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Soc. Security Notes
Close to 800,000 elderly people will be getting letters this month reminding them that they have only until April 1 to sign up for the voluntary doctor bill insurance under Medicare. Many in this area will be receiving such letters according to Mrs. Hazel F. Daly, District Manager of the Winchester, Va. Office reported.
In the letter, Robert M. Ball, Commissioner of Social Security, points out that for many of those who missed out on previous opportunities to sign up, the period from now to the end of March will be the last chance to get the protection. This includes persons who were born in October 1, 1901 or earlier, and those who were enrolled in the program earlier, but dropped out 1 January 1, 1967, or before.
With the doctor bill insurance , part of Medicare, elderly people can supplement their basic hospital insurance protection with protection that helps pay doctors’ and surgeons’ bills and a wide variety of other medical expenses. In 1967, Commissioner Ball points out, it helped pay some 26 million medical bills and in 1968, another 33 million bills, mainly for physicians, services. Almost 19 million of the elderly are signed up for the protection' but about another million do not yet have the protection afforded by medical insurance.
There are perhaps another 200,000 or so for whom the Social Security Administration does not have current addresses, because they have not yet applied for hospital insurance under Medicare. Since the Social Security Administration has no way to get directly in touch with these older people, Ball appealed to sons and daughters and friends to call the open enrollment period to their attention, and suggest that they get in touch with the nearest social security office.
The medical insurance part of Medicare is financed half from the monthly premiums paid by the older persons enrolled and half out of general Federal revenues. So the protection is worth twice the amount of the premium the older person pays. The basic premium rate is $4 a
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