Indy Christian .com -- Daily Internet Starting-line

OFBCI... Simple, Honest Help for Seniors

Tom Walker, Indiana National Day of Prayer



As a member of the Council of Advisors for the Governor's Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI), I wanted the pastors, the congregations of Indiana and particularly the senior population to be aware of opportunity described in the letter below written by John F. Rentsch who is the VISTA Faith-Based Program Assistant for the OFBCI....


Dear Friends:
Greetings from the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives! We hope that 2005 ended well for you all and that 2006 is off to a great start. I wanted to write you all today to inform you about an opportunity for congregations and other faith-based organizations in the Central Indiana area to provide a service for Medicare beneficiaries in their respective communities.
Governor Daniels and the State of Indiana understand the plight of Medicare beneficiaries who are trying to make a decision regarding the new prescription drug benefit, Medicare Part D. With 43 different plans in the State and every insurance company trying to sell their own plans, it is difficult to make a decision. For this reason, the Governor and several state agencies have launched the “Simple, Honest Help” campaign, so called because we are representatives from the State of Indiana and, unlike the insurance companies, we’re not trying to sell our product. We have been all over the State giving presentations about the new benefit, answering questions, and helping Medicare beneficiaries to enroll in a plan if they want to.
The Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) has taken on the task of coordinating Medicare Part D presentations that take place in congregations and other faith-based organizations throughout the State. If you are interested in having a presentation at your organization, here is what we can offer:
1) A presenter will come out to your site to give an overview of Medicare Part D, and will bring along educational materials for the audience. Allowing time for some basic questions, these presentations usually run about an hour.
2) At a later date a team of at least four trained “My Medicare Matters (MMM)” volunteers will come out to your site with laptops (with wireless, high-speed Internet access), printers, and other information, and will meet with each person individually to discuss their options, to decide which plan might work best for them (if any), and to enroll them for that plan on site if they so choose. Your site DOES NOT have to have internet access.
The initial presentations can be scheduled at any time, barring unexpected time commitments on the part of OFBCI Staff. The optimal time will be during a normally-scheduled event at your organization, such as a senior group meeting. However, the team of MMM enrollment volunteers can only be scheduled on certain dates, and require a four-hour time frame. From February until May, they will be available every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and can travel to Marion or any of the surrounding counties. There are also several dates available in January, which are filling up quickly. We are asking for a minimum audience of 15-20 Medicare beneficiaries to be present at the presentation. We encourage organizations who cannot meet this minimum to cooperate with other organizations in their area, so that we can reach as many of our Medicare beneficiaries as possible. Organizations who expect more than 50 in their audience should let us know of that as well, so that we can plan on extra staff assistance and extra educational materials.
I know that Medicare beneficiaries are being bombarded with mail, advertisements, and pressure from insurance companies to enroll in their plans. The State of Indiana is concerned that they make educated, pressure-free decisions with regard to this new benefit. If you are interested in having a Presentation/Enrollment Event at your organization, please contact me using any of the means listed below.
“Simple, Honest Help” is a collaboration of several agencies: OFBCI, Social Security Administration, Senior Health Insurance Information Program, Family and Social Services Administration, and others. Please click the links to be taken to each agency’s websites containing Medicare Part D information.
Best regards,
John F. Rentsch
VISTA Faith-Based Program Assistant Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatiaves 302 West Washington Street, Room E012 Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 T: (317) 234-4032 F: (317) 233-5660 E: jrentsch@ofbci.IN.gov

posted by Rev. Thomas Walker @ 2:36 PM