Tulsa Non-Profit Agency Simplifies Medicare Enrollment

The Affordable Care Act enrollment period runs during the same time period as the Medicare Part D open enrollment.

The airwaves and the mail box are full of information, which just leads to lots of questions. For those of Medicare eligible age, we have found a place with a lot of the answers.

At the Medicare Part D enrollment assistance clinic at Life Senior Services, volunteer counselors are helping folks like John Knecht either sign up for or find the best prescription drug plan for the next year.

In his case, he hoped he could save some money by comparing available Part D plans, and he did.

"They have basically saved me about $100 a month. $1200 a year. You can't beat that," Knecht said.

He said he saved even more on his wife's plan. He was thankful for the assistance.

"You get so much stuff through the mail, it boggles your mind," Knecht said.

The clinic at Life Senior Services is a place to get un-boggled. For example, some folks have come in asking about the Affordable Care Act.

"This has nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act, because people on Medicare already have insurance," said Cindy Lofton, Life Senior Services' Medicare and Part D expert.

She said the Part D signup or evaluation takes about an hour.

"People really need to review these plans every year," Lofton said.

Here are some astounding numbers: according to Life's own statistics, 63 percent of the folks who came in either enrolled in Part D or switched plans to save money. Real money, too--more than a million bucks collectively--for out-of-pocket costs for prescriptions or for coverage in 2013.

"[I'm] very pleased and happy that I did come and the results were very good," Knecht said.

The open enrollment period for Medicare Part D runs through the first week of December.

Life Senior Services is a non-profit United Way agency.

If you need to enroll or just want help comparing existing plans, call Life Senior Services at 918-664-9000, or visit www.lifeseniorservices.org.