Making Sense of Medicare

Episode Bonus - R. Kinney: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode Bonus - R. Kinney: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Speaker1:
I am speaking with Rebecca Kinney, director of the Office of Health Care Information and Counseling at the administration for Community Living. Rebecca, thanks so much for taking a few minutes for me. I really do appreciate it.

Speaker2:
Hello. Thank you for having me.

Speaker1:
No problem at all. Well, you know, um, Medicare is a topic we talk about quite a bit around here in, in the work that I do. And it can be really confusing for a lot of people. The good news, though, there is, um, some, some help that's available out there and it's not going to cost an arm and a leg either, which is always good news for folks. And we're talking about specifically state health insurance assistance programs. What are those and really how do they work?

Speaker2:
Yeah. Thank you. So the state health insurance assistance programs, also known as the ship ship we lose the a there in the acronym is, uh, nationally uh, federally funded program that is available in every state D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. And this grant based program funds a network of over 12,000 uh, local team members who have been fully screened, trained, and certified in Medicare that help folks really navigate and understand their Medicare options and benefits and how to access those benefits and use them. Uh, we work really hard to try to make sure that, uh, our folks are available. This program is free because it is a federally funded program. There is no charge for the service if you call the ship for help. And, uh, as I said earlier, these programs are available nationwide, and we have folks in your local community available to provide assistance, either over the phone or in a lot of cases, you can set up an in-person, uh, meeting with a ship counselor to really sit down and talk through whatever your questions, uh, may be to, to help out.

Speaker1:
Very good. And so are these, um, services available for people who are already on, uh, Medicare or maybe people who are about to, uh, age into the system, perhaps during the annual enrollment period. I know which is coming up, of course, later on in the year, but, um, uh, who can call these lines and and get help?

Speaker2:
So we help anyone who is enrolled in Medicare or eligible for Medicare. We also will assist caregivers. So if you're helping take care of a parent or a spouse, in some cases, even a child who is Medicare eligible and you need help understanding how to navigate those plan choices available to you or access certain benefits, you can contact the ship. We will help anyone. Uh, as I said, who is Medicare eligible or Medicare enrolled? And because those Medicare plans change every year, we do get a lot of calls during open enrollment to help folks really look at and understand how the choices are changing for the next year and how those changes match up to our, um, individual needs. But we're available year round to help, um, whether someone is newly eligible to Medicare or if you're struggling to pay for your Medicare, the premiums, copays and whatnot, there are programs available to help pay for Medicare, and we provide assistance in screening and getting enrolled in those as well.

Speaker1:
Very good. And and also, you know, you know from I think one, one thing that a lot of people might be really confused about are, um, things like Medicare supplements, Medicare Advantage plans and things like that, which differ from state to state, is that I guess one of the advantages of having people in every state, in your local community, being able to help you is to to be able to help sort of navigate any differences that might be there for you, the plans that are available in your particular state or location.

Speaker2:
Exactly. The ships are actually created along with the standardization of the Medigap back in 1990 for that exact reason. Um, Congress wanted to make sure that there were unbiased individuals available in local communities to help folks really understand what are their Medicare plan options available to them, and how does that work with what's happening locally, with your provider networks, with your, um, the prescriptions that you need. And so, uh, also, some states offer state pharmaceutical assistance programs which help pay for prescriptions. In some cases, there might be other programs and things available locally to help pay for your health care, but also possibly transportation, nutrition and the ships. Having individuals that are so local, community based, not just state based, but community based, um, they have that knowledge of what is happening locally to really help folks understand the full breadth of options and benefits that are available to them. One 800 Medicare is a great resource for information, but they don't have that local information that our ship, uh, team members have.

Speaker1:
Right. And so one last thing for me here. Um, how can people actually find their local, uh, ship in their community and get more information?

Speaker2:
Yeah. So you can find your local ship at our national website, which is located at Schiphol Airport. Org. That's one word. Schiphol p.org. Schiphol.org. And there is a locator there where you can put in your flight your state and get the phone number for your local organization. Also a website for your local organization. Alternatively, we also have an 800 number that will route you to your local program based on where you're calling from. And that toll free number is 1-877-839-2675. Again it's 1-877-839-2675. And either that phone number or that website can get you to your local program.

Speaker1:
Very good. Rebecca Kinney, director of the Office of Health Care Information and Counseling at the administration for Community Living. Rebecca, thanks so much for taking the time, really to appreciate it.

Speaker2:
Thank you. Thank you for having me.

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