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Natural Awakenings Westchester / Putnam / Dutchess New York

‘Demystifying Medicare,’ a Soup-to-Nuts Library Workshop, is Now Available Online

Jun 29, 2020 01:32PM ● By Marilee Burrell

Westchester Seniors Out Speaking (WSOS), a Westchester Library System group dedicated to helping people understand Medicare, has made a user-friendly online version of its free, neutral, “soup-to-nuts” presentation, Demystifying Medicare. The audio, featuring presenter Julie Woodward, is posted on the library website.

 “Governments don’t provide this kind of comprehensive, yet upbeat, information,” Woodward says. “People only get a smidgen of information, not the whole picture. You can’t make the right choices without knowing all the options.”

Because coronavirus forced libraries and community centers to cancel their events this spring, Woodward’s light-hearted, interactive live workshops, Demystifying Medicare, have also been postponed. She typically hosts 15 to 20 of them in libraries across Westchester County every fall and spring.

“I’ve made an online version now—not Zoom and not PowerPoint, neither of which is very user-friendly for seniors,” she says. The audio file allows listeners to absorb chapters at their own pace and refer to downloadable handouts that are used in the live presentations.

Demystifying Medicare is designed for anyone enrolled in Medicare, about to turn 65, or helping a senior with medical decisions and paperwork. Topics include original Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans, prescription drug plans, Medigaps (supplemental plans), EPIC and cost-saving programs for people with limited resources.

Usually the 80 volunteers in WSOS work year-round in other ways to help people with Medicare. They have been trained by the Medicare Rights Center in New York City, an advocacy group not affiliated with the insurance companies or Medicare.

For free individual counseling, contact the WSOS hotline at 914.231.3260 or [email protected]. To listen to Demystifying Medicare, visit Wikis.WestchesterLibraries.org/sbic/demystifying-medicare/.