National Medicare Education Week Kicks Off September 15th

Confused about Medicare? You're not alone. A recent study shows a majority of the people who'll be signing up for Medicare are completely confused about the options. That's the purpose of National Medicare Education Week, which starts Monday September 15th and is held a month prior to the Medicare Open Enrollment.

Debra Kaplan Lewis, Regional V.P. for Medicare for United Healthcare in New Jersey, said their recent survey shows that of the 52 million people enrolled in Medicare, only 1 and 5 Medicare beneficiaries really understand Medicare. She said most describe Medicare as being really confusing. Kaplan said the reason for that is because of all of the Medicare plan options that are available.

"They can remain in original Medicare and elect to enroll in a Medicare supplement and Part-D, or they can elect to enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan," explains Kaplan Lewis. "Across of the different options there are different cost, there may be premiums, there may be co-pays, is that going to meet the individuals budget? If the plan has a network, are the doctors that are critically important to them a part of that network? If they're on medication, does the plan that they're looking to enroll in cover the drugs that they depend on?"

To help clear up these questions there are a number of workshops being held next with and two of them are in Toms River.

There's a workshop taking place Monday, September 15th at Community Medical Center at 1 pm and another workshop taking place at the Toms River Branch of the Ocean County Library, which starts at 2 pm. You can register for either of these workshops by calling 877-228-4557.

Kaplin Lewis said their www.nmew.com website also helps to clear up Medicare questions and provides workshop details.

Figures show that an estimated 10,000 Baby Boomers are aging into Medicare daily. The Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15th to December 7th this year.