Resource Center
Health Care and Insurance
PRESCRIPTION DRUG ASSISTANCE
NeedyMeds.com is a website that compiles information on prescription drug patient assistance programs. These programs are offered by the drug manufacturers to help cover the cost of prescriptions for low-income individuals. Drugs are listed alphabetically and are split into brand-name and generic groups.
If your drug is not covered under Iowa Priority's formulary, you may also contact the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturer's Association on their website to inquire if you are eligible for patient assistance offered by individual pharmaceutical companies. www.helpingpatients.org.
Iowa Priority is a prescription drug savings program available to all Medicare-eligible seniors and disabled Iowans. For more information call toll free 1-866-282-5817, or visit their web site at www.iowapriority.org.
LONG TERM CARE
Nursing Homes
Nursing homes are medical facilities in which high intensity, comprehensive and planned 24-hour nursing care is provided with maximum efficiency by registered and licensed nurses. Rehabilitation is also provided as required by the individual's plan of care. These types of homes serve convalescent residents and those with long term illness and also provide services forpersons who, because of their physical or mental limitations, require 24-hour care but do notrequire the degree of care and treatment a hospital provides.
If you decide a nursing home suits your family member's needs, it is wise to visit several facilities to determine the one that best fits your situation. The administrator, the person managing day-to-day operations, will be glad to show you and your family the facility if you make an appointment. Among the many questions you might ask at that initial meeting are:
- Is the nursing home Medicare and/or Medicaid certified?
- Are other insurance plans accepted?
- Is there a staff physician who assists in policy making and answers emergency calls?
- What facilities and staff are available for rehabilitation and physical therapy?
- How well is the home able to meet my specific needs?
These are just examples of the types of questions you might want to ask. It is important that the facility offer you services that will not needlessly restrict your normal lifestyle.
Nursing Homes Report Card
Medicare.gov has a "report card" on nursing homes in Iowa. You can search by proximity to your city or zop code and then select the nursing homes you are interested in to review their scores. View the Nursing Home Report Card
Nursing Home Care Review
The Iowa Department of Elder Affairs Long Term Care Ombudsman Office serves as advocates for residents of Iowa nursing homes. They assist in answering questions and deal with the concerns and complaints residents often have. This should be your first recourseshould a problem arise.
Secondly, you should contact the Area Agencies on Aging. They coordinate "Care Review Committees" that also act as advocates for residents of long term care facilities. Contact your Agency on Aging or ask the nursing home for a list of CareReview Committee members.
Northland Agency on
Aging
808 River Street
Decorah, IA
52101
1-800-233-4603
563-382-2941
FAX:
563-382-6248
Website:VIEW
Elderbridge
Agency on Aging
22 North Georgia
Suite
216
Mason City, IA 50401
1-800-243-0678
FAX:
641-424-2927
Northwest Aging
Association
2 Grand Avenue
Box
7840
Spencer, IA
51301
1-800-242-5033
712-262-1775
FAX:
712-262-7520
Website:VIEW
Siouxland
Aging Services
915 Pierce Street
Sioux
City, IA
51101
1-800-242-5033
712-279-6900
FAX:
712-233-3415
Hawkeye Valley
Area
2101 Kimball Avenue #320
Waterloo, IA
50702
1-800-779-8707
319-272-2244
FAX:
319-272-2455
Website:VIEW
Scenic
Valley Area VII
3505 Stoneman Road, Suite
4
Dubuque, IA 52001
563-588-3970
FAX:
563-588-1952
Great River
Bend
P.O. Box 3788
736 Federal
Street
Davenport, IA
52808-3788
1-800-892-9085
563-324-9085
FAX:
563-324-9384
Website:VIEW
Heritage
Area Agency on Aging
6301 Kirkwood Boulevard,
SW
P.O. Box 2068
Cedar Rapids, IA
52406
1-800-332-5934
319-398-5559
FAX:
319-398-5533
Website:VIEW
Aging
Resources of Central Iowa
5835 Grand
Avenue
Suite106
Des Moines, IA
50312-1439
1-800-747-5352
515-255-1310
FAX:
515-255-9442
Southwest 8 Senior Services,
Inc.
