MIDDLEBURY -- Five people gather around pill bottles and paperwork littered on the kitchen table in Maxine Beasey's apartment.
It's a scene familiar to Beasey in early November, when people come to her for help enrolling in Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage. People with Medicare can change, add or drop their Part D prescription drug coverage starting Sunday, until Dec. 31.
But the phone in Beasey's Middlebury apartment starts to ring before the open enrollment period begins. So far this fall she's helped 40 Medicare recipients figure out the best options for them, and she'll enroll them in that coverage on Sunday.
"The first year we came to her, we had no idea what we were doing," said Jerry Blyly of Goshen, as he sat at her table with his wife, Julia. "Everybody was trying to get us to sign up, and it was confusing."
Beasey said usually her clients come to her confused, upset and sometimes crying. Before she walks them through the process, she pours them a glass of water and lets them calm down.
"Some people get so frustrated, they don't know what to do," Beasey said.
She asks her clients their Medicare card number, name address and medicines and calls a Medicare call center. Once she's connected, she asks workers at the call center the three cheapest precription plans available for that client. Beasey and her client go over the options and decide on one, then she enrolls them once open enrollment starts.
Her confused new clients couple with a Medicare call center staff that seems to change constantly. She said she's relieved when she talks to someone who has been there a while.
This year has presented its own challenges.
"A lot of the cards we've had dropped out, they've raised prices and have different rules for their cards," she said.
In all, 52 prescription drug cards are available in Indiana, Beasey said.
Larry Morr, a senior sales representative for Anthem, holds two seminars on Medicare a week, and usually sees between 20 and 30 people at each seminar.
"They can find out if they're on the right plan," he said. "Maybe their prescription needs have changed from last year. It's a time where they have that flexibility without any penalty."
Morr said Medicare recipients come to seminars with questions regarding which plan would be best for them. Often, they're confused.
"It overwhelms a lot of people and it can be complicated," he said "We as insurance companies, in our zeal to get their business, we send them unending flyers and paperwork."
Medicare recipients have to renew their prescription drug cards each year through the current system because the plan coverage and costs fluctuate. Beasey's clients -- like the Blylys -- visit her annually.
Beasey became a senior advocate upon retirement. She completed Medicare training in 2005.
"A lot of seniors are out there and don't know what to do when these problems are thrown at them," she said.
She started volunteering the service out of her home in 2007. She's trained six volunteers.
"I think I need to get a bunch of people trained because I'm not going to be here forever," Beasey said. "I'm 79 years old."
FREE OPTIONS
• Maxine Beasey offers Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage enrollment from her Middlebury home six days a week. For help, call her at 825-5815.
• Larry Morr will host a Medicare 101 seminar today at noon at the American Countryside Farmers Market. He will explain the Medicare basics, compare Medicare supplements to the advantage plan and explain Part D prescription plans.
• The Cass County Council on Aging accepts appointments to enroll Medicare recipients in Part D coverage. To schedule an appointment, call (800) 323-0390 or (269) 445-8110.