Senior Gazette

Spring 2007
by Carol Schmitkons,
Amherst Township Senior Service Director

Home-Delivered Meal Program

Perhaps you don’t find it as easy to get to the grocery store or to cook for yourself as you did when you were younger and had more energy and your health was better.  Why not let us help you out?  Getting a hot meal once a day and having someone check on you to make sure you are OK sure can brighten up those gloomy winter days.  Meal cost is based on your income level, so if you need to stretch your monthly income, this may be a way we can help you.

Help for Grandparents and other Kinship Caregivers

Here are some area support groups for older adults trying to help raise young children:

  • Lorain Public Library, South Branch Kinship Caregivers Support Group located at 2121 Homewood Ave.  The phone number is 277-5672.  They meet the first Tuesday of the month from 11 am to 12:30 pm.
  • Lorain County Office on Aging Kinship Caregivers Support located at 320 N. Gateway Blvd. in Elyria.  The phone number is Elyria 326-4800 or Lorain 244-6261 ext. 4800. Call for times.

Prescription Assistance Programs

If your income is very low and you are not eligible for additional assistance, you may be able to tap into one of the prescription assistance programs to cut your costs further. Here are the phone numbers and web sites for several programs:

ATTSO
OFFICE HOURS
8:00 A.M. – NOON  (M-F)

Medicare Updates

Formulary Lists:

Because there are now 61 plans available under Medicare Part D, it is hard for doctors to be aware of what each plan’s formulary list includes or which plans cover expensive medications during the gap period.  To avoid surprises at the pharmacy, it is wise to start taking your plan’s formulary list with you when you visit the doctor.  This will help them decide which medication in your plan’s formulary works best to control your condition.

New Rule for Life in the Doughnut Hole:

Once you reach the coverage gap in your Medicare prescription drug plan and are paying full price for your medications, only drugs bought from your plan’s in-network pharmacies will now count toward the $3,600 out-of-pocket expense limit needed to get you out of the “doughnut hole”.  Medicare officials say drugs purchased out of network no longer count, an apparent reversal of policy.  Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) says if beneficiaries believe they can get better discounts from other sources than the rates negotiated by the plan, then the beneficiary is responsible for informing their plan of those expenditures so they can be applied to the $3,600 limit.  CMS says this is “implicit” in the definition of a “covered drug” as one listed on a plan’s formulary and bought at an in-network pharmacy.

Life Insurance & Older Seniors

Many older adults with low income lose out on Medicaid benefits because they are still paying on life insurance policies they’ve purchased to cover their funeral expenses.  If you do not want to burden your family with funeral expenses, look into prepaying your funeral using an irrevocable burial contract.  Since you do not have access to this money, Medicaid does not view it as a countable asset.

New E-Mail Address!!: amhersttwpseniors@oh.rr.com

Crime Prevention for the Elderly

Proper lighting is one of the most effective ways to fight burglary.  Criminals like the cover of darkness.  Most outside lighting uses little electricity and can offer the security and peace of mind in knowing your home is a less attractive target to a burglar.

  • Spotlights and floodlights under eaves and around the perimeter of you home as well as on any accessory buildings make great deterrents.
  • Call Ohio Edison’s “Automated Outage Reporting” at 1-888-544-4877 to get broken street lights in the neighborhood repaired.
  • Motion-detection lighting not only makes it easier for you to see your way into the house at night but it also deters night time break-ins.
  • Automatic lighting controls inside the house give it a lived-in look when you’re not at home.  Variable timers are best because they randomly turn lights on and off.

Locks slow down a criminal’s entry into a home.  The longer it takes to break into a home, the greater the risk a burglar takes.

  • Metal doors provide the best security.
  • Lock doors when you leave home and when you’re home alone.  Also if you will be outside away from view of your home for an extended period of time.
  • The best lock is a dead bolt, which sinks deeply into the door frame.  Doors which have glass panels on the sides should use a double cylinder dead bolt, which also needs a key to unlock the door from the inside.
  • Never leave spare door keys in obvious places.  Better to leave one with a friend or neighbor.
  • Never attach an ID tag to your key ring.  If you lost your keys you’d be giving a potential criminal access to your home or apartment.
  • Make double-hung windows with latch-type locks more secure by installing an inexpensive bolt or key locks.
  • Install an inexpensive locking device on sliding patio doors.
  • Draw curtains and blinds at night to keep people from looking inside your home and open them during the day to give your home a lived-in look.
  • Keep basement windows that are not permanently closed, locked and make sure the door from the basement to the main part of the house has the same type of lock as your exterior doors.
  • Garage doors should always be closed and locked and the entrance door from that area should also be treated like an exterior door.

“Neighborhood Watch” is one way older adults who are home most of the time are able to help each other and their working neighbors.  Immediately report any usual activity to the Sheriff’s Department at 329-3710.

AARP Tax Aides Provide Free Tax Preparation

All “Tax-Aide” volunteers are thoroughly trained and certified by the IRS to be experienced in areas of particular importance to older taxpayers, including those governing pensions, IRA’s, and sale of stock and homes.  They are also trained in special state and local return forms that enable low- and moderate-income older people to receive any federal or state refunds due them, including Earned Income Credit.

Between February 1 and April 16, residents in Amherst Township may take advantage of their services at the Amherst Public Library, located at 221 Spring Street in Amherst.  This service is provided on Tuesdays and Thursdays, between 12-noon and 3 pm.  You may call the library at 988-4230 to set up an appointment.  Other sites you may wish to contact are:

Elyria American Red Cross (e-filing site) located at 2929 West River Rd.  Hours are from 9 am to 3 pm on Mondays & Wednesdays and 9 am to noon on Fridays.  Their phone number is 324-2929.

Lorain County Office on Aging located at 320 N. Gateway Blvd. in Elyria.  Hours are from 8:30 am to 2 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Their phone number is 326-4800.

LCCC Learning Center at St Joseph (e-filing site) located at 205 W. 20th St., Suite M590, in Lorain.  Hours are from 9 am to 3 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Their phone number is 233-7240.

“E-filing sites” send in your returns electronically and you will receive your refunds much faster.

LCCC Dental Hygiene Clinic

Services provided are limited to preventative care and are in no way intended to replace comprehensive care provided by your dentist.  Preventive care provided includes: health history; oral cancer screenings; periodontal charting; dental health instructions; cleaning and polishing teeth; necessary x-rays, referred to your dentist upon request; home care kit; fluoride treatment and dental sealants.  The clinic is open year round but hours vary by semester.  For current hours, call toll-free 1-800-995-5222 ext. 4948 or 366-4948.