September 21.200S___________________________________
Page A3
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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 .
NEW S E A S O N S J
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