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 cultivate and collaborate with strategic partners concerned with Medicare-related issues.

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, and our widely-used fact sheets concerning the Medicare’s most pressing issues, all available on 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.

Our Partners

We, along with the California Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) project, collaborate with multiple advocacy organizations throughout the state and across the nation on issues regarding Medicare, access to care and services, and Medicare fraud. See our list of partners for more information.

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:

“For the record, the rave reviews of your presentation which started immediately after you left, continued through the lunch hour. . . and again at this week's meeting.... On behalf of "The View" (and myself), thank you again for your thought-provoking and informative presentation.”

— Corinne S.Programming Volunteer for “The View”

"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

California Health Advocates (CHA) is an invaluable resource for our Contra Costa HICAP (SHIP) program. This organization supports HICAP statewide in numerous ways. We have used CHA for training new volunteer counselors, for providing our first-line resource materials primarily through their fantastic fact sheets, and for very important technical research as they look up applicable federal governmental regulations about very complicated matters. This latter service is greatly appreciated because those of us who work in the field are dealing with the immediate needs of clients and don’t have the time to pore through government regulations.

— Ruth AtkinHICAP Program Manager, Contra Costa County

“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

“Thank you for coming to our class and sharing your experience with Medicare fraud. The students shared they really appreciated all you shared with them. I believe it is so important for students to get the big picture and have the correct information on current aging issues. You got them off to a good start. Thank you, again, for generously sharing your time with our students.”

— Barbara Gillogly, Ph.D., Chair Gerontology Dept., American River College, Sacramento

"I just wanted to say thank you for all you do and for all that CHA helps us with. We function much better as an organization knowing we have you and all of the CHA team for support and especially resources."

— Maria Profeta, Stanislaus County HICAP Program Manager