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In December's Issue:
HAP HAPpenings
- New and Updated Tools for AEP Toolkit
- Working to Move and Extend the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP)
- HAP's Conference Call on December 16
- New SHIP Locator Map
- Health Action 2010: HAP to Host Workshops Highlighting SHIPs' Efforts
- Spotlight on HAP: Collaborative State Projects (CSPs)
- HAP Submits Comments on Medicare Advantage and Part D Regulations
- SHIPTools Can Help You Manage Your SHIP Program
- Take Time to Thank Your AEP Volunteers
Interesting Items
- New Medical Debt Fact Sheets and Consumers Guide Now Available
- Improvements to Medicare Beginning January 1, 2010
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HAP's Extra Hand |
| Looking Back: Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries (QMBs) and Medicare Cost-Sharing |
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Share the Issues Your Clients Encounter during AEP
HAP's Issue Log in the Troubleshooting Medicare project is designed to help SHIPs capture the systemic and persistent issues affecting their clients. SHIPs can use the Issue Log to record and share information about a particular issue that clients experienced during the Annual Election Period (AEP), track client issues over time, and learn about the issues that other counselors are seeing in the field.
Please contact SHIPhelp with your name, organization, role, county, and state to receive a username and password and to begin logging issues!
AARP's Innovative Plan Evaluator
Looking for innovative ways to help your clients find out if they're in the right plan? Check out AARP's animated approach to helping beneficiaries size up plans. And don't forget HAP's technology tools for other tips on how to create your own video!
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HAP HAPpenings
New and Updated Tools for AEP Toolkit
CMS recently announced that asset limits for the low-income subsidy (LIS) for Part D plans will not change in 2010. The 2010 asset amounts will remain the same as 2009: $8,100 for an individual and $12,910 for a couple. HAP has taken this news, along with your recent feedback, to make updates to its asset-related tools and charts in our Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) Toolkit to help you when counseling potentially eligible LIS clients about the asset amounts for the coming year.
In the updated Toolkit you'll find a new, SHIP-customizable PowerPoint presentation on Medicare Drug Coverage in 2010 as well as the following new resources on the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Finder to assist clients in counseling sessions:
HAP wishes you a successful and smooth rest of the AEP!
Working to Move and Extend the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP)
HAP believes that the experiences and expertise of the SHIP community are essential to improving the Medicare program, and we are committed to bringing your voice and perspective to decisionmaker audiences. You have always been champions on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries, and we are proud to work in support of your priorities. As part of the Troubleshooting Medicare project — which is designed to help improve the Medicare program by identifying persistent and systemic issues that affect beneficiaries across the country — you told us that moving and extending the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) for Part D plans (and eliminating the additional open enrollment for Medicare Advantage plans) would provide beneficiaries with more time to make informed decisions about their health care.
We are working to inform Congress that these changes would result in significant improvements for Medicare beneficiaries. The bill recently approved by the House of Representatives (H.R. 3962) would change the AEP schedule to November 1 – December 15. The Senate is currently considering a bill (H.R. 3590) that would change the AEP schedule to October 15 – December 7. For a comparison and summary of the major provisions in both bills, click here. For more information, or to get involved, contact us.
HAP's Conference Call on December 16
On December 16, HAP will host a conference call on an important and timely topic — health care reform and proposed improvements to the Medicare program. As HAP continues to follow the health care reform debate, as we did in our September and November eNewsletters, we recognize that SHIPs are interested in staying up to date on what is happening in health care reform. More than twenty states registered to listen to the White House's November Conference Call on Senior Issues.
In our December call, we will provide an update on the health care reform debate, and discuss improvements in the House and Senate bill proposals, including moving and extending the AEP, shrinking the Part D coverage gap or "doughnut hole," and eliminating copayments for preventive care. SHIPs are often first to encounter questions from beneficiaries about changes to the Medicare program. This call will help you answer questions when meeting with clients curious about the latest in health reform relative to Medicare.
Please note the time for this month's call has been moved to 2:00 p.m. EST to accommodate the SHIP Director call with CMS that follows immediately afterward.
HAP will send call-in information and materials in an eAlert on December 10. We look forward to your participation!
New SHIP Locator Map
In response to recent user feedback, HAP has updated its SHIP Locator Map to make it easier for visitors to our Web site to access contact information for the different SHIP programs.
Our previous locator map was not compatible in some Web browsers, which made it difficult for all users to access state information. We did some creative work behind the scenes to offer a more innovative and interactive map that provides SHIP contact information to all seekers. Also, we now offer a PDF version of the state SHIP contact information.
