Letters

Help available for navigating Medicare Part D maze

Medicare Part D prescription-drug coverage is the biggest change that has been made to Medicare since it first started 40 years ago in 1965, and much has been written about the difficulties involved in choosing a plan from among the 19 carriers and 44 plans offered in New Jersey.

Last year I ran about a dozen informational seminars about the new Medicare Part D prescription-drug program. More than 1,000 people attended these seminars, and many reported that the seminars were very helpful.

It became clear to me, however, that what seniors and the disabled who are tackling this important decision about their health care really need is personalized, individual assistance. Therefore, since January I have been sponsoring workshops that offer one-on-one individual help with Medicare Part D.

Seniors who still need to choose a Part D prescription-drug plan, those who have already chosen or enrolled in a plan and want an expert to check to make sure they are in the plan that is best for them, and those who are helping a relative with Medicare Part D may call me at (732) 583-5558 to schedule an appointment with one of the Medicare-trained counselors at one of the workshops listed below. Seniors will need to bring their Medicare card and their actual medications, or a list of their medications, including dosages and cost, and to the appointment.

Those already enrolled in a Part D plan may change their plan once before May 15. Eligible individuals who do not enroll by May 15 will not be able to enroll again until Nov. 15 and will have to pay a permanent monthly late-enrollment penalty.

I am currently sponsoring one-on-one Medicare Part D workshops on "Medicare Tuesdays" at the Old Bridge Senior Center on April 11 and May 10, and at the Middletown Public Library on April 18 and May 2. One-on-one help is also available at the Cullen Center, 1776 Union Ave., Hazlet, on Wednesday, March 29, and at the Keyport Senior Center, 110 Second St., on Tuesday, April 4.

Again, I invite those interested to call my office at (732) 583-5558 to make an appointment. This kind of individual help will not be as available after May 15, so I hope that as many people as possible will take advantage of this valuable assistance now.

Assemblyman Sam Thompson (R-13)

member

New Jersey Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee

Tired of accepting arrogant behavior from medical profession

Don't call me patient. Between my medical conditions, my two children and elderly grandmother, I'm at a doctor's office about once a week.

At this point I've had it with the entire medical profession's policies. Some offices charge if you miss an appointment. Other offices overbook, leaving you waiting for an hour or more. Recently I was told that if I don't give my pediatrician's office a week to write up a referral, I'll be charged $25, along with another $25 if I don't pick it up.

An office visit for a primary-care physician ranges from $60-$150, and they spend maybe 20 minutes with you. I understand overhead and insurance costs. I also understand greed. Minimum wage is $7.15 an hour. So why can't a doctor making $400 an hour afford to hire enough people to have the office run smoothly?

When you are ill, you have to hold on the phone to beg for an appointment. Then you get there and wait forever. If you need a specialist, you have to bow down to the office staff for a referral so you can go to the specialist and give him or her the rest of your week's salary.

If a hairdresser, accountant or mechanic treated customers like that, they wouldn't be in business. Yet we seem to accept these arrogant behaviors when it comes to the medical profession. Why? Next week, when my grandmother is checked into the hospital again for yet another invasive procedure, I wonder if any of the fine-print papers she's handed will be a refund policy.

I'm tired of being patient. I want to be a customer - a person who pays for only what she gets and expects to get it with some courtesy.

Elizabeth Fagan

Monroe

A mother's trust in angels was rewarded in E.B.

On Monday, March 16, my mother and her friend, two ladies in their 80s, had car trouble on Tices Lane in East Brunswick.

Despite my urging to have a cell phone, my mother prefers to trust in angels, and indeed, two appeared.

Many thanks to the young man and his wife who were willing to stop their own errands and see to it that the ladies were towed.

I deeply appreciate their kindness.

Ronnie Brown

Milltown