Medicare Annual Open Enrollment begins on October 1st and over 50,000 Massachusetts residents will seek advice and counsel from our state's senior centers and SHINE Counselors.  Many of these individuals may have never set foot in your doors and their first experience with Medicare may be with one of your SHINE Counselors.  This is your chance to make a lasting impression.  Medicare Sherpa's objective is to provide unbiased information on affordable Medicare Insurance and retirement.  We'd like to encourage you to join our site, network with your peers and use our tools.  We created this site as Massachusetts's first social networking site for Elder Affairs Professionals. 

Your challenges are our challenges 

Over the summer we have written several articles covering various topics in preparation for open enrollment.  On our site you will find articles about preparing for retirement and your choices with Social Security, selecting a Medicare Advantage plan, selecting Prescription Drug coverage and more.  Use our site to exchange information, ideas and opportunities.  Once you become a member, use your profile to stay informed about your network's activities, find people and knowledge to help you achieve your goals and create a professional identity online that others will want to connect with. 

Your Networking Tools

We have many of the same features of other popular social and networking sites. It all starts by creating your own profile. You are welcome to use all our applications FREE of charge to help you network with other advocates and retirees state-wide:

• Wall Manager - easy way to keep everyone updated on what you are doing right now,
• Group Manager - easy way to coordinate discussions on any topic of interest with you and your friends,
• Event Manager - easy way to create and promote events taking place right in your own community,
• Blog Manager - easy way to create, write, & promote your organization, and
• Address Book - easy way to keep track of your personal network, establish groups, promote events, and promote your blog

Your Research Tools

We've partnered with DestinationRx to provide their Drug Price Search Engine (My Medicine Cabinet) and their Plan Finder (Medicare Part D Comparison Tool) free of charge:

• My Drug Prices (Medicine Cabinet): This powerful search engine can be used to find the retail cost of over 50,000 prescription drugs in any zip code within the U.S. The tool can be used to find lower cost alternative drugs to save you money, compare prices at thousands of pharmacies, and easily understand the safety of your drugs.
• My Plan Finder (Medicare Plan Comparison Tool):  This research tool will help you estimate your total annual out of pocket costs for each plan based on your medications and health condition, versus only comparing premium prices. This tool will also help you to compare not only stand alone Prescription Drug Plans (PDP) but also Medicare Advantage Plans that include Part D (MAPD).
• My Resource Directory: Our free online resource directory for Massachusetts residents in need of assistance for fuel, housing, food, health care, and other basic services - even Free Cell Phones. The staff at Medicare Sherpa has compiled a comprehensive list of services  in our online catalog.
• My Medicare Answers: Do you have a question about Social Security, Medicare and/or Medicare Insurance? Visit our online forum and learn more.  We've even compiled a list of Massachusetts health plan executives names, titles, and salaries (DOI Supplemental Compensation Exhibit). Each year local health plans are required to file their salaries with the Massachusetts Depart of Insurance.  Don't agree with how much they are paid - give them a call or click on the word "post" and tell us what you think. Once your a member you can create your own discussion groups both public and private.  This discussion board offers a powerful tool to collect feedback on your programs.

Your Partner

Call us!  We are here to help - - 617-686-4451. We'll show you how to create relationships that matter to your professional success and learn how your peers are improving the lives of Older Americans right here in Massachusetts.

About the Author

My name is Dana Cutter and I am Founder and Editor of Medicare Sherpa. Our staff spends their days searching the Internet for the best content and advice on retirement.  On our site you will find articles on Social Security, Medicare Benefits, Prescription Drug Benefits and more. Please feel fee to send me an email with ideas for content, site improvements or general help launching your online persona. I hope you will consider joining and I am looking forward to reading more about you online.

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