Medicare's open enrollment for 2025 benefits runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. Help with the sometimes-complicated process is available in Oregon for no charge.
The Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance program, known as SHIBA, provides free assistance. Counselors are trained to help senior citizens navigate Medicare's maze of choices to help ensure they are making the best choices for their individual circumstances.
Before you start
There are a few essentials you should gather before seeking help:
There is a lot of information online. Visit Medicare.gov and its comparison tool, medicare.gov/plan-compare. The tool allows you to compare costs for a wide range of health services across multiple drug and Medicare Advantage plans available in your area. It also has ratings on each plan's performance and quality. Most important, it allows you to enter your prescription drugs to find out which plans cover them and at what cost.
Medicare expanded its Medigap search engine tool to include cost ranges depending on age, gender and smoking status. Access it via bit.ly/MedigapPlanSearch.
Check Medicare Rights Center's Medicare Interactive site (Medicareinteractive.org) to help you find answers about Medicare benefits.
Read our past coverage (search.oregonlive.com/medicare) on picking a Medicare plan.
For Social Security, call 800-772-1213 (available 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday). To find a local field office, visit ssa.gov/locator for Medicare Part A and Part B questions.
Call 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227) with Part D (drug plan) questions.
Call the nonprofit Medicare Rights Center's national helpline at 800-333-4114, Monday through Friday.
Call 503-988-3646 and press option 3 to schedule an appointment. Virtual appointments are available with counselors, with limited in-person consultations. Residents who live in zip codes near the sites will receive postcard reminders, said John Henry Crippen, Multnomah County SHIBA program supervisor. Appointments should be scheduled in advance, however, he said.
In-person counseling, all by appointment only:
Counselors from the Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance (SHIBA) program can answer questions by phone 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Some are also scheduling virtual conferences. Call 800-722-4134 (toll free) to schedule a consultation or visit shiba.oregon.gov.
Check the website for online presentations coming up. For in-person, don't delay -- appointments book quickly.
Health insurance brokers are often knowledgeable about choices and can help you choose and purchase a plan. It's probably best to deal with licensed independent brokers. They cover plans from several different insurance companies, receive training each year on the plans and are overseen by state and federal regulators. Consumers don't pay directly for this help. Instead, brokers earn sales commissions directly from the plans. You can search for local Medicare brokers in your community at OregonHealthCare.gov's website: bit.ly/ORAgentSearch. Be sure to scroll down the page to "Find Local Help" and select "Medicare Agents" when you search.
Check an agent's license online at bit.ly/or_broker_licenses or call the Oregon Insurance Commissioner's Consumer Advocacy Unit at 1-888-877-4894.
Insurance carrier websites and customer-service phone lines can be good places to verify coverage details, but only for their plans. Find that information in our Advantage Plan and Part D charts in this publication.