The ABA Commission on Law and Aging is gathering information on state or local bar programs providing pro bono attorneys to assist in Medicare Part D counseling (the prescription drug benefit).    If your program provides such services, please send the following information to Charlie Sabatino at sabatinoc@staff.abanet.org:

·        Who are the organizational collaborators, and a contact person?

·        Is it funded? If so, by whom?

·        How much training is provided and who does it?

·        Are there training materials available to others? (Available online? Link to? Free?)

·        About how many volunteers are involved or expected and for what geographic area?

·        Any advice for others trying to replicate this kind of program

The Need

The need is now.  The initial enrollment period for this new drug benefit under Medicare began November 16 and continues to May 15, 2006 for some 42 million Medicare beneficiaries.   There are several dozen different prescription drug benefit plans and options that vary significantly.  It is very confusing for many, if not most, beneficiaries.   Many people will also be eligible for low-income subsidies to defray the cost of the insurance.  The Health Insurance Counseling Programs throughout the country will be overwhelmed with the volume of requests for help.  State and local bars, other legal groups, and individual attorneys can get involved in assisting in Part D counseling to meet the huge expected need for help.  Lawyers can learn the fundamentals of the Part D benefit very rapidly.  Program screening and selection is done online through the Medicare.gov web page.  But choices can be confusing and lawyers are well-suited to help consumers weigh competing options.

Resources

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) offers good training materials for either self-training or group training online at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/partnerships/tools/materials/medicaretraining/default.asp

Most lawyers can get up to speed in a couple hours of concentrated training plus time on the consumer actually comparing plans for individuals.

Who to contact to start helping:

The group to link up with is the local office of your State Health Insurance Assistance Program.  At list of those offices can be found at:

http://www.healthassistancepartnership.org/medicare/consumer-health-assistance-programs/medicarenetworkdesc.html

Many other resources are available online from the ABA Commission on law and Aging, the Health Assistance Partnerships Program, the Center for Medicare Advocacy, the Medicare Rights Center, AARP, and others.