Los Angeles Patient Advocates
A Los Angeles patient advocate is a trained professional who handles the coordination, paperwork, and phone calls around your care, covered by Medicare. Careway works with patients across Los Angeles County by phone and video.
Advocates work with you by phone and video. There is no office to travel to.
What makes care here hard to manage
One of the most fragmented care markets in the country
Los Angeles has world-class hospitals and an enormous number of independent practices, which means a patient's records can be scattered across half a dozen organizations that have never communicated.
- Requests and consolidates records from every practice involved
- Finds specialists genuinely accepting new Medicare patients, which takes persistent calling
- Keeps one medication list every prescriber can see
Distance is measured in hours, not miles
A specialist twenty miles away can be a two-hour round trip. For patients who no longer drive, that decides whether care happens at all.
- Arranges transportation and paratransit where it is available
- Uses telehealth for visits that do not require being in the room
- Groups appointments to reduce the number of trips
Medi-Cal and county programs
Los Angeles County runs an unusually large safety net, and many residents who would qualify for Medi-Cal or In-Home Supportive Services have never applied.
- Screens for Medi-Cal, since people who have both Medicare and Medi-Cal pay $0 out of pocket
- Explains In-Home Supportive Services and helps with the application
- Connects families to county aging services
Where Los Angeles patients get care
- Cedars-Sinai
- UCLA Health
- Kaiser Permanente
- Keck Medicine of USC
- Providence
Questions from Los Angeles
Yes. Medicare's care management programs are Medicare-covered services available to eligible patients here. If you have a supplemental insurance policy (Medigap) or Medicaid, your standard coinsurance may be fully covered.
Not necessarily. Your advocate works with you by phone and video and knows the coverage rules, programs, and health systems in your state. There is no office to travel to, and no appointment you have to drive across town for.
If you have both Medicare and Medi-Cal, you pay $0 out of pocket. Federal and California rules prohibit billing people with both programs for Medicare cost-sharing.
Other cities in California
Talk to someone who can take this on
Checking whether you qualify takes a couple of minutes. If we are not the right fit, we will tell you plainly.
Covered by Medicare. If you have a supplemental policy (Medigap) or Medicaid, your standard coinsurance may be fully covered.