Today, the Center for Medicare Advocacy joined a letter from 75 national organizations urging Senate and House leadership to include continued funding for Medicare low-income outreach and enrollment efforts in the next funding package. Currently, Congress has not authorized and provided funding for Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) low-income outreach and assistance programs, which will significantly hamper State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs), Area Agencies on Aging, and Aging and Disability Resource Centers that rely on the funding to conduct targeted outreach and assist people in enrolling in the Medicare Savings Program and the Low Income Subsidy (LIS).
The letter emphasized the implications of not extending this funding:
Failure to extend the program early next year would seriously impair the ability of low-income beneficiaries to receive assistance they are eligible for that enables them to afford needed care. Federal outreach and enrollment activities, originally authorized under the 2008 Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), enable our nation’s most vulnerable, low-income beneficiaries – many of whom are dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid – to access financial assistance for prescription drug coverage, Medicare premiums and cost-sharing for which they are eligible.
The full letter is available at: https://medicareadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Medicare-beneficiary-outreach-and-enrollment-letter-12-23.pdf
December 14, 2023 – K. Kertesz