by the move are people with prescription coverage throughMedicareAdvantage HMO or PPO plans; anyone with employer or union-sponsored health coverage who has been notified by their former employer that they are prohibited from enrolling in Part D (some state of New Jersey retirees, for example); and those who are ineligible for Medicare.

"PAAD participants, whose plans were switched, will receive a new eligibility card from their newMedicare Part D plan once the enrollment process is completed," Maloney said.

For further information call Ocean County Office of Senior Services at (732) 929-2091, (800) 668-4899.