About Us

About California Health Advocates

Founded in 1997, California Health Advocates is the leading Medicare advocacy and education non-profit in California. We receive financial support from private and public organizations. See our grantors and sponsors, meet our staff, read articles mentioning CHA, or read about our first 10 years. Our work includes:

Advocacy & Policy

Advocacy: Advocating on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries and their families, we target federal and state level legislators and their staff through media and educational campaigns. We also build and lead coalitions of strategic partners concerned with Medicare-related issues, such as the California Medicare Coalition.

Policy: As the premiere watchdog organization for Medicare in California, we conduct public policy research to support improved rights and protections of Medicare beneficiaries and their families. We frequently partner with other statewide and national Medicare organizations to promote policies that positively impact Medicare.

See our Press Releases and Press Mentions.

Education

We provide accurate and up-to-date Medicare information for both Medicare beneficiaries and their families — and the, advocates and providers who serve them.

For California beneficiaries and their families: Our website provides Medicare information organized by topic, with English and Spanish podcasts available in several sections. We also support the state’s Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program (HICAP) who work directly one-on-one with California’s Medicare population through our trainings, technical assistance and educational materials.

For Medicare professionals: We provide current Medicare information and education through this website, our e-newsletter, blog articles, policy briefs and our widely-used fact sheets concerning the Medicare’s most pressing issues, all available in the For Professionals section of our website. Our expert staff trainers also provide educational workshops, training and consultation to professionals, including HICAP counselors and staff on comprehensive Medicare topics and policy issues.

Contact Us

Learn about the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) project and how SMP counselors can help you resolve fraud related questions and provide education on Medicare fraud prevention.

Send Us Your Comments

Do you have comments or concerns about your Medicare coverage? Issues regarding getting your needed prescriptions from your Part D plan, or a Medicare Advantage plan representative’s marketing practices? Let us know at comments@cahealthadvocates.org.

Hearing how Medicare is working for you is an important part of our advocacy efforts to make sure Medicare works well for all beneficiaries. Your comments help guide our recommendations with key state and national policy makers.

Contributing to Our Work

We seek tax-deductible contributions and sponsors to support our high quality educational events and publications. We are a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) charity, and donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

We’re listed with GuideStar. You may donate online or send a donation to:

California Health Advocates
5380 Elvas Avenue, Suite 221
Sacramento CA 95819

Read Our Testimonials:

Voice message testimonial

— George StarkyResident Service Coordinator

“The value of the CHA Fact sheets to our HICAP program is huge. Counselors can get current information and data figures, the fact sheets are easy to read, finding the answers needed is easy with the wonderful index. The fact sheets also help our Medicare clients by giving them information they can rely on to be correct and current and written in an manner they can understand. Our clients like to have something in hand to remind them of all the information they just heard and the fact sheets fit that bill perfectly.”

— Debbie ShallyHICAP Program Manager, Sonora

“Thank you so much for the technical assistance provided by Bonnie Burns to our HICAP counselor during February and March of 2011. Our client had trouble with a long term care policy that was refusing to pay. With Mrs. Burns’ help, our counselor was able to have the client’s policy begin paying for her long term care at a benefit level of $100/day. With HICAP’s help, the client will be able to save an estimated $118,381 over 3 years! The client’s family is very happy and appreciative of our help”

— Tatiana FassieuxProgram Manager, Butte County HICAP – a program of PASSAGES

"In January, my doctor sent a claim to Medicare for a walking boot which I needed for a medical condition. Medicare denied the claim even though the boot was a covered item. Since the doctor was not paid, he insisted that I pay $284.85 out of pocket, which I paid, however I was sure this was not a fair practice.

I brought my case to the California Senior Medicare Patrol and Sandy Morales, Complex Case Manager, worked on the issue for several months. She was an intermediary between Medicare and my doctor and after several conversations, she was able to convince the doctor to re-submit the claim for the boot, along with the appropriate documentation indicating medical necessity.

Bottom line: in September, Medicare paid the doctor for the valid claim and the doctor reimbursed me for the full $284.85.

Thank you Sandy and Senior Medicare Patrol for being such a strong advocate for a grateful Medicare beneficiary."

— Marcy B

“The CHA Fact Sheets are invaluable; I do not know what we would do without them! It would be impossible to counsel and reach the population that we do, if the fact sheets were not available. They provide us with a template in which we base all our sessions on, and with them, we can confidently say to the client that we are providing them with accurate and detailed information, which will guide them into making a decision that is appropriate for them. They are the best thing next to sliced bread!”

— Jennifer Tam, San Francisco HICAP Program Manager

"I wish to take this opportunity to express a heartfelt thank you for your fine work through your office and Pam Brown's that enabled me to retrieve my Medicare insurance that was inadvertently canceled may my insurer in error. Just received my medical card today. We are so relieved. A lovely lady with Medicare gave me the HICAP number and through another very nice lady (Muriel Smalheiser) I was able to speak with Pam who contacted you at California Health Advocates. I am so grateful to all of you, as my wife who is very ill battling a rare cancer, as sick as she was, tried to assist me in my application during the open conversion period, would have been disastrous for me not to have coverage. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your caring and your fine work."

-- Phil R.