APPRISE Health Insurance Information, Counseling, and Assistance Program for older Pennsylvanians. APPRISE is funded by a grant from the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), and is coordinated by the Pennsylvania Department of Aging through its network of 52 local area agencies on aging serving all 67 counties in the Commonwealth. Trained volunteer counselors provide assistance with Medicare, Medicaid, Medicare Supplement Insurance, Medicare Managed Care, long-term-care and other health insurance issues, and can help organize insurance-related paperwork, file claims and assist with Medicare appeals.

APPRISE counseling is free. Volunteers have no affiliation with any insurance company or product and will not endorse or recommend any particular company or plan. Their goal is to educate you so that you can make informed decisions regarding your health care finances.

Call 1-800-783-7067 to locate the APPRISE counseling site nearest you.

the APPRISE program through its toll-free number. You also can obtain a copy of The Medicare Managed Care Directory by writing to the Office of Managed Care, HCFA, Room 4360, Cohen Building, 330 Independent Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20201-0001, or by calling the Medicare Hotline at 1-800-638-6833.

PANPHA for a copy of the "Come to Life!" consumer brochure, which provides an overview of the options available to meet the housing and health care needs of older individuals. This national award-winning brochure focuses on the nonprofit choices in services ranging from market based, government or community sponsored subsidized housing and in-home community-based services, to personal care or complete 24-hour supervised nursing care.

Nonprofit facilities are governed by community-based volunteer boards of trustees who donate their time and talents to ensure that a nonprofit organization's approach to caring for older residents responds to local needs. Any surplus income derived from operations is turned back into improving facilities or expanding services.

You can obtain a free copy of "Come to Life!" by writing to: PANPHA, Executive Park West, Suite 409, 4720 Old Gettysburg Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-8419; or by calling: 1-800-545-2270.