Pilot Programs Test Business Cases for Providing Benefits Assistance While Contracting with Health Care Entities

The Aging and Disability Business Institute worked with two Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) to participate in a pilot testing the business case for providing benefits enrollment in partnership with health plans.

The pilots, with Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council in Weslaco, TX and Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia in Norfolk, VA, explored whether this service would add enough value to health plans for them to continue the partnership after the end of the pilot. This Success Story, Testing the Business Case: Can AAAs Provide Benefits Enrollment and Assistance in Partnership with Health Care Entities?, describes the development of the pilot programs, including challenges and lessons learned.

Another publication, How AAAs Can Provide SHIP, SMP and MIPPA Services Even While Contracting with Health Plans, from the Business Institute describes how AAAs with health care contracts mitigated potential conflicts of interest with their State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) and Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) programs.