3319 Nebraska Avenue
Council Bluffs,
IA 51501
1-800-432-9209
712-328-2540
FAX:
712-328-6899
Area XIV Agency on
Aging
210 Russell Street
Creston, IA
50801
641-782-4040
FAX:
641-782-4519
SENECA Area Agency on
Aging
228 East
2ndStreet
Ottumwa, IA
52501
1-800-642-6522
641-682-2270
FAX:
641-682-2445
Website:VIEW
Southeast
Iowa Agency on Aging, Inc.
509 Jefferson
Street
Burlington, IA
52601
1-800-292-1268
319-752-5433
FAX:
319-754-7030
Website:VIEW
If your complaint concerns a county care facility, and not a long-term care facility, you should contact the Iowa Citizen's Aide/Ombudsman Office at:
1-888-426-6283
515-281-3592
TTY:
515-242-5065
FAX:
515-242-6007
If your complaint involves the quality of care at a facility, aid, or filing an appeal orcomplaint contact the Peer Review Organization at:1-800-752-7014or515-223-2900.
Iowa Department of Elder Affairs
This agency coordinates several programs through the Area Agencies including the CareReview Committees for nursing homes, the Assurance Network for Easing Widowhood,telephone reassurance, Homemaker Health Aides, Eldercare and chore services.
Iowa
Department of Elder
Affairs
Clemens
Building
200
10thSt.
3rdFloor
Des
Moines, IA
50309-3609
515-242-3333
Long
term care complaint hotline:
1-800-532-3213
TTY:
515-242-3302
Website:VIEW
Hill Burton Hospital Law
Under the Hill-Burton law, many hospitals must allow some free to reduced charges forcare to low-income persons. For more information call 1-800-638-0742.
RESPITE SERVICES
Supervised temporary care for frail older adults in a facility or in the home to providerelief for the primary care giver. Some nursing home facilities may offer this service when spaceis available.
Iowa Hospice
Organization
100 East
Grand Avenue, suite
120
Des Moines, IA
50309
515-243-1046
Fax:
515-283-9366
Easter Seal Society of Iowa, Inc.
Offers Camp Sunnyside, a weekend respite care for persons with disabilities, and also afive-day session. Summer camp session for those able to cooperate and communicate.
Easter Seal
Society of Iowa,
Inc.
401 Northeast
66thAvenue
Des
Moines, IA
50313
515-289-1933
TTY:
515-289-4069
MEDICAID - MEDICARE
Medicaid
Medicaid is a state program providing health care coverage to low-income people. Thisprogram is also referred to as Title XIX (19). Medicaid involves several different programs andcovers more medical services than Medicare or any insurance program. To learn about and applyfor these programs contact either your county Department of Human Services (DHS) or the IowaDHS at:
1-800-972-2017
Health Insurance for Children: 515-281-8621
Website:VIEW
Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people 65 or older, as well as fordisabled people under 65. It is most often associated with Social Security. Medicare programsare separate and unrelated to those of Medicaid. For general questions about Medicare contact the Medicare Hotline at:1-800-633-4227
Starting in 2006 Medicare will offer prescription drug coverage to help with the cost of drug bills. Starting in fall 2005 Medicare beneficiaries can begin comparing prescription drug plans by calling 1-800-MEDICARE orwww.medicare.gov. Medicare beneficiaries can enroll in a plan as soon as November 2005.
Website:VIEW
Medicaid for the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB)
This program allows Medicaid to help pay Medicare premiums, deductibles, andcoinsurance for qualified individuals. To apply or see if you are eligible for QMB, contact yourlocal DHS office. Website:VIEW
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regional Office (CMORO)
Answers questions on local seminars and health fairs on medicare health plan choices, or to report a complaint directly to CMORO at 1-816-426-2866. Website:VIEW
Fighting Fraud, Waste & Abuse in Medicare
Fraud, waste and abuse in Medicare is a serious problem affecting many older Iowans. To combat this I organized The Medicare Senior Waste Patrol, which is a program to recruit and train retired professionals to serve as volunteer expert resources in their communities. These volunteers help fellow seniors detect and stop cases of Medicare mis-payments, fraud, waste and abuse. The Senior Waste Patrol enlists the help of retired nurses, teachers, accountants, doctorsand others, as well as agencies that deal with Medicare billing irregularities and suspected cases of abuse. They, in turn, educate others in their communities and run a hotline for seniors to report problems and ask questions about potential cases of fraud, waste, or abuse.
