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The woman on the phone spoke no English. She had called the Medicare Rights Center in New York City on a friend’s recommendation, desperately hoping someone could help her figure out how to pay for her Medicare premiums. She was looking at a total of nearly $700 a month — an impossible amount for her to cover.
An older adult of El Salvadorian descent, she had only recently arrived in the U.S., so she wasn’t eligible for Social Security or for premium-free Part A hospital coverage. Worse, she’d just been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder and didn’t know how she would afford treatment after spending her very limited income on insurance premiums.
Giovanni Florez answered the call. Not only was he fluent in both English and Spanish, but he also knew the ins and outs of the often confusing Medicare system. He talked the woman, named Ada, through applying for a Medicare Savings Program (MSP) that, he says with pride, “paid her premiums in full.”
MSPs are Medicaid-run programs that help cover Medicare premiums and other expenses. They save eligible recipients about $8,000 a year; for people like Ada, that can spell the difference between constant money worries and financial security.
Giovanni’s work at the Medicare Rights Center, an AARP Foundation grantee, has a powerful impact within New York City’s communities. About a third of his clients speak only Spanish, so his ability to speak the language fluently is invaluable.
“These folks are living on limited and low incomes, and we’re helping them unlock 10%, even 20% of their available income that would otherwise be taken up by Medicare costs,” he says.
Through counseling and advocacy, educational programs, and public policy initiatives, Medicare Rights’ goal is to make sure older adults and people with disabilities have access to affordable health care. The nonprofit partners with community organizations across New York City, training them to identify eligible MSP recipients and facilitate applications. This multiplier effect means Medicare Rights can reach more people in need who might otherwise get overlooked.
For Giovanni, a self-described Jersey boy whose family came to the United States from Colombia when he was barely 2 years old, it’s just the latest chapter in a career spent helping others.
“I always knew I wanted to give back to the country that gave me and my family so much,” he says.
Following an internship in the office of New York’s public advocate, where he worked on housing violations, Giovanni got a job answering calls on Medicare Rights’ national helpline. Almost 10 years later, he’s the organization’s director of enrollment and community engagement, building partnerships that help thousands of New Yorkers get Medicare benefits.
Despite the occasional heartbreak of being unable to help someone because of strict eligibility requirements, Giovanni is committed to his mission.
“It gets heavy from time to time,” he admits. “But we do great work, and that’s the silver lining. We’re allowing people to make ends meet, maybe helping alleviate their concerns about paying for rent and buying groceries. We’re allowing them to live the more dignified life that they deserve.”
Meet more community heroes like Giovanni and learn more about how AARP Foundation Grantmaking helps older adults to secure the essentials.
Read more stories about how our programs have helped people find hope, and about the volunteers who give so much of themselves to help others.