Buy a gift for a friend’s birthday. And last but not least, sign up for the new Medicare prescription drug program. Health Net, one of the nation’s largest publicly traded managed health care companies, has opened the nation’s first Medicare store at Fiesta Mall in Mesa.

Buy a gift for a friend’s birthday. And last but not least, sign up for the new Medicare prescription drug program. Health Net, one of the nation’s largest publicly traded managed health care companies, has opened the nation’s first Medicare store at Fiesta Mall in Mesa.

Medicare open enrollment ends next week. Valley seniors have until Dec. 7 to select a Medicare Advantage plan. Seniors can go online to medicare.gov to compare plans and get answers to frequently asked questions. Seniors can enter the medications they're taking to help find a plan that fits, as well.

Residents, caregivers and employees of a Sun City West skilled nursing center signed a 10-foot-long petition Wednesday, urging Congress to refrain from cutting Medicare and Medicaid. The Coalition to Protect Seniors and staff from Choice Rehab encouraged area residents during a press conference to sign the document that will be sent to Washington D.C.

Residents, caregivers and employees of a Sun City West skilled nursing center signed a 10-foot-long petition Wednesday, urging Congress to refrain from cutting Medicare and Medicaid. The Coalition to Protect Seniors and staff from Choice Rehab encouraged area residents during a press conference to sign the document that will be sent to Washington D.C.

Dorcas R. Hardy and Bart Fleming: The U.S. healthcare system is in need of genuine reform, but the plan prescribed by Congress needs a label, "This plan is hazardous to your health and your finances."

The U.S. health care system is in need of genuine reform, but the medicine being prescribed by Congress needs a clear label, “This plan is hazardous to your health and your finances.”

Doctors have been threatened with cuts to their Medicare fees every year for nearly a decade. And every year, many tell the American Medical Association they will stop accepting Medicare patients or stop practicing altogether if the reductions go through.

Dr. Robert Bloomberg, a primary care physician in Tempe, believes it is “ethically unacceptable” for doctors to turn away Medicare patients because of inadequate reimbursement. However, that conviction means he and others who continue seeing Medicare patients have quite a struggle ahead of them.

With lights, decorations and festive music everywhere, it must be Medicare open enrollment time. People ages 65 and older have until Dec. 31 to either enroll in a Medicare drug coverage plan, or switch plans if they find one that better suits their needs.

It’s down to the wire for Arizona Medicare beneficiaries who haven’t yet signed up for prescription drug coverage.

Faced with rising numbers of poor, disabled, elderly Arizonans struggling to get their prescriptions filled, Gov. Janet Napolitano late Friday joined 14 other governors in taking emergency action to plug some of the holes in Medicare’s new drug plan.

Today’s launch of a landmark Medicare drug plan has thousands of Valley seniors and disabled residents calling for help.

Help is on its way to Mesa for anyone confused about Sunday’s Medicare changes — and it’s arriving in a big blue bus.

Today’s launch of a landmark Medicare drug plan has thousands of Valley seniors and disabled residents calling for help.

Faced with rising numbers of poor, disabled, elderly Arizonans struggling to get their prescriptions filled, Gov. Janet Napolitano late Friday joined 14 other governors in taking emergency action to plug some of the holes in Medicare’s new drug plan.