The Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups (CWAG) Milwaukee office is now recruiting and training volunteers to help seniors with Medicare benefits. If you’re interested in participating, or know someone who is, please get in touch with me at 414-267- 7556, or 800-366-2990 ext 347.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), there are many more people in the Milwaukee area who are eligible for programs to help with their Medicare costs than actually enrolled in those programs. As part of efforts to reach these people, the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) is recruiting volunteers to help with outreach and one-on-one assistance. We think this program is especially important right now, because of the possible changes in benefit programs and the need to put seniors in a position to get up-to-date information as those changes unfold.
We’ll hold two training sessions – Lunch Provided!
April 5 at the Washington Park Senior Center
April 12 at the West Allis Senior Center
The two programs cover the same material and both will run from 10 to 3, with lunch provided. Participants will get an overview of Medicare A, B, C, and D, and Medicaid, and then learn about programs like QMB (which can help pay for Medicare deductibles and Part B premiums) and LIS (which can help with part D costs).
If time permits, there may also be hands-on work with computer programs like Planfinder, which helps beneficiaries select the right Part D plan for them, and Access, through which beneficiaries can apply for programs like Medicaid and Foodshare.
Some people are already quite knowledgeable about Medicare, either because they’ve been through other trainings-like SMP or Senior Ambassador-or because they’ve made a hobby of keeping up with it. For those people, this will be an update, a refresher course, and a chance to meet other people and find new opportunities to put their knowledge to use. Others are recently retired, or having to take on the Medicare issues of relatives, or are hearing about Medicare on the news and are baffled. For them, this will be a chance to make some sense of all the acronyms and jargon, clear away the fog and find out what resources are out there.
Although the emphasis is on recruiting volunteers, people who simply want to learn about Medicare in order to help their own family members, or themselves, are also welcome. If you’re interested but can’t make the dates and times for the trainings, get in touch. We can set up additional training sessions if people want them.
Brooke Barker
Milwaukee Volunteer Benefits Coordinator
2819 W. Highland Blvd.
Milwaukee, WI 53208-3217
414-267-7556
