Town hall: Medicare and COVID-19 – what’s new?

Just as other businesses and agencies have had to adjust to COVID-19, Medicare has changed some rules to adapt.

Access to covered care has been expanded during the pandemic. For details, listen to this discussion with long-time Medicare specialists on how things are being done now, and get an update on newly covered services.
The discussion on Thursday, June 25 was with:

• Jeanné Larson: Lead Medicare Counselor and Subject Matter Expert for the Medicare Information Office, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services' Division of Seniors and Disabilities Services.

• Judith Bendersky, MPH Gerontologist, Certified Resource Specialist in Aging/Disabilities: Field Supervisor/Health Insurance Advisor II, Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors, Washington State Office of the Insurance Commission; former head of the Alaska Medicare Information Office.

You can find the discussion on facebook.com/AARPAK; it will also be archived at
vekeo.com/AARPAlaska.

We asked two poll questions:
1) Did you know before the call that Medicare covered telehealth? 88% of respondents did know; 12 did not.

2) Have you had a phone or video call with your health care provider? 42% said yes, 58% said no.

Resources mentioned during the call include:

Alaska's Medicare Information Office, where Jeanne Larson works: 1-800-478-6065 statewide in Alaska, or in Anchorage, 907-269-3680. The website is medicare.alaska.gov.

For general help in Alaska, call 2-1-1 (1-800-478-2221) from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, or visit alaska211.org anytime.

Judith Bendersky is with the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner, 1-360-250-6932. Her email is judithb@oic.wa.gov; the website is insurance.wa.gov.

For more Covid-19 related information, visit aarp.org/coronavirus.