Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Deane Beebe
Communications Director
212-204-6219
Medicare Rights CenterDecember 19, 2005
"888-RX-LINCS" Launched to Help New Yorkers Get Subsidy to Pay for Medicare Drug Benefit -- Medicare Rights Center Offers New Assistance for Thousands of Struggling, Low-Income New Yorkers -- [New York, NY] - The Medicare Rights Center has enlisted a corps of counselors to assist older and disabled New Yorkers with low incomes in applying for help to pay for the new Medicare drug benefit.
Counselors are available by phone to help low-income New Yorkers complete applications for the Medicare drug benefit subsidy known as "extra help." Once approved for the subsidy, counselors can help select a Medicare prescription drug plan from among dozens available in New York.
"There's help to pay for the new drug benefit, but for many Americans the application process is just too complex," said Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center. "Our volunteers will work one-on-one with every New Yorker who calls to ensure that if they are entitled to help, they will get it."
Counselors at "Linking Individuals in Need with Care and Services (LINCS)," the new Medicare Rights Center's program, can be reached by calling 888-RX-LINCS (1-888-795-4627). There is no fee for LINCS counseling assistance.
To qualify for "extra help" which covers some or most of the Medicare drug plan premiums, deductibles, copays and coverage gaps, the following criteria must be met:
Income Assets* Individuals $1,197 per month $11,500 and below Couples $1,604 per month $23,000 and below *A primary home is not counted as an asset. Funeral or burial expenses are included ($1,500 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple).
The "extra help" will allow low-income people with Medicare to save an average of $2,800 per year. In New York, about 48,600 people are enrolled, but hundreds of thousands are still eligible.