Salem Senior Pat Young Travels to Washington, D.C., to Protect Medicare Advantage Benefits

SALEM, OR--(Marketwired - Mar 13, 2015) -  Local Oregon senior Pat Young, 73, went to Washington, D.C., this week to participate in an event sponsored by the Coalition for Medicare Choices (CMC) to protect her Medicare Advantage benefits from new cuts to the program. Young worked with other CMC seniors to staff the "Medicare Advantage Food Truck" around Washington, including on Capitol Hill and outside the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These spirited seniors shared cookies, coffee and personal stories about why they love Medicare Advantage and the need for policymakers to protect their benefits. More than 16 million Medicare beneficiaries choose Medicare Advantage, including over 320,000 seniors and persons with disabilities in Oregon. View a recap of the food truck event here. 

While in Washington, seniors took their Medicare Advantage stories to Capitol Hill. Recently, majorities in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives signed letters asking the Medicare agency to protect seniors in Medicare Advantage from new cuts.

Senator Orrin Hatch (UT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is among those who signed letters. He also dropped by the Medicare Advantage Food Truck to meet Young and her fellow CMC members.

The Medicare Advantage Food Truck is a part of the CMC's new grassroots and ad campaign to protect Medicare Advantage seniors. The CMC's 1.8 million seniors are writing letters and emails, making phone calls, attending events and engaging on social media to urge policymakers to protect Medicare Advantage from proposed cuts that could impact their coverage. The latest ads feature the personal stories of CMC members discussing how Medicare Advantage allows them to keep what matters most.

Founded in 1999, the CMC is a national grassroots organization of more than 1.8 million Medicare Advantage beneficiaries from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Visit www.MedicareChoices.org to learn more and follow the Coalition on Facebook and Twitter.