Outreach

OUTREACH Medicaid-Medicare Alignment Initiative explained

Happy August! This month WCSC and LCCOA Outreach are wanting to feature information on the Medicaid-Medicare Alignment Initiative as it began its statewide expansion as of July 1, 2021. We recognize that this is a very confusing expansion and are hoping to help you to better understand what is happening if you fall into this Medicaid category.

Medicare-Medicaid Alignment Initiative (MMAI) Expansion

If you are a Medicare beneficiary who also receives full Medicaid benefits, you may have, in recent weeks (or weeks to come) received a letter in regards to the MMAI expansion, and what your options are. Full Medicaid benefits means that you have Medicaid without a spend-down. For those that have either a monthly spend-down or asset spend-down (with Medicaid), you would not qualify for the MMAI program and should not receive a letter. This rollout will have passive enrollments with start dates beginning September 1, though you may opt-in sooner.

MMAI is a joint initiative of the Federal and State governments to improve quality of care for individuals having Medicare Parts A, B and D (prescription coverage) and full Medicaid benefits. It merges Medicare and Medicaid coverage under one Managed Care Organization (MCO). MMAI’s are meant to streamline your benefits and improve your quality of care, creating one health plan responsible for coordinating all medical services, prescription coverage, behavioral health services, as well as social and supportive service needs. It gives you just one ID card, one phone number to call & one place that coordinates both Medicare & Medicaid care.

If you choose to keep this coverage you will be dis-enrolled from your Part D plan automatically and would begin receiving the prescription coverage offered through the MMAI plan you are enrolled into.

Keep in mind that enrollment into a MMAI plan is NOT mandatory, and opting out is an option at any time. If you happened to be auto-enrolled into a MMAI plan, and you would like to go back to Original Medicare- Parts A & B, your drug plan (Part D), and (fee-for-service/traditional) Medicaid, you can. There are currently 5 MMAI plan options offered in Illinois, but not all are available in all counties just yet.

On the flip-side, if you opted out of MMAI enrollment before July 1st (or at any time before September) and now you would like to get into a MMAI plan, you can.

For more information on the MMAI initiative, to opt out of MMAI, or to enroll into a plan, contact the Healthcare and Family Services Hotline directly at 877-912-8880. You can also visit the Health Choice Illinois enrollment website for more information and to compare MMAI plans, http://enrollhfs.illinois.gov/choose/compare-plans

Opting out of MMAI if you have Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS)

For those who have Medicare and full Medicaid (not Medicaid Spenddown), and also receive long-term care or a waiver program (such as services through Lifescape’s Community Care Program or any home, community or facility based care), you have options. You can either go with a MMAI plan, or if you decide to opt out of MMAI, you MUST be enrolled into a Managed LongTerm Services and Supports (MLTSS) plan. With MLTSS, you can keep your Original Medicare (Parts A & B) or Medicare Advantage Plan, your Part D (prescription drug plan), and Medicaid benefits, but the difference is your longterm support services would be covered under a Managed Care Organization for ONLY the Long-Term Service and Support benefit.

For more direct information, contact the Health Choice Illinois Hotline at 877912-8880

As a reminder, our staff at WCSC and LCCOA are not affiliated with the Department of Human Services (DHS), Healthcare and Family Ser-

vices (HFS), or any of the other State or Federal organizations that govern these programs. We are non-profit entities that are educated through SHIP to help with understanding the basics of these programs. We cannot refer or recommend any company over another, cannot decide whether you should go with a MMAI plan or opt out-these are your decisions. All direct and personal information regarded to your specific case must be handled with these other organizations, as we do not have access to your personal records under DHS or HFS.

We will do the best we can to help you, and we request that you save your paperwork, letters and any communications that you receive on this matter, as this can help us to help you. We always encourage you to hang on to all documents sent and received with any organization you are obtaining assistance from.

You can call to schedule an appointment to talk with one of SHIP trained staff members. Give your Outreach Department a call if you have any questions on this, or other Medicare or Medicaid related topics. WCSC at 815-6229230 ext. 194, and LCCOA at 815-288-9236 ask for Outreach.

COVID Free legal HELP is available for people impacted by Covid

Millions of tenants throughout Illinois face a possible eviction when the moratorium ends by the end of July 2021. Thousands more face an abrupt and significant loss of income after the illness or death of a family member due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic began, there have been efforts to provide relief to those who have lost their income. As several of those relief efforts have ended or will end soon, legal professionals are anticipating a record number of evictions, foreclosures, and debt lawsuits.

COVID HELP (Housing and Economic Loss Prevention) is a statewide initiative that provides free legal guidance and representation to those experiencing common legal problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Illinois residents can access this free legal assistance 24/7 at COVIDhelpillinois.org, from their smartphones, tablets or computers.

COVID HELP offers a team of virtual legal assistants to help people with their most pressing legal issues. Created by a team of nonprofit lawyers throughout Illinois, COVID HELP assists with: • Evictions, foreclosures, and other housing issues • Personal debt and bankruptcy • Employment and unemployment • Wills, estates and guardianships.

Many legal problems are not simple and with the law changing often, people need up-to-date information.

COVID HELP and its virtual legal assistants were created by a collaboration of CARPLS Legal Aid, the Lawyers Trust Fund, the Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing, The Chicago Bar Foundation, the Westside Justice Center, Illinois Legal Aid Online, and many other organizations providing free legal services around the state.

Disabled? Need help finding Covid vaccines?

The Health and Human Services Dept. has launched a hotline to improve access to COVID-19 vaccines for people with disabilities

The Disability Information and Access Line (DIAL) connects callers to information about how to access the COVID-19 vaccine and related supports for people with disabilities. DIAL connects callers to vaccine sites and provides information related to barriers to vaccination by referring callers to local and national disability resources.

Go to acl.gov/dial, call 888-677-1199 from 8 a.m.-7 p.m., or e-mail DIAL@n4a.org for more information.