Help Coming To Pay Medicare Premiums But Low-Income Elderly Often Not Told Of Assistance Available
Millions more elderly Americans will become eligible for help paying their Medicare premiums starting next year. But advocates for the elderly are worried that many won’t hear about the aid, or will have trouble getting it.
A study soon to be released by the National Senior Citizens Law Center found that as Medicare prepares to extend premium help to people with slightly higher incomes, many obstacles still stand that have shut out poorer people entitled to help for nearly five years.
“This is a little-known benefit and it’s difficult to access,” said Patricia Nemore of the center.
The study found that only a dozen states have outreach plans that get multiple government agencies involved in publicizing the program to low-income elderly people.
Forty-one states require general public assistance applications - some as long as 20 pages that must be backed up by extensive personal documents. And in 26 states, these can only be filed through welfare offices, which often give no special consideration to the elderly.
In the nation’s capital, for instance, appointments to see a social services worker are difficult to make in advance. And it’s nearly impossible to track the progress of an application filed by mail, said Sara Cartmill of the Jane Addams Program, which helps people get public assistance.
The only alternative is to arrive before the welfare office opens at 8 a.m. and get in line outdoors.
“It’s a pretty rowdy crowd - homeless men, a lot of young people applying for food stamps,” said Cartmill. “Just the sheer atmosphere down there and how long it takes dissuades” people from seeking help.
Medicare does notify people by mail when they turn 65 if they might be entitled to help with premiums, and many local Social Security offices have pamphlets about how to apply.
“We have historically felt it was our responsibility to let those who qualify know,” said Sally Richardson of Medicare’s center for Medicaid and state operations.
Each state also has a federally funded health insurance counseling program - most often reachable through aging services or insurance departments.
Still, nationwide as of this month, just 252,345 elderly Americans with incomes between the federal poverty line and 20 percent above it were getting help paying Medicare premiums, says the Health and Human Services Department.
That’s only about 12.6 percent of the 2 million who private groups estimate have been entitled to the aid since 1993.
When Congress and President Clinton this summer agreed to raise Medicare premiums more than $20 a month by 2002, they also created a $1.5 billion fund to offer temporary aid to those with incomes between 20 percent and 75 percent above the federal poverty level.
States will get annual shares of the money for five years to distribute to people who are eligible, starting in January, on a first-come, first-served basis. Advocates for the elderly estimate the number eligible for help will more than double.
For the first time, senior citizens with incomes 20 percent to 35 percent above the poverty line - between about $9,475 and $10,660 a year for an individual - may qualify for a full waiver of the monthly premium for coverage of doctors’ visits and other outpatient treatment.
In 1998, the premium will be $528.40 or $45.70 a month, and will gradually rise to $704 or $67 a month by 2002, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Elderly people with incomes 35 percent to 75 percent above the poverty line - between about $10,660 and $13,818 a year for individuals - may be able to get a premium discount of $1.20 a month in 1998.
xxxx LITTLE PARTICIPATION Just 12.6 percent of the elderly Americans with incomes between the federal poverty line and 20 percent above it were getting help paying Medicare premiums.