September 21.200S___________________________________ Page A3 ®'1'^ortlanì» (©bseruer New Drug Benefit Promoted Important dates for signups ahead photo by M ichael L eighton TT he P ortland O bserver Bill Beamer o f the African American Health Coalition (left) and Ozell E. Bledsoe, health insurance specialist with the Department o f Health and Human Services in Seattle, are spreading the word locally about the new Medicare prescription drug program. Medicare will be offering new benefits soon, with coverage for preventative screenings and pre scription drugs. Everyone with Medicare is eligible for this plan, regardless o f income and re sources, health status, or current prescription expenses. Joining the new program is vol untary, with some important pa perwork deadlines that are neces sary to watch if you’d like to be involved. In October, a "Medicare and You Handbook” will be sent via mail, outlining details of prescrip tion drug options. The first pos sible sign up date is Nov. 15, with coverage beginning by Jan. l.M ay 15 will be the last day to join the plan. If you change your mind after the May 15 deadline and decide to join, a late enrollment fee will be added. For more information, call 1- 80 0 -M E D IC A R E o r v isit www.medicare.gov on the web. New Orleans guitarist Jesse Young plays in the Portland Jazz Festival office in Portland. He's ju s t one o f a few musicians to be helped with temporary housing after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina. (AP Photo) Portland Embraces New Orleans Jazz Musicians Displaced offered temporary homes The Portland Jazz Festival is helping two New Orleans m usicians and a well-known jazz brass band get back on th eir feet a fte r H u rric a n e Katrina, offering tem porary homes in Portland. N ew O rle a n s r e s id e n ts Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said tax Devin Phillips, a saxophonist increases will not be a part of the and Jesse Young, a guitarist, recovery plan he intends to offer are among those being as this week. sisted, along with the group Boneram a. The program is working with local businesses to find housing and perfor with underlying medical con mance opportunities. d itio n s; p reg n an t w om en; “The word, obviously, is out h ealth -care personnel who and w e’ve had a great re provide direct patient care; sponse by people in the G ulf and out-of-hom e caregivers trying to help m usicians,” said and household contacts of Sarah Bailen Smith, managing children under 6 m onths. director of the Portland Jazz For more inform ation, visit F e s tiv a l.“ W e know th ese w w w .d h s .s ta te .o r.u s . people need a place to live, a Prescription Drug Benefits Delay Proposed Republicans are looking at de laying or scrapping the new pre scription drug benefit under Medi care to offset the cost of rebuild ing the Gulf Coast. The drug benefit program, set to beginJan. 1, is expected to cost $40 billion a year Democrats question how Presi dent Bush and trim the budget to pay for Katrina recover and sup port tax cuts for the wealthy. Healthy Oregonians Asked to Wait on Flu Shots If you d o n ’t ab so lu te ly need it, the O regon D epart m ent o f Hum an S ervices is asking people to hold o ff g etting a flu shot until O ct. 24 in an effo rt to reserve m edicine for those at high risk. H ealth officials are not ex pecting the m ajority o f flu vaccine to be available until late O ctober because o f v ari ous supply issues, but som e vaccine shipm ents are going out this w eek. O fficials are hopeful that there will be m o re in f lu e n z a v a c c in e available than was last year. but it’s still unclear. T h ro u g h O ct. 23, o nly people in the following groups should receive flu shots: chil dren ages 6 to 23 m onths; ad u lts ages 65 and older; residents o f nursing hom es and other long-term care fa c ilities; anyone ages 2 to 64 place to practice and venues to play as they rebuild their lives and their careers.” Bonerama, whose members scattered from Shreveport to New Jersey, California, Texas and Arkansas, will perform a benefit concert at the Blue Monk at 3341 S.E. Belmont Street on Saturday Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $20on a sliding scale with proceeds going to the Tipitina’s musician’s fund. This effort is also receiving s u b s ta n tia l s u p p o rt from Mercy Corps and VH1, the television music network. Those wanting to house the m usicians or help this effort can call 503 228-5299 or e- mail at sarah@ pdxjazz.com . For more information, visit the Portland Jazz Festival website at w w w .pdxjazz.com . 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