We appreciate your feedback on our Web site services and welcome your questions. As always, you can reach us at SHIPhelp.
Health Action 2010: HAP to Host Workshops Highlighting SHIPs' Efforts
In this historic climate of reform in health care, HAP is pleased to announce we will host two workshops at the Families USA Health Action 2010 conference, January 28-30, in Washington, D.C. The workshops will focus on HAP and the SHIP network's most recent public education initiatives through the Troubleshooting Medicare project and our joint mission to positively improve the lives of beneficiaries and the Medicare program as a whole.
SHIPs & Policy: Helping Medicare Beneficiaries
This workshop will showcase the efforts SHIPs have made in public education and policy activities in different states, and will highlight the role SHIPs have played in improving the lives of Medicare beneficiaries' access to care.
Senior Advocacy Networks: Building Successful Models
This workshop takes a broader look at various organizations in select states that advocate on behalf of seniors. Participants will share examples of successful models and how they work together with other partners and advocates, including the SHIP advocate model.
Families USA, HAP's parent organization, hosts the annual Health Action conference to bring together health care advocates from across the country and engage the public in the health reform effort. Please contact us if you have any questions about HAP's workshops.
For more information about Health Action 2010 and registration, please visit the conference homepage. If you plan on attending this year, we look forward to seeing you!
Spotlight on HAP: Collaborative State Projects (CSPs)
HAP* has partnered with SHIPs across the country since 2001 to help build their capacity to educate, counsel, and assist Medicare beneficiaries. We understand the important role SHIPs play in helping Medicare beneficiaries access benefits, and how hard you work to resolve issues. HAP offers programs and services in Medicare education, program development, and public education and policy that are designed to help SHIPs meet this mission.
In 2006, HAP began offering SHIPs the opportunity to partner and collaborate with HAP and strengthen SHIP programs initiatives through the customized Collaborative State Projects (CSPs) service. As part of the CSP initiative, HAP identifies four SHIP programs to partner with in a 12-month intensive capacity building partnership on a variety of emerging issues, including volunteer recruitment and management, and Medicare education and training. Although the CSP partnership is limited to four states, the projects offer best-practice resources and models that are easily replicable and made available through our Web site to the entire SHIP network at the end of the CSP year.
Currently, HAP is partnering with SHIP programs in Colorado, Montana, Alabama, and Virginia to develop innovative programs around volunteer recruitment, volunteer management, and Medicare education and training. Stay tuned this spring for best-practice resources and tools generated by these CSPs!
*HAP is an independently funded project of Families USA, a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.
HAP Submits Comments on Medicare Advantage and Part D Regulations
On October 22, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released new Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D draft regulations intended to revise the MA and Part D programs. As with all draft regulations, CMS invited the public, including SHIPs and advocates, to offer comments to the proposed rules, due December 8.
HAP joined with other Medicare advocacy organizations to submit comments to CMS that reflect the needs of Medicare beneficiaries, and that incorporate the relevant issues and case studies you've shared with us over the course of the year.
The rules of the Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D programs are established by CMS's regulations, which mean that regulations, or "rules," have the force of law once they're in effect. In order to inform the rule-making process so that it reflects SHIP recommendations and beneficiary experiences, HAP submits comments and feedback to CMS that reflect meaningful changes for SHIPs and ultimately, for Medicare beneficiaries. We encourage SHIPs to continue to share feedback, and particularly during the open, public comment time periods.
For any questions, or to learn more about the comment process, please contact us.
SHIPTools Can Help You Manage Your SHIP Program
SHIPTools, HAP's Web-based management system designed for SHIPs by SHIPs, helps programs save time by allowing you to collect, capture, and calculate National Performance Reporting (NPR) data; train team members; support beneficiary outreach activities; and streamline volunteer management. We encourage all SHIP staff and volunteers to visit our demonstration site to test drive SHIPTools and experiment with all of its features — including our most recent feature, a virtual (or online) forum that allows staff and volunteers to discuss issues and ask questions of one another across a program.
To use our SHIPTools demonstration site, please contact us and request a username and password. You may also learn more, by visiting our SHIPTools Web page.
Take Time to Thank Your AEP Volunteers
Thanksgiving has come and gone and we’re in the middle of another AEP. But, there are still things to be thankful for, such as your hardworking SHIP volunteers!
