Why this Medicare assistance program needs help

• State Health Insurance Assistance Program helps senior sign up for Medicare; its funding may end.
• Dr. Ken Moore is the mayor of Franklin and president of the Greater Nashville Regional Council.

Imagine for a moment that you are an older adult who qualifies for Medicare. You have limited financial resources, no family to assist you, no access to the internet, cataracts that make reading small print extremely difficult, and driving somewhere to get help is out of the question.

Where do you turn? How can you benefit from a healthcare program that, for all intents and purposes, is out of reach? 

Health insurance can be challenging to navigate. Eligibility and enrollment guides present a maze of options that are described in limited terms on cluttered forms. While most people have become accustomed to the annual process of selecting a health plan, many of us have a hard time doing the research necessary to make an educated decision.

Consider for a moment that not everyone has that ability to fully explore their options. Especially those relying on Medicare. 

Since the early 1990s, Tennessee has participated in the federal government’s State Health Insurance Assistance Program, or SHIP, a program funded through the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability and administered locally by the Greater Nashville Regional Council.

Along with the support of volunteers, professionals at GNRC are trained to understand the complexities of Medicare, know how to assess a client’s situation, and have the experience to guide them one‐on‐one through the process of signing up for benefits.  They even travel to meet a client in their home to provide this assistance. 

In 2016, GNRC provided personalized service to nearly 12,000 residents across 13 counties in Middle Tennessee. Each of these Tennesseans received individual support from a GNRC counselor, and collectively benefited from significant savings for their pocketbooks.

But the statistics only tell part of the story about the value of the SHIP program and GNRC. 

The individual described in the introduction has a name, Lorraine Sepulveda. She is a resident of Clarksville, and she called GNRC in 2015 seeking assistance with cataract surgery.

At the age of 65, she was without support of family members, lived in disheveled conditions due to her limited sight and mobility, and had very little income. GNRC’s counselor visited Lorraine in her home and from the moment the conversation began it was clear that not only was she in need of Medicare assistance, but she had also never been fully informed of other programs available to assist her.

The GNRC counselor worked with Lorraine to identify and enroll her in the best Medicare plan and even helped her complete other grant applications to help save her money. 

As a result of that one visit, Lorraine now receives financial assistance for living expenses, has recovered from cataract surgery, and is back behind the wheel again. The service provided by GNRC’s counselors, and other Aging and Disability counselors across Tennessee, have a dramatic impact on the lives of seniors citizens. 

Funding for SHIP is on unstable ground as the proposed federal budget threatens to eliminate more than $52 million in discretionary funding for this important service. This valuable program helps many across Middle Tennessee and the nation, and if you know someone who needs help with Medicare, I encourage you to contact your Congressional members to express support for SHIP.  

For more information about the SHIP program or GNRC, visit gnrc.org or call 1‐877‐801‐0044.

Dr. Ken Moore is the mayor of Franklin and president of the Greater Nashville Regional Council.