Cold wind and raw, wet weather hasn’t put a damper on the holiday spirit. Already we’re thinking of what we’ll cook, who we’ll receive cards from and the many promises we’ll make to ourselves to plan better next year.

Maybe it’s time to start looking for the boxes of decorations, extra ribbons and paper we saved last Christmas. It seems every year we find a lost box around New Year’s Day when we’re looking for something else. If you’re like me, you carefully promise that you’ll remember where this missing material is – come another year.

Just when we are getting excited about Christmas and with the lower gas and fuel prices making it possible to fit in an extra trip for shopping, seniors need to remember this is the time of checking their Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage. Already we’ve received the mailing from AARP (you didn’t toss yours into the trash, did you?) updated and returned it, and we already received acknowledgment. Now we’ll wait to see the outcome: Do we still qualify?

Did you know that several plans will not offer coverage in Maine for 2009? Is yours one of them? If you are wondering what’s available for coverage, Southern Maine Agency on Aging may be able to help. As in the past, SMAA is offering no cost, unbiased assistance to seniors in our local communities.

If you missed the news release in these papers in November, here’s a reminder to seniors that free assistance is available from Southern Maine Agency on Aging. To make an appointment, call SMAA at 1-800-427-7411, extension 524 or SMAA volunteer Philip Ohman, 657-5446.

Appointments throughout the enrollment period are being scheduled at the Gray library on Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and at Windham Public Library on Tuesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Because of the many changes among the nearly 50 Medicare Part D plans, it is critical that seniors review their 2008 coverage to insure that it will be cost effective for 2009. This is not a year to be complacent because many drug prices have increased, and co-payments and deductibles for your 2008 plan may have changed for 2009. SMAA recommends that all plans be checked each year to assure continued enrollment in a plan that best meets your needs.

Also remember to check with the Department of Health and Human Services to see if you may qualify for the Medicare Buy In program. This is the plan where the state pays your $90-plus Medicare premium, depending on your income. We’ve covered this twice now and so far, eight of our readers have called to say they applied and qualified – so they have a few dollars more in their pocket. If you do not ask, you will not get. It’s as simple as that.