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Richard Piatt ReportingSenior citizens have 10 more days to sign up for the Federal prescription drug benefit, Medicare Part D. This is important because prescription drugs are a matter of life and death for a lot of senior citizens. This benefit would make those drugs much more affordable.
The trick is finding the right benefit plan. For months, senior centers have created opportunities to help seniors make those choices. As of right now, about 166-thousnad Utah seniors are signed up, but 74-thousand are NOT signed up.
We caught up with one woman who said she was confused by the plan and wanted to iron out the details first.
LaVon Malin, Gets Medicare Benefit: "I didn't fully understand what was going on, that was the main reason. And I didn't know how much prescriptions were. I just went in and paid them."
Sally Drecksel, Medicare Part D Educator: "I say the majority of people who meet with me leave knowing a lot more and have a clearer understanding of how this plan is working."
Mrs. Malin also told me she asked her pharmacist for advice. That's a good idea too, because the plan you pick will depend on the drugs you take.
Again, for seniors the deadline is May 15th, that's a week from Monday. You can sign up for the plan after that, but you'll pay a penalty for that.
