The Affordable Care Act (ACA) helps ensure that Americans have access to quality, affordable health care. The new health reform law seeks to "level the playing field" between Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and Original Medicare by freezing payments to private MA plans in 2011 at current levels and reducing overpayments starting in 2012.

What do these changes mean for Medicare beneficiaries, and for the SHIPs who assist them in making informed decisions about their care? As part of its ongoing series to help SHIPs and beneficiaries understand the changes to the Medicare program, HAP has developed a new set of resources on the anticipated changes to MA plans:

• A consumer education fact sheet to help SHIPs answer some of the initial questions from Medicare beneficiaries about how the new health reform law will affect their MA benefits. SHIPs can customize it by adding their contact information and other information that pertains to their region.
  
• A planning tool to help SHIPs consider how the changes in overpayments to MA plans may affect the MA landscape and program operations, including volunteer recruitment, training, community outreach, and partnerships.

Other health reform resources and tools developed by HAP and other organizations can be found at our Health Reform Resource Center.