TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

Make Sure You Give To Legitimate Groups

ADVERTISEMENT

By ADON TAFT, Life to the Fullest

Hernando Today

Published: December 30, 2008

Updated: 12/30/2008 05:10 pm

Reader James V. Greco, of Spring Hill, was fearful that I may have left some misconceptions with my answer on enrolling late or dropping out of Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage. The woman was considering dropping her Part D coverage for a couple of years after having been enrolled for two years.

I had explained to her that dropping out and re-enrolling would be similar to enrolling in the program late. There is a monthly penalty of 1 percent of the average monthly premium for all Part D policies for each month that a person is not enrolled when they should have sought coverage.

Since the average premium for 2009 will be around $50 a month, the penalty now would be about $6.50 a month added to the premium of whatever policy the person chooses if he or she did not enroll a year ago if they were eligible to sign up then. It would be the same if they had dropped out for the year after having had coverage the year before. That penalty would continue for the rest of a person's life.

However, Mr. Greco rightly points out that there are people who are over 65 and on Medicare but do not have Part D because they may be on a prescription drug plan provided by a former employer. People in that or similar circumstance may sign up for Part D later at any age without penalty as long as they remain covered until they enroll in the Medicare Part D program.

***

At the end of every year, your mail probably is flooded with requests for money for colleges, hospitals, orphaned children, wounded veterans, police widows, the homeless, churches and every kind of charitable organization you can think of.

But the Florida Department of Veteran Affairs warns that it is important to know if you are giving to a legitimate organization. To help make an informed decision, the department suggests that you check with these resources:

•The Florida Department of State's Division of Corporations displays at its www.sunbiz.org Web site a list of nonprofit and other registered organizations.

•At the http://app1.800helpfla.com/giftgiversguide Web site of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services you will find information on revenue, costs and surpluses and other information on charitable organizations. There also is a consumer hotline at 1-800-435-7352 where similar information is available and complaints can be lodged.

•A national Web site at www.charitynavigator.org hosts information on large charitable organizations that take in at least $500,000 a year and have existed for at least five years.

•The watchdog service, The American Institute of Philanthropy, which keeps an eye on charities, maintains a Web site at www.charitywatch.org.

•You can research organizations purporting to help veterans by logging on to Http://www1.va.gov/vso and using the Directory of Veterans Service Organizations.

***

A little-known action by the Florida Legislature a year ago approving a partnership program for long-term care insurance can be beneficial to both individuals and the state Medicaid program. Dr. Beatrice Braun, a Spring Hill counselor with the state-sponsored SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) program, explains it this way:

Many people now wait to spend down their assets to $2,000, the maximum allowed to qualify for Medicaid to pay for the cost of a stay in a nursing home.

Now say you buy state-approved partnership long-term care insurance that covers the $100,000 a year cost of a stay in a nursing home for up to three years. At the end of three years, your health is still bad and you must remain in the nursing home but you no longer are covered by insurance.

Without a partnership policy, you would have to pay out of pocket for your care until you had only $2,000 in assets before you could apply for Medicaid to pay the nursing home costs.

If you have a partnership policy, you could retain as much as $300,000 (an amount equal to the $100,000 a year your insurance paid and the amount the state saved) in assets that you could pass on to your heirs and still qualify for Medicaid to pay the nursing home costs.

If you have questions about any issues connected with aging, except medical conditions, please write to Life to the Fullest, Hernando Today, 13299 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville, Fla., 34613, or send e-mail to adontaft@yahoo.com. Please include your name and address.

Adon Taft is a resident of Brooksville.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT