Purpose
The Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) program supports states and tribes through grants to provide outreach and assistance to eligible Medicare beneficiaries to apply for benefit programs that help to lower the costs of their Medicare premiums and deductibles. MIPPA grants provide targeted funding to State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIP), Area Agencies on Aging (AAA), and Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRC). Grantees help educate beneficiaries about the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) program for Medicare Part D, Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs), and Medicare Preventive Services. This initiative includes special efforts to target rural areas and Native American elders.
LIS is administered by the Social Security Administration. This program helps lower Medicare Part D prescription drug costs including premiums, deductibles, and the costs of drugs on the plan’s formulary for individuals who meet the program’s income and resource eligibility requirements.
MSPs are administered by state Medicaid agencies. The program has four levels of benefits: Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB), Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB), Qualifying Individual (QI), and Qualified Working Disabled Individual (QDWI). MSPs help pay the Medicare Part B premium for beneficiaries who meet the program’s eligibility requirements. If eligible for QMB, beneficiaries receive assistance to pay their Medicare Parts A/B deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance.
MIPPA grantees also educate the community about Medicare Preventive Services, which provides exams and screenings such as the “Welcome to Medicare” preventive visit, yearly “Wellness” visits, flu shots, cardiovascular screenings, and more. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recommends beneficiaries speak with their healthcare providers to find out how often certain exams and screenings are needed to stay healthy.
History and Structure
Since its passage in 2008, MIPPA has helped more than one million low-income Medicare beneficiaries to access programs that make their health care and prescriptions costs more affordable. MIPPA grantees are located in all states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the District of Columbia.
ACL coordinates outreach between grantees, CMS and the Aging Network to ensure that local service providers and partners have access to materials and resources that will help them to assist Medicare Beneficiaries, their families and caregivers.
Funding
The following table shows the amount of Federal MIPPA grant funds under Priority Area 1- State Health Insurance Assistance Program, Priority Area 2 – Funding for Area Agencies on Aging and Priority Area 3 – Aging and Disability Resource Centers provided to each grantee.
- MIPPA (2017) (PDF, 22KB)
- MIPPA (2016) (PDF, 37KB)
- MIPPA (2015) (PDF, 37.2KB)
- MIPPA (2014) (PDF, 35.8KB)
- MIPPA (2013) (PDF, 36.6KB)
- MIPPA (2010) (PDF, 38.3KB)
- MIPPA (2009) (PDF, 32.7KB)
The following table shows the amount of Federal MIPPA grant funds provided to each Native American Tribal grantee under Priority Area 2 – Funding for Area Agencies on Aging.
- MIPPA Tribes (2017) (PDF, 116KB)
- MIPPA Tribes (2016) (PDF, 118KB)
- MIPPA Tribes (2015) (PDF, 137KB)
- MIPPA Tribes (2014) (PDF, 136KB)
- MIPPA Tribes (2013) (PDF, 136KB)
- MIPPA Tribes (2010) (PDF, 146KB)
- MIPPA Tribes (2009) (PDF, 200KB)
Resources and Useful Links
MIPPA funding supports the National Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment (NCBOE) which provides technical assistance to States, AAAs, and other community service providers to provide outreach and benefits enrollment assistance, particularly to older individuals with greatest economic need, for federal and state programs. The NCBOE:
- Maintains and updates web-based decision support and enrollment tools and integrated, person-centered systems designed to inform older individuals about the full range of benefits for which the individuals are eligible;
- Utilizes cost-effective strategies to find older individuals with greatest economic need and enroll the individual in the programs for with they are qualified;
- Creates and supports efforts for ADRCs, and other public and private state and community-based organizations, including faith-based organizations and coalitions, to serve as benefit enrollment centers for the programs;
- Develops and maintains an information clearinghouse on best practices and cost-effective methods for finding and enrolling older individuals with greatest economic need; and
- Provides training and technical assistance on effective outreach, screening, enrollment, and follow-up strategies.
The National Council on Aging, Center for Benefits Access currently serves as the NCBOE grantee and provides technical assistance center for MIPPA grantees. The Center supports grantees by providing training, resources, and promotional activities.
Partners, beneficiaries, and their caregivers can review Medicare prescription drug plan and health plan information online through the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Finder and Medicare Options Compare at www.medicare.gov.
The following link includes an Outreach Toolkit providing LIS data in both interactive maps and sortable spreadsheets: www.cms.hhs.gov/limitedincomeandresources/. To assist beneficiaries in applying for LIS online, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/i1020 .
Managing Conflicts of Interest: ACL has developed 'Conflict of Interest: Identification, Remedy, and Removal' to provide technical assistance to SHIP/SMP/MIPPA programs and their partner Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) on how to avoid actual and perceived Conflicts of Interest (COI) and mitigate risk.