With an estimated 10,000 people aging into Medicare every day— and more than 56 million currently enrolled in the program—the need for clear, accurate, and accessible Medicare information grows unabated. The Medicare Rights Center works diligently to address this need nationally through its counseling, education, and advocacy programs, and especially serves the communities surrounding its home base in New York City with dozens of Medicare presentations each year.

At the Medicare Rights Center, we count on our 60 highly trained volunteer helpline counselors to help us answer thousands of questions for people with Medicare, their families and caregivers, and the professionals who serve them. To ensure that our volunteers provide expert counseling and assistance, we provide numerous training sessions throughout the year to keep them informed and up to date about the complexities of Medicare.

Ms. D was 108 years old when a community-based organization contacted the Medicare Rights Center on her behalf. Although she

The Medicare Rights Center recently announced the launch of the new-and-improved Medicare Interactive Pro (MI Pro), a comprehensive online curriculum designed to empower any professional to help their clients, patients, employees, retirees, and others navigate their Medicare coverage to access affordable health care.

The Medicare Rights Center’s Coalition to Protect the Rights of New York’s Dually Eligible (CPRNYDE) works to ensure that the needs of people with Medicare and Medicaid are at the center of policymaking efforts and that their voices are heard. One way we do this is through our Workgroup for People with Medicare and Medicaid. This workgroup is comprised of over thirty individuals across New York State, most of whom have long-term care needs and chronic health conditions.

I recently had the privilege of attending the Putting Care at the Center Conference, the inaugural conference of the National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs (National Center), along with one of our passionate and dedicated workgroup members, Ms. Hutchinson. Ms. Hutchinson and I were recipients of a grant from the National Center, and we are grateful we were able to attend the conference in Philadelphia.

After last week’s election, the country faces uncertainty on many fronts. Obviously, health care will be a major focus of Congress and the new Administration, although the implications for people with Medicare and their families remain unclear.

You may have already seen news reports about how some members of Congress want to privatize Medicare and transform the Medicare program as we know it today. By no means is this new news, but the election results brought about renewed interest in these ideas.

The Medicare Rights Center will continue to work tirelessly to protect and strengthen Medicare, and we will keep you informed every step of the way.

At the Medicare Rights Center, we know that your healthcare needs don’t take a summer vacation, and neither do we. Over the summer, our national Consumer Helpline staff was hard at work answering thousands of questions for people with Medicare and their families. From Monday-Friday year-round, our dedicated staff and volunteers are available to assist with needs ranging from help with low-income benefit enrollments to submitting complex Medicare coverage appeals.