Page 20 - Senior Scene Magazine November 2018

Senior Scene® | November Issue
HOW MAY WE HELP YOU?
By Blanca Taylor, Social Security Public Affairs Specialist
Social Security has a toolbox full of resources on its website, www. socialsecurity.gov, to help you with your nancial planning. With so many resources, maybe it’s easier if we highlight one of our “best.”
B.E.S.T. is the Bene t Eligibility
Screening Tool, available at https:// ssabest.bene ts.gov. It can help you
nd out if you might be eligible for
retirement, disability, survivors, Supplemental Security Income, or Medicare bene ts. Although B.E.S.T. asks you a series of questions to determine your eligibility, they are not personal in nature and the answers are not stored.
On average, it takes only about 10 minutes to complete the B.E.S.T. questionnaire. First, it guides you through the questions needed to nd out if you could qualify for bene ts. Just to the right of each question
is an information icon (a white “i” in a blue circle) that gives you tips on how to answer each question.
The “results” section appears automatically after you have completed some basic questions. B.E.S.T.
lists each program for which you might qualify. By clicking on the “read more” tab, you’ll nd a description of the bene ts program, its requirements, and what your
next steps should be. If you are eligible for bene ts, you must le an application for bene ts with Social Security because B.E.S.T. is not an application. The best way to do this
is by visiting www.socialsecurity.gov.
You can go back and narrow your resource responses by answering additional questions. After you have reviewed the results, you can print a copy for your records or email yourself a copy.
B.E.S.T. doesn’t screen for the Extra Help program, which helps with Medicare Part D prescription drug plan costs. You can see if you qualify for that at www. socialsecurity.gov/medicare/prescriptionhelp.
The results couldn’t be clearer — investing just ten minutes can yield all the possible resources available to you from Social Security. Now, that’s a tool worth using. SS
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