The Lawrence Memorial Hospital at 325 Maine St. in Lawrence. The system announced this month it would no longer accept Medicare Advantage Plans from Aetna and Humana starting next year. Although the system said continuing to accept the plans would not be sustainable for its finances, it has left about 4,000 people in need of finding new insurance plans.

LMH Health staff had to turn away nearly 60 guests looking to attend an event at its main campus on Thursday about Medicare and Medicare Advantage options after the hospital announced it would stop accepting certain insurance plans.

As the Journal-World reported, LMH Health announced it would no longer accept Medicare Advantage plans from Humana and Aetna starting in the new year, citing problems with reimbursement rates from the companies and coverage issues for patients. The announced change meant nearly 4,000 patients in the area would need to navigate the complicated system of Medicare options to find a plan.

When the change was announced on Sept. 3, the hospital group announced it would hold a seminar on Medicare and Medicare Advantage coverage that included representatives from the Douglas County Senior Resource Center and the Kansas Hospital Association to help explain the distinctions of Medicare plans and answer questions for patients whose coverage plan was dropped.

Mimi Meredith, the director of communications, marketing and community engagement for LMH, said the hospital was “surprised” by the attendance numbers for its seminar. Meredith said people began showing up for the event over an hour early to attend the event that was supposed to start at 4:30 p.m.

The hospital had the event in the auditorium on its main campus at 330 Arkansas Street. Meredith said the auditorium could hold 130 people and there were two overflow rooms for 80 people set aside as well. Meredith said when another room was vacated, a third room was opened, but when Meredith announced there was no more space for the event around 4:15 p.m., nearly 60 people were turned away.

“We know we disappointed many people,” Meredith said.

Meredith said that the people who were turned away wrote down their emails, so the hospital could send a recording and transcript of the conversation. Those resources are expected to be sent out next week.

Meredith said in hindsight, the hospital should have found a larger venue considering the number of people affected, but she said the approximately 300 people in the audience gave feedback that it was a productive conversation for navigating the complicated system.

Going forward, Meredith said LMH has a feeling of the top concerns from the patients looking for new insurance, and it will be able to publish a summary and answer frequently asked questions that came from the panel. She also added in the month since the hospital announced changes, patient accounts staff have answered 650 calls from patients to help navigate the process of finding new insurance. Although the hospital staff couldn’t provide specific advice on plans to purchase, Meredith said they can look at how the patients’ coverage was being used by the hospital, which can give an insight into what type of coverage is most necessary.

The open enrollment period for Medicare plans runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7.

One resource patients can use is the Senior Resource Center for Douglas County. The center has volunteer Medicare counselors who are trained by the state’s Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas program to specifically help seniors find the best Medicare coverage for them. People interested can call the center to schedule an appointment with one of the Medicare counselors.

Meredith said that anyone interested in receiving the information from the recent LMH seminar can contact LMH at its main phone number — 785-505-5000 — and ask for Medicare seminar information and leave their email address for further follow up. She hopes that everyone can get the information they need for what most patients have said is an overwhelming process.

“There is nothing more important than getting healthcare for you and the people you love,” Meredith said.