Medicare open enrollment is underway and runs through December 7. Free individual insurance counseling for people with Medicare is available through MEOC’s Virginia Insurance Counseling and Assistance Program (VICAP). A trained VICAP counselor can provide information to help you better understand plans and compare benefits. If you need assistance, please contact Jennifer Spangler at (276) 523-4202.
Ruth Gibson first heard about MEOC’s Foster Grandparent Program more than two decades ago from a woman with whom she attended church. “I think you’d enjoy it,” Gibson recalls the woman telling her. It sounded like she might. So she gave MEOC a call to learn more about the program. Thus began Gibson’s 20 years of volunteer service as a foster grandparent. And she has enjoyed it indeed.
Even if your income exceeds the limit to qualify for regular Virginia Medicaid, you still might be eligible for Medicaid that covers long-term care in your home. Long-term care Medicaid covers care received in a nursing facility or in a community setting such as your home or Mountain Empire Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). You must be determined to need this type of care by a pre-admission screening team made up of a health department nurse and a department of social services social worker. Hospital social workers can also screen if you are hospitalized in Virginia.
If you or someone you know is having a difficult time purchasing prescription medications, Pharmacy Connect of Southwest Virginia may be able to help. The program provides free or low-cost prescription medications to those who meet eligibility guidelines in Lee, Wise, Scott, Dickenson, Buchanan, Tazewell and Russell counties and the City of Norton. Medication assistance caseworkers can help people of all ages by accessing Indigent Patient Assistance Programs of over 250 national pharmaceutical companies.
Older persons in need of emergency cooling assistance this summer may find it through Mountain Empire Older Citizens’ Senior Cool Care program. The program, which runs from June 1 to Sept. 30, distributes a limited number of fans or air conditioners to older individuals with cooling needs on a first-come, first-served basis.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, MEOC’s home-delivered meals program has experienced a significant increase in numbers served. The number of delivered meals increased by 52 percent in a two-month period.