Making Medicare Enrollment Simpler: A Harvard Student Team’s Journey

(We’re a team of Harvard students working with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) to improve the Medicare enrollment process for people turning 65 years old—and this is our fourth and final blog post.)

Larry is turning 65 in a few months. He knows he has to sign up for Medicare, but that's about the extent of his knowledge. He called the Medicare phone number, only to be directed to the Social Security number, who instructed him to call a Medicare number. Frustrated, he went online to Medicare.gov, but gave up after 10 minutes. Larry was overwhelmed by thousands of webpages and the terminology and acronyms he didn’t understand, like part A, Medigap, and OM. He was annoyed and worried. His health isn't great, and he doesn't want to be uninsured—especially during the pandemic.

A couple of months later, Larry retired and lost his health insurance. He misses the deadline to sign up for Medicare because he had to wait months for an in-person appointment. Now, Larry is uninsured and worried. He faces lifetime penalties for not signing up for Medicare on time. Larry feels lost.

Larry was one of the first people we interviewed as part of our semester-long project with CMS and SSA to improve the initial Medicare enrollment process. (His name has been changed to protect his privacy.)  While Larry’s situation may be unique to him, his concerns are not, and we have heard similar anecdotes from many people we interviewed.

Larry and others are confused about how to start the enrollment process. Many have been lucky to have health insurance covered by their employers and haven’t had to think about health insurance for the past 40 years, but now what? They are overwhelmed with the amount of information in disparate locations—from websites to mailings to instruction manuals. They are frustrated with the long wait times for phone calls and in-person visits. And they are unsure what actions are required from them and when they need to make decisions.

What We Built

We listened to over 40 interviewees, and based on their input, brainstormed 30 potential solutions. Considering feasibility and scale, we built three tools to tackle the challenges enrollees face: a Medicare roadmap tool, a get help website, and a chatbot.

Our initial drawings translated to simple online versions

To get real human feedback, we tested our simple paper and digital prototypes, seen above, with people aged 63 and older. They had an overwhelming preference for the Medicare Roadmap prototype, which inspired our team to focus on further refining the tool.

The Medicare Roadmap

 The purpose of our proposed Medicare Roadmap tool is to give people like Larry a clear starting point and personalized plan to navigate the Medicare enrollment process step-by-step. After testing the roadmap with an additional 48 prospective Medicare enrollees, current Medicare beneficiaries, and other people involved in the broader ecosystem (e.g. SSA regional office employees), we made several improvements. Below is a screenshot of our final product.

Starting screen from our Medicare Roadmap prototype

The tool allows people to answer a series of questions in order to determine:

• When they are eligible for Medicare;

• When they can enroll in Medicare;

• Which Medicare coverage options are available;

• What steps to take to apply for Medicare. 

The tool aims to break down each step of the process into an easily digestible format with an emphasis on making it easy for everyone to understand.

Video Demo of our Medicare Roadmap prototype

After responding to the questions on the Medicare Roadmap tool, the applicant is presented with customized and detailed healthcare plan information, as well as a personalized application checklist. The tool gives people the necessary information, as well as clear steps, to determine the criteria needed to decide which healthcare plan is best for them.

Checklist screen from our Medicare Roadmap prototype

What about Larry?

Larry never left our hearts or minds, so we called him back later in the course and showed him our Medicare Roadmap tool. His response? “I definitely would use this tool because it makes it much more clear and asks important questions so you don’t need to go through extra steps to find the answer for yourself.” Larry said with a sigh of relief. 

We hope CMS and SSA will use our idea of a roadmap to provide everyone a simpler, easier, and more enjoyable experience enrolling in Medicare.

Thank You

Thank you to Robert Teller, Benno Schmidt, Misu Tasnim and Jessica Weeden from SSA and CMS for partnering with us on this important project, and all the people across SSA and CMS who gave us their time and advice as we developed these solutions. It was an honor to work with you all and be inspired by your passion for public service.

And thank you to all of our interviewees—who could more accurately be called our co-creators—who shared their opinions, experiences, and preferences. We hope our solutions make your experiences with Medicare enrollment better!

