The Make Medicare Work Coalition

1
The Make Medicare Work Coalition

• May 2008

2
Make Medicare Work (MMW) Coalition

• Began in 2004 to address and influence the impact
  of the new Medicare Rx law on people in Illinois
• Brings together aging and disability service
  providers and advocates
• Marries education/outreach with policy advocacy-
  bringing field experience to policymakers
• Targets underserved groups
• Builds on an inclusive collaborative philosophy
  and structure

3
MMW Funding

• Chicago Community Trust
• Michael Reese Health Trust
• Retirement Research Foundation
• Support from NCOA

4
Funded Partners

• Lead agencies AgeOptions, HDA, PCIL
• Chicago Department of Senior Services
• Northeastern Illinois Area Agency on Aging
• Alivio Medical Center
• UIC School of Pharmacy
• Aging network agencies in suburban Cook
• Centers for Independent Living Chicago metro
  area
• Mayors Office for Persons with Disabilities
• Chicago Dept of Public Health Office of Health
  Care Access

5
MMW Partners and Participants

• More than 400 on listserv around 200
  organizations
• Aging and disability service providers and
  advocates
• Local, state and federal agencies
• Policy and research groups
• Other key stakeholders- elected officials staff,
  pharmacy representatives, community and
  faith-based groups
• Chicago metro area focus, but statewide presence

6
MMW Education Outreach

• Education Outreach activities co-led by
  AgeOptions and Progress Center for Independent
  Living
• Successful partnership marrying aging and
  disability networks
• Feeds and is integrated into policy and advocacy
  work led by Health Disability Advocates

7
MMW Products Core Activities

• Educational materials
• Bulletins, Alerts, topical briefs, QAs for
  newsletters, fact sheets for service providers
  and consumers
• Meetings and trainings
• Annual Summit, quarterly in-person meetings,
  phone conferences, work group meetings, trainings
• Technical support
• Help with cases advice, intervention, legal
  assistance
• Advocacy

8
Some MMW Accomplishments Direct Service

• Estimate that we directly reached over 350,000
  Medicare consumers through events, individual
  counseling and assisting with enrollment/applicati
  ons
• Partners provided 478,140 counseling sessions
  over the phone and in person.
• Assisted 22,800 to enroll in Part D and 78,450
  into other Rx programs (e.g., Extra Help,
  Illinois Cares Rx, PAPs).
• Presented at more than 2,800 community education
  events attended by 133,450 Medicare consumers and
  family members.
• Consumers reported information presented in ways
  we can understand

9
MMW Accomplishments Supporting Service
Providers

• Conducted 750 training events, attended by over
  9,500 professionals and volunteers
• Estimate they reached an additional 250,000
  people
• Contacts from MMW at least twice per month
• MMW training and communications directly
  contributed to improving members efforts and
  outcomes. Survey
• 91 - allows them to provide better quality info
  to clients
• 87 - better respond to changes and use new
  information
• 57 - allowed them to reach more people
• 34 - spent more time with clients

10
Education Outreach Goals for 2008 and 2009

• Maintain and grow the coalition new partners
• Provide information and technical support through
  the Resource Center
• Find and reach underserved groups
• Lowincome in specific communities
• Deaf or hard-of-hearing
• Mental health/psychiatric service consumers
• People transitioning out of nursing homes
• People using safety net services

11
Targeted Communities

• Consumer Advisory Groups
• In 3-4 selected communities
• Work with a lead agency
• Recruit community/neighborhood consumers with
  Medicare
• Develop an action plan and implement
• Welcome to Medicare sessions
• Work with local SSA offices
• Info on Medicare Basics and Rx programs
• Assistance to apply for programs

12
Deaf and Hard of Hearing

• Produce comprehensive package of materials in
  accessible formats
• Working group to determine best approaches
• Video with captioning and signing?
• Add captioning to local access cable show?

13
Safety Net

• Cook County has 2nd highest number of eligible
  but not enrolled in Part D Low-Income Subsidy,
  according to CMS.
• Believe many getting medications for free or low
  cost through safety net.
• Changes may displace some of these people.
• Work with county and city clinics and Federally
  Qualified Health Centers to find and enroll in
  more stable programs. (Safety net for the safety
  net).

14
Impacts

• Enormous numbers of people reached, educated,
  empowered and assisted to make informed decisions
• Watchdog for improper marketing and other
  practices putting vulnerable people at risk
• More capacity among service providers to get
  accurate information
• Strong live partnership between aging and
  disability to build upon
• Participation in national evaluations studying
  our model
• Integration of on the ground and policy/advocacy