That's the deadline for the initial enrollment period for Medicare Part D, a new Medicare program that stands to save some seniors thousands of dollars on vital medications.

On the other hand, says Medicare expert Essien Ukoidemabia, director of the state Health Insurance Assistance Program, "if you have another health care insurance plan that is equal to or better, you don't need the Medicare prescription plan."

To be sure everyone who qualifies for and needs the program gets signed up on time, Ukoidemabia started months ago training volunteers from communities and organizations all over Alaska.

For those who qualify and don't have better options, there is the potential of saving thousands of dollars annually on the cost of crucial drugs, Ukoidemabia said.

Using federal grants available through the program, Ukoidemabia trained some five dozen volunteers, from Anchorage to Sitka, on how to advise approximately 53,000 eligible Alaskans on their best bets for economic drug coverage. In addition, the state's enrollment assistance network has scheduled specific dates in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Homer, Juneau, Nome, North Pole, Soldotna, Talkeetna and Valdez for walk-in and by-appointment information sessions for any older Alaskans seeking help in selecting a provider under Medicare Part D.

At the same time, Linda Hall, director of the state Division of Insurance, is urging those eligible for the drug program to be cautious about signing up with a legitimate authorized provider.

"Seniors should not give out personal information, such as social security or bank account numbers until they verify that the agent is licensed to do business in our state," Hall said. "There is a real potential for identity theft here. We have good communications with regulators in other states, and we have information that this (identity theft) is going on. We are trying to be proactive," she said.

Pat Luby, advocacy director for the American Association of Retired Persons in Anchorage, also expressed concern over the potential for fraud.

"Anyone can go to the Division of Motor Vehicles and buy a list of drivers over any age," he said. "If you know the over-85-year-olds are going to be the most vulnerable, you can just buy that list."

The problem with any type of fraud is that people are embarrassed to admit they have been taken, he said. Luby recommends that adult children of older citizens be aggressive, talk with their parents and offer help to avoid fraud.

Ukoidemabia, meanwhile, is working through a program called Elderwise to keep older Alaskans aware of the potential for Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud. Ukoidemabia said her goal is to make seniors aware of the potential danger, encourage them to report suspicious behavior, gather information and compile statistics that will be presented to the Alaska Legislature. "No one has done this before, and I think this is the way to start," she said. "There is no better opportunity to look for scam artists than during a big Medicare prescription drug program."

Ukoidemabia has allies in volunteers like Kathy Romain, an administrative assistant at the Kenai Senior Center, who participated in the three-day volunteer training program.

"We have had some scam issues," said Romain, who has already discussed the program in groups and individually with some 250 seniors in Kenai. "When we were trained through Social Security and Medicare, we were told people had to go through Medicare to sign up for prescription drug coverage, but some of the insurance companies are selling the prescription drug insurance on their own."

While some plans may be very good overall, they may not meet the needs of specific individuals, she said. Romain said she spent seven hours on one day in early January enrolling individuals through the Medicare Web site. "They give me their Medicare card and a list of their prescriptions," she said. "We find out if they are eligible for extra aid."

Romain said she inserts the individual's Medicare number and prescription needs into the Web site forms and garners the three best financial bets out of 26 plans approved for Alaska.

There are a lot of variables, including the basic monthly cost, the co-pay and drugs available through any given plan. Romain said the cheapest plan, at $20 a month, is available through the American Association of Retired Persons, which also offers the largest list of covered drugs. Still each individual needs to make sure the plan they choose offers the drugs they need at the best price, she said.

Romain said she is also advising eligible seniors to sign up by May 15, because after that the penalty is 1 percent per month for late sign-up. "If you decide to sign up six months after becoming eligible, your premium would be 6 percent higher," she said. "If you wait 100 months, you will pay up to 100 percent higher."

The penalty does not apply, however, to seniors who are enrolled in a comparable or better drug program and choose to switch to the Medicare plan D later, Ukoidemabia said.

Romain, who has signed up more than 100 seniors so far in Kenai, said she estimated the average senior is paying about $2,000 a year for prescription medications, but some are paying as much as $10,000 to $15,000 a year to cover medications for catastrophic illnesses. One couple she signed up stands to save $8,000 a year on their plan, she said.

Another client, who was paying $1,100 every time he needed an injection, found that under the AARP plan he could still get the medication for a savings of about $300, Romain said.

"If you have an individual spending $6,000 a year on medications, they are looking for the possibility of anything to help them," she said. "I've seen some real hardship cases, and this is the fall-through-the-crack program for these individuals." On a statewide basis, this is a very positive aspect for the average consumer who has no other coverage, she said.

Ukoidemabia said she also has had some real success stories, working with people paying up to $1,700 a month for drugs to get them on a plan that will lower their bill to $300 to $400 a month.

AARP's Luby said about a third of AARP's members in Alaska have excellent coverage through the organization from which they retired. Another third of the members have some coverage, and another third have no coverage, he said. Those with no coverage will probably benefit the most. While AARP has some 83,000 members in Alaska, anyone older than 50 is eligible to join, so not all of them are old enough to qualify for Medicare benefits.

Luby said the chief complaint his organization has had from members is difficulty in figuring out how to navigate through the information. "The easiest way is to go into the Medicare Web site, and the computer will tell you which one to sign up for to get the best deal," he said.

For those who don't understand computers or don't have access to them, the Medicare-trained volunteers can do the Web searches and information gathering for them.

"I go through the Medicare Web site, show them all the different companies, try to find out what companies handle their meds and let them decide (which one of three to choose)," said Dee Loesche, director of member services for the Wasilla Senior Center.

"We have three computers that seniors can use if they don't have their own," she said.

Loesche, like others guiding seniors through the Medicare maze, said her satisfaction comes from helping members lower the monthly cost of their medication costs. "We had one who was spending $500 a month on drugs," Loesche said. "Now she doesn't have to pay anything, between Social Security, Medicare and the drug plan. Now she has enough money to eat."