Linda Goos Gratified With Work Assisting Seniors With Medicare Enrollment

For more than 20 years, Linda Goos has been there to help guide and support southwest Iowa residents navigate the ever-changing and often complex Medicare enrollment process.

In October, Goos was presented a 20-year service award at a state meeting in Des Moines in recognition of her invaluable work over the past two decades.

Shortly after retiring in 2003 from a 33-year career at the Glenwood Resource Center, Goos submitted an application to become a volunteer counselor for the Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP).

SHIIP is a free confidential service offered through the Iowa Insurance Division. The program provides one-on-one assistance, counseling and education to Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers to help them make informed decisions about their care and benefits. SHIIP services support people with limited incomes, Medicare beneficiaries under the age of 65 with disabilities and individuals who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.

SHIIP services are delivered through a state-wide network of trained and certified volunteer counselors who provide assistance in-person and by phone, make group presentations, and use a variety of media sources to educate people about Medicare.

Goos had heard about the program from her late husband, Neil. He convinced her to apply and she was accepted in 2005 and attended a five-day training program in Des Moines.

“I started working just about the time open enrollment started in 2005 – in October,” she said. “That was the first year of Medicare Part D. They didn’t offer any drug plan until that year.”

Initially, Goos had a small client base.

“We didn’t have a lot of clients at that time because people weren’t aware we were available to them,” Goos recalled. “I started out going to their homes, but they decided they didn’t really want us going to homes so Mills County Public Health and the county offered an office space for us. The county has been very supportive of our efforts. We appreciate that.”

Currently, Goos is one of two SHIIP counselors in Mills County, along with Denise Jacobsen. The majority of their clients are form Mills County but when needed they’ve also provided assistance to residents of Fremont and Page counties.

The client base for Goos has steadily grown over the years as word has gotten out about the free services SHIIP counselors provide. During a typical Medicare open enrollment period from mid-October to early December, the two Mills County counselors will assist about 300 people.

Some of the conversations take place over the phone and some are face-to-face at the SHIIP office in the Mills County Public Health building.

“We usually send letters to people we’ve worked with and ask them to fill out a form that tells their updated information,” said Goos. “Then, we get that back, put it into the computer and run a program to see if we can find something new to save them money or if what they have is currently the best. Then we notify them. Either we have them come in or I’ve worked with so many people for so long, they call and say, ‘Just go ahead and enroll me and mail me the information.’”

The COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 were challenging for Goos because she wasn’t able to work with clients face to face.

“During COVID, it was very difficult because we do have a lot of older people that I like to work with face to face because I know by looking at them, they’re getting what I’m telling them,” she said. “That was difficult at that time doing it on the telephone.”

While the open enrollment period is the busiest time of the year for SHIIP counselors, their volunteer services are available to clients throughout the year.

“We help them during the year,” said Goos. “Anyone who is getting ready to retire, they can come to us and we can help them with the crazy mess of retiring – getting Social Security and giving them the information they need so that they’re on the right track with their retirement.”

The opportunity to help people is the reason Goos applied to be a SHIIP counselor in 2005 and the reason she still gets satisfaction from the volunteer work two decades later.

“I love being able to save them money or know what they have is not costing them a lot of money and knowing they’re happy when I get done,” she said.