Connie McQuarrie discusses SCSEP-Senior Community Service Employment Program (Oct, 2022)

Kitty Glomski discusses the importance of evaluating your Medicare Part D or Advantage plan during Open Enrollment starting October 15 and extending through December 7.  She also discusses how the Medicare Medicaid Assistance Program network of MMAP counselors can help and are available through local Councils/Commissions on Aging.

Connie McQuarrie discusses the Senior Community Service Employment Program for older adults that are seeking on-the-job experience.   Participants must be age 55 or older, unemployed, and with annual income under 125% of the FPL -- host agencies for SCSEP workers are welcome to inquire. 

Transcript

Kitty Glomski: 0:08

Good morning. This is Kitty Glomski along with

Brooke: 0:10

my cohost Brooke Mainville

Kitty Glomski: 0:12

from Region 9 Area Agency and Aging and another episode of Let's Talk About Aging. This is Kitty Glomski. October 15th through December 7th is Open Enrollment that anyone with Medicare Advantage plans or Part D drug plans can review and make changes if they should want to. MMAP counselors are available throughout Northeast Michigan to assist you and guide you through this process. You can call your local senior center, known as Commissions and Councils on Aging, or you can call 1 800-803-7174 to find the nearest counseling site. So what are some of the things that you should consider when choosing a plan? Some counties have over 53 new plans available to them. So this is a big decision. Does the plan cover all the medications that you take? Does the plan restrict any of your drugs? Like something like prior authorization, quantity limits or step therapy that means that your plan requires you to try a cheaper version of the drug before it covers a more expensive one. Quantity limits will restrict the quantity of a drug that you can get per prescription fill, such as only 30 pills during a month, but maybe not a 90 day supply of the drug. Definitely how much are you going to pay for your monthly premiums? How much are you going to pay at a particular pharmacy? Did you know that pharmacies charge different rates? Can you fill your prescriptions by mail order? With an Advantage plan, some of the questions that you might have answered are how much of the premiums, deductibles, what is the maximum out of pocket cost for your plan? Are my doctors and hospitals in the plans network? During open enrollment, one of the things we want you to do is to protect yourself from plan marketing violations or being enrolled in a plan without your consent. During open enrollment, there is a higher risk for fraudulent activities, and Medicare has rules about how plans can and cannot communicate with you during open enrollment to market insurance products. Knowing how to detect, protect and report marketing violations can both save you and Medicare a lot of money. The plans are allowed to send you email or send you direct mail through US Postal, but they're not allowed to call you. They're not allowed to visit you in person or to market products without your permission. And plans who send emails must provide an opt out option for people that no longer wish to receive them. Watch out for anybody that pressures you to join their plan, that tells you that they represent Medicare and want to offer you a free service. These are, people that call you or visit your home without your permission to offer services. People that offer free consultations only to people with Medicare and ask for your Medicare number. People then inform you that you will lose your Medicare benefits unless you sign up for a certain plan. People that require you to provide contact information at an event especially for things like raffles and drawings. Please review your plan, make sure it's the best plan for you. The Medicare Medicaid Assistance Program exists for you. It's available, it's free, it provides unbiased information, and it's not connected with any insurance company. I highly recommend that everybody review their plan because it ultimately saves you money. If you'd like to get in touch with a counselor in your area, you can call your local Council or Commission on Aging, or the statewide toll free number of 1 800-803-7174. This is Kitty Glomski, and we'll talk to you next time.

Brooke: 4:26

Good morning. Today, I have a special guest on Let's Talk About Aging, my coworker Connie McQuarrie. Connie, why don't you introduce yourself to everyone?

Connie: 4:35

Good morning. I am the Administrative Assistant for the AAA, and I've been in that position for 30 years. Along with my daily duties, I also act as the secretary to our Regional Advisory Council and I coordinate the Senior Community Service Employment Program that we call SCSEP. Hopefully we recruit some eligible participants and host agencies. SCSEP is a community service and work-based job training program for older adults. It's funded by a grant from the Department of Labor under Title V of the Older Americans Act, and designed to promote economic self-sufficiency for older workers by providing part-time employment training opportunities. We collaborate with a variety of nonprofit and government agencies who enter into an agreement to provide a job training opportunity and supervision, which allows them to enhance and provide needed services.

