July 29, 2009

From the Director's Desk: Troubleshooting Medicare

Earlier this year, I asked you to join us in working toward a fully resourced SHIP network that empowers Medicare beneficiaries to access health care coverage and services that improve their quality of life. As members of the SHIP network, each of you play a variety of important roles — including counselor, community educator, case manager, and consumer advocate — to benefit Medicare beneficiaries in your community. Each of you also bring a unique, "on the ground" perspective of how well the Medicare program is meeting the needs of your clients.

At HAP, we believe that one of our roles is to share your feedback with key audiences in the Medicare program and policy community. Over the past year, HAP has pursued a number of public education and policy activities in order to share that feedback and provide recommendations that support the SHIP network and improve the Medicare program as a whole. These include:

• Submitting comments to CMS on manuals and guidance that define the Medicare program for beneficiaries and plans;
• Advocating for increased federal funding for the SHIP network; and
• Helping decision maker audiences understand the critical role that SHIPs play in assisting Medicare beneficiaries.

In addition to these activities, HAP has recently launched a new project called "Troubleshooting Medicare" to help improve the Medicare program as a whole. We invite you to participate in our project by working with us to identify persistent and systemic issues affecting your clients. Your feedback will inform trainings that we develop to help you address the issues when counseling your clients, as well as recommendations for policymakers. We look forward to working closely with you in the coming months on this vital work to help improve access to care for Medicare beneficiaries.

Sincerely,
Lee Thompson
Executive Director

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