—Christina Wu, Gwendolyn Lee, Melia Henderson, Mia Li, Rob MacGregor

Prototyping During a Pandemic: Medicare Enrollment Made Easier

An email we received from a local elder services organization director (and regional director of SHINE, a Medicare counseling service) the day after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.

What do you do when you’re working on a project that involves meeting with older adults during the age of social distancing and COVID-19?

What do you do when the local organizations serving these older adults become suddenly overwhelmed with priorities more pressing than helping with a school project?

This is the situation our team faced as we approached mid-March 2020, the midpoint of our project-based “Technology and Innovation in Government” class at the Harvard Kennedy School.

How Did We Get Here?

Two months ago, our team of Harvard students embarked on a project to improve the Medicare enrollment process for new enrollees in collaboration with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). Our first task was to find out why enrolling in Medicare is so complicated, a process that involves two federal agencies (SSA handles enrollment while CMS administers Medicare). After conducting 35 interviews with recent and prospective Medicare enrollees, relevant government agencies, and other stakeholders (e.g., nonprofits, private insurance brokers), we uncovered many different challenges. For instance, prospective Medicare enrollees don’t know which Medicare coverage options they should consider, nor do they know where to seek clarity. We were excited to start brainstorming ideas to address these challenges.

Then, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Harvard announced our classes would be online moving forward. State governors, including in Massachusetts (where we are based), began to issue stay-at-home orders.

As the world grappled with a new approach to daily life, we realized our approach to our project would need to change as well.

Our target population for research, older adults, is the group at highest risk for serious complications from contracting COVID-19. That made it ill-advised (and eventually impossible) for us to visit public places in-person to recruit research participants. Moving to a virtual world also made it harder for us to engage with our interview subjects, some of whom are not tech savvy. While we had previously envisioned meeting them in cafés and libraries and getting their feedback on paper versions of our proposed solutions, we now had to rely on computer-based tools. 

While introducing new challenges, COVID-19 has also highlighted the need for improved online support tools for Medicare enrollment moving forward. All brick-and-mortar enrollment sites across the country have closed their doors and Medicare enrollment rates have spiked due to layoffs and general concerns about health.

Brainstorming Solutions

With these new challenges and opportunities in mind, our team got to work brainstorming ideas. Then, we grouped our ideas into broad categories and voted on them based on three criteria: 

1.     the salience of the challenge the idea addressed,

2.     the feasibility of testing our ideas within the short timeframe of our class, and

3.      the likelihood that our clients could implement them.

Starting with thirty ideas for potential solutions, our team used digital platforms to narrow them down to our three top ideas to pursue.

Our top three ideas (highlighted in yellow above) were–a web-based resource navigation tool (i.e., digital roadmap), automated chatbot, and “Get Help” search tool for locating telephone or in-person enrollment support. When we presented these to our clients, they suggested that we develop and test all three ideas with Medicare enrollees.

Prototyping Our Ideas

As we learned in class, an early model of a tool—a prototype—doesn’t have to be polished to test. According to guest lecturer and U.S. Digital Services cofounder Erie Meyer, volunteers may not want to criticize a polished (i.e. high-fidelity) product, but are often more likely to give feedback on low-fidelity prototypes. Keeping this in mind, our first prototype was made with just pen and paper, shared over video chat.

Christina Wu, one of our team members, holds up her low-fidelity prototype.

After initial feedback from CMS and SSA, we used prototyping tools such as Balsamiq to transform hand drawn prototypes into interactive tools for each of our three ideas:

Screenshot of Balsamiq prototype of the digital roadmap.

• A digital roadmap that takes the overwhelming amount of information about Medicare and presents only what is relevant to the prospective Medicare enrollee in a plain language step-by-step guide and personalized checklist.

Screenshot of Balsamiq prototype of the automated chatbot (bottom right corner).

• An automated chatbot that answers specific questions typed into a text box. This tool immediately directs the prospective Medicare enrollee to a website link with the relevant information, saving them time and avoiding confusion from navigating the Medicare.gov website on their own.

Screenshot of Balsamiq prototype of the “Get Help” search tool.

• A “Get Help” search tool that identifies organizations offering Medicare enrollment assistance to prospective enrollees by geographic proximity.

