Sacramento, CA — Ten Medicare fact sheets, translated into Chinese, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese, are available on cahealthadvocates.org, the website for California Health Advocates (CHA).
CHA fact sheets help Medicare beneficiaries understand Medicare, and their rights and benefits. Each fact sheet focuses on a specific Medicare topic. Three of the 10 translated fact sheets are:
- Medicare Part D: An Overview, which explains how the Medicare prescription drug program works and the costs;
- Extra Help for Part D Costs, which describes the low income subsidy (LIS) program that helps some Medicare beneficiaries pay for their Medicare Part D plan; and
- Medicare: An Overview, which summarizes the federal health care insurance program for people 65 years and older, younger people who have disabilities, and people who have kidney failure or end-stage renal disease.
“Medicare is complicated enough in English. But what if you don’t understand English?” posed Wayne Soucy, CHA’s President/CEO. “We are thrilled to post these 10 translated fact sheets on CHA’s website so that more people — people who speak other languages — can learn about their Medicare benefits, options and rights. This is just one step to help beneficiaries with limited English proficiency. Much more needs to be done to make Medicare information easily available. Our goal is to empower all California beneficiaries to make informed decisions about their health care.”
Funding for the translations was made possible by the California Department of Aging (CDA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Wayne R. Lindley, California SHIP/HICAP Director, commented: “The California Department of Aging Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program (HICAP) is pleased to have had the opportunity to collaborate with California Health Advocates on the translations of these 10 Medicare fact sheets. CDA and the HICAP remain committed to providing timely information and individual assistance to California’s diverse, multi-ethnic Medicare beneficiaries.”
CDA oversees the Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program, which provides benefits counseling and community education about Medicare through 24 local offices throughout the state. People who have questions about Medicare or related health care insurance can call 1-800-434-0222, the toll-free statewide number for HICAP.
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California Health Advocates is a non-profit organization dedicated to Medicare beneficiary advocacy and education efforts for Californians. CHA supports the work of local HICAP offices by providing technical assistance and training. Visit our website and blog at: cahealthadvocates.org and blog.cahealthadvocates.org.
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Contact:
Elaine Wong Eakins, Project Manager
510-574-1995
