SOSMagJulySeptember2021

Serving Our Seniors wants to help you obtain Medicare insurance to the fullest extent you want and can afford. But we can’t do our job, well, unless you do yours. Will you please help us? Figuring out Medicare coverage can be complex. Understanding when to apply for Medicare is half the battle. For Serving Our Seniors to help you we ask that you help us by taking the following steps before its time to enroll onto Medicare. 1. Don’t take any unsolicited calls from anyone selling Medicare insurance. It can be time-consuming to unravel a bad Medicare decision. 2. Six (6) months before enrolling onto Medicare, obtain the Social Security publication “Medicare” (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10043.pdf) . Please read it. Call Serving Our Seniors (419-624-1856) if you would like us to order the booklet for you. MEDICARE: What You Ought to Do Before You Turn 65 and/or Retire 3. Six (6) months before enrolling onto Medicare, start a file/notebook binder of unsolicited material you are receiving in the mail or by e-mail. Save it for the next 6 months for the Medicare counselor to review and determine its importance. 4. Five (5) months before enrolling onto Medicare, call Serving Our Seniors. Register to attend at least one (1) Serving Our Seniors “New to Medicare” classes. Be sure to take notes when you attend the class. 5. Four (4) months away from enrolling onto Medicare, call Serving Our Seniors (419-624-1856) and request a Medicare Counseling appointment. Serving Our Seniors respectfully requests 4 months of advanced notice for a one-on-one Medicare counseling appointment to enroll for the first time. Please help us, help you. Don’t fail to plan advance. A person’s failure to plan does not justify cancelling another person’s appointment, who did. If you have a document you want to turn into our office after 5:00 p.m. or on the weekend, now you can. Thanks to the George and Mary Foster Family Fund Serving Our Seniors purchased a secure repository drop box. We are very grateful for this very generous donation. The drop box is checked every day when we get the mail. Drop Off Your Documents After Hours Patricia Steinman, MSIG, CSA, Medicare Education Specialist/ OSHIIP Trainer Brenda Henry, Office Manager 22