Find somebody free to sit with you and the form
Find free, expert help near you, and ask for it at home if getting out is difficult.
Most claims that never get made were abandoned somewhere in the middle of a form, at a kitchen table, alone.
A SHIP counselor — a State Health Insurance Assistance Program counselor — for anything to do with Medicare, AARP Foundation Tax-Aide or VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) for a tax form, and the benefits counselor at your Area Agency on Aging for everything else will sit down with you and fill it in. All of them free, all of them doing it every working day.
Key points
- Find three free advice services near your own ZIP code
- Ask for somebody to sit with you while a form is filled in
- Ask for that to happen at home, or on the telephone
What to remember
- They help at home or by telephone. You only have to say so.
- Free help travels. You only have to say that getting out is difficult.
Try this
Call the Eldercare Locator on 1-800-677-1116 and ask for your Area Agency on Aging, or look it up at eldercare.acl.gov. Write the number down.
Practice: Find somebody free to sit with you and the form. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.