Operation Restore Trust of Iowa (ORT) is a program supported by a grant that I personally helped to secure for the State of Iowa. The main focus of ORT is to educate volunteers to assist in investigating suspected incidents of Medicare waste, fraud, and abuse. ORT utilizes individuals and agencies who deal with Medicare recipients on a daily basis. For more information contact ORT at:1-800-423-2449.
Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) staff,Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) volunteers: 1-800-351-4664 or 515-281-6867, Health Care Providers, and numerous volunteers have combined their efforts to eliminate problems associated with waste, fraud, andabuse of Medicare and Medicaid.
If you are a retired health care professional, educator, accountant, billing clerk, or are otherwise interested in helping seniors detect and report problems with their Medicare bills,contact the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs at 1-800-532-3213 or (TTY) 515-242-3302 to learn more about volunteer opportunities with ORT.
Has Medicare incorrectly billed you for services?
Contact the STOP! Medicare Fraud line at 1-800-532-1285 or the Complaints Unit at:
Medicare Part
B
Att: Complaints
Unit
P.O. Box
6706
Fargo, North Dakota
58103-3309
1-800-477-8477
TTY:
1-800-377-4950
Have
your rights concerning Medicare been
abused?
Confused by
Medicare/Health
Insurance?
Contact the Medicare Rights Hotline at:1-800-433-4958
If you would like any information on senior insurance programs or just want morecoverage, need medicare supplements, managed care plans, long term plans or claim assistancecontact:
Senior Health
Insurance Information
Program
1-800-351-4664
515-281-6867
Website:
http://www.shiip.ia.us
email:shiip@iid.state.ia.us
If you lost your Medicare card or need to replace it contact: 1-800-772-1213
INSURANCE RESOURCES
Iowa Insurance Division
The Iowa Insurance Division of the Iowa Department of Commerce oversees allinsurance business transacted in the state. Complaints regarding both health and life insurancepolicies should be referred to:
Iowa Insurance
Division
330 Maple
Street
Des Moines, IA
50319-0065
General inquiries:515-281-5705 or 1-877-955-1212
Inquiries concerning life insurance:515-281-8245
Inquiries concerning health insurance:515-281-4245
Inquiries concerning property and casualty insurance:515-281-4409
Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa (HAWK-I)
The HAWK-I program provides health care coverage for Iowa children in families withlimited incomes. To qualify a child must live in Iowa and:
- Be under 19 years old
- Have no other health insurance
- Be a citizen of the United States or a qualified alien
- Be in a family that meets the hawk-i income limits
- Cannot be the dependent of a State of Iowa employee
- Children who qualify for Medicaid cannot get hawk-i
For more information contact 1-800-257-8563 (TDD: 1-888-422-2319) Website:VIEW
Other State programs
The State of Iowa offers a variety of programs to help low income residents with healthcare. For more information go to: http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/socialservice then select financial resources
Long Term Care Insurance
As Iowa's older population increases, the interest in developing insurance plans to protect against the rising costs of long-term health care has intensified. Nationally, more than half of all nursing home expenses are paid out-of-pocket by individuals and their families, and somewhat less than half are paid by state Medicaid programs. Neither Medicare, Medicare supplement insurance, nor the health insurance provided by your employer will pay for all long-term care expenses. Long-term care insurance helps to ease the financial burden if you require either the services of a nursing facility or care in your own home.
Before buying insurance to supplement Medicare, ask yourself whether you need private health insurance in addition to Medicare. Each person should carefully examine his or her needs and resources to decide whether long-term care insurance is appropriate.
If you decide long-term care insurance is for you, help is available. The Iowa Insurance Division's Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) can help answer your long-term care insurance questions. The Insurance Division also has available a booklet entitled 'Iowa Guide to Long Term Care Insurance'. For more information about the SHIIP counselor nearest you or to request a copy of the free booklet, call 1-800-351-4664 or your local area agency on aging.