Testing Our Tools

Before COVID-19 struck, we visited public locations favored by our target interviewees, such as bookstores and senior centers. We shifted to public online social networking sites, such as Nextdoor.com, LinkedIn, and Facebook, to find interviewees.

Because we conducted interviews over video chat, we experienced firsthand our interviewees’ comfort (and discomfort!) with technology. We subsequently redesigned our tools to meet the needs and requests of our least digitally savvy interviewees, such as adding a tutorial on how to use the digital roadmap website.

We were stuck on a dark screen for 15 minutes as one interviewee tried to join the video chat.
Technology can be challenging!

As we reacted to the unexpected challenge of testing with remote volunteers, we learned new ways to test a prototype. Our partners at CMS and SSA highlighted that the best practices we use in virtual testing today could help them in the future, especially when engaging populations that are traditionally hard to reach.

Let’s Fix it Together!

We are looking for individuals who have recently enrolled in Medicare or are enrolling soon to test our prototypes. If you or someone you know may be willing to participate in a virtual interview, please email innovategov.medicareenrollment@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you!

—Gwendolyn Lee, Melia Henderson, Christina Wu, Rob MacGregor, Mia Li

Researching Medicare Enrollment from Those Who Know It Best – Enrollees

Team member Christina Wu interviewing a recent Medicare enrollee.

This is Part 2 of a blog series chronicling the team’s experience improving Medicare enrollment process. Part 1 (team and problem introduction) can be accessed here: Blog 1

Tina is 67 years old and is beaming as she tells us about her new baby grandson. Family and health are on her mind. She tells us how she enrolled in Medicare two years ago on her 65th birthday. She had nervously been anticipating Medicare enrollment since she was in her early 60’s and quickly became overwhelmed with the volume of complicated information she needed to sift through to enroll. “These are big and important decisions and if you don’t have help deciphering it, then you could make a wrong decision that impacts you the rest of your life.” 

Based on what Tina said, our team wanted to better understand how people feel about these big and important decisions. Some feel lost. It’s a Saturday morning when we speak with Jerry. He is looking forward to a relaxing weekend after a busy week at work. He just recently turned 65 years old and understands he needs to enroll in Medicare, but since he is still working and on his company’s private insurance plan he is not sure exactly what to do. “I don’t know who to call. Is there a government office? It’s confusing and scary because I don’t know what to do.”

Others feel equipped to confront the enrollment process. Patricia is 64 years old and preparing to enroll into Medicare. She loves spending time with her three grandchildren and spending her remaining free time gardening. She is planning to put in the minimum amount of time and understanding necessary to complete Medicare enrollment. Over the years, she has discovered the benefits to turning to professionals to help her in the administrative parts of her life (e.g. taxes, credit card bills, retirement planning), and is planning to outsource her decision-making in Medicare enrollment as well. “I just found an agent and he told me which plan to choose.”

And yet others take on the Medicare enrollment process in a DIY [do-it-yourself] style. Sam is 65 years old. He is tech savvy and even has a Bitmoji that quite resembles him. He just finished enrolling in Medicare. He recently received his red, white and blue card (Medicare health insurance ID card) in the mail and is looking forward to utilizing his Medicare benefits. He tackled the Medicare enrollment process head-on, relying on his own desk research and friends to navigate through important enrollment information. “[I] have enough friends who are older, so when it came to my turn, I knew what to do and where to go.”

Tina, Jerry, Patricia, and Sam are examples of individuals who engage with and approach Medicare enrollment in fundamentally different ways. These individuals underscore a common theme across Medicare enrollees: every individual has a unique context, emotional state, and approach to Medicare enrollment. Our team expected that individuals would likely approach Medicare enrollment in different ways; however, we did not expect such a high number of individuals would experience extreme confusion and stress over Medicare enrollment. The consequences of botching Medicare enrollment are real – users do not get access to the healthcare services they need and face lifetime financial penalties in the form of increased monthly premiums – which makes getting the Medicare enrollment process right critically important.

While the names listed above have been anonymized, these individuals are real people who represent wide swaths of Americans and their respective approaches to Medicare enrollment. As part of Harvard’s Tech and Innovation in Government field class, our team spoke with many individuals like Tina, Jerry, Patricia, and Sam as we engaged with Medicare enrollees to try and help the Social Security Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services better adapt the Medicare enrollment experience for those aging into Medicare to focus on increasing simplicity, positive user experience, and clarity.

