YOLO COUNTY, CA (MPG) – Davis resident Shelley Montgomery, a volunteer with the local Medicare counseling service HICAP, remembers the day she helped a client whose life was teetering on the brink of financial ruin.

“She was 67 and had not signed up for Medicare supplemental insurance because she was still working and was covered by her employer’s insurance,” Montgomery recalls. “Then she became extremely ill and had to quit her job. But, by then, she had missed the deadline to sign up.”

Montgomery explained that the client needed help reaching Social Security, which administers Medicare eligibility.

“So, I called Social Security on her behalf and, after some time, was able to work it out so she could get retroactive Part B coverage.

“We saved her $900,000 in medical costs that she would have faced without Part B coverage. It’s about financial security. You can have the best investment portfolio in the world, but if you don’t have the right insurance as a safety net, you still can be wiped out.”

Montgomery, 71, became a volunteer with HICAP (the Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program) four years ago after a career with a standards and training organization that works with city and county corrections staff.

She said she first became interested in HICAP after helping a friend’s wife get their health insurance coverage reinstated retroactively after her husband had contracted cancer and unknowingly let their policy lapse. She found the episode so rewarding that she decided to volunteer with the nonprofit organization.

Montgomery noted that HICAP, which is administered by the California Department of Aging, offers free counseling and legal assistance to seniors and the disabled who are trying to navigate the complicated Medicare system.

She said volunteers help their clients with such concerns as choosing the best Medicare supplemental insurance, the pros and cons of Medicare Advantage plans, employee and retiree coverage and long-term-care insurance. They also can provide low-income clients with information about programs that assist with medication costs.

“I love being able to help people,” Montgomery said. “I know that sounds kind of corny, but it’s true.”

She said all volunteers receive 40 hours of training and months of job shadowing before being allowed to handle clients alone.

“The support that the volunteers get from the professional staff is extraordinary. They have a help line, so if you’re in the middle of a session and you don’t know the answer, you can just call them up and somebody helps you through it. Then if there is something that is too complicated, you can refer it to the professional staff. And we even have a lawyer on staff who is dedicated to HICAP issues.”

Until recently, Yolo County HICAP volunteers met with their clients in person at a number of locations: Davis Senior Center, Woodland Community and Senior Center, West Sacramento Community Center and the Winters MediCal office. Because of COVID-19, however, the volunteers are now working from home and meeting with clients via telephone or videoconferencing.

“I miss seeing people,” Montgomery confessed, “but it still works just fine. People can call a central number and set up one-on-one appointments. In some ways, that allows us to be a little more flexible around appointment times. But it’s always nice to see people, too. We will get back to that someday.”

Montgomery said she does HICAP counseling sessions for several hours every other week during slow times, but more hours during the “crunch time” of Medicare’s open enrollment period (Oct. 15 to Dec. 7).

She recommends volunteering with HICAP to anyone who enjoys helping people. She said a HICAP volunteer needs patience with detail and bureaucracy, should have some computer skills and be willing to put in the training time.

“I just love it,” she said. “I find it so interesting and I love being able to decode things for people.”

Then, she added: “I just want to reassure people that, even though we are not able to meet in person during this time, we are still very much in business.”