Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Deane Beebe
Communications Director
212-204-6219
Medicare Rights CenterMay 17, 2006
Low-Income New Yorkers Who Missed Medicare’s Drug Benefit Deadline Can Still Get Coverage -- Medicare Rights Center Program Helps New Yorkers Apply for “Extra Help” to Enroll in a Medicare Drug Plan without Penalty -- [New York, NY] – The Medicare Rights Center is making it possible for New Yorkers with low incomes to get Medicare drug coverage this year, by assisting them in applying for the Extra Help Program.
Older and disabled Americans approved for “extra help” have the right to enroll in Medicare private drug plan through the end of the year without paying a penalty – even though the May 15th Medicare drug benefit enrollment deadline has passed.
Counselors at the Medicare Rights Center’s LINCS (Linking Individuals in Need with Care and Services) program help low-income New Yorkers by phone complete the application for “extra help,” the government subsidy that helps pay out-of-pocket costs for the new Medicare drug benefit.
“No low-income New Yorker should be locked out of a Medicare private drug plan this year,” said Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center. “Our counselors are on call to help New Yorkers apply for “extra help” so they can get the drugs they desperately need but cannot afford.”
LINCS counselors can be reached by calling 888-RX-LINCS (1-888-795-4627). There is no charge for LINCS counseling.
To qualify for “extra help” which covers some or most of the Medicare drug plan premiums, deductibles, copays and coverage gap, the following criteria must be met:
Income Assets* Individuals $1,226 per month and below $11,500 and below Couples $1,651 per month and below $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. Only about 20 percent of older and disabled Americans eligible for “extra help” have been approved for it.