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I. HAP HAPpenings
- HAP Welcomes Tyrone Norris
- Best of Luck to Deepti Sethi
- SHIPTools Is Expanding
- New Evaluation Form for HAP's Medicare Advantage Tools
- HAP Is Growing!
- HAP at the SHIP Directors Conference
II. Highlights from CMS
- Valuable Plan Performance Information Available
- 2009 Plan Call Letter Released
III. Items of Interest
- Happy National Volunteer Month!
- HAP Submits Comments on the 2009 Medicare and You Handbook
- Group Practices Reportedly Limit Number of Medicare Patients
- MedPAC Chair Concerned about Overpayments to Inefficient MA Plans
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Nevada "Boot Camp" Sessions Train New "Decks" of Volunteers
After learning about Ohio's CREAM team concept at the SHIP Director's conference last year, Nevada embraced the idea of tiered volunteer roles and flexible training options as a way of engaging a wide range of volunteers.
Learn more about tiered volunteer roles and flexibility-based training sessions at HAP's Celebrating SHIP Successes page. | |
I. HAP HAPpenings
HAP Welcomes Tyrone Norris
HAP is pleased to welcome Tyrone Norris, the Web and Database Coordinator, to its team. Tyrone is responsible for overseeing HAP's Web site, as well as creating and maintaining HAP's databases. He has seven years of experience as a Webmaster specializing in the development of online communities.
Best of Luck to Deepti Sethi
HAP is sad to say goodbye to its Senior Legal Analyst, Deepti Sethi. Deepti has made many wonderful contributions to HAP. We wish Deepti much success and happiness as she embarks on a new chapter of life on the West Coast.
SHIPTools Is Expanding
HAP is pleased to welcome Michigan to SHIPTools, a customizable, web-based management system that engages SHIP staff and volunteers across a state. The Michigan SHIP program, known as MMAP (Michigan Medicare/Medicaid Assistance Program), will be implementing the volunteer management and online counselor training features of SHIPTools during the 2008-2009 SHIP grant year.
Michigan now joins Ohio and Iowa SHIP programs, which also use SHIPTools. HAP is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with all three states.
New Evaluation Form for HAP's Medicare Advantage Tools
Congratulations on helping thousands of beneficiaries make informed decisions during the 2008 Open Enrollment Period (OEP). We hope you found HAP's Medicare Advantage Counseling Booklet helpful and invite you to complete a brief evaluation form, so we can improve the booklet for future OEPs.
Four New Collaborative State Projects Are Underway
HAP is excited to announce the four states selected for the 2008-2009 Collaborative State Projects (CSPs): Maryland, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont. HAP looks forward to partnering with these programs to develop innovative and replicable models to address challenges related to volunteer recruitment and Medicare Advantage training and counseling.
HAP would also like to thank Alabama, Massachusetts, and Tennessee for their contributions to the 2007-2008 CSPs.
HAP Is Growing!
If you are interested in partnering with the SHIPs on capacity building initiatives, HAP has two positions available. Learn more about the Senior Program Associate and Web Tools Project Manager opportunities online.
HAP at the SHIP Directors Conference
For those of you traveling to Baltimore this year for the SHIP Directors Conference, we hope you will join us at our two sessions—Pinch Hitting: Helping Beneficiaries with Billing Issues and Making Your Pitch: Communications Planning for Busy Leaders. Your insights will be invaluable to the discussions.
HAP is also sponsoring a Meet and Greet reception on Wednesday, May 28 at 6:00 pm. We look forward to seeing you there!
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II. Highlights from CMS
Valuable Plan Performance Information Available
When you assist beneficiaries in selecting Part D plans, have you noticed that plan performance information is available through the Plan Finder? Each plan is given a 1 to 5-star rating based on many performance categories. If you are wondering what distinguishes a 3-star "Good" plan from a 4-star "Very Good" plan, CMS has made available the below data, which includes average hold times for customer service and the accuracy of low-income subsidy status in pharmacy computer systems.
2009 Plan Call Letter Released
CMS released the final 2009 Medicare Advantage (MA), Medicare Advantage-Prescription Drug (MA-PD), Cost-Based Plan, and Stand Alone Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) CMS MA PDP Call Letter. A Call Letter invites sponsor organizations to apply to become a MA and/or PDP plan for 2009. A number of HAP's suggestions on the Draft 2009 Call Letter were incorporated into the final version including:
- The draft call letter did not prohibit plans from offsetting their low monthly premiums by charging more than original Medicare for very costly services. We advised that allowing plans to do so could lead to discrimination against people with greater health care needs. CMS addressed our concerns by expanding the list of services to include inpatient acute and psychiatric hospital, home health, and durable medical equipment (DME).
- HAP urged CMS to clarify that plans offering coverage in the gap do so through all plan-contracted pharmacies, not just through mail order pharmacies. This suggestion is reflected in the final call letter.
- CMS added language to the Model Pharmacy Directory that describes the concept of preferred pharmacies within a plan's network of pharmacies, as suggested by HAP.
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III. Items of Interest
Happy National Volunteer Month!
We know how hard you work to engage and inspire volunteers who contribute so much to the SHIP program. To celebrate National Volunteer Month, HAP wanted to highlight a couple of training opportunities available through outstanding volunteer management support organizations.
Visit HAP's Program Development Resource Center for additional SHIP-specific tools and information.
HAP Submits Comments on the 2009 Medicare and You Handbook
HAP submitted comments to CMS on the draft of the 2009 Medicare and You handbook. Our comments include clarification of the complex language used throughout the handbook, as well as comments about the layout of certain sections. HAP's comments also emphasized the critical role of SHIPs in helping beneficiaries make informed decisions about their health care.
Group Practices Reportedly Limit Number of Medicare Patients
A recent survey by a trade association representing medical group practices shows that some physicians have started to limit or refuse new Medicare patients due to the financial uncertainty caused by adjustments and proposed cuts to physician payments. The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) reported that nearly half of the survey respondents said they would have to stop accepting or limit the number of Medicare beneficiaries if scheduled cuts to physician payments take effect.
MedPAC Chair Concerned about Overpayments to Inefficient MA Plans
Glenn M. Hackbarth, J.D., Chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), testified before the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Health about Medicare payment policy. The March 11 hearing focused on MedPAC's March report, which examined several payment issues in traditional fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare and made recommendations to reform Medicare Advantage (MA) plan payments.
Chairman Hackbarth raised concerns about the inefficiency of some MA plans, particularly private fee-for-service plans, and the impact that MA plan overpayments has on the long-range financial sustainability of the Medicare program. He said, “We are now paying some types of plans much more than traditional FFS, seeing lower efficiency, and seeing new plans with poorer quality performance than old plans. We are not receiving value for the additional money.”
Visit HAP’s What's HAPpening center for summaries of additional hearings, meetings, and policy analyses, including:
- March 25, 2008 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Report
- March 2008 Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Health Care: A Chartbook from the Commonwealth Fund
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