Michigan Patient Advocates
A Michigan patient advocate is a trained professional who handles the coordination, paperwork, and phone calls around your care, covered by Medicare. Careway advocates work with patients across Michigan by phone and video, from Detroit and the suburbs to Grand Rapids, Lansing, and the Upper Peninsula.
What is different about getting help here
Free Medicare counseling exists in Michigan, and most people miss it
Michigan runs a free counseling program called MMAP that answers Medicare questions with no sales interest. It is genuinely useful and consistently under-used. An advocate goes further by doing the work rather than explaining it, and will point you to MMAP where that is the better tool.
Care spread across large, separate systems
Michigan patients frequently receive care from more than one large health system, and those systems do not share records automatically. A cardiologist in one network and a primary doctor in another means someone has to move results between them, and that someone is usually the patient.
- Requests records between systems so each doctor is working from the current picture
- Keeps one calendar across every practice involved
- Makes sure hospital discharge summaries reach the primary care office
Programs that reduce what Michigan families pay
Between Medicaid, the MI Choice waiver for home and community care, and the Medicare Savings Programs, there is real money on the table for people who qualify. Almost none of it is automatic, and the applications are the reason people give up.
- Screens for Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help with prescription costs
- Explains what Michigan Medicaid and the Healthy Michigan Plan cover
- Connects families to their Area Agency on Aging for home and community services
Winter is a health issue in Michigan
Heating costs, icy walkways, and months of limited mobility affect health directly. Utility assistance and home-safety programs are real and local, and the applications open on schedules people miss.
- Finds home-heating assistance and utility programs by county
- Arranges transportation when winter makes appointments harder to reach
- Works on fall prevention before the first storm rather than after a fracture
Programs your advocate helps you reach
These are run by Michigan and its counties, not by Careway. Your advocate helps you find out whether you qualify and works through the applications with you.
MMAP (Michigan Medicare/Medicaid Assistance Program)
Michigan's free, unbiased Medicare counseling program. Trained counselors answer coverage questions and help with appeals at no cost.
Official site ➞Michigan Medicaid and the Healthy Michigan Plan
State health coverage that can pay Medicare cost-sharing for people who qualify, and cover services Medicare does not.
Official site ➞MI Choice Waiver
Home and community-based services for people who would otherwise need nursing home care, so they can stay at home.
Official site ➞Area Agencies on Aging
Regional agencies coordinating meals, transportation, in-home help, and caregiver support across Michigan.
Official site ➞Where Michigan patients get their care
Records do not move between these on their own. When your doctors are in more than one, your advocate is the one making sure each has the current picture.
- Corewell Health
- Henry Ford Health
- University of Michigan Health
- McLaren Health Care
- Trinity Health Michigan
- Ascension Michigan
Advocates across Michigan
Detroit
Patient advocates for Detroit seniors, covered by Medicare. Help navigating Henry Ford, DMC, and Ascension care across Wayne County.
Read more ➞Grand Rapids
Patient advocates for Grand Rapids seniors, covered by Medicare. Help navigating Corewell Health and Trinity Health care in Kent County.
Read more ➞Warren
Patient advocates for Warren seniors, covered by Medicare. Help navigating Ascension and Corewell care across Macomb County.
Read more ➞Sterling Heights
Patient advocates for Sterling Heights seniors, covered by Medicare. Help navigating Macomb County care and Detroit-area specialists.
Read more ➞Ann Arbor
Patient advocates for Ann Arbor seniors, covered by Medicare. Help navigating University of Michigan Health and Trinity Health care in Washtenaw County.
Read more ➞Questions from Michigan
Yes. Medicare's care management programs are Medicare-covered services available to eligible patients in Michigan. If you have a supplemental insurance policy (Medigap) or Medicaid, your standard coinsurance may be fully covered.
Not necessarily, and it rarely matters. Your advocate works with you by phone and video, and is familiar with the coverage rules, programs, and health systems in your state. There is no office to travel to.
MMAP is Michigan's free Medicare counseling program, and it is worth calling for unbiased answers about coverage. An advocate does the ongoing work of appointments, records, appeals, and applications, which MMAP does not do.
Yes, and in Michigan this is one of the most common reasons people call. Advocates request and move records between systems so each doctor is working from current information.
No. Careway works with patients anywhere in Michigan, including rural counties and the Upper Peninsula, because advocates work by phone and video.
Yes. Your parent needs to live in Michigan or another state Careway serves. You can be anywhere, and long-distance families are one of the most common situations advocates work with.
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.