Many of you rely on a team of AEP volunteers to help you through this busy season. Take a minute to thank your dedicated helpers and keep them motivated for the rest of the AEP. Here are some quick, easy, and low-cost ways in the coming weeks to show appreciation for your volunteers, and thank them for all they do:
Looking for a unique way to recognize your volunteers? The Oregon SHIBA program has created a Web page where coordinators and clients can leave public praise about the SHIBA volunteers they've worked with. Check it out!
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Keep an Eye Out!
Vulnerable Populations Will Need Additional Assistance
Part D and Medicare Advantage (MA) plans that are non-renewing for 2010 have been instructed by CMS to send a letter to current enrollees by November 2 informing them of the upcoming non-renewal. The letter includes descriptions of plan enrollees' options, which for some beneficiaries may be confusing. Use HAP's Plan Letter Tip Sheet to help your more vulnerable clients better understand what the letter and the options mean for them.
Share Your WellPoint Experiences
On September 9, CMS lifted a previously imposed sanction on WellPoint, allowing them to market and enroll for the 2010 plan year. CMS will be paying close attention to their on-going performance. CMS is requesting that SHIPs notify CMS of "any significant issues" related to WellPoint's operations at letusknow@cms.hhs.gov. Please note that this mailbox is not a substitute for the Complaints Tracking Module.
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Interesting Items
New Medical Debt Fact Sheets and Consumers Guide Now Available
According to a new publication recently released by Families USA*, Shortchanged by Medical Debt, 41 percent of working-age adults in 2007 were paying off medical debt or were having trouble paying their health care bills. Medical debt contributes to bankruptcy, housing insecurity, and can have a negative impact on access to health care because people in debt often delay or forgo needed care. For Medicare beneficiaries, common contributors to medical debt include the coverage gap, or "doughnut hole," in Part D prescription drug plans and the cost-sharing charges in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.
Your Medical Bills: A Consumer's Guide to Coping with Medical Debt, another new publication from Families USA, offers helpful information, tips, and resources for health care consumers of any age. It includes step-by-step instructions for paying off medical debts, what to do if you cannot afford to pay, how to negotiate a payment plan with a hospital or other health care provider, and it outlines what to ask for in a payment plan. The guide also describes the consumer rights and protections that exist in such laws as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The guide includes an extensive list of contacts and resources that might be helpful to SHIPs and your clients if these questions arise during counseling sessions in the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP). HAP first covered the issue of medical debt and Medicare beneficiaries in its August newsletter and offered a number of additional consumer resources for SHIP counselors to use when helping people who are struggling with medical debt:
*HAP is an independently funded project of Families USA, a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.
Improvements to Medicare Beginning January 1, 2010
With last year's MIPPA (Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, 2008) legislation comes important and positive changes to the Medicare program, effective January 1, 2010. One of the more significant changes is better coordination of outreach to low-income beneficiaries who are potentially eligible for Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs). Starting January 1, 2010, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will be sending all Part D low-income subsidy (LIS) applicant data to state Medicaid offices to determine MSP eligibility. This change will streamline the application process for the two programs, and increase the chances of reaching the more vulnerable beneficiaries who often fall through the cracks when it comes to these historically under-enrolled programs.
HAP and other beneficiary advocates are pleased to see these changes, which offer significantly more robust protections for low-income beneficiaries. Another significant change effective January 1 will be the increase in the asset test for MSPs. In 2010, the asset test amounts will be $8,100 for an individual and $12,910 for a couple. Additionally, the increased asset limit will be indexed for inflation each year (something that has not happened since the program's inception in 1990) and will also match the asset test of the Part D LIS program, again making it easier for low-income beneficiaries to get much needed benefits.
For a complete review of changes scheduled to take effect January 1, see HAP's MIPPA Changes 2010 fact sheet.
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Looking Back: Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries (QMBs) and Medicare Cost-Sharing
Earlier this year, HAP alerted the SHIP network to a persistent access-to-care issue affecting Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries (QMBs) relative to proper billing of Medicare cost-sharing amounts. Based on the feedback that you've since provided, we’ve learned that the issue appears to be pervasive in a number of states. In response, we developed the following resources and information tools to support SHIPs when working with QMB clients:
Stay tuned for the next information tool in the QMB and Medicare cost-sharing series — the QMB Counseling Guide. Scheduled for a spring release, the counseling guide is intended as a practical tool to help SHIPs counsel and assist their QMB clients.
In the meantime, HAP asks that you continue to share your QMB experiences so we can continue to make informed recommendations to policymakers on improving coordination of care for the QMB program as a whole. You can either e-mail us, or log your experiences in our Troubleshooting Medicare Issue Log.
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