August 2019

Welcome to the August edition of the LCOG Newsletter! While it sure has been HOT in our region this summer, inside are some COOL articles and useful information from our Aging, Planning/Transportation and Workforce Development teams.

Do you, or someone in your circle, need information on Medicare's open enrollment? We've got that.

What happened at the SouthCoast Health Care forum on July 30th? Read about that and the recent SCDOT Transportation Forum inside.

Aging has two upcoming events they want to share with you. Get the details of the Faith & Community symposium and the Alzheimer's Association educational program.

If you have any questions, suggestions for future content, or if I may be of assistance to you, please feel free to contact me.

Michelle Grimes
LCOG Executive Assistant/Public Relations Coordinator
mgrimes@lowcountrycog.org
843-473-3956
Medicare Open Enrollment
For 2020 coverage, open enrollment will run from October 15, 2019, to December 7, 2019. This allows you the opportunity to review your current insurance coverage.
 
During Open Enrollment you can make changes to various aspects of your coverage:
  • You can switch from Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) to a Medicare Advantage Plan, or vice versa.
  • You can also switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another, or from one Medicare Part D (prescription drug) plan to another.
  • And if you didn’t enroll in a Medicare Part D plan when you were first eligible, you can do so during the general open enrollment, although a late enrollment penalty may apply.

This is an important time of the year for Medicare recipients. Even if you are happy with your current coverage, review to make sure that it will benefit your healthcare needs and expenses for 2020.

If you would like further assistance, please contact Dieesha Hicks at 843-473-3996 or by email: dhicks@lowcountrycog.org

Mr. Mike Butler, Workforce Director for the Lowcountry Council of Governments attended and participated in the South Coast Region first ever Healthcare Sector Launch on July 30 th at the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Mike along with other Workforce, Education and Economic Development partners in both the Lowcountry and Trident Region hosted Healthcare officials from the South Coast 7 county region.

Mike stated the discussions that were held by the Healthcare CEO’s and Executive Directors was very enlightening in understanding all the issues that the healthcare industry faces on a daily basis, such as workforce shortage, transportation, infrastructure, collaboration, alternative delivery models etc.

To view the full forum summary, please click here

Faith and Community: United to Serve

On Thursday, August 22, 2019, the South Carolina Department on Aging, in partnership with Columbia International University, will host "Faith and Community: United to Serve", a statewide symposium designed to stimulate partnerships to address the growing unmet needs of seniors and their families. The symposium is open to leaders of faith and community organizations across South Carolina and our own Area Agency on Aging will be in attendance.

For more information and to register, please click here

On Thursday, September 19th, all are welcome to join the Alzheimer's Association and the Lowcountry Area Agency on Aging for a free community education program and forum on Alzheimer's disease.

Interested individuals are asked to call the Alzheimer's Association at 800-272-3900 or visit their website to register. Lunch will be provided and space is limited.
For the full event flyer, please click here
Transportation Forum at LCOG

LCOG’s Planning and Transportation department hosted the second of what is expected to be an annual SCDOT Transportation Forum on Thursday, August 8.  

It was Standing Room Only in the LCOG Boardroom. Nearly 50 people attended, including senior SCDOT staff, elected and appointed officials from all four of the LCOG counties and a number of municipalities, members of the LCOG Board and the LATS (the Region’s Metropolitan [transportation] Planning Organization) Policy Committee and LCOG staff.

SCDOT Planning Director Brent Rewis was happy to report that the statewide survey, which will help guide future transportation policies and projects for South Carolina, has already been completed by more than 7000 residents. Experts agree, that is a large number of completed surveys. 

If you would like to take the survey, please click here
                  
The presentations from SCDOT included information about the use of the additional gas tax funds coming to all four counties, the new Feasibility Report process that will assess proposed projects before any work is done and the major update of the SC Multimodal Transportation Plan.

The underlying theme was how local, regional and state agencies and organizations can work together to meet their mutual transportation improvement objectives.

The Lowcountry attendees made sure that the Forum was interactive, asking questions and providing comments about SCDOT presentations.
 
If you would like more information about the forum, please contact Ginnie Kozak at 843-473-3958 or email gkozak@lowcountrycog.org


The Point South Festival is coming to town August 22-24th! The schedule is packed full of fun and family friendly activities. Hope to see everyone there!
If you have questions concerning any of the information contained in the newsletter, please feel free to contact me at 843.473.3956 or by email at mgrimes@lowcountrycog.org .