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Guest Column by Deb Taylor
The nonprofit organization I lead, Senior Community Services, recently heard from a client who found her stress growing after a hospital stay. Amy, 78, started receiving bills for the medical expenses not covered by her Medicare plan.
The debt totaled thousands of dollars, a worrisome amount for Amy who lives modestly on a fixed income. Then, the collection calls came. Amy, who has always paid her bills on time, felt burdened by the stress of having such a debt hanging over her head.
Amy’s daughter soon discovered Senior Partners Care a statewide program of Senior Community Services, which enables qualifying Minnesota seniors to get help bridging the burdensome financial gap between their medical bills and the partial amount covered by Medicare.
Amy had thousands of dollars in medical debt forgiven by the hospital. For her, this program has been a godsend.
My organization, Minnetonka-based Senior Community Services, has partnered with hundreds of hospitals, clinics and providers statewide. These healthcare providers have agreed to consider waiving all or part of the healthcare debt owed by qualifying seniors.
Approximately one in five Minnesota seniors live in or near poverty. Most are on fixed incomes and spiraling medical costs can quickly become a major life stressor. The Senior Partners Care program is a great opportunity unknown to many low-income seniors.
Who’s eligible for Senior Partners Care? The decision to waive a Medicare deductible, coinsurance or copayment owed by a Minnesota senior is made based on a determination of the senior’s financial needs. To qualify for Senior Partners Care, Minnesota seniors must receive care by participating medical providers, must have Medicare A & B, meet income and asset thresholds, and submit an application and a modest annual fee.
To speak with a staff member about Senior Partners Care, and for more information on the constellation of other services for seniors and caregivers, visit seniorcommunity.org or call toll-free 1-888-541-5488 or 952-767-0665.
Senior Partners Care is one of many services designed to help low-income seniors live independently in their own home for as long as possible, a much preferred option than a more costly senior care facility.
There are tens of thousands of older adults across the suburban metro area teetering on that fine line between living independently at home and moving to a senior care facility. Most seniors prefer to age in place at home. Our goal at Senior Community Services is to support their independence as long as possible with services that make life manageable.
This may involve assisting them with household duties they can no longer manage alone, helping ease their isolation and loneliness at our senior centers, helping them navigate the seemingly endless depths of complex health care options (and saving them money) and providing care coordination help for caregivers.
As a caring community, we have an obligation to assist seniors, the generation that has made us better. Think back for a moment. When we were kids, the adults in our lives carted us around town with our bikes and skateboards. It wasn’t always convenient, but they did it out of love.
Now, its our turn to assist a generation of older adults, to make our community as welcoming and friendly to walkers and wheelchairs as it is to bikes, scooters and rollerblades. Seniors deserve all the help we can provide to ensure they live vital, engaging lives.
