MINNEAPOLIS — Medicare open enrollment has just begun, but increased premiums and decreased options have led to a record number of calls to Minnesota Aging Pathways, formerly the Senior LinkAge Line.

"We have been seeing well over 1,000 calls a day," said Kelli Jo Greiner, Medicare program director at the Minnesota Board on Aging. "(On the first day of open enrollment) we saw 2,000 calls. Our normal call volume is about 200 to 300 calls a day during the rest of the year. It's the largest increase we've ever seen in the history of our service and we've been around since 1993."

Greiner says once a staff member does take a call, the conversations are difficult.

"We are hearing a lot of anxiety," she said. "It ranges from pure anger to tears. It's really a range of extremes that we are hear

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