KFF Issue Brief: The Role of SHIPs in Helping People with Medicare Navigate Their Coverage
KFF has published an issue brief titled, "The Role of SHIPs in Helping People with Medicare Navigate Their Coverage."
The authors, Alex Cottrill, Juliette Cubanski, Meredith Freed and Tricia Neuman, note that one-fifth of the U.S. population receive health insurance coverage through the Medicare program, a share which is expected to grow larger in the coming years as the population ages. While satisfaction with Medicare is high, they note that beneficiaries often feeling overwhelmed by their coverage options.
The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) provides funding to a national network of state-based SHIPs that offer free, local, in-depth counseling and education to Medicare beneficiaries and their families to help them make informed decisions about their health coverage and benefits. SHIPs often take referrals from 1-800-MEDICARE and other federal aging and disability resources to address more complex beneficiary concerns.
The authors discuss:
- SHIPs Provide Free Counseling and Education Related to Medicare Health Coverage Issues for Beneficiaries and Their Families
- Medicare Coverage and Enrollment Decisions are Becoming More Complex, Increasing the Need for Unbiased One-On-One Counseling
- More than 4 Million Medicare Beneficiaries Received SHIP Services in 2022, Including Lengthy One-On-One Counseling
- Federal Funding for SHIPs Has Been Fairly Modest in the Past Decade, Despite the Growing Complexity of the Medicare Program
- HHS Has Proposed Significant Changes to SHIP Program Administration for Fiscal Year 2026
Read the issue brief.
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