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Senior PHARMAssist promotes healthier living for Durham seniors by helping them obtain and better manage needed medications and by providing health education, community referral, and advocacy.
Latest news and announcements
Making sense of the Medicare alphabet soup
On July 17, 2007, The News & Observer published a guest column written by Senior PHARMAssist Executive Director Gina Upchurch that shed light on the problems many have encountered with Medicare Advantage plans. “The ABCs (and D) of Medicare confusion” also addressed the general complexity of drug benefits and the need, in our opinion, to standardize Medicare drug plan options. If you missed Gina’s column the first time, please click here to read it now.
Senior PHARMAssist expands to help “younger” Durham seniors
There’s good news for those “a few years shy of 65″ in Durham County. Senior PHARMAssist has lowered its age requirement for direct financial assistance for medications from 65 to 60 years or older. To qualify for this benefit participants must be Durham County residents and have monthly incomes at or below $1,733 (individual) or $2,333 (couple).
Individuals who have Medicare-approved drug plans, including Medicare Advantage plans, and do not qualify for the government’s full low-income subsidy can receive our supplemental coverage to their Part D benefit. Those 60 or older who have no prescription drug coverage can obtain primary coverage for their needed medicines. The program covers medications on a geriatric formulary, with participants paying no more than $3 for generics and $6 for brand-name medicines. All participants also qualify for free medication therapy management, tailored health education, and community referral.
Senior PHARMAssist will help any Medicare beneficiary in Durham County, regardless of income or age, understand and maximize his or her Part D drug benefits, at no charge. There’s other good news that seniors should be aware of:
NCRx - the state’s assistance program that helps seniors with limited incomes pay their Medicare Part D premiums - has extended its enrollment deadline indefinitely and increased its maximum assistance to $29/month. To learn more about this resource, click here to link to the NCRx Web site. And please note: If you’re a senior 65 or older who resides in Durham County and are eligible for NCRx, you automatically qualify for Senior PHARMAssist’s financial assistance as well.
While the open enrollment period for Medicare drug benefits for 2008 is long past, there are still some individuals who are eligible to sign up for Medicare drug coverage or change plans between now and the next enrollment period (Nov. 15 - Dec. 31, 2008). Indeed, one of the benefits of enrolling in NCRx is that you can switch your Medicare drug coverage ONCE during 2008 (outside of the open enrollment period) if your current plan is not meeting your medication needs. Senior PHARMAssist’s staff is eager to help Durham seniors throughout the year maximize medication benefits and enhance their well-being.
If you think you may be eligible for our program’s financial assistance, other services, or simply have questions about your medications, please call us at (919) 688-4772 to schedule an appointment or obtain more information.
Links to important formulary information
Prescribers, community pharmacists, and Medicare beneficiaries can learn what medications are covered by Medicare-approved drug plans by visiting our Medicare Rx News page. Just go to the bottom of the page and click on the links provided. You can see what medicines are covered by Senior PHARMAssist by checking out our Program page and looking under the section Senior PHARMAssist responds.
Governor unveils wraparound plan to help seniors
As noted above, the state is now helping seniors with limited incomes pay their monthly premiums for Medicare-approved drug coverage. This initiative, known as NCRx, will pay up to $29 toward monthly premiums for participating Medicare Prescription Drug Plans. And as already mentioned, the application deadline for NCRx HAS BEEN extended; however, if you think you may be eligible, don’t delay! To learn more, click here to visit the NCRx Web site or call Senior PHARMAssist at 688-4772.
Coalition encourages state to complement Medicare drug benefit
An alliance of statewide organizations and community-based agencies, including Senior PHARMAssist, has been recommending that our state directly help those who are struggling to afford Medicare’s prescription drug benefit. You can learn more about the efforts of “Advocates for a North Carolina Prescription Drug Assistance Program” by clicking here to read the group’s Basic Tenets for Designing a Statewide Program to Complement Medicare Drug Benefits.
Program evaluation validates design
A report on the positive health outcomes of Senior PHARMAssist participants was published in February 2006 in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. These findings demonstrated that after 24 months in our program, the rate of participants reporting any hospitalizations decreased by 51%, and the rate of participants reporting any emergency department visits declined by 27%. We’re excited to know that our interventions are creating sustainable results that improve the health of seniors enrolled in our program and also reduce overall healthcare spending.
Volunteer Opening
Our program is currently looking for a new Web master. Requirements include: proven skills in basic Web design (beyond Microsoft FrontPage) plus familiarity with WordPress. PHP expertise a plus! This volunteer position entails a time commitment of 4 to 6 hours per month. Please call Development & Communications Director Joe Daly (956-5812) for more information.
