The high price of prescription drugs is not a new problem in New York state.
Nearly 30 years ago, seniors calling the NY StateWide Senior Action Council’s patients’ rights helpline frequently complained about the cost of their medicine. The Action Council was instrumental in the creation of EPIC, is free state program that helps seniors cover their drug plan costs. EPIC turns 25 this year.
“New York State was way ahead on that issue,” said Gail Myers, the StateWide’s special projects developer.
That’s one the key ideas behind the StateWide Senior Action Council: identify issues affecting seniors and do something about them, rather than simply waiting and hoping for change. It identifies concerns both through calls to its helpline and at an annual conference, where members belonging to chapters across the state gather and talk about what’s on seniors’ minds.
StateWide also offers a number of services for seniors, all for free. It can help seniors make sense of their Medicaid and Medicare plans and which ones are best suited for them. It can point seniors to resources for home-delivered meals and other in-home services. It can provide a patients’ rights tool kit, which has information on how to appoint a health care proxy and provide instructions for end-of-life care.
This year marks StateWide’s 40th anniversary, and the annual conference will include a gala dinner and dance. It’s being held in Saratoga Springs on Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 9 and 10. Everyone is invited to both the gala and the conference.
“Anyone who’s interested in senior issues should be there,” said Maria Alvarez, StateWide’s executive director.
StateWide has seven chapters throughout the state. All seniors are welcome to join, Myers said. After the group comes up with an advocacy agenda at its annual conference, members go back to their communities and begin spreading the word about what issues StateWide is going to pursue. Then, true to the council’s grassroots mission, seniors begin contacting their local government, pressing for explanations and change.
“A lot of our members are on a first-name basis with their elected officials,” Myers said.
The EPIC program is one result of StateWide’s advocacy. A more current issue is how hospital stays are being billed. Myer gave the example of someone who called the patients’ right helpline who had been hospitalized for a broken arm. While her stay was initially considered an in-patient stay, it was switched to an “observation” stay after the first day. The treatment she received didn’t change, but because the hospital deemed the status of her visit “observation” instead of “in-patient,” she fell short of the three-day “in-patient” stay required by Medicare before it will pay for follow-up care at a rehab or nursing facility.
The woman’s complaint was one of many the council heard. So officials and members started contacting hospitals and trying to find out why it seems that more stays are being classified as observation instead of in-patient these days. Myers said the goal is to get seniors to understand the difference and what it means to them, as well as how they can appeal if they think their stay has been wrongly classified.
The number for the patients’ right helpline is 800-333-4374. Seniors can call if they feel they’ve been discharged too soon, if they’ve been denied admission or emergency treatment, if they think a health care facility is substandard, or for any of a host of other reasons. If StateWide can’t adequately answer all the patient’s questions, it can refer him or her to an agency that can.
StateWide is eager to spread the word about its services and offerings, noting that the aging population in New York is growing and there are a number of changes on the horizon with the new health care plan. Anyone interested in learning more about StateWide and its upcoming conference can visit www.nysenior.org or call 436-1006.