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NY Connects Aims To Offer The Right Kind Help

Finding the right kind of help can be a difficult task. Each situation is different with unique individuals, supports, and needs. NY Connects is your trusted place to go for free, unbiased information and assistance. We can help you link to long term services and supports, such as home care, health insurance needs, transportation options, nutrition supports and many more topics that you may be needing help with. We work closely with many organizations to connect you with the right supports: mental health, the independent living center, Medicaid and more. Our goal is to help ...

Patience Needed With The Vaccine Roll Out

Wow! It has been almost a year since we shut down the county due to COVID-19. While we have made a lot of progress toward safely moving around and doing business, there is still a lot to do. We have many more months ahead of us of sanitizing, masking and social distancing even with vaccines beginning to roll out. Getting the COVID-19 vaccine it not a ticket to stop these precautions as we still are unclear if vaccinated people can carry the virus and infect others. So please wear your mask, wash your hands, and keep socially distant whenever possible. As far as the vaccine roll ...

Medicare Coordinates Benefits With Your Employer Coverage

If you are 65 + (or turning 65 soon) and will have both Medicare and Employer Coverage too because you are still actively working, you have a number of things to think through. You likely have options to keep your employer insurance and Medicare will coordinate with that coverage. You’ll also want to compare the cost of that employer coverage against what it would cost you to roll over to Medicare as your primary insurance. Doing your research will help you decide on which coverage option is most cost-effective. It can also help you avoid any Medicare late enrollment penalties ...

When Will My New Insurance For 2021 Begin?

Question: When will my new insurance for 2021 begin? Answer: During open enrollment many people evaluate their insurance coverage and make a change to a better plan for their needs in the coming year. Once this has been done, the first thing that usually happens is you receive a welcome letter from the new plan. If you received that welcome letter, you are all set. The new company received your enrollment and the rest of your material is on its way. The next item you will receive is a packet with your material, the evidence of coverage, and summary of benefits. Your ID card is ...

Why Is Pricing Marked N/A On The 2021 Drug Plans?

Question: Why does the medicare.gov website show n/a for pricing of 2021 prescription drug plans No. 1 and No. 2? Answer: Medicare’s Annual Open Enrollment is until Dec.7 and using the medicare.gov website is always an interesting time for us and all those with Medicare. This year enrollment began on Oct. 15 and the website was live, there were two insurance companies, ExpressScripts and Cigna plan pricing details indicated N/A. When reaching out to find out why, I was informed that the computer programing for these two companies was listing inaccurate pricing, so both were taken ...

New Medicare Model Offers Savings On Insulin Prescription

Question: How may insulin be less expensive in 2021? Answer: Insulin has been very expensive for a number of years. I have seen many Medicare eligible people spend thousands of dollars each year to pay for their insulin. This year the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has developed a new Model, the Part D Senior Savings Model, so 2021 will be different. This model provides an opportunity for insurance companies to offer a significant savings to their enrollees on the types of insulin the insurance company includes on their formulary. The participating plans will offer ...