Due to out-of-pocket costs, Medicare beneficiaries with lower incomes and resources may delay or go without needed health care or prescription medication. I&R professionals can help connect clients to programs that help lower-income Medicare beneficiaries with their health and prescription drug costs. Join this webinar to learn about the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA), the federal legislation that authorizes federal grants to states and tribes to provide outreach and assistance to eligible Medicare beneficiaries for benefit programs that help to lower their Medicare costs. Gain insight into the benefit programs that provide financial assistance to eligible beneficiaries: the Medicare Savings Programs (MSP) and the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS, also known as Extra Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Costs). Additionally, representatives from the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and ADvancing States will share highlights from recent research and discuss information and tools from their respective organizations that I&R professionals can use to strengthen their knowledge of MIPPA and these programs as well as provide outreach to their communities.

IQ Category: Medicaid, Medicare and Health Care Coverage

Information and Referral/Assistance (I&R/A) services refer people to aging and disabilities programs every day. How do these programs impact individuals and families? Do they make a difference? While I&R/A follow-up and other quality assurance measures help to tell the story, national quality measurement initiatives are also a resource for assessing and understanding service outcomes. Join this webinar to learn about the National Core Indicators-Aging and Disabilities (NCI-AD™), a voluntary effort by state aging, disability and Medicaid agencies to measure program performance through consumer experience surveys. As with I&R/A data, NCI-AD data is a powerful tool to understand what happens next for service recipients and to inform continual quality improvement. NCI-AD is a collaborative effort between ADvancing States, the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI), and participating states.

IQ Category: Advancing Quality

Join this webinar to learn about the Atlanta Regional Commission’s innovative Behavioral Health Coaching Service for older adults who are at risk of eviction. Behavioral health coaching helps older adult residents in metro Atlanta’s affordable housing communities better manage behavioral health conditions such as depression and dementia, and reduce the risk of eviction, while improving quality of life. 

IQ Category: Community Integration

This training provides an overview of key competencies needed for aging and disability I&R/A professionals and provides preparation for the AIRS Certification exam for Community Resource Specialists in Aging/Disabilities (CRS-A/D). Supplemental Resources:

1. CRS-AD Training - Presentation
2. I&R Training Resource Communication Examples for I&R Process
3. CRS-AD PPT Activity #2 Empathetic Statements
4. CRS-AD PPT Activity #4 One-page Profile
5. In Case of Crisis, and I Don’t Know What to Say Reference Sheet
6. HCBS Programs and Services Packet 2021
7. Disability for IR Specialists Programs and Services Packet

Disability Hub MN is a statewide resource network that helps people with disabilities solve problems, navigate the system, and plan for the future. Disability Hub MN has spent the last two years developing a new Quality Assurance process for evaluating phone calls and chats taken by Options Counselors. In this webinar, presenters will explore why a change was needed, what the vision was, the process it took to get there, and continued efforts to improve the Hub’s Quality Assurance process.

IQ Category: Advancing Quality