Medicare-focused luncheon held at Howard College

Area Agency on Aging of the Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission brought information to Big Spring seniors

Medicare is a federal health insurance program designed to provide a safety net for Americans 65 or older, or people with disabilities. As people age and become eligible for Medicare benefits, the process for taking advantage of those benefits can often be confusing.

Today, July 16, the Area Agency on Aging of the Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission will present a program entitled “Medicare and You: Understanding Your Medicare Choices.” The program will be held in the Cactus Room at Howard College at noon. Melissa Zenger, an Area Agency on Aging benefits counselor, will present the program.

“We’re going to be doing just a short presentation about Medicare and the different parts of Medicare, and also talking about different things that my particular department helps with,” Zenger said. “Medicare questions, and we also help complete Medicare applications, food stamp applications, and other types of things. So that’s what we’re going to be talking about. Just trying to help the community, Medicare beneficiaries, kind of understand their benefits and see what other assistance is available to them.”

Zenger said that, while the Area Agency on Aging typically offers its services to people age 60 and up, the Medicare informational program is appropriate for anyone that has Medicare.

“I’m the benefits counselor, so the only criteria that someone would need to have in order to get assistance from me is to be a Medicare beneficiary,” Zenger said. “They can be any age, as long as they have Medicare. If someone’s on disability for 24 months, on the 25th month, they’re eligible for Medicare, and that can be any age. Of course, typically we help the elderly. Our services for our entire Area Agency on Aging are for 60 and up.”

The presentation is part of the Health Information, Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP), a partnership of the Area Agency on Aging, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, and the Texas Legal Services Center.

For more information, contact the Area Agency on Aging at 432-563-1061 or email Zenger at mzenger@aaapb.com.