With an estimated 10,000 people aging into Medicare every day— and more than 56 million currently enrolled in the program—the need for clear, accurate, and accessible Medicare information grows unabated. The Medicare Rights Center works diligently to address this need nationally through its counseling, education, and advocacy programs, and especially serves the communities surrounding its home base in New York City with dozens of Medicare presentations each year.

Medicare Rights provides presentations in English and Spanish for people with Medicare as well as the professionals who serve them, with sometimes as many as 400 people in attendance. The presentations cover a variety of Medicare topics, including an overview of the program, how low-income benefi ts can help with the cost of health care, and how the program interacts with different types of coverage, such as managed long-term care and Medicaid. Most presentations last around 45 minutes with additional time for Q & A, but trainings for professionals can last more than two hours.

“Many of the audience members at our presentations already have Medicare, and often they either recently ran into a problem, were denied coverage, or are trying to figure out something specific,” said Medicare Rights Education Associate Derek Ayeh. “These presentations give people the chance to speak to someone in person and get advice, answers to questions, and troubleshooting steps for problems they could run into in the future.”

Medicare Rights staff also participates in health resource fairs, which are often sponsored by community-based organizations, government agencies, and elected officials.

Medicare Rights is dedicated to ensuring access to affordable health care for people with Medicare. Through presentations and other outreach activities, Medicare Rights is creating a network that helps diverse individuals access Medicare expertise in their communities.

Medicare Rights receives generous support for New York presentations from the State of New York and the New York City Council, Community Health Advocates (CHA), the Independent Consumer Advocacy Network (ICAN), and the Managed Care Consumer Assistance Program (MCCAP).