WASHINGTON, D.C., June 30, 2006 – The National Council on Aging (NCOA) commends the House of Representatives for passing the Senior Independence Act (H.R. 5293) without dissent. The legislation would reauthorize and strengthen services offered under the Older Americans Act, the chief federal law governing the organization and delivery of a number of social services for older Americans.

Passage of the bill represents important progress toward achieving the number one priority of the once-per-decade White House Conference on Aging – reauthorization of the Older Americans Act. The final report from the conference is expected in July.

"The House bill contains many of the recommendations advocated by NCOA," said Howard Bedlin, vice president of Public Policy and Advocacy. "We are particularly pleased that it contains a provision that will support further efforts to reach out to and enroll seniors with limited income and resources in benefits they are eligible for. The provision has the potential to boost efforts significantly to find and enroll additional low-income seniors in the extra help provided under the Medicare Prescription Drug coverage. These beneficiaries now comprise fully 75% of those still without drug coverage."

"Means-tested benefits programs historically have been under-utilized either because seniors or their families don’t know about them or find it too difficult to apply and enroll. If enacted, this bill begins to provide a framework for hope for millions of vulnerable seniors," Bedlin added.

NCOA is a leader in helping seniors and those who help them access benefits programs, pioneering the Web-based BenefitsCheckUp service (www.BenefitsCheckUp.org) that has provided help in finding benefits for more than 1.5 million people since 2001. NCOA also chairs the 104-member Access to Benefits Coalition that provided support for localized outreach and enrollment help during the recent Medicare Part D educational campaign. It also led the My Medicare Matters campaign that personally assisted 200,000 people with Part D education leading up to the May 15th Part D deadline.

The bill also includes many of NCOA’s recommendations on increasing civic engagement of seniors as well as support for evidence-based health promotion and disease prevention initiatives, and for NCOA’s Family Friends program.

A committee vote in the Senate on Older Americans Act reauthorization legislation has been tentatively scheduled for June 28th.

About NCOA

Founded in 1950, the National Council on Aging is a charitable organization dedicated to improving the health and independence of older person and to increasing their continuing contributions to communities, society, and future generations. For more information on NCOA, visit www.ncoa.org.

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WASHINGTON , June 14, 2006 – In testimony today before the House Ways and Means Committee concerning Medicare prescription drug implementation, the National Council on Aging (NCOA) commended the successful enrollment efforts thus far and stated that much remains to be done. NCOA called for a targeted national strategy to reach out and enroll the over 3 million beneficiaries in greatest need who are eligible for the low-income subsidy (LIS), and comprise up to 75 percent of those who still do not have drug coverage.

"The promise and potential of the Medicare Modernization Act will not be realized until we find and enroll all of the people who are eligible for and not receiving the Extra Help available to them," said James P. Firman, NCOA president and CEO. "NCOA applauds the efforts of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to permit low-income beneficiaries to apply for help and choose a plan after May 15th, and looks forward to working with the Administration, Congress, and private sector partners to find and enroll them."

Firman, who also chairs the 104-member Access to Benefits Coalition (ABC), added: "Reaching full, or almost full, LIS enrollment will require significant resources, millions of hours of one-on-one assistance, and several years to accomplish."

Through its efforts with the ABC and My Medicare Matters campaign, NCOA has been at the forefront of helping beneficiaries understand, navigate, and enroll in the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. NCOA applied lessons learned over the past year to recommend a number of specific actions integral to a unified national LIS enrollment strategy, including:

• a coordinated private sector effort that that complements government efforts;
• support for trusted grass-roots organizations to provide one-on-one counseling;
• sophisticated list and web-based enrollment strategies;
• specialty call centers focused specifically on LIS enrollments; and
• sufficient public and private sector funding to support the most cost effective, targeted, evidence-based approaches.

In addition to the 3 million beneficiaries who are LIS-eligible and who do not have prescription drug coverage, NCOA also urged that there be greater focus on another one million or more people who are LIS-eligible and already enrolled in a Part D plan. NCOA also estimates that at least 150,000 people who applied for LIS through the Social Security Administration and who were denied coverage would actually qualify for LIS if they applied instead for a Medicare Savings Program. This is because eight states (AL, AZ, DE, ME, MS, and VT) do not have any asset test for one or more categories of the Medicare Savings Program and MSP-eligible beneficiaries are deemed eligible for LIS.

NCOA also called on Congress to eliminate the asset test as a condition of LIS eligibility, saying that more than half of the applications rejected were ineligible because they failed to meet that test. People who scrimped and saved to keep a modest nest egg but still have limited incomes should be encouraged and rewarded, not denied the extra help they need.

About NCOA

Founded in 1950, the National Council on Aging (NCOA) is dedicated to improving the health and independence of older persons and increasing their continuing contributions to communities, society, and future generations. NCOA is a 501(c)3 organization based in Washington, DC.

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