Medicare has announced that its annual Open Enrollment Period will begin October 15, and run through December 7. This is the time to review your Medicare health and drug benefits and make any changes which may be needed.

If you're a Massachusetts resident, you can get free help reviewing your coverage from trained counselors through the SHINE (Serving the Health Information Needs of Elders) Program. Contact your local Council on Aging or 1-800-AGE-INFO (1-800-243-4636, press 3) for information about when the SHINE counselor will be on site or to leave a message for a SHINE counselor to call you.