A multipurpose senior center is a community facility where older adults come together for services and activities that reflect their skills and interests, and which responds to their diverse needs. Centers are a resource for the entire community, providing services and information on aging, and assisting family and friends who care for older people. For older people at risk of losing their self-sufficiency, senior centers are the entry point to an array of services that will help them maintain their independence.

The commissioner and the Department of Insurance regulate the various kinds of insurance sold in North Carolina and the companies and agents that sell it.

The Division of Aging and Adult Services administers funds from the federal Older Americans Act to support a broad array of programs and activities that assist older adults in promoting their health and wellness. Funding is made available to the Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) in the state that contract with local provider agencies for the delivery of services.

The Division of Aging and Adult Services has a directory of information about senior nutrition programs on a county-by-county basis and other Home and Community Care Block Grant services. Programs include congregate nutrition and home-delivered meals.

North Carolina is one of 15 states engaged in a federal project to find better ways to coordinate medical care for dual eligibles, improve quality and lower costs. The Division of Medical Assistance is working with Community Care of North Carolina, doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and adult care homes. The plan is to develop a system that can be translated to other states.

In support of the mission, vision and values of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Division of Aging and Adult Services works to: promote the independence and enhance the dignity of North Carolina's older adults, people with disabilities, and their families through a community-based system of opportunities, services, benefits and protections; to ready younger generations to enjoy their later years; and to help society and government plan and prepare for the changing demographics.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is the largest agency in state government, responsible for: ensuring the health, safety and well-being of all North Carolinians; providing the human service needs for fragile populations like the mentally ill, deaf, blind and developmentally disabled; and helping poor North Carolinians achieve economic independence.

The North Carolina Office of Rural Health and Community Care (ORHCC) helps communities get access to low-cost medical care. Since it was created in 1973, ORHCC has opened 86 rural health centers across the state. Currently, ORHCC supports 28 rural health centers with funding and technical support, and helps to place medical, psychiatric and dental providers in communities throughout the state. Rural hospitals, as well as many statewide medical facilities that treat poor and uninsured residents, may receive help through grant funds. Qualifying patients may take advantage of drug companies’ free and low-cost drug programs through ORHCC’s medication assistance program.

AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that advocates for people ages 50 and older. Since 1958, AARP has lobbied for senior issues, including the passage of Medicare in 1965. AARP offers support from staffed offices in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC) is a statewide organization consisting of 14 health maintenance organization (HMO)-style networks for Medicaid patients. In 2006, CCNC started to expand to include Medicare beneficiaries in Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS)-sponsored demonstration projects.

Legal Aid of North Carolina helps resolve Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (Part D) problems, helps file exceptions and appeals with a drug plan, and represents beneficiaries at Medicare administrative hearings. It also helps beneficiaries denied Extra Help with appeals to the Social Security Administration.

Action North Carolina is an advocacy group that fights Medicare cuts, and works with the Health Care for America Now Coalition. Action North Carolina has offices in Raleigh, Durham and Charlotte.

The North Carolina Health Access Coalition works to expand health insurance coverage, and comments on state and national health care policies and programs, including Medicare.

Senior PharmASSIST serves Durham County and provides: Medicare information to beneficiaries and health care providers via public forums and webinars; one-on-one counseling to beneficiaries selecting prescription drug and medical coverage; direct financial assistance to Durham County residents 60 years or older with incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level to cover medicines in the program's formulary; and supplemental coverage to people who have Medicare-approved drug coverage through a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (Part D) or a Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) but who do not qualify for the government's low-income subsidy.

The North Carolina Institute of Medicine seeks solutions to the statewide problems of poor health and access to health care. It works with other centers and state agencies on research topics, publishes reports and hosts work groups. The institute hosts a health reform task force addressing the new federal health care law. One of the nine work groups focuses on prevention of fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid. It also convened a work group on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) innovation projects. It copublishes, with the Duke Endowment, the "North Carolina Medical Journal, which is a health policy analysis publication. The journal has published articles on health policies affecting Medicare beneficiaries.

The Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence is the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for the state of North Carolina. QIOs are private, mostly not-for-profit organizations, staffed by doctors and other health care professionals, who are trained to review medical care, to help beneficiaries with complaints about the quality of care, and to implement improvements in the quality of care available throughout the spectrum of care. QIOs are required under Sections 1152-1154 of the Social Security Act.

The Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) were established under the Older Americans Act (OAA) Comprehensive Services Amendments in 1973 to respond to the needs of Americans 60 and older in every local community. The amendments added a new Title V, which authorized grants to local community agencies in every state. The AAAs provide a range of options that allow older adults to choose the home- and community-based services and living arrangements that suit them best.

The Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) program helps Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries avoid, detect and prevent health care fraud. The goal is to protect older people and to preserve the integrity of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The federal program was created in 1996 by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and amended in 2006 by Titles II and IV of the Older Americans Act.

The long-term care ombudsman advocates for residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The office resolves complaints and educates seniors and long-term care providers about their rights and good care practices. The ombudsman also provides information to the public on nursing homes and other long-term care facilities and services, residents' rights, and legislative and policy issues. In 1978, an amendment to the federal Older Americans Act required every state to have an ombudsman program that addresses complaints and advocates for improvements in the long-term care system. The ombudsman program is administered by the Administration on Aging (AoA).

SHIIP is part of a national program (known as SHIP in other states) that offers counseling and assistance to people with Medicare and to their families. Coordinators provide counseling on Medicare benefits, Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (Part D), Social Security, Medicaid and veterans' benefits. SHIP, formerly the Information, Counseling and Assistance (ICA) grants program, was created under section 4360 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. This act authorized the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make grants to states for health advisory services programs for people with Medicare.

Jeff Miller was named president and CEO of High Point Regional System in 1988 after serving as chief operating officer of Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.

Phyllis Wingate-Jones serves as president of Carolinas Medical Center (CMC)-Northeast in Concord, N.C., overseeing CMC-University and CMC-Huntersville. She previously served as president of CMC-Mercy for three years. Wingate-Jones is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Timothy Rice became president and CEO of the Moses Cone Health System, now known as Cone Health, in August 2004, after serving as chief operating officer for three years. Previously, he served as vice president of the hospital and executive vice president of the Health Services Division. He holds a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Washington State University and a master’s degree in health administration from Duke University.

Michael C. Tarwater joined Carolinas Medical Center in 1981 after serving as assistant administrator at the University of Alabama Hospitals. He is a life member and past chairman of the North Carolina Hospital Association Board of Trustees.

Mark Billings now serves as president of Presbyterian Healthcare after serving as vice president and administrator of Presbyterian Hospital Matthews. Billings earned a bachelor’s degree from New Hampshire College in Manchester, N.H., and a master’s degree in health care administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

John D. McConnell became Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s first CEO in 2008. He has served as executive vice president of health system affairs at the University of Texas Southwestern since 2003. A Kansas native, McConnell earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Kansas. He holds a medical degree from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine.

This committee is responsible for the drafting and consideration of bills concerning the insurance industry for North Carolina's upper house.

This committee is responsible for the drafting and consideration of bills concerning health and human services for North Carolina's lower house.

This committee is responsible for the drafting and consideration of bills concerning health care issues for North Carolina's upper house.

This committee is responsible for the drafting and consideration of bills concerning the insurance industry for North Carolina's lower house.