NY Legislature, don't cut critical funding for patient rights helpline, MCCAP

Maria Alvarez
·1 min read

For more than 50 years, the New York StateWide Senior Action Council, a non-profit, grassroots organization, has been the definitive resource for the state’s senior citizens trying to navigate and detect fraud in the complex Medicare system through advocacy, education and critical services, and has been a lifeline for the growing demographic of older New Yorkers, with volume skyrocketing since the pandemic.

Members of the New York Assembly debate in the Assembly Chamber at the New York State Capitol, Tuesday, March 30, 2021, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
Members of the New York Assembly debate in the Assembly Chamber at the New York State Capitol, Tuesday, March 30, 2021, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Today, funding for one of our most vital programs, the Patient Rights Helpline, is about to be cut from $231,500 to a mere $31,500 annually, and the Managed Care Consumer Assistance Program, or MCCAP, is at risk, trying to operate on an insufficient budget that has been flat for years since a cut during the recession, leaving more than 300,000 underserved and hard-to-reach seniors unaware of the benefits for which they rightfully qualify and many more unable to contact a knowledgeable source about the complicated and myriad questions about their Medicare coverage.

We appeal to the New York Legislature for continued and increased funding for these two programs, essential to well-being of New York’s cherished, yet vulnerable, population of seniors.

Maria Alvarez is executive director of the New York StateWide Senior Action Council.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY Legislature, don't cut funding for patient rights helpline, MCCAP