National Medicare Education Week

By George Young, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico

Health care decisions can be difficult. According to a UnitedHealthcare survey, more than 1 in 5 beneficiaries describe Medicare as “confusing,” and 70 percent of people approaching Medicare eligibility say they have a “fair” or “poor” understanding of the program.

But choosing the right Medicare coverage doesn’t have to be a hassle if you take steps to arm yourself with knowledge and information. To help in that effort, UnitedHealthcare is launching a series of new online learning tools for this year’s National Medicare Education Week (Sept. 15-21), building on its campaign to reduce Medicare confusion.

National Medicare Education Week offers educational events and resources to baby boomers, Medicare beneficiaries, their families and caregivers.

New digital components of National Medicare Education Week this year include:

• Online Medicare education courses in English and Spanish at MedicareMadeClear.com and SolucionesdeMedicare.com, respectively, featuring videos and quizzes. The courses are organized into chapters, enabling people to learn at their own pace.
• Later this fall, MedicareMadeClear.com will be available in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Polish in order to help more people learn in their preferred language.
• UnitedHealthcare will host a Facebook Q&A (www.facebook.com/medicaremadeclear/events) session Tuesday, Sept. 15, from 3 to 7 p.m. CT, where beneficiaries and their loved ones can get answers to their Medicare questions in real-time.
• A new plan selection tool on MedicareMadeClear.com will help older adults assess what type of Medicare plan might be right for them based on information they enter.