Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Deane Beebe
Communications Director
212-204-6219
Medicare Rights CenterFebruary 7, 2006
Fewer than Ten Percent of New Yorkers Eligible for Subsidy to Pay for Medicare Drug Benefit Have Enrolled -- New Program Helps Low-Income New Yorkers Apply for "Extra Help" and Pick a Drug Plan -- [New York, NY] - The Medicare Rights Center is assisting older and disabled New Yorkers with low incomes to apply for help to pay for the new Medicare drug benefit.
Counselors are available by phone at no charge to help low-income New Yorkers complete applications for the Medicare drug benefit subsidy known as "extra help." Counselors are also helping clients who have been approved for the subsidy to select a drug plan from among the dozens of private plans offered in New York State.
"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 counselors 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 Medicare Rights Center's new 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 gap, the following criteria must be met:
Income Assets* Individuals $1,225 per month and below $11,500 and below Couples $1,650 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. In New York, about 60,000 people have enrolled in the subsidy, but another 660,000 are eligible.