Older adults face confusing decisions about benefits for financial and health care.  One resource for information about such topics is the local Area Agency on Aging.  Those offices throughout Mississippi are funded largely by federal funds through the Older Americans Act.  They provide help through Senior Centers where older Mississippians can get hot meals and other services, the Meals on Wheels program, the Ombudsman program which advocates for nursing home residents who have complaints with their facilities, and the Senior Medicare Patrol that educates seniors how to review their Medicare Summary Notices and Part B Explanation of Benefits statements for mistakes and recognize billing errors and possibly fraudulent charges for medical expenses on their bills.
One other service offered through the state-wide Area Agency on Aging (AAA) offices under the Mississippi Department of Human Services is the State Health Insurance Assistance Program – or SHIP Program.  The primary goal of SHIPs is to advise, educate, and help beneficiaries make the best choice in the Medicare program to meet their needs.  Staff and trained volunteers in these state offices can provide information about Medicare coverage, Medicare rights and protections, Medigap and long-term care insurance and assistance with payment denials and appeals.
Funding for the SHIP program in 2016 was in serious jeopardy in the Senate recently.  The Senate Appropriations Committee proposed a 42% cut in funding for State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs), from $52.1 million as authorized by the House budget to $30 million.   A cut of this magnitude would dramatically erode the SHIP national network of unbiased, reliable, and personalized Medicare benefits information counseling to older adults, people with disabilities, and their families.  In fact, if SHIP funding had simply kept pace with inflation and the increasing number of Medicare beneficiaries since FY11, spending for FY16 should be $63.8 million.  After advocacy by the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and more than 30 other groups who opposed the cuts, the 2016 appropriations package passed late last year funds the program at its current $52.1 million, sparing it from the originally proposed cuts.
The advocacy groups pointed out that the proposed funding cut comes at a time when Medicare just celebrated its 50^th anniversary, and about 10,000 Americans are becoming Medicare eligible each day – significantly increasing the need and demand for SHIP services. One-on-one assistance provided by SHIPs has grown from 1.2 million client contacts in 2005 to 3.4 million contacts in 2014, a 270% increase.  If a 42% cut resulted in an across-the-board reduction in services, almost 1.5 million fewer people with Medicare would receive assistance. Since over 57% of SHIP counselors are volunteers, who donate almost 2 million hours of assistance, such a reduction could also result in reduced or compromised volunteer training, which increases the risk of erroneous advice and reduces the quality of services receive.
Understanding the A, B, C, and D’s of Medicare is often an overwhelming process. It can also be an isolating experience if seniors and people with disabilities don’t know where to get help. The SHIPs have provided local, in-depth, insurance counseling and assistance to Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers since 1992. Counseling services are provided via telephone, and one-on-one in-person sessions, in addition to approximately 94,000 public education presentations last year. These personal, face-to-face services are especially important for the significant number of Medicare beneficiaries with cognitive illness or other chronic conditions that make it more difficult to process complicated information.
The primary goal of SHIPs is to advise, educate, and empower individuals to navigate this increasingly complex program and to help beneficiaries make choices among a vast array of options to best meet their needs. Making informed decisions among 30+ prescription drug plans, an average of 18 Medicare Advantage plans, as well as various Medigap supplemental insurance policies, can improve access to quality care and saves money for Medicare beneficiaries, and potentially reduce Medicare spending as well.  For example, research has indicated that if beneficiaries chose the least expensive Part D plan available in their region, they could save an average of $368 per year and that only 5.2 percent of the beneficiaries in the study sample chose the least expensive plan.
Given the significant differences in premiums, cost sharing, provider networks, and coverage rules, SHIPs play a critical role in ensuring that these choices are well informed and thoughtful for each beneficiary served. SHIPs also provide assistance with fraud and abuse issues, billing problems, appeal rights, and enrollment in low-income protection programs.
Your state-wide  Mississippi Area Agency on Aging offices are great sources of information on many topics related to the problems of aging.  If these Medicare and health insurance-related issues are murky waters for you, AAoA SHIP counselors may be able to help.  Contact them at 800-948-3090 for free information.  Or you may contact our office at 601-987-3000 for additional information about these and many other topics.