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The Medicare Rights Center (MRC) is an independent source of health care information and assistance in the US for the 44 million people with Medicare, their families, their caregivers, and the health care professionals who serve them [1]. MRC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, consumer-services organization.

The Medicare Rights Center has headquarters in New York City and Washington DC[2]. MRC provides direct services throughout New York State; its hotlines serve consumers and professionals in all 50 states; and its education products are nationally distributed.

The Medicare Rights Center serves people with Medicare, their families, and health care professionals— through hotline counseling, legal services, education and training, and consumer advocacy[3]

MRC 2008 - Basics

MRC President: Robert M. Hayes President of the Board: Bruce C. Vladeck, PhD

Board of Directors: Officers: Bruce C. Vladeck, PhD, Senior Health Policy Advisor, Ernst & Young, LLP; Donna Regenstreif, PhD, ; Alan B. Lubin, Executive Vice President, New York State United Teachers; Salomeh Keyhani, MD, Assistant Professor, Depts. of Health Policy & Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Directors: Arthur H. Aufses, Jr, MD, Professor, Depts. of Surgery & Health Policy, Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Micki Chen, Vice President, Associate General Counsel – Network and Technology, Verizon Communications; Daniel A. DeVito, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates; Edith Everett, President, Everett Foundation; Elizabeth Fowler, Vice President, Public Policy and External Affairs, WellPoint, Inc; Marilyn Moon, Vice President, Health, American Institutes for Research; Joel L. Olah, PhD, Executive Director, Aging Resources of Central Iowa

Number of full-time employees: 48 No. of Volunteers: 300 FY07 Budget: $3.8 million

Major Funders 2006/7: Altman Foundation, Helen Andrus Benedict Foundation, Blum-Kovler Foundation, California Healthcare Foundation, Community Fund of Eastchester, Bronxville and Tuckahoe, Jean and Louis Dreyfus Foundation, Baisley Powell Elebash Fund, Blanche T. Enders Charitable Trust, Herman Goldman Foundation, Ittleson Foundation, Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation, Metzger-Price Fund, New York Community Trust, New York State Health Foundation, Rhodebeck Charitable Trust, Robin Hood, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Starr Foundation, Ernst C. Stiefel Foundation, Isaac H.Tuttle Fund, United Hospital Fund, van Ameringen Foundation, and Anonymous

MRC also receives support through public contracts with, among others, the New York State Office for the Aging, New York State Senators: Thomas Duane, Martin Golden, Liz Krueger, Andrew Lanza, Serphin Maltese, Suzi Oppenheimer and Eric Schneiderman; New York Assembly Members: George Latimer, Amy Paulin, Linda Rosenthal, Darryl Towns; the New York City Council; Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer; and New York City Council Members: Speaker Christine Quinn, Simcha Felder, Daniel Garodnick, Gale Brewer

Hotline Counseling

MRC provides direct services to people who have been denied medical care and services – and to people who have questions about their Medicare coverage. MRC operates a hotline to assist HMO members who are appealing denials of care or coverage by their health plan, and a hotline that provides advice to social workers, pharmacists, physicians and other professionals who need Medicare information to assist their patients [4].

The Part D Appeals hotline provides legal help to people who are denied coverage for their medications. Legal services also deals with consumer fraud an HMO denials.

MRC developed a Medicare Part D Appeals manual for attorneys and other community-based advocates in New York City and across the nation [5] .

Community-based counseling and training

MRC counselors visit senior centers in the city to provide one-on-one Medicaid/Medicare counseling, in Spanish and English. In Westchester County, MRC programs educate about Medicare and about how to become effective health care advocates for themselves and their communities. In 2007, the Westchester program expanded its operations to offer counseling and health advocacy workshops in libraries and senior centers in the County [6] .

Enrollment Projects – Linking Individuals in Need with Care and Services

Through the help of volunteers, MRC enrollment projects help people with limited incomes access benefits that can help pay their Medicare premiums, deductibles and copays [7].

Policy Initiatives

In 2007, the following issues were prioritzed in the Medicare Rights Center's policy work:

1) Reforming the Medicare private health plan marketplace—and ending the wasteful overpayments to private plans and their fraudulent marketing practices. 2) Making the low-income assistance programs more accessible for people who need them. This includes making the applications easier to complete, eliminating or increasing the asset tests and streamlining the eligibility criteria. 3) Adding a drug coverage option under the Original Medicare program, which would be less expensive, and would better meet consumer needs; 4) eliminating the 24-month waiting period that people with disabilities must endure before they can get Medicare, and 5) improving Medicare coverage for people with mental illnesses.

Consumer Advocacy

MRC works with policymakers and the media to promote public understanding of health care issues facing older and disabled Americans [8]. MRC’s consumer education campaign contributed media placements in print outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, Dallas Morning News, Boston Globe, Congressional Quarterly, Bloomberg News, The Nation, and the Associated Press. MRC has also been featured on broadcast news segments such as CBS Nightly News and National Public Radio, as well as guest spots on local and national radio talk shows. MRC publishes a syndicated column in nearly 200 senior citizen and community newspapers around the country, At the same time, MRC fields press inquiries on Medicare issues. [9].

Medicare Interactive (MI) and other education materials

A major national resource is Medicare Interactive, MRC's web-based resource for consumers, caregivers, and professionals, MI integrates information on the federal Medicare program with state benefits, rights, and options. Medicare Interactive is distributed by national health-related and caregiver organizations, including AARP, American Cancer Society, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and others.

MRC’s education department provides, in conjunction with MI, a variety of consumer-friendly information products about Medicare including free web-seminars or “webinars” that MRC provides every month on its web site.

Newsletters

MRC’s free electronic newsletters provide information on Medicare issues. Among them are Dear Marci, Medicare Watch, The Medicare Counselor,and Asclepios.

References

  1. ^ http://www.n4a.org/programs/medicare-rx-outreach/?fa=resources
  2. ^ http://local.botw.org/District_of_Columbia/Washington/The_Medicare_Rights_Center/153183258.html
  3. ^ http://www.healthfinder.gov/orgs/HR3371.htm
  4. ^ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-169596627.html
  5. ^ http://endoflifecare.tripod.com/juvenilehuntingtonsdisease/id288.html
  6. ^ http://dogood.sfgate.com/nonprofits/medicare-rights-center/programs/seniors-out-speaking-on-medicare-sos-medicare#
  7. ^ http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/newyorkteacher_6880.htm
  8. ^ http://seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Medicare/2007/7-09-10-Inequities.htm
  9. ^ http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113129.php
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