Congressional staffers will now use this 'hidden' guide to health care
You can use it, too, if you know where to find it.
Aides to U.S. senators and U.S. representatives now have a new guide to your world, benefits pros: a health information and services resources handbook, Connecting Constituents to Health Information and Services: Resources for Congressional Offices, prepared by the Congressional Research Service.
The service serves as a kind of in-house trade journal for members of Congress and their aides. It conducts research projects for Congress and also provides general background articles that can give lawmakers and their staffers a quick introduction to the topics they handle.
The new health information services guide is aimed at constituent services aides who may do everything from helping an employer clear up a Form 5500 plan form filing nightmare to helping a worker cope with identity theft problems.
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The new guide offers a quick description of different types of health coverage, including some that might be unfamiliar to a typical benefits professional, such as the military health system, Veterans Health Administration programs, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and the Indian Health Services.
Other chapters look at how an aide could help a constituent find appropriate health care providers, how an aide could help a patient cope with financial hardship, how to handle complaints and concerns, and how to get help with confronting rare diseases.
Entries provide contact information for organizations like the National Institutes of Health’s Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center and a website members of the public can use to report concerns about safe problems at health care facilities.
An appendix lists past Congressional Research Service reports, such as a guide connecting individuals with disabilities to health services.