Understanding Medicare Enrollment

Before ideating on potential paths to increase simplicity, improve user experience, and promote clarity for Medicare enrollees, our team needed to understand Medicare enrollment from all angles. While we relied on desk research to get a sense of information Medicare enrollees might access online, we also engaged directly with enrollees, relevant government agencies, and Medicare enrollment stakeholders to supplement our research.

• Enrollees – We spoke with 23 (and counting!) individuals who recently enrolled into Medicare, are currently enrolling into Medicare, or are about to enroll into Medicare to understand their experience. We leveraged our own networks and social media to recruit recent Medicare enrollees to interview. Of those we interviewed, the average age is 66 years, 63% are male, 65% hold an advanced degree, and 25% remain actively employed (which impacts how a user engages with Medicare enrollment at age 65). Interviews averaged 40 minutes in length, and we conducted interviews both in-person and over the phone depending on the geographic proximity of the interviewee to Boston. As we continue to interview enrollees, we are looking to expand our pool of interviewees to better reflect the diversity present in American society in terms of gender, race, and educational level. Our interview script allowed the interviewee to help us understand their mental state, feelings, approach, and knowledge of Medicare enrollment. We tried to keep our questions open-ended to allow the interviewee to share their unbiased thoughts on their end-to-end Medicare enrollment experience. Some of our questions asked the interviewee to draw out their Medicare journey, to describe the different parts of Medicare, and to share their emotional response to hearing “Medicare enrollment.”

• Government Agencies (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Social Security Administration) – Federal government agencies are responsible for administering the service of enrollment and compliance of the program once individuals are enrolled. We engaged directly with both of the aforementioned government agencies, having been introduced as part of the project. Each agency has deep knowledge and experience with Medicare and also provided the official word on how Medicare enrollment is expected to occur.

• Stakeholders – The Medicare ecosystem is vast, ranging from healthcare providers to non-profits. Medicare stakeholders are critically important in the Medicare enrollment process by providing enrollees with information and guidance. Over a series of 10 interviews, we spoke with non-profits (including SHINE), insurance brokers, and healthcare providers to better understand how they support enrollees and their views on the current constraints of Medicare enrollment. Stakeholders are often more knowledgeable about enrollment than direct Medicare enrollees because they serve a specific function as related to enrollment. Speaking with stakeholders such as non-profits strengthened our team’s understanding of Medicare benefits. Similarly, many enrollees we interviewed indicated that they worked with non-profit counselors or insurance brokers while enrolling so we found the perspectives offered by these stakeholders critically important to understanding an enrollee’s Medicare journey.

What We Learned

Members of the team collating interview learnings.

After speaking with a range of key stakeholders and Medicare enrollees, we organized key user insights into four distinct stages of Medicare enrollment (Notification, Information Gathering, Enrollment, and Post-Enrollment):

1. Notification

   1. 64-year-olds that have not yet elected to receive SSA benefits are notified about Medicare through Social Security Statements, which are mailed out annually starting at the individual’s 60th birthday. Many interviewees were not aware that government notifies them about Medicare enrollment indicating that further notification efforts may be needed.

   2. Private insurance companies bombard 64-year-olds with advertising that pushes enrollees towards their specific plans

   3. Many enrollees find out they need to enroll via word-of-mouth

2. Information Gathering

   1. Since Medicare has four different parts (Medicare Parts A, B, C, D) across two different channels (Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage), the naming convention for these areas creates confusion

   2. Most people rely on non-governmental information sources ranging from private insurance companies to non-profit counselors

   3. Intensity of research ranges widely depending on the enrollee

3. Enrollment

   1. In assessing different Medicare plan options, enrollees look to optimize between minimizing costs and ensuring adequate coverage with existing, trusted health care providers

   2. Technology comfort ranges across enrollees which impacts an individual’s ability to navigate the enrollment website

4. Post-Enrollment

   1. Some issues with enrollment can only be addressed through mail

   2. Some users are reluctant to use the online platform due to general online security concerns (driven by highly visible data breaches elsewhere) and site usability (many users found site resources to be overwhelming and/or have limited comfort access online resources/forms)

