04 Jan
by Derrick Vander Waal
SIOUX CENTER, IOWA – Health-care and prescription medicine costs are a major concern for senior citizens on fixed incomes.
SIOUX CENTER, IOWA – Health-care and prescription medicine costs are a major concern for senior citizens on fixed incomes.
Promise Community Health Center in Sioux Center can help ease that burden by these means:
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| Promise Community Health Center community care coordinator Jessica Mora can help patients sign up for Medicare, Medicaid and various other programs. Senior citizens receive many benefits from receiving their care at Promise, including not having to pay the Medicare deductible cost and $4 prescription drugs. |
First, seniors have their annual Medicare Part B deductible waived if they get their medical care at a Federally Qualified Health Center such as Promise CHC. Promise offers medical, dental and behavioral health care and will begin offering vision care in early 2016.
The Part B deductible for 2016 is $166. At other health clinics and hospitals, seniors on Medicare are required to pay 100 percent of the deductible amount during the year before paying a 20 percent copay for medical services. When receiving care at Promise, seniors pay just 20 percent for services from the start – with Medicare paying the remaining 80 percent share.
Medicare Part B helps pay for physician services, outpatient hospital care, durable medical equipment, diagnostic tests, and many other health services and supplies.
Second, seniors on Medicare also might qualify for a sliding fee discount from Promise on charges for services if they are eligible under income guidelines. That will help them with their 20 percent copay cost. They also might be able to qualify for and enroll in Medicaid, the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program and other programs based on their income with the assistance of Promise’s outreach staff. QMB covers Medicare Part A and B premiums, deductibles, coinsurance and copayment costs.
Third, Promise has a selection of prescription medications available for seniors and other patients to purchase for only $4 each because of its participation in the Iowa Prescription Drug Donation Repository Program.
Finally, Promise’s community care coordinators, Jessica Mora and Fatima Arteaga, will meet personally with seniors to help them understand their options. They can help patients determine if they qualify for Medicare, QMB, Promise’s sliding fee discount scale and other programs in addition to Medicare and will help them sign up for those programs. The outreach staff staff also can arrange rides for patients if needed and provide interpretation services.
To learn more about these services, call Promise at 712-722-1700 or visit www.promisechc.org.
Promise Community Health Center, headquartered in Sioux Center, is the only Federally Qualified Health Center in the far northwest corner of Iowa. Promise provides medical, dental, prenatal and behavioral health care. To learn more, visit www.promisechc.org.
PRESCRIPTION DRUGS:
Promise Community Health Center has many prescription drugs that benefit senior citizens available for $4 each because of its participation in the Iowa Prescription Drug Donation Repository Program.
Here are a few of the many examples:
- Simvastatin,
- Lipitor,
- Ranitidine,
- Various antibiotics.