Released: February 02, 2005

Extension Effort Helps Make Sedgwick County Seniors No. 2 in Nation--
Total of 825 Seniors Sign Up For Discount Drug Card

WICHITA, Kan. – Oh, to borrow a lesson from the “Little Engine That Could:” When you think you can, you really can … .

In December, 2004, Sedgwick County’s Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas (SHICK) program ranked second in the nation in the number of seniors who signed up for the Medicare-approved prescription discount drug card and assistance program, said Jenell Smith, Kansas State University Research and Extension family and consumer science agent and SHICK coordinator in Sedgwick County.

As the year-end deadline approached, Smith stepped up educational programs and enlisted the help of the Active Aging and Wichita Eagle newspapers and local radio and television stations to help seniors learn more about the prescription drug benefits and how to apply for them.

The Extension effort helped 825 seniors in the county with selection of a card. Some with limited individual income up to $12,569 or, for a couple, up to $16,862, also qualified for $600 in assistance in 2004 and 2005.

“Some who qualified for the drug benefit were spending more than twice their monthly Social Security income on prescription drugs,” Smith said.

“Applying for benefits often includes a seeming mountain of paperwork,” said Smith, who also trained volunteers in Sedgwick County to help seniors organize income and medical records and fill out the paperwork to submit their application for benefits.

For Smith, helping her parents, who are in their 80s, manage health care, nutrition, and independent living prompted her to shift her Extension education efforts from youth development (after 23 years as a 4-H agent) to family and consumer sciences, with an emphasis on seniors’ needs.

She is quick to identify and research senior issues and she’s not alone. K-State Research and Extension agents around the state can be good resources on benefits and services for seniors. Smith also recommended Area Agencies on Aging and the SHICK program for information on Medicare and related issues. Kansas’ SHICK hotline is 1-800-860-5260. More information on qualifying for the Medicare-approved prescription drug card is at www.medicare.gov  or 1-800-633-4227.

-30-

K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Nancy Peterson
nancyp@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News