Brooke: 5:26

Can you give us some examples of agency SCSEP participants that's are working?

Connie: 5:31

We've had people placed at local senior centers, Habitat for Humanity, women's shelters. We've had them here at our NEMCSA agency as well as county clerks offices and governmental agencies.

Brooke: 5:44

These are all great places and give back to our community. You mentioned training opportunities. What kind of valuable employment skills will SCSEP participants learn in this program?

Connie: 5:54

Eligible participants are able to learn new skills or brush up on current skills such as computer, clerical, retail and phone skills. We've had some in food service. Along with that, they gain experience to help them reenter the workforce. The training serves as a bridge to employment opportunities for them. We work with each participant to develop their own individual employment plan, outlining their skills and job interests to help reach their individual job placement goals.

Brooke: 6:23

So other than learning valuable employment skills or brushing up on them, what other benefits do the SCSEP participant receive from joining the program?

Connie: 6:31

Participants receive an average of 20 hours a week at the current minimum wage, which currently is$9.80 cents an hour. They also are afforded the ability to have a physical, and they get 20 hours of sick time a year.

Brooke: 6:46

Connie, who is eligible to apply for the Senior Community Service Employment Program or SCSEP?

Connie: 6:51

To be eligible, you must be at least 55 years of age, currently unemployed, and have a family income at or below 125% of Federal Poverty Level. Currently, that's$16,988 for a single person, and$22,888 for a family of two. Some exemptions apply such as a 25% disregard of Social Security income. Priority is also given to veterans and qualified spouses, individuals age 65 and older, those with a disability, low literacy skills or limited English proficiency, those who reside in rural areas, are homeless or at risk of homelessness, or who have low employment prospects.

Brooke: 7:34

Out of our 12 county service area, which counties do SCSEP cover?

Connie: 7:39

We cover the counties of Alpena, Arenac, Cheboygan, Crawford, Montmorency, Ogemaw, Oscoda, and Roscommon. And I'm currently looking to fill clerical positions in the counties of Alpena, Crawford, Montmorency, and Ogemaw. And, I have retail training opportunities in Cheboygan and Oscoda.

Brooke: 8:01

How can someone get a hold of you that's interested in participating?

Connie: 8:05

If you'd like more information about the program or are interested in being either a participant or a host agency willing to provide a job training opportunity, you can call me directly at 989-358-4661, or email me at mcquarriec@nemcsa.org.

Brooke: 8:34

Great. Thank you so much for joining us today, Connie, and I would love to have you back to talk about the Regional Advisory Council.

Connie: 8:41

That sounds good. Thank you very much.

Kitty Glomski: 8:45

This is Kitty Glomski and Brooke Mainville, with the Calendar of Events. Brooke you sent me a note that you have a Matter of Balance class in Oscoda, on October 17th running through November 9th. This is from 9:30 to 11:30. Then you also have Personal Action Towards Health-Pain virtual class running from October 7th through November 11th from 1:00 to 3:00.

Brooke Mainville: 9:18

If you would like to register or get information on any of these events, please contact me at 989-358-4616 again, that was 989-358-4616. Or go to our website at NEMCSA.org/ senior services, and you'll find all the online registrations for all the different items there as well. That's all I have for the calendar of events.

Kitty Glomski: 9:46

Thank you, Brooke. With the Medicare Medicaid Assistance Program, we also have a New to Medicare virtual presentation. This happens every second Wednesday of each month from 10:00 to 11:00. This is for anyone who is turning 65, new to Medicare, or disabled and new to Medicare. This presentation explains how Medicare works. Then afterwards you get to meet one on one with a counselor and talk about your personal situation. To register, you can call 1-800-803-7174 or contact your local Senior Center, your Commission or Council on Aging, and they can make the appointment for you. So this is Kitty Glomski and Brooke Mainville asking you to join us again next time on Let's Talk About Aging.

Carla: 10:51

Let's Talk About Aging is a production of the Region 9 Area Agency on Aging, 2569 US 23 South, Alpena, Michigan 49707. This Podcast was supported, in part, by grant number 90MPPG0039 from the US Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC Podcast music provided by Groove Music, selection titled"Modern Logo," created by Vadym Kuznietsov and can be found at https://elements.envato.com/modern-logo-ZVHFBJ6