Payers, Policy, Startups

Medicare is confusing. So who’s helping seniors figure it out? (infographic)

One in three seniors enrolled in Medicare doesn’t understand the government program, according to a […]

One in three seniors enrolled in Medicare doesn’t understand the government program, according to a new survey. And those are just the ones who admit to it.

65 Incorporated, a startup focused on educating the Medicare-eligible population about the program, used an outside company to conduct an online survey of nearly 900 aged 65-plus Americans enrolled in Medicare. It found that there was confusion even among those who said they were well educated about the program.

Nearly 30 percent of the seniors surveyed who said they understood at least the majority of Medicare were unable to identify their Medicare path or coverage types.

“If you don’t understand your coverage, you’re probably not going to be satisfied,” said Diane Omdahl, the co-founder of 65 Incorporated.

The confusion caused by Medicare reform and the evolving insurance industry comes at a time when more Americans are expected to be enrolling. “Now when people turn 65, they’re not entitled to Social Security just yet, and many of them are continuing to work. How does Medicare fit in?” Omdahl questioned.

There are plenty of online resources dedicated to Medicare information like UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Made Clear, Medicare.org and the Medicare Plan Finder. But oftentimes, these sources are hard to navigate, skimp on important details or are created by biased parties like insurance companies, she said. (By those same standards, then, this survey is also subject to criticism.)

“But if you find some good info on a website, when things get a little tricky, they’ll pass you on to Medicare.gov,” she said, a website that in the survey actually caused people to have more difficulty dealing with Medicare compared to those using other resources. The same was true for the Medicare helpline.

Omdahl, a registered nurse by trade, has spent most of her career in healthcare administration and education, working in hospitals, long-term care facilities and home health companies. She and her husband started Beacon Health in the late 1980s to provide educational tools to home health professionals. She sold that business in 2010 and has now moved on to educating a new population of healthcare stakeholders.

Milwaukee-based 65 Incorporated just launched amid the Medicare open-enrollment period. Right now, it’s populated with free infographics, articles and educational materials on Medicare topics like the open-enrollment period and the Part D doughnut hole. The next phase will be targeted at soon-to-be Medicare policyholders and will provide them with tools to get to know Medicare, Omdahl said. The third phase will likely be a service component to help people navigate their Medicare options.

The self-funded venture will earn revenue from sponsored educational sections (not advertisements, Omdahl reiterated), videos and booklets that will later be sold on the site, and an eventual service platform that she hopes to have in place next year.

Although seniors are the least likely age group to go online, Pew research from this year indicated that still more than half of them use the Internet. And the almost-Medicare-eligible age group comprises the most frequent online shoppers.

“We want to get the population that’s turning 65 out on the right foot,” she said.

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