Senior

N ews

Greetings from Roosevelt County Aging Services. We’d like to let everyone know that we are still doing our congregate meals as take-out meals. Continue to call your senior center ahead of time to reserve a lunch. However, while the senior center building in Wolf Point remains locked, the Roosevelt County Aging Services offices are open, and we’d like to reach out to those who are turning 65 this year with a reminder about your Initial Enrollment Period into Medicare.

If you do not currently have current qualifying employer coverage, you have a seven-month IEP. This starts three months prior to your birthday month, the month of your birthday and three months after your birthday month. The point at which you sign up during this time frame determines when your coverage will start, so, generally, the sooner you sign up the better.

After you are enrolled in Original Medicare, you are also encouraged to enroll in a Part D prescription drug plan, and a Medigap Plan (supplement). These plans also have time sensitive enrollment periods.

You do have the choice of delaying your enrollment into Medicare without penalty if you currently have qualifying employer coverage. However, it all depends on your employer’s health plan, so if you are considering delaying enrollment, it is imperative you talk with your employer about how Medicare works with your current coverage.

For those who are computer savvy or want to research on your own, you can go to Medicare.gov or ssa.gov for information and enrollment.

We do understand that Medicare can be a bit daunting, and all your questions and concerns are important to us. We are happy to assist you with enrolling in Medicare and/or Social Security. Call 406-653-6221 or 406-653-6299 to schedule an appointment. Our office is open Monday through Friday (with the exception of legal holidays) 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.