Open Enrollment – Helping People with Medicare Make the Best Decisions for their Health

SUMMARY As a contractor for Medicare, Acentra Health serves as the Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organization, also referred to as a BFCC-QIO. While Acentra Health provides BFCC-QIO services in 29 states (visit www.acentraqio.com to see the states served), the general information is relevant to everyone who has Medicare (including Medicare Advantage) and everyone who works with people who have Medicare.  This episode is a conversation with our guest, Kathy Madden who works for the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Insurance. She has been the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP)/Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) Partners Services and Training Manager for 12 years. She spent most of her career training all over the country on various topics in the Human Services realm before joining SHIP.  She has experience and knowledge about Medicare, Medigap, Medicare Advantage, and Medicare-related topics. Kathy is passionate about advocating for seniors and understands that consumer education is key to beneficiaries making information Medicare decisions and preventing fraud and abuse within the Medicare program. She is excited and honored to help consumers, stakeholders, and partners navigate the complex Medicare system.  For more information about Acentra Health BFCC-QIO, please visit https://www.acentraqio.com. KEY TOPICS  00:25: Overview, introduction of guest, Kathy Madden 02:25: Information about the SHIP program 04:30: What is Medicare Open Enrollment? 07:58: What is Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment? 11:46: Medicare Plan Finder tool 14:47: Summary and final thoughts SUBSCRIBE Subscribe to our newsletters: Case Review Connections, On the Healthcare Front at https://www.acentraqio.com/newsletters RESOURCES BFCC-QIO Information for stakeholders: www.acentraqio.com/partners BFCC-QIO Information for people who have Medicare: https://www.acentraqio.com/bene/helpline SHIP and Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance Program (SHIBA): https://www.shiphelp.org/ Medicare: https://www.medicare.gov/ Music: Motivational Upbeat Corporate by RinkevichMusichttps://soundcloud.com/rinkevichmusic https://protunes.net/ Video Link: https://bit.ly/3NNqGTs