   3. Some are hit with lifetime financial penalties due to unknowingly enrolling late

Next Steps

While we have learned a ton from our research to-date, we expect to continue engaging with both enrollees and stakeholders to keep building our knowledge base. We have also begun brainstorming as a team different ways to improve the Medicare enrollment process, grounding any ideas in learnings gleaned directly from users. For example, we are exploring how the Social Security Administration can better engage with future enrollees before they turn 65 years since notification (or lack thereof) from government was identified as a pain point. Additionally, since the majority of interviewees indicated substantial levels of confusion over Medicare enrollment, we are brainstorming ways to simplify and improve the information gathering phase of Medicare enrollment. 

As we head into the final 6 weeks of the semester, we anticipate continuing to work with users as we test potential improvements and prototypes. We have already developed a long list of potential solutions for pain points identified by users and are refining these ideas in tandem with our client. These ideas will be prototyped, tested with users, and iterated upon before delivering a final solution / assessment to our clients at the end of the academic semester. We are excited to continue working with our clients and engaging end-users! 

—Rob MacGregor, Gwendolyn Lee, Mia Li, Melia Henderson, Christina Wu

Why is Enrolling in Medicare So Complicated?

An individual turning 65 navigates to the Medicare website to learn about enrolling in Medicare.

Adelola was turning 65 years old but did not want to enroll in Medicare. (Note: Adelola is a real person, but her name has been changed to protect her privacy). She was worried she would not be able to afford to pay for Medicare premiums and would rather risk being uninsured; however, as a resident of Massachusetts, which requires all residents to have health insurance, Adelola must either enroll in Medicare or pay a tax penalty.

When Adelola visited her local Social Security office to apply for retirement benefits, she learned that she was not yet eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or the premium-free part of Medicare benefits. Both programs require beneficiaries to work for forty quarters in the U.S. (and to pay SSI taxes) in order to receive SSI and the premium-free part of Medicare, which covers hospital services. Although Adelola had been working in the U.S. since she emigrated from Nigeria, she was three quarters short of the forty required to qualify for both of these benefits.

On the Social Security side, Adelola simply needed to work more to receive benefits and would not face any negative consequences for waiting to apply. For Medicare, however, she not only faced penalties from the state for not having insurance, but she was also at risk of being locked out of receiving hospital coverage through Medicare in the future and of incurring lifetime financial penalties for not enrolling in Medicare when she was first eligible.

Unsure how to handle this case, the Social Security specialists referred Adelola to the SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Everyone) program, which is the Massachusetts’ version of the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). SHIP is a federally funded state program for individualized health insurance counseling for Medicare beneficiaries. During her counseling session, the SHINE counselor told Adelola about the Medicare Savings Program, a state-funded program helps low-income individuals that are ineligible for premium-free part of Medicare pay their premiums. Relieved, Adelola signed up for this program which allowed her to enroll in Medicare and avoid both a state tax penalty for being uninsured as well as lifelong financial penalties on her insurance premiums.

Background

Enrolling in Medicare at the standard age of eligibility, 65, can be confusing and burdensome to many applicants. This leads to the most vulnerable seniors—like Adelola—forgoing the healthcare coverage they need. Adelola was eventually directed to the right resources to serve her situation after multiple office visits and consultations. But not every senior ends up being able to navigate the Medicare enrollment process to completion.

What makes Medicare enrollment so complicated?

As Adelola’s experience demonstrates, enrolling in Medicare can be a confusing, multi-step process. Medicare enrollment involves multiple federal agencies, including at least the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Any issues with an enrollee’s application can lead to several trips to different offices.

In addition to this multi-agency process, enrolling in Medicare involves making numerous choices. First, enrollees must choose between original, fee-for-service Medicare or its private managed-care alternative, Medicare Advantage. If they choose original Medicare (which covers both hospital and outpatient services), then they must choose whether or not to purchase supplemental coverage to protect them from potentially high out-of-pocket costs since original Medicare involves cost-sharing. Enrollees can also choose among different prescription drug plans. Those that select Medicare Advantage must then navigate a crowded landscape of private insurers and insurance options in order to choose a plan. This wide and complex array of choices makes it difficult for people to make effective choices for their personal situations.

