You can help us in four ways.

1. Support NACDEP:

The National Coalition for Dually Eligible People welcomes everyone who believes all elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries deserve first-class access to health care regardless of race, sex, or income.

Send us your e-mails and letters of support. Place this issue on your organization's agenda. Help us make first-class medical access for all elderly and disabled citizens a reality.

2. Gather information:

There are large bodies of information on people who have either Medicare or Medicaid, but relatively little information on people who have both Medicare and Medicaid.

I have been unable to find any current federal government document listing of the states that pay crossover payments, and the states that do not. Nor have I located information about the impact that the elimination of crossover payments has had on each state and its citizens.

If you have information about dually eligible people in your state, please tell us about it. NACDEP will use your information to establish a central clearinghouse for information relating to the almost 7.5 million dually eligible people across the United States.

3. Educate policymakers:

The connection between decreased access for dually eligible people and our expanding Medicare and Medicaid budgets has been overlooked for too long. Eliminating funding for dually eligible people decreases access for these people and increases social and financial costs for our entire society.

Educating state and national policymakers along with leaders of professional and civic organizations about this issue is important to the future of dually eligible people and to the financing of our entire healthcare system.

Dually eligible people are Medicare beneficiaries who have worked, paid taxes, and earned their full Medicare benefits. Turning Medicare into a two-tiered, discriminatory benefit system creates disparities in access to health care and harms us all.

4. Help us with your donation:

NACDEP, the National Coalition for Dually Eligible People, is dedicated to improving access and healthcare delivery for dually eligible people -- "the elderly and disabled poor."

We are a not-for-profit Louisiana educational organization, and are supported solely by donations. NACDEP is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) educational organization and all donations are tax deductible. Help us continue this valuable work. By working together we can make a difference in the health care of our most vulnerable citizens, as well as improve our nation's healthcare financing.

Help us turn healthcare disparity into healthcare equality for these vulnerable people. Send your tax deductible donation to:

National Coalition for Dually Eligible People
506 Short Street
New Orleans, LA 70118