Healthy Aging
Rural Elders receive Health and Consumer Education
  l” and “Carla” are an elderly couple from a small town outside Reedley,
California. They saw ads on television and in their Sunday paper informing them
that as Medicare beneficiaries, they could enroll in an HMO or other
supplemental health plan. Based on the plans’ features, they each picked a
different plan. They were shocked and saddened to discover that when they both
needed convalescent care, they weren’t allowed to stay in the same hospital-in
fact, Al and Carla were placed almost 50 miles apart.
After hearing countless similar stories in which seniors were confused over
Medicare coverage and available supplemental plans, Sierra Kings Hospital
Foundation designed an educational program to inform area seniors and their
families about their options so that they could make informed choices about
their health care needs. TCWF provided a two-year, $50,000 grant to fund the
educational program.
About 70 percent of seniors in Sierra Kings Hospital Foundation’s service
district reside in the mountain regions. The majority of area elders live at or
below poverty level, many of whom are monolingual Spanish speakers.
“This project stands out because of their efforts to reach elders in
outlying areas and to provide their services in Spanish as well as English,”
said Gary Nelson, TCWF program director.
Susan Chapman, a bilingual registered nurse and project director, conducted
the educational forums with the help of volunteers from the statewide Health
Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program. The sessions were held in the
semirural and rural communities of Reedley, Parlier, Orange Cove, Squaw Valley,
Dunlap and Miramonte.
“We offered free blood pressure checks, goody bags and snacks, which helped
draw a lot of people. Once there, people were really glad to get the
information,” said Chapman, who also serves on the Senior Commission on Aging
for the City of Reedley.
The sessions focused on what is covered under Medicare and each of the plans;
the costs of the plans; information about local providers and which ones utilize
which plans; how the plans handle emergency and urgent care; special features of
managed health care plans; and a patient bill of rights. More intensive health
plan counseling was also provided following the general sessions for those who
needed it.
“In addition to confusion regarding supplemental plans, we found that many
people were unaware of their basic benefits under Medicare, which provides many
preventive services readily available throughout our service area,” Chapman
said.
When the project began, seven different supplemental plans were offered in
the area. Since then, five have pulled out and the remaining two often require
clients to travel long distances to receive care.
“After learning what’s most available in our communities, many seniors
decided they’d be best served by sticking with plain old Medicare,” Chapman
said.
An educational hotline service was created to provide the informational
counseling to seniors who were unable to attend the forums.
The educational program served approximately 213 seniors, and the educational
hotline will continue. Monthly newspaper ads inform people of the hotline
service.
“We started the project to address a specific need. We learned a lot from
doing the forums and about what’s going on with the seniors in our area,”
said Sandy Burke, assistant project director and foundation coordinator. “Many
are really struggling financially and said they often had to choose between
getting their prescriptions and eating.”
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