Wednesday, January 20, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Medicare Advantage open
Vaccination clinics set at fairgrounds
January 1 marked the beginning of the 2021 Medicare
Advantage open enrollment period for Medicare ben-
eficiaries with an existing Medicare Advantage plan.
Beneficiaries who take advantage of this open enrollment
period will have coverage that starts the first day of the
month after the enrollment action.
Before March 31, beneficiaries who already have a
Medicare Advantage plan can:
" Change to a different Medicare Advantage plan, either
with or without drug coverage.
" Enroll in a stand-alone Part D (prescription drug) plan,
which returns the beneficiary to Original Medicare.
Beneficiaries can make only one change during this
enrollment period and cannot change from one stand-alone
Part D prescription drug plan to another stand-alone Part D
prescription drug plan.
Other enrollment opportunities if someone missed the
December 7 deadline:
" Oregonians have one five-star plan through Kaiser
Permanente that will accept enrollments at any time.
" Anyone affected by COVID-19 or Oregon9s wildfires
may still have time to enroll in a plan under a four-month
special enrollment period, which begins the date affected.
" Anyone affected by nonrenewing plans (e.g., Moda
Med-Advantage) still has time to choose a plan.
Oregon9s SHIBA program is available to help beneficia-
ries understand their options. To find free, local Medicare
counseling help, go to dcbspage.org/SHIBALOCAL or call
800-722-4134 to speak to a Medicare counselor.
SHIBA counselors can help Oregonians navigate the
Medicare.gov Plan Finder tool to enter prescriptions and
compare the cost and benefits of individual drug plans, pro-
vide enrollment guidance, and answer any questions related
to Medicare benefits. These services are available remotely
statewide to ensure the safety of clients and counselors.
Starting this week, St. Charles Health
System and Deschutes County are hosting
vaccination clinics at the Deschutes County
Fair & Expo Center. The clinics are avail-
able to individuals in the Phase 1A group by
appointment only.
<We are preparing to move vaccine clinics
to the fairgrounds so that we can safely vacci-
nate more people faster,= said Dr. Jeff Absalon,
chief physician executive for St. Charles. <We
are going to be ready to deploy vaccine to our
community. But we also acknowledge the vac-
cine is in very short supply. We are striving to
get as many doses here as possible.=
In a press conference on Friday, Gov. Kate
Brown and Oregon Health Authority Director
Patrick Allen announced changes to eligibility
requirements for the vaccine:
" Vaccination of the 1A group 4 including
healthcare providers, first responders, medi-
cally fragile children and their caretakers and
those with intellectual disabilities 4 contin-
ues. It is the only group eligible for vaccina-
tion at this time.
" Starting the week of January 25 (and in
some counties, sooner), childcare providers,
early learning and K-12 educators and staff
will be eligible for vaccination.
" Starting the week of February 8, vacci-
nations will open to individuals 80 years and
older 4 who represent 30 percent of COVID-
19 deaths in Oregon
" Following the 80 and older group,
seniors in three age bands will also become
eligible in the following order (the dates
to be announced):
" Seniors 75 and older
" Seniors 70 and older
" Seniors 65 and older
<We are very fortunate to have an oppor-
tunity to continue COVID-19 vaccination and
to broaden the pool of our population eligible
for this potentially life-saving vaccine,= said
Deschutes County Health Services Director
Dr. George Conway.
Deschutes County Health Services is
launching an online platform that will allow
residents to sign up to be notified when
they are eligible and about how to make an
appointment to be vaccinated. More informa-
tion will be available at www.deschutes.org/
covid19vaccine.
To date, St. Charles and Deschutes County
have administered more than 7,000 vaccines.
As of last Monday, individuals who are in
the 1A vaccination group can resume sched-
uling an appointment. Registration had been
temporarily suspended while the health sys-
tem verified how many doses would be avail-
able in its next allotment. More information
about the registration process can be found at
the St. Charles Health System website, www.
stcharleshealthcare.org.
<We are going to vaccinate the 1A group
through next week, and will broaden our vac-
cination efforts to the next group, educators,
on January 25,= Absalon said.
For more information about the vaccine,
Deschutes County residents can visit www.
deschutes.org/covid19vaccine.
Partners In Care
After nearly 20 years providing inpatient care in
a six-bed unit, Partners In Care is constructing a
new 12-bed Hospice House on its campus in Bend
in order to meet the healthcare needs of a growing
population.
Hospice House is designed to care for hospice
patients with the most acute end-of-life needs or who
will benefit from a short stay to provide respite for
family members. The spacious suites will accommo-
date patients in a homelike setting while they receive
24/7 care.
Hospice House is the only specialty hospi-
tal of its kind in Oregon east of the Cascades.
Partners In Care serves hundreds of patients each
day in their homes and care facilities. Core ser-
vice lines include Home Health, Transitions,
Palliative Care, and Grief Support in addition to
Hospice.
Information about the new Hospice House, and a
video featuring three patient stories can be viewed at
www.PartnersBend.org/campaign.
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