Lack of timely enrollment during the small window around one’s 65th birthday can lead to financial penalties for life. For example, over 700,000 Medicare beneficiaries receiving coverage for outpatient services paid financial penalties in 2017 for late enrollment, and their total premiums were 31% higher than what they would have been had they enrolled during their eligibility window, according to the Congressional Research Service. Given the complexity and high stakes, there are a wide range of nonprofit organizations and for-profit agents and brokers that help seniors through the enrollment process—but they can also increase confusion and add on costs for the beneficiary.

The Problem 

According to CMS, there were 58 million beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare in 2017. As the American population ages, enrollment is expected to rise to more than 80 million by 2030 according to a report by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

This is why the US Digital Service team at CMS and the SSA have joined together to improve the Medicare enrollment process. These teams have never collaborated before but saw value in studying the entire enrollment process across the various agencies the process may touch. They are interested in investigating the following question:

How might we adapt the Medicare enrollment experience for those aging into Medicare (i.e., individuals turning 65 years old) to focus on increasing simplicity, positive user experience, and clarity?

Introducing Our Team

Robert Teller of SSA, along with Misu Tasnim, Jessica Weeden, and Benno Schmidt (not pictured) of CMS, meets with our Harvard team on the first day of class.

As part of the “Technology and Innovation in Government” course at the Harvard Kennedy School, taught by former U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer, Nick Sinai, our team of Harvard students is working with CMS and SSA on this project to improve Medicare enrollment. Our diverse backgrounds provide us with an interdisciplinary approach to this challenge:

Christina Wu (MPH ‘20) is interested in applying design principles to improving the healthcare and social service systems for vulnerable populations, particularly aging individuals. Christina previously worked in healthcare consulting, supporting clients including the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and state Medicaid agencies. She is experienced in digital health and managed care, and completed a Fulbright fellowship researching dementia care in China. Christina recently began working as a barista so that she can finally learn the difference between a latte and a macchiato.

Mia Mayixuan Li (MPP ‘21) is interested in introducing innovative technologies to strengthen good governance and improve the quality of service delivery in the developing world. Mia previously worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in China, where she developed communication strategies and managed projects in a broad range of development areas. Mia is a cocktail enthusiast and she makes excellent pisco sour.

Gwendolyn Lee (MPP ’20/ UCLA MD ‘22) is interested in the intersection between health policy, population health, and digital health innovation. Gwendolyn previously worked at the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. She currently sources ventures using artificial intelligence and health tech for Innospark Ventures and Flare Capital Partners. Gwendolyn co-founded the Harvard Kennedy School Latin Dance Society and loves bringing people together through dance.

Melia Henderson (College ‘20) is interested in building technology to help solve issues within the government. Melia previously worked as a software engineer as well as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and product manager at Digital Ventures, BCG’s technology incubator. She has done research in the security of government technology such as the 2020 US Census. Melia has never broken a bone.

Rob MacGregor (MPP/ Wharton MBA ‘22) is interested in leveraging business and technology to mitigate public sector challenges. Rob previously worked in investment banking, private equity, and venture capital. He also spent two years with the Clinton Health Access Initiative where he primarily advised the Government of Uganda on HIV funding and supply chain issues. Rob enjoys hiking and once climbed a volcano in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which has the largest active lava lake in the world.

Next Steps

The first stage of the project involves interviewing people going through the Medicare enrollment process or who have recently enrolled in Medicare. We are trying to understand the different ways 64-year-olds enroll in Medicare, and how each individual experiences the enrollment process. We are also speaking with other key stakeholders and subject matter experts that support these individuals through the enrollment process, including specialists at a regional Social Security office, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs, SHINE programs at local Councils on Aging and senior centers, health plans, and insurance brokers.

We look forward to spending the semester learning from people like Adelola to understand the challenges they face in enrolling in Medicare. Based on what we learn, we aim to develop recommendations and test potential solutions that will make the process easier for all seniors.

If you want to learn more or have thoughts on our project, please contact us at innovategov.medicareenrollment@gmail.com. Stay tuned!

— Melia Henderson, Gwendolyn Lee, Mia Mayixuan Li, Rob MacGregor, and Christina Wu