The Modern Medicaid Alliance sat down with Carson Crochet from Triage Cancer to learn more about the organization and their efforts related to Medicaid.
Modern Medicaid Alliance: Tell us about Triage Cancer and how you support individuals diagnosed with cancer and their caregivers.
Carson Crochet, Triage Cancer: Triage Cancer® is a national, nonprofit organization that provides free education on legal and practical issues that may impact individuals diagnosed with cancer and their caregivers, through events, materials, and resources.
Triage Cancer’s events, materials, and resources provide relevant, factual information to more than one million people annually – completely free of charge – empowering individuals to take next steps to address challenges associated with a diagnosis, access quality health care, and reduce their overall stress and anxiety.
Our Legal & Financial Navigation Program offers one-on-one help with issues such as work, health and disability insurance, finances, and estate planning. CancerFinances.org is an online toolkit to help people manage finances after a cancer diagnosis.
Modern Medicaid Alliance: How does Triage Cancer help individuals with cancer who are eligible for Medicaid navigate the coverage environment?
Carson: Triage Cancer developed and continually updates Medicaid-focused resources that help anyone to understand if they are qualified for Medicaid, learn how to apply, and differentiate between different Medicaid programs.
Triage Cancer resources come in a variety of forms including animated videos, quick guides, state specific resources, podcasts, one-on-one navigation, and more. Many of these resources are also available in Spanish.
Our organization covers various topics related to the ins and outs of Medicaid, including:
- What is Medicaid
- Medicaid 101 & Other Benefits
- Medicaid Coverage & Navigation
- 90-day Retroactive Medicaid Coverage
- Estate Recovery
- Options for Immigrants who are Undocumented
- State-Specific Medicaid Resources
Additionally, we are currently working on a CancerFinances.org module specific to Medicaid that is interactive to guide users to the most relevant resources.
Modern Medicaid Alliance: Who should use your materials and resources?
Carson: Our audience includes anyone who is eligible for Medicaid, anyone who may become eligible because of financial burdens after a cancer diagnosis, and those who work with individuals who are Medicaid eligible.
Triage Cancer meets people where they are and provide education in several ways, including animated videos and charts of state laws. We also want policymakers to understand how varied Medicaid programs and coverage can be state by state. Our Medicaid State Laws chart illustrates how cancer patients’ regional locations affects their coverage and therefore cancer treatments.
Modern Medicaid Alliance: Why is it important to ensure individuals with cancer understand how to navigate Medicaid?
Carson: Research shows that individuals diagnosed with cancer who have lower health insurance literacy are more likely to report experiencing financial hardship connected to their health care. This suggests that improving health insurance literacy by arming people with much-needed information about health coverage and their coverage options may mitigate the financial burden of a cancer diagnosis.
Triage Cancer complements existing services in the cancer community and fills in gaps in education on cancer-related legal, financial, and practical matters. Many of the resources that Triage Cancer provides do not exist in the cancer community at large, such as its Legal & Financial Navigation Program.
We dream of a world where everyone has access to information and resources needed to find their best path forward.
For more resources, check out Triage Cancer’s Medicaid & Cancer page.