Press release
MEDICARE PROVIDES FUNDING FOR HEALTH INSURANCE COUNSELING IN ALL 50 STATES
MEDICARE PROVIDES FUNDING FOR HEALTH INSURANCE COUNSELING IN ALL 50 STATES
Medicare will provide funding for health insurance counseling in every state to help beneficiaries get the most from the health program for elderly and disabled persons, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today.
Each state will receive a share of $30 million in grant funds so state agencies can bring personalized assistance to people with Medicare at the local level. Under the State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs), CMS provides funding to 54 SHIPs, including all 50 states, and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands.
SHIPs are a key part of Medicare’s education and outreach efforts to educate beneficiaries about health insurance coverage, including Medigap, Medicare Advantage options, Medicare prescription drug coverage, and long-term care financing. In recent months, they assisted millions of beneficiaries with finding drug plans suited to their individual needs.
“SHIPs and other outreach partners have helped many beneficiaries enroll in Medicare Part D, contributing to the fact that 39 million Americans with Medicare now have some sort of prescription drug coverage,” said CMS Acting Administrator Leslie V. Norwalk. “With these 2007 grant awards, SHIPs are expected to continue to achieve measurable accomplishments that support beneficiaries in local communities.”
SHIP counselors will continue to provide enrollment assistance to Medicare beneficiaries and offer personalized counseling regarding all of their Medicare benefits, including new preventive health screenings and services.
Through counseling, education and outreach, networks of local programs are helping beneficiaries understand and utilize their Medicare benefits. SHIPs are intended to serve beneficiaries who want information, counseling, and assistance beyond what is available through other CMS channels, including 1-800-MEDICARE and www.medicare.gov.
To help them succeed, CMS will continue to provide training for SHIP counselors and full access to computer programs and other support tools, such as the Plan Finder tool and Tip Sheets, developed by CMS to help SHIPs with outreach and other functions.
“CMS continues to value the important role that SHIPs play in educating beneficiaries about Medicare,” Norwalk said. “We have more than doubled our funding to SHIPs since 2003 and look forward to working with these programs and other community-based organizations to continue to support Medicare beneficiaries.”
SHIP grants are calculated in two parts. The initial grant is distributed as a fixed award of $75,000 ($25,000 to Guam and the Virgin Islands) to each of the applicants. The second portion is a variable sum based on the percentage of nationwide Medicare beneficiaries who live in the state, the proportion of the state’s Medicare beneficiaries to the total state population, and the proportion of the state’s Medicare beneficiary population who live in rural areas.
For a complete list of state health insurance counseling programs, visit www.shiptalk.org. For more on Medicare benefits, visit www.medicare.gov.