Friday, December 21, 2007

BenefitsCheckUp Has Served Two Million Seniors

BenefitsCheckUp(R), the nation's most comprehensive online benefits screening service for seniors with limited income and resources, served its two millionth senior as of this month.

Historically, no more than half of older Americans who are eligible for these needed programs ever apply for them. For example, 70 percent of those qualified for food stamps have not enrolled in the program and nearly half of those who qualify for supplemental security income (SSI) have not applied. Similarly, there are still as many as 4.2 million who have not enrolled in the extra help available through Medicare prescription drug coverage.

Developed and maintained by The National Council on Aging (NCOA), BenefitsCheckUp® enables seniors with limited income and resources as well as those who care for or serve them to screen for and in some cases apply for federal, state and local benefits programs.

BenefitsCheckUp® includes more than 1,550 public and private benefits programs from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These programs include health care, prescription drug assistance, heating and energy assistance, legal services, housing assistance, property tax programs and nutrition programs, as well as volunteer and training opportunities and education programs.

Since its inception in 2001, BenefitsCheckUp® has helped two million seniors determine eligibility for these programs and has identified over $5.8 billion in public benefits...

See http://www.ncoa.org/content.cfm?sectionID=305

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