Teche Action Clinic first to join state initiative to assist Medicare enrollees

Teche Action Clinic and CEO Dr. Gary Wiltz were recognized Wednesday by officials from the State of Louisiana’s Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP).
Teche Action Clinic is the first and only federally qualified health center in the state of Louisiana being certified to offer SHIIP services.
SHIIP is a free and unbiased counseling program for seniors and pre-retirees provided by the Louisiana Department of Insurance for Medicare beneficiaries in Louisiana.
Teche Action Clinic’s Certified Application Counselors (CAC) have completed extensive training through the Louisiana Department of Insurance to offer free and objective assistance in complete confidence to anyone eligible for Medicare.
Wiltz said Wednesday that about a year ago he and staff were attending a health association conclave when he heard a presentation on SHIIP and offered help in training the staff. Wiltz immediately signed the clinic up.
“A lot of people don’t know that you have to apply for Medicare benefits,” he said. “You don’t get a card automatically…they send you a 159 page book.”
Such a complicated program entry process confuses people, Wiltz said, and since the clinic had just hired seven employees to do outreach for the federal Affordable Care Act he also saw an opportunity.
There are 3,000 Medicare patients in the Teche Action system, Wiltz said.
As of Wednesday, no other members of the health association had signed into the program.
Staff is ready to assist patients now, Wiltz said.
Ron C. Henderson, Deputy Commissioner in the Office of Consumer Advocacy in the Louisiana Department of Insurance, and Ronald Williams, Executive Management Officer, Officer of the Commissioner in the department of insurance, were on hand Wednesday.
Williams said there are 750,000 or more Medicare beneficiaries in Louisiana. “I wish we could do this in every hospital and clinic in Louisiana,” Williams said. “You are being trailblazers for everyone in this state.”
He said he is “convinced, in my mind, we should have 750,000 in our database, and we don’t…we are so proud of our partnership with Teche.”
Henderson, a native of Franklin, said he’s proud of the program’s initial inception in the area. “This is where it starts, where you see the patients, the people, the grandparents with the children,” he said.
He hopes Teche Action will entice other clinics to join in with the program. “People are living longer and accessing benefits. We need to make sure they’re getting every dime.”