The 2017 Medicare Annual Enrollment Period has officially come to a close. I am one of many trained volunteers who give our time and share our knowledge as Medicare counselors to Medicare beneficiaries. These Medicare beneficiaries wish to make a change in their healthcare providers and coverage and can only do so during the AEP from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7.

The Department of Elder Affairs and the Senior Connection Center are the supporting agencies for SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) volunteer counselors. We have many counseling sites throughout Polk County; in Winter Haven we are very fortunate to counsel beneficiaries at our Winter Haven Public Library Kathryn L. Smith Memorial. I want to sincerely thank the library staff for their accommodating, professional, caring and certainly always helpful attitudes.

The needs we serve as “SHINERS” varies, so we need our resources and counseling sites to be very dynamic in support of our needs for private counseling rooms and designated areas. Library staff went above and beyond on many occasions and without advance notice to meet our needs.

On behalf of our Polk County Medicare beneficiaries and SHINE counselors who counseled at the library I want to extend heartfelt thanks. The library staff contributed beyond measure to a very successful Annual Enrollment Period.

We “SHINERS” will continue to counsel at the library throughout the year for beneficiaries who are new to Medicare. In addition, we look forward to 2018 AEP and the opportunities to show off our library, its amenities and certainly its gracious and professional staff.

Michele Z. Clark, Polk County SHINE Counselor, Winter Haven