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Services For Independence

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Where do I begin when looking for services for myself or my elderly loved one?

    LifeLong Links can connect you to Iowa's aging and disability resources, serving as a single point of entry to local resources. Modeled on the "no wrong door" approach, LifeLong Links provides a single coordinated point of entry to many of the state's information and referral resources, including COMPASS, the Iowa Association of Area Agencies on Aging, and Iowa 2-1-1. Connections Area Agency on Aging and any Iowa Area Agencies on Aging, as local sites for LifeLong Links, are a good starting point for anyone looking for more information on services for themselves or their loved ones. There are many resources and organizations able to assist in meeting your needs, and our Information and Referral Specialists and Options Counselors can help you to determine where to look first, and this website is intended to be one of those tools.

  • A senior is in need of services to remain in their home, but they cannot afford to pay for these services, are there any options?

    There are multiple options available for seniors on fixed incomes. The first step is to contact Connections Area Agency on Aging/LifeLong Links and speak with our Options Counselors. We can instruct the senior about how to enter our network of clients. Once the physical and financial needs have been established, we can refer seniors to appropriate payment options, which include private pay, long term insurance, or public assistance. For more information about in-home services or to begin the process of entering our network of clients please call us toll free at 800.432.9209.

  • First of all, you need to determine at what age you'd like to retire. You are eligible to begin drawing your Social Security benefits at 62 years of age. Keep in mind that if you retire before the age of 65, you will receive less money per month than your full retirement benefit. To begin receiving your Social Security benefits you must phone your local Social Security office six months prior to your retirement date. They will instruct you as to what steps you must take to begin receiving monthly payments.

    If you retire between the ages of 62 and 65, you will be automatically enrolled in Medicare at age 65, and you will receive your card in the mail about 3 months prior to the month of your birthday.

    If you delay your retirement past the age of 65, you will need to talk with your employer regarding your health care coverage to determine your optimal options. As is the case in earlier retirement planning, you will need to alert Social Security of your intentions six months prior to the date of your determined retirement. You can apply for Social Security and/or Medicare on-line at www.ssa.gov or make an appointment at your local Social Security office. To find your local office: https://secure.ssa.gov/ICON/main.jsp

  • The State of Iowa has a Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) with trained volunteers to assist seniors with their health insurance decisions. Connections Area Agency on Aging is a local sponsor this program in Council Bluffs and Sioux City. These volunteers do not sell, endorse or promote particular companies or agents,presenting unbiased information in order for you to make an informed decision. Welcome to Medicare Seminars are held on a regular basis throughout the state and are beneficial for people starting Medicare, caregivers, and professionals who would like to know more about Medicare. More information regarding the SHIIP program is available at http://www.therightcalliowa.gov, or to speak to a SHIIP counselor directly call 800.351.4664. To set up an appointment to meet with a counselor in your area, call Connections Area Agency on Aging at 800.432.9209.

  • Information to help you decide on a Medicare approved drug plan is on-line at www.medicare.gov, click on the "find health and drug plans" button, and walk through the Plan Finder step by step, answering the questions and adding your prescription information, until your best drug coverage is shown to you. Our SHIIP counselors can help you with this process or you can receive help by calling Medicare at 1-800-Medicare, and also through Iowa's Senior Health Insurance Information Program at 1.800.351.4664. Once you determine which plan is your best fit, then you can enroll on-line with the Plan Finder on the Medicare website or contact one of our SHIIP counselors.

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Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

