Medicare Best Practices

1
Medicare Best Practices

• 2003 IR Training and Education Conference
• June 4, 2003
• Marisa Scala
• Executive Director
• Center for Medicare Education
• Washington, DC

2
Overview

• About Medicare education
• About CME
• Our projects

3
Challenges The population

• Medicare population itself is complex
• Low functional literacy
• Cultural diversity
• Health status
• Income and living arrangements
• Medication usage
• Little knowledge about Medicare

4
Challenges The topic

• Medicare is complicated and confusing
• Enrollment
• Making choices
• Filling in gaps
• Assistance for people with low incomes
• Rights
• Terminology
• Quality initiative
• Market volatility

5
Challenges The context

• When are people making decisions?
• Crisis situations
• Points of transition

6
About Medicare education

• Who is educating consumers?
• Benefits counselors, social workers, care
  managers, hospital discharge planners, nurses,
  doctors, more
• How do we educate people about Medicare?
• Written materials
• One-on-one counseling
• Group presentations
• But funding for this education is decreasing

7
Who we are

• Part of Institute for the Future of Aging
  Services
• Funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• 4 year, 5.5 million grant
• Helping Professionals Help Seniors

8
Our goals

• Facilitate networking and sharing of ideas
  between information intermediaries
• Help build infrastructure and capacity of
  community-based organizations
• Expand the scope of beneficiary education
• Improve education techniques
• Target sub-populations

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What we do

• Information and resources to frontline
  professionals
• Technical assistance
• Training
• Targeted research and conferences
• Web site www.MedicareEd.org

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Issue Briefs

• Short, targeted publications related to Medicare
  education
• Provide practical tools that audience can use
• Reach more than 17,000 professionals each month
• Available at www.MedicareEd.org

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Issue Brief topics examples

• Medicare Mental Health Benefits
• Writing Easy-to-Read Materials
• Creating Senior-Friendly Web Sites
• Developing Culturally Appropriate Medicare
  Education Materials
• Setting Up a Hotline

12
Health literacy efforts

• Report Health Literacy Responding to the Need
  for Help
• Health literacy conferences Medicare Education
  and Health Literacy Responding to the Need for
  Help

13
Culturally appropriate Medicare education project

• Demonstration project focused on developing
  resources for culturally diverse populations
• Partnered with National Asian Pacific Center on
  Aging and The Spanish-speaking Elderly Council
  Raices
• Developed print materials and radio and TV ads

14
Housing-based Medicare education

• Designed to reach people where they live
  educating housing professionals about Medicare
• Working with Health Benefits ABCs
• Housing professionals know little about Medicare
  or where to turn for resources
• Several pilot sites around the country

15
Disability issues project

• Focused on the need of younger Medicare
  beneficiaries with disabilities
• Partnered with California Health Advocates
• Developed issue brief and training resources on
  the needs of younger Medicare beneficiaries with
  disabilities

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Future plans

• New funding sources
• Long-term care education

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Contact information

• Marisa Scala
• Center for Medicare Education
• 2519 Connecticut Ave, NW
• Washington, DC 20008
• 202-508-1209 (direct line)
• 202-783-4266 (fax)
• mscala_at_MedicareEd.org