Healthy Aging
Building the Capacity of Health Advocates
Leads to Better Information for Seniors
 igh-profile changes to the Medicare
program, such as the new prescription
drug discount card, receive lots of
attention. But many other policy
changes to this complex federal program are implemented
throughout the year—with little fanfare—
that address benefits and coverage, Medicare HMOs
and supplemental programs.
Since each change impacts
communities in diverse ways,
TCWF grantee California
Health Advocates (CHA)
works to ensure that timely
and accurate information is
readily available.
 In March 2003, TCWF
awarded CHA a three-year
grant of $150,000 to establish
a centralized office in
Sacramento to sustain the
provision of Medicare
education and advocacy
services to its statewide
network of agencies. These
local agencies, called HICAPs
(Health Insurance and
Counseling Advocacy
Programs), are staffed by
volunteers who respond to
telephone inquiries and offer face-to-face counseling
about the Medicare program for beneficiaries and
their families.
 “With our new office, CHA is better equipped
to provide our training and support,” said Clare
Smith, CHA president and CEO. “We have hired an
office manager and are improving our computer
and telephone systems. We are also working to
standardize our training materials and are looking at
setting up some web-based resources for HICAP
volunteers to access.”
Bonnie Burns, CHA’s training and policy
specialist, is an expert on the program. She has
developed training modules on a variety of topics
and regularly updates them when policy changes are
announced. She leads training sessions around the
state that translate complicated bureaucratic policy
language into understandable, practical information
to help HICAP volunteers provide accurate local
information to seniors in their communities.
“I am so impressed with the HICAP volunteers,
many of whom are retirees,” Smith said. “They
become students of insurance and are very
conscientious about having the right information
available. When the government announces changes
with no advance notice, they go way beyond the call
to get up-to-speed on developments.”
The HICAP volunteers are a valuable asset for
California seniors. Although the Medicare program
operates a toll-free telephone information line to
answer questions, it’s primarily an automated
system with complicated menu options, presenting
obstacles for many seniors. The HICAP volunteers,
on the other hand, can answer specific questions
about which zip codes are served by different
Medicare HMOs or about local pharmacies.
“For seniors and their families who are
concerned with navigating the health care system
and making good health care choices, CHA’s
education and advocacy services are critical,” said
Pauline Daniels, TCWF program director. “Building
this organization’s capacity to provide information
and training will lead to better health outcomes for
California’s seniors.”
Looking to the future, CHA hopes to be better
able to serve all Medicare beneficiaries by providing
training materials in languages other than English
and by helping HICAPs improve their capacity to
respond to these inquiries. CHA also hopes to build
a broader coalition of organizations that serve
Medicare beneficiaries to help overcome what is
currently a fragmented system of information
and support.
For more information, please visit
www.cahealthadvocates.org or
www.calmedicare.org
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