The Virginia Insurance Counseling and Assistance Program (VICAP) is part of a national network of programs that offers FREE, unbiased, confidential counseling and assistance for people with Medicare.
Counselors can also help with health care appeals, denials and identifying those eligible for low-income subsidies. VICAP counselors are not licensed to sell insurance. Counselors are trained and certified to help you understand and compare benefits, assist with filing for benefits based on income and resources, and inform you of your rights.
Your local VICAP Program can provide you with FREE, unbiased, confidential and personal assistance. You will speak to a trained counselor who will walk you through the steps to maximize your benefits. To get in touch with a VICAP counselor in your area, contact your local Area Agency on Aging (AAA). View a map of Virginia to locate the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) that serves your community.
VICAP counselors can help all Medicare beneficiaries, including those with disabilities and younger than 65, explore options that best meet their needs. Counselors will help you compare the quality of care and services given by health and prescription drug plans available in your area.
VICAP counselors can help you file for medical benefits, low-income subsidies, health care appeals and grievances. Working with you, counselors are able to help you resolve health care issues and assist you in understanding complex medical bills.
Working collaboratively with the Senior Medicare Patrol, VICAP counselors will help educate and empower beneficiaries to take an active role in detecting and preventing health care fraud and abuse.
Virginia Senior Medicare Patrol (Virginia SMP) educates Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers to prevent, detect, and report healthcare fraud, errors, and abuse. Using a team of trained volunteers, Virginia SMP provides outreach, counseling and education. Call 1-800-938-8885 to report suspected Medicare fraud or to receive fraud prevention materials.
Watch and share this short SMP video to learn more and help others: https://youtu.be/LlqtkiyAoxs
The COMPASS team is a volunteer program that helps VICAP educate, counsel and assist Virginia's Medicare beneficiaries. Your experience can have a meaningful impact on your community.
To learn more about this opportunity and become a part of the team, call 1-800 552-3402.
There are programs in Virginia that can save you money: the Extra Help Program and the Medicare Savings Programs. You may qualify to get help paying for the Part D premium and/or your Part B premium.
If you can answer “YES” to these questions, you should apply for help paying your Medicare costs:
If you answered “YES” to these questions, please call your local Area Agency on Aging to speak to a VICAP counselor for assistance filling out the application to receive help paying your Medicare costs. The only way to know for sure if you qualify is to apply.
The following PREVENTIVE SERVICES are available to all Medicare beneficiaries:
If you’ve had Medicare Part B for longer than 12 months, you can get a yearly “Wellness” visit once every 12 months to develop or update a personalized prevention plan to help prevent disease and disability, based on your current health and risk factors. The yearly “Wellness” visit isn’t a physical exam.
Your provider will ask you to fill out a Health Risk Assessment questionnaire as part of this visit. This will help you and your provider develop a personalized prevention plan to help you stay healthy and get the most out of your visit. It can also include:
Your provider will also perform a cognitive assessment to look for signs of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Signs of cognitive impairment include trouble remembering, learning new things, concentrating, managing finances, and making decisions about your everyday life. If your provider thinks you may have cognitive impairment, Medicare covers a separate visit to do a more thorough review of your cognitive function and check for conditions like dementia, depression, anxiety, or delirium.
If you have a current prescription for opioids, your provider will review your potential risk factors for opioid use disorder, evaluate your severity of pain and current treatment plan, provide information on non-opioid treatment options, and may refer you to a specialist. Your provider will also review your potential risk factors for other substance use disorders and refer you for treatment, if needed.
Medicare Part B covers the following items and services related to COVID-19
Note: Coverage could change when the public health emergency ends
Vaccines:
Diagnostic tests:
Antibody tests:
Monoclonal antibody treatments: