Serving Seniors & Medicare Beneficiaries
HICAP/Health Rights Hotline Coordination

The Health Rights Hotline is an independent, program that provides information and assistance to health care consumers who have questions or concerns about their health care coverage. Central to the mission of the Health Rights Hotline is to work with existing programs to improve the health care system for all consumers. From its' earliest planning, the Health Rights Hotline has worked to ensure that its efforts are integrated with and reinforce the efforts of existing consumer resources.

The Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) is a volunteer supported program that counsels Medicare beneficiaries about their health benefits. HICAP provides information, counseling and assistance on consumers' rights, including how to appeal Medicare claims denials, and how to make informed choices about long-term care insurance, Medicare supplemental health insurance and Medicare health maintenance organizations (HMOs).

The Health Rights Hotline recognizes the critical role that HICAP plays for many seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries. Day-to-day examples of how the Health Rights Hotline and HICAP work together are:

• The Health Rights Hotline refers Medicare beneficiaries to HICAP if they have questions regarding Medicare eligibility and benefits, long term care insurance, or problems with non-HMO Medicare services.
• HICAP volunteers have the Hotline Counselors as expert resources for their clients who have problems in their Medicare HMO.
• HICAP refers consumers to the Health Rights Hotline who have questions, are having problems getting care, and who are not eligible for HICAP services.

Beyond the day-to-day coordination, other benefits of coordination between the Health Rights Hotline and HICAP are:

• Planning and program design has been coordinated. Throughout the planning process, the Health Rights Hotline worked closely with the California Department of Aging (CDA, the statewide sponsor of HICAP) and the local Area Agencies on Aging (which have local oversight of HICAP services). These working relationships have resulted in a process for client referrals and incorporation of HICAP data collection categories into the Health Rights Hotline system.
• Expanded data collection will improve health care for all consumers. A central goal of the Health Rights Hotline is to collect data on consumers' experiences in health care ó those with insurance through their employer or purchased on their own, in addition to people on Medicare and Medi-Cal. Through its contact with health care consumers, The Health Rights Hotline better understands how the health care system is working for consumers and identifies what can be done to improve access to health care for all consumers.