Our Care Team is new. In late 2017, members at a support group meeting were discussing ways to help other members through times of change, crises, questioning, or serious illness. What follows is a brief outline of what we currently offer. We're open to suggestions for more services, as well as for more folks to join the team. You must have attended a NorCal CarciNet support group meeting in order to be able to access the Care Team by email, through which all services and discussions are accessed.

• Careteam
• support

MEDICARE OPEN ENROLLMENT 2018 BEGINS OCTOBER 15, 2017

Please note that Medicare 2018 open enrollment is October 15, 2017 - December 7, 2017.

On November 16, NorCal CarciNET Community hosted a webinar to help NET Patients around the country better understand the process for selecting PART D Medicare Coverage. 

We were pleased to have Ann Kayrish from the National Council on Aging (NCOA) as our guest. Ann recently joined NCOA as a Senior Program Manager, for Medicare. Click here for the slide deck used in the video

Educational support for our webinar was provided by Lexicon

By now you may have received your copy of “Medicare &You 2018” from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services. This is a manual containing information regarding Medicare coverage choices, things to consider when choosing Medicare, and important enrollment information. At the very end of the manual, you will find information specific to Medicare plans in your geography.

“Medicare&You 2018” Handbook

(This is a general version and will not have plans specific to your area)

Another resource is the online Medicare tool, www.medicare.gov
Below are general descriptions only of the search tool.

If you are looking for more information or to compare Medicare Plans, please go to
www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan. You are able to do a General Search or a Personalized Search.

If you perform a Personalized Search, you will need to have your Medicare number, your birthdate, and input the zip code that Medicare has on record for you. If you also are comparing Part D plans, have a list of your drugs, exact name, dose, and quantity.

At the bottom of either the General Search or the Personalized Search, click Find Plans. Answer the following questions as appropriate and click on Continue to Plan Results. From here, you will need to enter your drugs exactly. After your drug list is complete, you will need to select a pharmacy. Once you choose a pharmacy, you will click on Continue to Plan Results.

From here, you can refine your plan results such as click on Prescription Drug Plans (with Original Medicare) or click on Medicare Plans with drug coverage. Now click on Continue to Plan Results. You will be able to see a list of available options and be able to sort results. If you are doing a Personalized Search, your plan will appear above the results.

Thanks to Lexicon for helping to pull together this information as excerpted from Medicare .gov and Medicare & You 2018

• Resource
• Medicare