Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Oklahoma City – Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak said this afternoon that in an eleventh-hour move to help Medicare partners assist more seniors, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) earlier today to extend open enrollment to Dec. 10 for Medicare-eligible consumers who call for help by midnight tonight.
Doak decided the Oklahoma Insurance Department’s Senior Health Insurance Counseling Program’s phone lines at (800) 763-2828 will be staffed until midnight. Seniors are urged to leave a message to be helped by the end of the week if they don’t reach a live operator.
“Oklahoma’s seniors who haven’t yet sought help choosing their 2012 plans are being given a few extra hours to seek that aid and a few extra days to complete enrollment,” Doak said. “This is a golden opportunity for seniors who have waited until the last minute to make their Medicare coverage choices for next year. The Oklahoma Insurance Department’s Senior Health Insurance Counseling Program has saved a number of Oklahoma consumers thousands of dollars per household by helping them make the right Medicare choices for 2012.”
Today was the official closing date for an open enrollment period that began Oct. 15. During open enrollment, Medicare-eligible consumers can sign up for coverage and Medicare recipients can elect to change their options for the coming year.
CMS issued a bulletin this morning to partner organizations – such as the Oklahoma Insurance Department’s Senior Health Insurance Counseling Program (SHIP) and local agencies on aging, which counsel Medicare recipients and assist in their enrollment – stating that any consumer who asks for help by midnight can have through Dec. 10 to finalize enrolling. The bulletin said CMS wants “to ensure that everyone in your queue for assistance as of the official end of the Open Enrollment Period (midnight Dec. 7) gets your help with enrollment.”
Ray Walker, director of the SHIP department and Senior Medicare Patrol at the Oklahoma Insurance Department, urged Medicare-eligible Oklahomans who haven’t already received help enrolling for 2012 to call (800) 763-2828 before midnight and leave a message if operators are busy.
While CMS is allowing agencies to assist last-minute Medicare enrollees through Saturday (Dec. 10), Walker pledged that OID will help everyone on its call-back list by the close of business Friday.
“If we’re busy with other callers, leave a message,” Walker stressed. “Any Medicare-eligible consumer who contacts us by midnight to at least leave their name, number and a request for assistance will receive a call-back with that assistance over the next two days. If you’re curious or confused by your Medicare options and need help, even if its 11:59 p.m., make that call.”
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About the Oklahoma Insurance Department
The Oklahoma Insurance Department, an agency of the State of Oklahoma, is responsible for the education and protection of the insurance-buying public and for oversight of the insurance industry in the state.
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