Elderly parents need help in Manchester, TN (low income, insurance)

[ldohve]

Hi

We just moved from La Crosse Wisconsin to Manchester a few days ago. My mom has many medical conditions that warrant frequent trips to the doctor. They are on a fixed income consisting of Social Security checks (not a lot). In La Crosse my mom received assistance from Medicare/Medicaid and the county. A couple of her medications are really expensive and Medicare/Medicaid does not cover it therefore the county was picking up the cost. We are trying to assist them as much as we can, but now a days money does not go very far. My Dad spoke to somebody through the Health Department, but she did not think my Mom would qualify for anything but the Medicare/Medicaid. Does anybody have any suggestion or any names of people we could contact? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
ldohve

[soulful]

Is your mom signed up for Medicare Part D? This is an optional supplement that covers many drugs. Go to medicare.gov and check out options for signing her up for Part D (maybe she already is).

Perhaps her doctor could change her medication to another similar drug that is on the Part D drug list of the insurance company that your Mom belongs to (with part D you join an outside insurance company and some choose an overall Advantage plan that covers doctors visits and drugs as opposed to using the "original" medicare in conjunction with a separate part D insurance plan for the medication. Usually they cover at least a couple of drugs in each category.

Why don't you contact the state of TN re. Medicaid also. In TN Medicaid is called TennCare and the website is: http://www.tn.gov/tenncare/index.html

About 3/4 down the homepage of tenncare you will see "eligibility" and who qualifies. Here is a link directly to that section: http://www.tn.gov/tenncare/mem-categories.html
Please note there are some categories listed for "people already receiving medicare" who are low income or have other qualifications and this special assistance is not part of TennCare and must be signed up for separately as you will see from the links.

Even is they don't qualify, you could call them and ask if they have the name of any other drug assistance programs in TN.

p.s. Many of the pharma companies offer their own drug assistance programs. Find out the name of the company that makes the non-generic version of the medications and check online (i say that because most of the companies that make the generics don't seem to have such programs; or at least not as frequently).