When I arrived at Sunrise Monfort Family Clinic I only had to wait a few minutes until the receptionist took me to an office where Leo, the enrollment specialist I was working with, was in the process of assisting a client enroll in CICP to help cover medical costs that their Medicare plan wouldn’t pay for. The client made it very clear that he was confused about what his Medicare plan covered and that he got mixed answers from different offices, at this point Leo offered to have a case manager come sit and talk with him, or to call him at a later time, to discuss his Medicare coverage. The man agreed to have a case manager call him later to explain what is covered by the plan he has, but also took the opportunity to again repeat how frustrated he was about how he his dental work wasn’t covered. I didn’t know the full extent of the situation but felt uncomfortable and stressed for the client because of his confusion.
Once the client had left Leo explained that most times when people are approved for Medicare they just receive a booklet in the mail explaining what is covered, in a way that the majority of people would never understand. Based off of the readings and discussions that we’ve done throughout class the importance of understanding the culture and where the patients are coming from is extremely important when it comes to their understanding of what they are able to and this connection seems to be missing when clients go to use their Medicare plans.
“I think education is really lacking,” Leo said. He went on to say that him offering to have a case manager contact the patient wasn’t something that he had to do, but he felt that it was his responsibility to make sure that everyone he helped had the information they needed to receive the medical care that they deserved. To me this just showed how much he cared about the different clients he came into contact with and wanted to make sure that they had the tools they needed to care for themselves.
Once the client had left Leo explained that most times when people are approved for Medicare they just receive a booklet in the mail explaining what is covered, in a way that the majority of people would never understand. Based off of the readings and discussions that we’ve done throughout class the importance of understanding the culture and where the patients are coming from is extremely important when it comes to their understanding of what they are able to and this connection seems to be missing when clients go to use their Medicare plans.
“I think education is really lacking,” Leo said. He went on to say that him offering to have a case manager contact the patient wasn’t something that he had to do, but he felt that it was his responsibility to make sure that everyone he helped had the information they needed to receive the medical care that they deserved. To me this just showed how much he cared about the different clients he came into contact with and wanted to make sure that they had the tools they needed to care for themselves.