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AOA and HCFA Enhance Medicare Information and Referral System On
Monday, March 5, 2001 the Administration on Aging (AoA) and the Health Care
Financing Administration (HCFA), the federal agency that administers Medicare,
announced the funding of 26 new projects totaling more than $1.5 million that
will help AoA's national aging network of supportive home and community-based
service providers respond to inquiries from Medicare beneficiaries. The
Medicare Empowerment and Collaboration Initiative creates a strong way to link
older persons, their families and caregivers to information about the full range
of health care insurance choices and decisions available through Medicare
programs. These
programs were selected because they reach and assist individuals who experience
difficulties in getting information, including older people with language and
cultural barriers, mobility limitations, cognitive impairment and other
disabilities, and isolated elders in rural or urban settings. Responding
to nearly 14 million requests for information and assistance each year, AoA's
national information and referral assistance system is a source of accurate and
unbiased information and referral. AoA's toll-free Eldercare Locator
(1-800-677-1116) and assistance systems puts older adults and their caregivers
in touch with state and local resources such as: health care, congregate and
home-delivered meals, adult day care, consumer protection, elder abuse
prevention, transportation, housing, pension counseling, legal and other
services that help older adults remain independent in their own homes. The
Initiative will enable local aging agencies to link Medicare beneficiaries,
their families and caregivers to the main information channels of the Medicare
& You informational program, including the Medicare & You Handbook,
1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), the Medicare website www.medicare.gov, and
State Health Insurance Assistance Programs, (SHIPs). The
National Association of State Units on Aging and the National Association of
Area Agencies on Aging, representing the principal components of AoA's national
aging network, will manage and provide technical assistance to the funded
projects. AoA's aging network
includes 57 State Units on Aging, 655 Area Agencies on Aging, 227 Tribal and
Native organizations, and 27,000 service providers. The
26 new projects funded under this initiative include 13 proposals led by a State
Agency on Aging, and 13 projects led by an Area Agency on Aging or a Native
American aging program. HCFA
administers Medicare, the nation's largest health insurance program to people
age 65 years and older and certain people under 65 who are disabled.
More than 39 million people have Medicare. The
26 funded projects are: STATE
AGENCY ON AGING MEDICARE EMPOWERMENT AND COLLABORATION INITIATIVE PROJECTS
AREA
AGENCY ON AGING MEDICARE EMPOWERMENT AND COLLABORATION
INITIATIVE PROJECTS
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