Essex County Office for the Aging holds 2022 Medicare Open Enrollment Events
Oct. 26—ELIZABETHTOWN — Medicare recipients can review or change their coverage for 2023 during Medicare Annual Open Enrollment, which started Oct. 15 and will end on Dec. 7.
The Essex County Office for the Aging is hosting 2022 Medicare Open Enrollment Events throughout the county. (See Box)
Individuals can meet with certified insurance counselors who can assist them.
"Our Open Enrollment Event and walk-ins to our office has definitely picked up," Krissy Leerkes, director of the Essex County Office for the Aging, said.
"We are seeing a ton of new faces to explore their coverage for 2023, and we are seeing our re-occurring clients as well."
Visits will be by appointment only.
Please call, 518-873-3695 to sign up.
As always, walk-ins are accepted at the office but due to limited space, appointments are appreciated.
"You can obtain Medicare in two different ways," Leerkes said.
"One is due to age, and typically individuals enroll in Medicare when they turn 65 pending their employment status. and other individuals are able to be automatically enrolled into Medicare after being in receipt of social security benefits for 24 months."
The office is seeing a spike in more people.
"What we credit that to are a couple of different reasons, she said.
"I think there is a lot of individuals that are questioning Medicare coverage because of the increased commercials on TV in regards to what Medicare can cover and can't cover. They are getting a lot mailings in the mail that they're questioning if they are a legit marketing opportunity or if it's a scam.
"We are known in the community as a trusted resource, unbiased. I think that is what is bringing individuals into our office or seeking this type of counseling that typically may not want our services or need our services."
Essex County is an aging county.
"A good majority of our folks do have Medicare," Leerkes said.
"I definitely would encourage anybody that is Medicare eligible to seek out this free and unbiased service to ensure that that in 2023, they are knowledgeable about their coverage, what it will cover, the potential estimated cost of their medical and their prescriptions, so that way there are no surprises come the first time they go to the pharmacy in January 2023."
Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
Twitter@RobinCaudell
