The Medicare Rights Center’s national and state policy agendas are defined by our experience serving people with Medicare on our national helpline and through our educational programs. Read our collection of reports, fact sheets, and letters to learn more about our policy positions.
You can help protect and strengthen Medicare by taking action on the important issues we are following. Subscribe to our newsletters and alerts, get involved on social media, and if you are in the New York City area, volunteer on our National Helpline. You can also support our mission by becoming a Medicare Rights donor.
The Medicare Rights Center answers 20,000 questions from people with Medicare and their families each year through its National Consumer Helpline, and the organization’s expertise reaches even further in New York State through professional trainings and partnerships. Working with the Health Insurance Information, Counseling, and Assistance Program (HIICAP) and assisting hundreds of community-based organizations in New York City, Medicare Rights helps more people with Medicare, especially in underserved and low-income communities.
This week, researchers released an analysis of patterns in Medicare showing that people with high needs—like significant chronic illness—and people with both Medicare and Medicaid coverage choose to leave their Medicare Advantage (MA) plans more often than people without similar health issues or Medicaid coverage. The researchers sought to discover why these patterns exist and what the implications might be for MA going forward.
This year is a significant milestone for the Medicare Rights Center as we celebrate our 30th anniversary!
Thanks to our dedicated supporters, we have worked to ensure access to affordable health care for older adults and people with disabilities for three decades—and we will continue this critical work into our 30th year and as long as our services are needed.
Trish Sneddon is a financial services representative and certified senior advisor at a faith-based nonprofit organization. Since she started this work in 2001, Trish has been an avid user of the Medicare Rights Center’s educational resources and has also become a monthly donor.
Medicare Rights continues to support efforts and advance policies that make prescription drugs more affordable and do not otherwise increase costs or reduce access to care for older adults and people with disabilities.
This summer, Medicare Rights President Joe Baker was a panelist at a Capitol Hill briefing, “Tackling Prescription Drug Prices: An Examination of Proposed Medicare Part D Reforms,” an educational event hosted by the National Coalition on Health Care to shed light on proposed reforms to Medicare Part D, identify the trade-offs involved, and explore the impacts on people with Medicare.
The Medicare Rights federal policy team has been hard at work considering and responding to multiple U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requests for comments on proposals regarding changes to Medicare Advantage plans and Part D as well as other regulatory and administrative issues such as Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) and Short-term, Limited Duration Insurance.
The Medicare Rights Center is hard at work in our nation’s capital advocating for policies that protect and strengthen Medicare for older adults and people with disabilities.
We are currently working to prevent lawmakers from using the increased federal deficit that resulted from the Tax Cut bill as an excuse to cut or restructure Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. While Congress approved legislation preventing automatic cuts, there is still a gaping revenue shortfall of $1.5 trillion or more, putting these programs directly in the cross-hairs of policy-makers seeking to pay for the tax cuts.
The Medicare Rights’ federal policy team’s work varies day to day, but their overall strategy leads to one goal: to protect and strengthen Medicare for the 56 million individuals who depend on the program today—and the many millions more who are counting on it for the years to come.
