Projects - Advocates Alliance

An initiative to assist public interest advocates throughout the country with Medicare cases and issues, funded by the Retirement Research Foundation.

The dates for the remaining calls in 2010 are August 9, October 18, and December 13. (The October call is the only one not held on the second Monday of the month, due to the Columbus Day Holiday, which is October 11th.) Each call will last an hour and will begin promptly at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

We ask those calling from the same location to gather around one telephone, if possible. That frees up lines and holds down overall costs to the Center, as we have to pay for each line used.

In addition, please attend to the following guidelines:

Unless speaking to the group, please keep phones on "mute" at all times.
Do not put phones on "hold" during the call, as other callers will hear the "on-hold" message or music.
With dozens of lines connected from all over the country, the connection will be better for everyone if the use of cell phones is avoided unless absolutely necessary.
Please do not take calls by an open window or outside. Sirens and wind are a big problem for other callers.
When speaking, callers should identify themselves, their program and their state.

Thank you for your cooperation.

The Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc. (the Center) has received a grant from the Retirement Research Foundation to develop and lead a nationwide alliance of Medicare advocates public interest programs and organizations.* Through a series of telephone conference calls and related collaborative support, we hope to enhance advocates' knowledge of Medicare coverage and increase successful Medicare appeals and efforts at systemic change. Alliance calls will be held on an "every-other-month" basis and more frequently if needed.

The calls will provide public interest advocates with the opportunity to pose questions, discuss complex and ongoing advocacy concerns, and use the Center's expertise and the collective wisdom of Alliance participants to problem-solve. Senior Center for Medicare Advocacy attorneys will host the calls, and on each call will obtain further suggestions from participants about particular Medicare coverage and appeal topics of concern. Based on that input, the Center will prepare a short practice-oriented memorandum and guided discussion for the following month's call. Such topics might include how to deal with Medicare's erroneous improvement, chronic and stable standards; how to contest a Part B income-based premium; and tips for appealing denials of Medicare home health coverage.

Project Components to be Provided by Center for Medicare Advocacy

Conference calls for advocates every other month and more frequently if needed;
Expert analysis and memoranda about Medicare coverage and appeals;
Practice Tip Memoranda on specific topics for use in case evaluation and development;
Simplified coverage screens for beneficiaries; and
An accessible data-base of Medicare Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decisions.

Project Coordination

Center for Medicare Advocacy attorneys, Sally Hart and Vicki Gottlich, will lead the Medicare Advocates Alliance calls. The Center plans to begin the Medicare Alliance conference calls in February 2009. For further information about this project and to sign up for the monthly calls, updates, and materials, please contact Alfred Chiplin, Jr. in the Center's Washington, DC office at achiplin @ medicareadvocacy.org - (202) 293-5760 or Judith Stein in the Center's Connecticut office at jstein @ medicareadvocacy.org - (860) 456-7790.

* For attorneys and others in private practice, the Center for Medicare Advocacy is considering a special set of programs and services, to include memoranda (with advocacy tips section), each on a different topic, coupled with some number of telephone/webinars. We hope to have this program ready shortly, along with pricing information.