COCOA, Fla. – For some seniors, signing up for Medicare can seem challenging and many need a helping hand to guide them through the process.
This week’s Getting Results Award winner is a volunteer with SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) a nonprofit dedicated to assisting seniors with their Medicare questions.
Every Friday, Mary Keho sets up a temporary office in a meeting room at the back of the Catherine Schweinsberg Rood Central Library in Cocoa.
“Yeah, it’s on the door. Study room C so they can find me,” Keho said. “We’re kind of a Medicare office right here.”
Keho opened her laptop and plugged in the printer.
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“We don’t have to meet in person but sometimes people want to see somebody. They want to see our personalities and I like to see their personalities too,” she said
Over the years, Keho has met hundreds of people. She started volunteering in 2007 after a career in the medical industry.
“I was a medical assistant working in a doctor’s office. I often told my colleagues that when I retired I was going to do something that would help older people because they would come in and be lost about different insurance things,” Keho said.
Keho saw an ad in a newspaper looking for volunteers and signed up.
In that time, she’s become somewhat of an expert in the nuance of Medicare benefits. Keho said most people just need an understanding of the basics, the difference between Medicare, Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage.
“When they’re turning 65 it’s so complex they want to know what they should do,” Keho said.
There are other times when the questions can be more complex.
“It can be something new every day. I mean you think you’ve heard it all and something new comes along,” she said.
In cases like that she relies on a network of 15 other volunteers in Brevard County and many more statewide.
“I’m kind of like a detective. I have to sort things out, draw information out of people,” Keho said, leafing through the Medicare & You resource book. “We want to find the plan that’s best for them.”
SHINE is a statewide volunteer program organized through the Senior Resource Alliance and the Department of Elder Affairs. The program offers seniors, adults with disabilities, and their caregivers free, unbiased counseling on Medicare, prescription drugs and other health matters.
Karla Radka is the President and CEO of the Senior Resource Alliance.
“The commitment that Mary has to ensure that seniors receive the best advice, the commitment that she has to be educated in healthcare plans in the state of Florida, and the commitment to serve with joy, with intentionality, with care, is important to highlight,” she said.
Radka hopes Mary’s story inspires others to volunteer.
“She’s an inspiration. We hope her story transfers through the screen out to the community so others can become volunteers, just like Mary,” Radka said.
Keho just turned 80 and said whenever she feels like it may be time to stop volunteering she remembers the satisfaction she gets from the experience.
“It feels good,” Keho said. “It’s almost an addiction because it makes you feel so good to be able to help.”
For more information on volunteer opportunities, visit the Florida SHINE website.
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