September 21, 2018

Posted by: Simone Manlove

Are you concerned about prescription drug prices in Medicare? Perhaps you have a chronic condition and you are worried about how Medicare will cover your bills?

We are less than two months away from a midterm election and a new Congress. It is now more important than ever to make sure your voice is heard in Washington. Last year, Better Medicare Alliance (BMA) senior advocates sent 10,000 letters, made phone calls and signed petitions to successfully advocate Congress to ensure chronically ill Medicare beneficiaries have access to the high-quality care through passage of the CHRONIC Care Act.
Let’s build on that success! Better Medicare Alliance has created four voluntary senior advocate task forces. Our task forces are smaller groups of senior advocates that are passionate about certain issues that impact people enrolled in Medicare Advantage. When you sign up to join one of our tasks forces you will gain access to special resources on the part of Medicare Advantage you’re most passionate about.

Join one (or more) of the following task force:

Chronic Disease Task Force
Join our chronic disease task force to protect critical Medicare Advantage chronic disease care and work directly with Better Medicare Alliance to ensure seniors with chronic disease continue to receive high-quality, affordable health care through Medicare Advantage. Medicare Advantage has been at the forefront of developing and incentivizing ground-breaking ways to prevent, diagnose and treat chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

Keep Our Prescription Drugs Affordable (KOPDA) Task Force
Prescription drug prices are on the rise affecting millions of seniors on Medicare Advantage, many of whom struggle to pay the out-of-pocket costs for their life-saving medications. Better Medicare Alliance understands the negative impact high drug prices have on beneficiaries and supports developing policies that make prescription drugs more affordable for everyone. Join our Keep Our Prescription Drugs Affordable Task Force to ensure seniors on Medicare Advantage have access to affordable and effective prescription medicines.

Medicare Advantage Retiree Plans Task Force
Join our Medicare Advantage Retiree Plans Task Force to protect Medicare Advantage plans provided to retirees by their former employers. Over four million retirees across the country are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage health plan sponsored by a former employer. These seniors depend on high-quality, affordable care, and continued funding for these plans.

Medicare My Way Task Force
Join our Medicare My Way Task Force to work directly with Better Medicare Alliance to advise the government on how to improve Medicare and advocate for what services you think your Medicare Advantage plans should cover, including supplemental benefits.

What happens next?

If you join our task forces, participation is free and completely volunteer-based – we just ask for 1-2 hours of your time each month. As an organization with over 115+ Allies we want to represent the voice of Medicare Advantage seniors around the nation.

The most important goal of our task force is education. Education is key for advocating for Medicare Advantage. We will provide you with legislative updates and talking points, so you can better advocate for each issue.

Some of the activities you will be asked to participate in when you join a task force include surveys, petitions, calls to other seniors, calls to offices of members of congress, and drafting letters and op-eds about positive experiences.