Looking for a challenging volunteer opportunity that will bring smiles to faces? The Michigan Medicare Assistance Program, part of AgeWays Nonprofit Senior Services, is looking for people who would like to help Medicare beneficiaries navigate their benefits — and ideally save money. An informational webinar is set for 1 p.m.
Wednesday, July 24, by Zoom. “Our volunteers really help beneficiaries understand Medicare. Beneficiaries feel much more confident about their Medicare choices, and they’re thrilled when we can save them money.
In fact, last year, we helped Medicare beneficiaries save over $1.5 million dollars in our region alone,’’ says Shari Smith, manager of MMAP. George Wojdacki of Clinton Township became a MMAP counselor 11 years ago after his doctor mentioned that he might be good at it.
Wojdacki had been a pharmaceutical drug rep and so it seemed like a logical step to take in post-retirement. It was. He loves meeting with people, doing presentations in the community, and seeing clients leave happy.
That last part? It’s the best. Wojdacki remembers a couple he helped sign up for supplemental drug coverage giving him a gift, which he refused. But it just sat there, in a bag, on his desk.
The man finally asked him if he was curious about what was inside. Wojdacki was, so he opened it and saw a bottle of single malt scotch. “I didn’t take it, but I told the guy it was killing me,” he says, adding that it’s part of what makes MMAP counseling so fun — he makes people happy.
MMAP offers unbiased counseling free of charge. Counselors are not connected to insurance brokers, so there’s no incentive to steer people into one plan or another. Counselors help clients figure out what works best for their medical needs and their wallets.
They work year-round by phone or in person, typically at a public library or senior center. Initial training totals about seven hours. Peggy Kahn of Ann Arbor trained as a MMAP counselor a few years ago, after retiring as a professor at UM-Flint.
She had taught political science and other subjects, including health policy. When she began working as a counselor, what was mostly abstract became very real. “It brought me to a level of practical detail I didn’t have command of before,” Kahn says.
“My interest is in how real human beings interact with social policy, and I’m still doing it from the bottom up, helping people.” Kahn says that being a MMAP counselor has helped shape her retirement, and it’s kind of nice to help people in such a direct way. “I have never been the recipient of so much appreciation.
People are so lost and confused. It’s an important thing they need help with. And they’re mature adults who know how to be grateful,” she says.
Kahn says that MMAP counseling is frustrating and rewarding, with the first emotion stemming from the complexity of the program and the second from dealing with people who need help. “You’re helping them navigate a problematic system. You can help them sign up for the best plan,” she says.
Both Wojdacki and Kahn put in as many hours as they want, sometimes in person, often by phone. Sue Young, a retired bank manager who lives in Warren, trained as a MMAP counselor 12 years ago. She says it took time to learn Medicare, but she didn’t find it difficult.
Plus, any questions she has she can look up on a database that is available to counselors or ask a team leader. “Even after 12 years, I still have to look things up. Throughout the year, you have situations you haven’t come across in a while, but you’re never alone.
There’s a lot of backup for you whenever you need it,” Young says. She says she puts in most hours — about 30 — during open enrollment, a seven-week period at the end of the year when Medicare recipients may change their drug plans. Young counsels clients by phone and typically at the Pittsfield Senior Center or local library.
“I’m almost in complete control of my schedule,” she says. For Young, letting people know that MMAP is available is a priority. She has seen people get burned because they didn’t know enough about Medicare.
“One of the things that really got me is there are people who never signed up for Part B because they couldn’t afford it. Then they get hit with a lifelong penalty, so as a counselor, getting the word out is important to me,” she says. (Part A and Part B are collectively known as Original Medicare.
Part B comes with a premium that is deducted from a person’s Social Security check.) If helping older adults avoid pitfalls like Medicare penalties sounds gratifying, visit tinyurl.com/agewaysmmap for the webinar or call 248-602-1879.
This content is provided by AgeWays Nonprofit Senior Services (the new name for the Area Agency on Aging 1-B), a nonprofit that serves older adults and family caregivers in Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair and Washtenaw counties. We provide services, programs and resources that are designed to help seniors age safely and independently.
Call us at 800-852-7795 to get connected..