  1. What Information Do We Collect? When you visit our website you may provide us with two types of information: personal information you knowingly choose to disclose that is collected on an individual basis and website use information collected on an aggregate basis as you and others browse our website.
  2. Personal Information You Choose to Provide We may request that you voluntarily supply us with personal information, including your email address, postal address, home or work telephone number and other personal information for such purposes as correspondence, placing an order, requesting an estimate, or participating in online surveys. If you choose to correspond with us through email, we may retain the content of your email messages together with your email address and our responses. We provide the same protections for these electronic communications that we employ in the maintenance of information received by mail and telephone.
  3. Website Use Information Similar to other websites, our site may utilize a standard technology called "cookies" (see explanation below, "What Are Cookies?") and web server logs to collect information about how our website is used. Information gathered through cookies and server logs may include the date and time of visits, the pages viewed, time spent at our website, and the sites visited just before and just after ours. This information is collected on an aggregate basis. None of this information is associated with you as an individual.
  4. How Do We Use the Information That You Provide to Us? Broadly speaking, we use personal information for purposes of administering our business activities, providing service and support and making available other products and services to our customers and prospective customers. Occasionally, we may also use the information we collect to notify you about important changes to our website, new services and special offers we think you will find valuable. The lists used to send you product and service offers are developed and managed under our traditional standards designed to safeguard the security and privacy of all personal information provided by our users. You may at any time to notify us of your desire not to receive these offers.
  5. What Are Cookies? Cookies are a feature of web browser software that allows web servers to recognize the computer used to access a website. Cookies are small pieces of data that are stored by a user's web browser on the user's hard drive. Cookies can remember what information a user accesses on one web page to simplify subsequent interactions with that website by the same user or to use the information to streamline the user's transactions on related web pages. This makes it easier for a user to move from web page to web page and to complete commercial transactions over the Internet. Cookies should make your online experience easier and more personalized.
  6. How Do We Use Information Collected From Cookies? We use website browser software tools such as cookies and web server logs to gather information about our website users' browsing activities, in order to constantly improve our website and better serve our users. This information assists us to design and arrange our web pages in the most user-friendly manner and to continually improve our website to better meet the needs of our users and prospective users. Cookies help us collect important business and technical statistics. The information in the cookies lets us trace the paths followed by users to our website as they move from one page to another. Web server logs allow us to count how many people visit our website and evaluate our website's visitor capacity. We do not use these technologies to capture your individual email address or any personally identifying information about you.
  7. Notice of New Services and Changes Occasionally, we may use the information we collect to notify you about important changes to our website, new services and special offers we think you will find valuable. As a user of our website, you will be given the opportunity to notify us of your desire not to receive these offers by clicking on a response box when you receive such an offer or by sending us an email request.
  8. How Do We Secure Information Transmissions? When you send confidential personal information to us on our website, a secure server software which we have licensed encrypts all information you input before it is sent to us. The information is scrambled en route and decoded once it reaches our website. Other email that you may send to us may not be secure unless we advise you that security measures will be in place prior to your transmitting the information. For that reason, we ask that you do not send confidential information such as Social Security, credit card, or account numbers to us through an unsecured email.
  9. How Do We Protect Your Information? Information Security -- We utilize encryption/security software to safeguard the confidentiality of personal information we collect from unauthorized access or disclosure and accidental loss, alteration or destruction. Evaluation of Information Protection Practices -- Periodically, our operations and business practices are reviewed for compliance with organization policies and procedures governing the security, confidentiality and quality of our information. Employee Access, Training and Expectations -- Our organization values, ethical standards, policies and practices are committed to the protection of user information. In general, our business practices limit employee access to confidential information, and limit the use and disclosure of such information to authorized persons, processes and transactions.
  10. How Can You Access and Correct Your Information? You may request access to all your personally identifiable information that we collect online and maintain in our database by emailing us using the contact form provided to you within the site structure of our website.
  11. Do We Disclose Information to Outside Parties? We may provide aggregate information about our customers, sales, website traffic patterns and related website information to our affiliates or reputable third parties, but this information will not include personally identifying data, except as otherwise provided in this privacy policy.
  12. What About Legally Compelled Disclosure of Information? We may disclose information when legally compelled to do so, in other words, when we, in good faith, believe that the law requires it or for the protection of our legal rights.
  13. Permission to Use of Materials The right to download and store or output the materials in our website is granted for the user's personal use only, and materials may not be reproduced in any edited form. Any other reproduction, transmission, performance, display or editing of these materials by any means mechanical or electronic without our express written permission is strictly prohibited. Users wishing to obtain permission to reprint or reproduce any materials appearing on this site may contact us directly.
Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions

Donation Refund Policy

We are grateful for your donation and support of our organization. If you have made an error in making your donation or change your mind about contributing to our organization please contact us. Refunds are returned using the original method of payment. If you made your donation by credit card, your refund will be credited to that same credit card.

Automated Recurring Donation Cancellation

Ongoing support is important to enabling projects to continue their work, so we encourage donors to continue to contribute to projects over time. But if you must cancel your recurring donation, please notify us.

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