Clackamas County Social Services

The SHIBA Chronicles

Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance

2024, Issue 1

Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: Jan. 1 – March 31

For anyone who has a Medicare Advantage (MA) Plan, the first three months of the year is a time when you can make one change to your coverage: either disenroll from your current plan and go back to Original Medicare, or enroll in a different MA plan. Certified SHIBA counselors can assist you with these decisions.

Drug Price Negotiation

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides Medicare with the ability to directly negotiate the prices of certain high cost medications that have no generic form available. The first 10 drugs were announced in August 2023: Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, Januvia, Farxiga, Entresto, Enbrel, Imbruvica, Stelara, and Fiasp/Novolog. The negotiated prices are scheduled to go into effect in 2026.

Learn more

Help Your Community - Become a SHIBA Volunteer

Studies show that volunteering can bring meaning and purpose to your life, increase self-esteem and well-being, relieve stress and alleviate symptoms of depression. SHIBA’s success is built on a network of knowledgeable, caring, certified counselors who volunteer in their communities.

For more information, call Clackamas County SHIBA program coordinator Kristina John Baptiste at 503-655-8427, or complete the volunteer counselor application.

Volunteer application

Need a Doctor or Specialist?

Here’s a Message from Medicare.Gov to Help You

Are you looking for a doctor — or specialist — and not sure where to start? Medicare.gov makes it quick and easy to find and compare doctors and other providers in your area. Here’s how:

Visit Medicare.gov/care-compare. Select “Doctors & clinicians,” and enter your location. You can also search by specialty.
Review details about the doctors you’re interested in.
You can also select the “Compare” button for a side-by-side comparison of up to 3 different doctors.

For assistance with this search, please contact the SHIBA program.

Medicare Fraud Prevention Tips

Protect your Medicare ID Number
Keep your Medicare card in a safe place – don’t carry it with you unless you are seeing a new medical provider for the first time.
Don’t give out your Medicare number over the phone.

The Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) is a partner program of SHIBA that educates Medicare beneficiaries on how to detect, prevent and report Medicare waste, fraud and abuse.

More fraud prevention tips