State of Alaska | Senior & Disabilities |

Alaska State Health Insurance Program

Resources for Alaska's Medicare

Counselors

ANNUAL MEDICARE TRAINING FOR ALL VOLUNTEER COUNSELORS WILL BE OCTOBER 14 – 15 – 16 IN ANCHORAGE.

Annual Medicare Training – Registration information

It’s time to consider whether you will come to the next Annual Medicare Training. This year it will be held at the Downtown Marriott hotel in Anchorage. Please review the following information before submitting the MOA. The MOA with travel logistics need to be completed and into the Medicare Information Office by September 15, 2009.

The Medicare Information Office may pay for travel and lodging for people who are active Medicare counselors which means:

You are able to receive referrals for counseling people in your community by phone or in person
You assist at least one person a month on Medicare topics
You record your client contacts on SHIPTalk.org
You have easy access to a phone, the web, email

Day 1 - October 14 – Medicare 101 – agenda includes overview of Parts A, B, C, D, Medicaid/Medicare working together, Medicare for people with kidney disease, ALS, disabilities; prescription savings programs through Social Security, coordination of benefits for retirees and those actively working after age 65, local counseling and outreach opportunities
Who Should Come to Day 1?
People who need to know all about Medicare including current counselors, new volunteers and agency staff. Members of the public may attend this day as well.

Day 2 - October 15 – Part D Medicare Prescription Drug Plans – We’ll start the day classroom-style with “Understanding Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage” and then will travel by bus to “hands-on” practice at two different computer labs with room for 20 each. There will be time to debrief back at the hotel after the computer lab session.
Who Should Come to Day 2?
Anyone who has taken Medicare 101 and will help people with finding a Part D Prescription Drug Plan through medicare.gov’s planfinder during the 2009 annual open enrollment period (November 15 – December 31, 2009).

Day 3 - October 16 – storytelling, counseling and problem solving with Hilary Dalin from MyMedicare Matters
Who Should Come to Day 3? Active Medicare counselors and others needing practice
Certificates will be provided to all participants from 4:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Travelers can depart from hotel 4:45 p.m. to the airport

MOA and Travel Agreement

MOA and Travel Worksheet for Tribal MIPPA Grantees

Help Yourself Powerpoints on Medicare

Medicare 101 (Powerpoint)
2008 Current Medicare Topics (Powerpoint)
New To Medicare added 9/09 (Powerpoint)

Agenda for Medicare 101 semina r

Update Training Teleconference Schedule:

Alaska Medicare Volunteer Counselors "meet me" calls: dial 1-800-315-6338, use code SHIP#
July 15, 2009	True Out of Pocket Costs, Point of Sale for Pharmacists
Aug 19, 2009	Durable Medical Equipment (DME) DME-POS, troubleshooting medical equipment issues
Sept 16, 2009	Andrew Tartella on Medigap, Preventive Services and other Part B Changes for 2010
Oct 21, 2009	Get ready for Part D
Nov 19, 2009	Part D Plan comparison tools and tricks

Tips for Teleconferences (12kb)

Update Training Minutes

All counselors are encouraged to track all Medicare-related counseling/conversations using the "Client Contact Form." Then you go right onto www.shiptalk.org and in 30 seconds you can enter the data directly online to record the client contact. Our funders track our work and appreciate your efforts to stay on top of what you are doing to help recipients with their Medicare questions and puzzles. Thank you!

SHIPTalk 101 Instructions
Client Contact Form

Good news for Alaska MEDICARE Counselors!!

MEDICARE HOTLINE is faster than the regular 1-800-MEDICARE

It is: 888-647-6701

You will be prompted to enter your unique i.d. which starts with AK000

If you don’t have that ID please call Jeanne or Judith to get it for you. We’re at 800-478-6065

Thank you!

Links for Low Income Subsidy "Extra Help":

Online Limited Income Subsidy Application

2008 LIS Outreach Toolkit

The new LIS Outreach Toolkit is located at www.cms.hhs.gov/Partnerships/Toolkits/. This toolkit includes important resources and information about the outreach effort, including a new LIS drop-in article that can be used in local publications or print outlets to encourage people with Medicare to apply for Extra Help. This article can also be found on the Portal at https://portal.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt

CMS’ campaign will be conducted from May to July and will coincide with SSA’s Mother’s Day and Father’s Day outreach campaign. Please join CMS in our efforts to reach out to people with Medicare and their family members or caregivers to promote the availability of this extra help and increase the number of LIS applications submitted to SSA for processing.

Additional materials, including talking points, internal Q&As and more are available on the Portal at https://portal.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt