Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s AGING NEWS For the week of November 27, 2017

Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s

AGING NEWS

For the week of November 27, 2017

Golden Living . . . News for Senior Citizens

Todd N. Tancredi, Director

Dutchess County Office for the Aging

MEDICARE OPEN ENROLLMENT SEASON NEARS ITS END

The annual Medicare Open Enrollment period, a yearly window of opportunity for Medicare beneficiaries to change their coverage options, will close on December 7^th. If you are happy with your current coverage, and your plan is not making changes that affect you, you do not need to do anything; however, it is always a good idea to investigate all your options.

The Office for the Aging’s Health Insurance Information Counseling and Assistance Program (HIICAP) has trained volunteer counselors who can help seniors with their insurance questions. Currently, appointments with the counselors are booked solid for the rest of the open enrollment period, but you may call and be placed on a waiting list in the event of any cancellations.

For those who do not need to take action during open enrollment but would like an introduction or refresher on Medicare basics, there’s a Medicare 101 session in the Poughkeepsie Galleria Community Room on Wednesday, December 20th from 10 a.m. to noon. Call (845) 486-2555 to register.

If you have internet access, the www.medicare.gov website has a comparison tool you can use to compare options for both Part D prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage Plans. To get the most accurate results, you will need your Medicare number and a list of your medications, along with details of the dosage and frequency of use of each. If you’d like help learning to navigate the Medicare website, you can sign up for a computer training session at the Adriance Memorial Library, 93 Market Street in Poughkeepsie, on December 27th from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Space is limited, so visit www.poklib.org to register. The Office for the Aging holds regular Medicare 101 and Navigating Medicare sessions year-round, with their schedule available at www.dutchessny.gov.

Finally, if you don’t have computer access, and have not been able to schedule a HIICAP appointment locally, Medicare can assist you over the phone by calling toll-free 1-800-MEDICARE. Their counselors will guide you through the process and provide the information you need to make an informed choice. Again, have all of your information readily available when you call.

MEAL DELIVERY HELP

If you’re looking for something to do with your free time this winter, consider donating an hour a week to help deliver meals to homebound seniors. The Office for the Aging is currently looking for people who are available in the late morning on weekdays to assist in our home-delivered meal program. Most areas of the county could use at least some help. Need is most urgent on Fridays countywide, and on all weekdays in Beacon, LaGrange, Pawling, Pleasant Valley, Poughkeepsie, and northeastern Dutchess (Amenia/Millerton/Wassaic). If you’d rather not drive, volunteers are often needed to assist at our eight Senior Friendship Centers with activities and/or serving or cleaning up from meals. If these sounds like opportunities you might be interested in, email nbhargava@dutchessny.gov or call the Office for the Aging at (845) 486-2555.

Golden Living is prepared by the Dutchess County Office for the Aging, 27 High Street, Poughkeepsie, New York 12601, telephone (845) 486-2555, email:ofa@dutchessny.gov website: www.dutchessny.gov/aging

This week’s OFA volunteer opportunities:

“Spotlight on Seniors” preparation – We’ve got over 1500 copies of the winter edition of our “Spotlight on Seniors” newsletter that need to be mailed out, so we’ll need some good pairs of hands to help us prepare the newsletters for mailing. We anticipate needing help on Thursday, November 30 and/or Friday, December 1, or possibly early the next week. Let outreach coordinator Brian Jones know when you’re available, at bjones@dutchessny.gov or (845) 486-2555.

Home Delivered Meals and Senior Friendship Centers – there’s always a need, as this week’s Golden Living article indicates. Contact nutrition coordinator Nimesh Bhargava atnbhargava@dutchessny.gov or (845) 486-2555.

For more opportunities to help your senior friends and neighbors in conjunction with the OFA’s mission, contact Friends of Seniors at (845) 485-1277 and/or the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) at (845) 452-5104.

Office for the Aging calendar of events:

Thu 11/30, 11 a.m. – “Enjoying the Holidays Without Weight Gain”