In addition, Medicaid can often assist those who meet federal guidelines in meetingnursing home costs. To learn about Medicaid eligibility contact the Department of Human Services (DHS) at:
Iowa Department of Human
Services
1305 East
Walnut Street
Hoover
State Office
Building
Des Moines, IA
50319
1-800-972-2017
515-281-8621
HEALTH & NUTRITION RESOURCES
Diet & Nutrition
More than ever a good diet is essential to good health. You can evaluate your eatinghabits by writing down everything you eat for one week, then take your food diary to your doctor for help in modifying your eating habits for a happier future. Contact your local Iowa State University Extension Service for basic nutrition information.Information on nutrition and food programs can be obtained by contacting your county health department, county extension office,state or local medical society, or a hospital outpatient clinic. The Area Agency on Aging for your region may also have information available on this topic.
Dental Assistance
A program called Iowa Dental Access implemented by the Iowa Dental Association andthe Department of Elder Affairs will provide a wide range of dental services for a discount toolder Iowans meeting certain income guidelines. Contact your local Agency on Aging for moreinformation.
Exercise
Keeping active will help you feel better both physically and emotionally. Daily exercisecan strengthen muscles, increase your energy level, aid in weight control and help you sleep better. Consult your physician for an exercise plan to fit your needs.
Food Safety
If you have a question about the quality, labeling and safe handling of meat and poultryproducts, call the US Department of Agriculture Meat and Poultry Hotline at:1-800-535-4555. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/mph/
For
a food related emergency, the Food and Drug
Administration
(FDA) has a 24 hour emergency number at:
301-443-1240.
Website:
VIEW
To report foodborne illness contact the Center for Disease Control at their Website: VIEW
Food Stamps
For questions about Food Stamps call the Iowa Department of Human Services at:
Iowa Department of Human
Services
Division of
Economic Assistance
1305
East Walnut
Street
Hoover State
Office Building
Des
Moines, Iowa
50319
1-800-972-2017
515-281-3163
FAX:
515-281-7791
Website:VIEW
GENERAL HEALTH RESOURCES
The National Institutes of Health has a wide variety of health information available on their website:VIEW
The National Institute on Aging has pamphlets on health matters affecting older persons. You can obtain free copies by writing to:
National Institute on
Aging
Building 31, Room
5C27
31 Center Drive MSC
2292
Bethesda, MD
20892-2292
1-301-496-1752
Website: VIEW
The
National Health Information Center provides data on prescription drugs
and other health matters. 1-800-336-4797
Website:VIEW
email:info@nhic.org
If you have questions regarding other medical matters the following may be helpful:
Elder Abuse
200-10th Street, 3rdFloor
Des Moines, IA 50319
Domestic elder abuse:1-800-362-2178
Institutional elder abuse:515-242-3321
Website:VIEW
American Academy of Ophthalmology Public Service Programs
- National Eyecare Project
- Glaucoma 2001
- National Childrens Eyecare Program
1-800-222-3937
General Accounting Office (GAO) Hotline
Fraud Hotline:1-800-424-5454
Health and Human Services Hotline
1-800-368-5779
The following provide self help information as well as emotional and practical support:
Alzheimers
Association
1-800-272-3900
Website:VIEW
American
Cancer Society of
Iowa
8364 Hickman
Road
Clive, IA
50325
1-800-227-2345
515-253-0147
Website:VIEW
American
Diabetes Association (Iowa
Affiliate)
6200 Aurora
Avenue
Urbandale, IA
50322
1-888-342-2383
515-276-2237
Website:VIEW
American
Heart Association (Iowa
Affiliate)
111 Ninth
Street
Des Moines, IA
50314
1-800-242-8721
515-244-3278
Website:VIEW
American
Lung Association of
Iowa
5601 Douglas
Avenue
Des Moines, IA
50310
1-800-586-4872
515-278-5864
Website:VIEW
Arthritis
Foundation (Iowa
Chapter)
2600
72ndStreet, Suite
D
Des Moines, IA
50322
515-278-0636
Website:VIEW
Kidney
Foundation of Iowa
701 10th
Street SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
52403
1-800-369-3619
319-369-4474
Website:VIEW