In April's Issue:

HAP HAPpenings

• New Collaborative State Projects (CSPs)
• Coming Soon: HAP’s Updated Training Manuals
• HAP Launches New Project to Help Medicare Beneficiaries
• Now Available: Updated Plan Numbers for SHIPs

Interesting Items

• Study Finds Fraud and Abuse in Medicare Home Health Payments
• Economic Recovery Payments to Go Out in May
• NCOA Announces Grantees

HAP's Extra Hand 

HAP’s latest feature—HAP’s Extra Hand—highlights topics affecting low-income seniors and vulnerable populations. This month's feature article is Access Gaps Remains for Low-Income Seniors and Elderly African Americans.

You can expect this eNewsletter feature to appear as relevant topics arise, including:

• Overviews of larger economic and policy issues affecting these populations
• Outreach and enrollment resources for SHIPs
• Useful links to strategies and best practices from partners in the field
   

HAP HAPpenings

New Collaborative State Projects (CSPs)
The Health Assistance Partnership (HAP) is pleased to announce that Virginia, Colorado, and Alabama have been selected to participate in the 2009-2010 CSPs. The CSPs will address volunteer recruitment, training, and management challenges. In addition, we at HAP have decided to continue our partnership with Montana for another year to continue strengthening their Medicare training program. 

A total of 11 states submitted very compelling applications, making our selection of the three states extremely difficult. Thanks again to all those who applied.

The new CSPs will cover a 12-month period (April 1, 2009 - March 31, 2010) during which both HAP and the selected SHIP programs will be engaged in developing and implementing innovative and replicable projects. Congratulations again to the selected SHIP programs—we look forward to working with you!

Coming Soon: HAP’s Updated Training Manuals
Be on the lookout for HAP’s April 15 eAlert, which will announce the posting of our three new training manuals to our website. The manuals include: Medicare Basics (Original Medicare, supplemental insurance, coordination of benefits, etc.), Medicare Advantage, and Medicare Part D.

These manuals were designed to be a resource for SHIP trainers and counselors alike to address Medicare-related topics such as the recent MIPPA-related changes to MA and Part D plan marketing rules, Medigap standardization, Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) eligibility, and much more. They also contain abundant examples of how Medicare applies to a given situation, counseling tips, links to resources, and samples of relevant forms that can be great quick-reference guides for SHIP counselors.

Also, be sure to look for these manuals as they become available to SHIPTools users as part of the online training component later in May.

HAP Launches New Project to Help Medicare Beneficiaries
The Health Assistance Partnership (HAP) has received a grant from the Retirement Research Foundation (RRF) to identify and address persistent issues that affect beneficiaries across the Medicare program. In addition to identifying and capturing systemic issues frequently encountered by Medicare beneficiaries, HAP will also deliver free trainings and provide tools to help build SHIP capacity to address the issues at the individual beneficiary level. HAP will use its findings to develop system-wide Medicare program recommendations for policy makers and other key audiences to help promote long-term, lasting benefits for all Medicare consumers.

HAP recognizes that SHIPs are the “first responders” of the Medicare program—you provide services of critical importance in your communities, and are among the first to spot issues and trends that adversely affect beneficiaries. You provide beneficiaries with a voice. We will be listening to you, and learning from you, in the coming months to inform this work. Stay tuned to future issues of the HAP’s eNewsletter for updates on the project, as well as additional information on the role your SHIP can play. Or, feel free to contact us directly with questions and suggestions at SHIPhelp@hapnetwork.org.

Now Available: Updated Plan Numbers for SHIPs
HAP has worked with America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) in the past to provide you with direct telephone numbers to Medicare Advantage (MA) and Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs) in your state. These numbers provide SHIPs access to plan representatives without the typical customer hold time, making it easier for SHIPs to resolve client issues.

HAP recently received the updated list from AHIP for 2009. If you’d like to receive your state’s list of plan numbers to share within your SHIP program, please send us an email, and just be sure to mention your state!

We’d also like to hear how these numbers work for your program. As we continue to work with AHIP to improve this SHIP service, please send us any feedback so we can share your comments (without any identifying information) to help improve the process.

Study Finds Fraud and Abuse in Medicare Home Health Payments
Fraud and abuse in Medicare billing helped boost Medicare spending on home health services in 2006—up 44 percent since 2002. A new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, Medicare: Improvements Needed to Address Improper Payments in Home Health Care, examined spending and utilization growth in Medicare home health services between 2002 and 2006, and looked closely at the benefit's vulnerability to improper payments, such as upcoding, or overstating a beneficiary’s condition, and billing for services not actually received. The report includes GAO’s specific recommendations for CMS to strengthen the controls on these fraudulent and abusive practices in the Medicare home health benefit.

For more information on home health services, check out HAP’s Access the Care booklet available on our website.

Economic Recovery Payments to Go Out in May
Starting in May, people who receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will also receive a one-time $250 economic recovery payment from the federal government. No action is required on the recipient's part. Social Security asks that individuals and representatives not contact Social Security about an economic recovery payment unless it hasn’t been received by June 4, 2009.

For more information and details about the payment, see SSA's FAQ on the topic.