PAN joins letter urging Congress to include Medicare outreach in Lame Duck funding
The PAN Foundation joined a letter from 95 national organizations, including the National Council on Aging, urging Congress to include continued funding for Medicare low-income outreach and enrollment efforts in the Lame Duck funding and extenders package.
Over the past 16 years, the program has been extended 12 times with bipartisan support, and current annual funding is relatively modest at $50 million. Funding was extended earlier this year, but it will expire on December 31. Failure to extend the program would impair federal outreach and enrollment activities for Medicare, impacting primarily low-income, rural, and underserved Medicare beneficiaries to receive financial assistance that provides access to medical care.
The federal investment provides technical assistance to Medicare SHIPs, Area Agencies on Aging, Aging and Disability Resource Center, and funds for a competitive grant program for benefits enrollment centers and a helpline from a National Center on Benefits Outreach and Enrollment.