As a 30-year-old advocate for the interests of Florida seniors, I jumped at the chance to become the executive director of our Silver Heard Legislature.
Working in this position is both pleasant and humble for me, as I know a lot about how the laws in Tallahassee and Washington, DC can meet the needs and desires of our superiors. But I have also seen that where help is desperately needed, especially to draw the attention of seniors who cannot hear their voices or when they are failing to meet their basic health needs.
What I want to focus on here is effectively linked to both parts of my work, as the need was identified in the senior community and an event came forward to help our seniors according to their qualifications. And it came through Medicare Advantage.
Many of us seniors find that pain and soreness increase as we get older, visit doctors more often, take more medications, and become more and more anxious when we hear mysterious cracks.
Accordingly, as your health becomes more of a concern, many of you are turning to a fixed or limited income in retirement and therefore you cannot spend your savings or unavailable income on healthcare.
The question is familiar to more than 50 million seniors across the country, including nearly 4.5 million in Florida. The Medicare Advantage Health Care program recognized these concerns and took action.
The program is a prime example of how laws can bring about the necessary measures for our communities. When seniors need affordable and high-quality healthcare coverage, Medicare Advantage is delivered.
Medicare Advantage touches those areas of health that are easy to forget. As we get older, it becomes more important than ever to invest in preventive care, which quickly gets in the way of seniors for a number of unseen reasons. With Medicare Advantage, reminders needed to attend screenings, get vaccinated, and enroll in a wellness or gym class are helping to create a healthy culture for retirees.
There is something very important today and beyond preventive care, for which I am particularly grateful for the attention paid to mental health services in the context of an epidemic. Since many of us have spent time seeking shelter or fear for our health and safety due to Covid-19, Medicare Advantage has taken steps to provide telehealth benefits and ways to build a community at home.
Even if things seem more normal, paying attention to senior mental health is still an essential pillar of Medicare Advantage Care.
I have been witnessing for years, the hardest part of my job in the legislature is when we don’t see policies that meet our needs. But when it comes to Medicare Advantage, this program makes my life easier because I don’t have to suggest new healthcare solutions. They have found solutions that work and Floridians are benefiting from them.
Here in Florida, we are grateful to San Marco Rubio and Rick Scott for signing the Medicare Advantage Letter and for showing their support to their superiors. We are happy to see that this program is getting due encouragement from local bodies to Congress houses.