Understood Care
Coverage data 2024. Plan networks change - we confirm exactly what your plan covers before any work begins.
Michelle Rindfleisch Care Advocate One dedicated advocate with a direct phone and text line: Michelle makes the calls and handles the paperwork so you do not have to.
Cheryl Strickland Care Advocate Cheryl helps patients and caregivers untangle Medicare, from a denied claim to a benefit nobody mentioned, with a check-in every week while a case is open.
T'Keyah Ingram Care Advocate From the first call, T'Keyah is the same person every time: no call center, no starting over, and no surprise bills.
Discover free NH Medicare counseling, CFI waiver home care, and programs that pay family caregivers. Call ServiceLink today to find your best care option.
In the Upper Valley and Dartmouth-Sunapee area, care is anchored by Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital in Lebanon, with Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont and New London Hospital nearby, so referrals, discharge planning, and bills across an academic medical center and its community hospitals pile up fast. Understood Care is a virtual service: phone, video, and secure messaging. For Hanover members that means no waiting room and no travel, whether the problem is a confusing hospital bill, a denied claim, a referral that went nowhere, or a parent in Grafton County who needs someone watching their whole picture. Your advocate is the same person every time, follows up every 7 days while your case is active, and still checks in monthly after it is resolved. Many Upper Valley & Dartmouth-Sunapee families also run New Hampshire Medicaid's Choices for Independence waiver alongside Medicare; we handle the Medicare side.
About 16.8% of Hanover residents are 65+, close to New Hampshire's statewide 19.5%. Of the 25,095 Medicare beneficiaries in Grafton County, 33.2% were on Medicare Advantage plans in 2025, in line with New Hampshire's 35.5%. About 1,936 neighbors are dual-eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, the group New Hampshire's Choices for Independence and Medicare Savings Programs reach.
Of 5 Medicare-certified homes, 1 rate 4+ CMS stars and 2 rate just 1 star, a spread an advocate helps families navigate. Highest-rated nearby:
About 529 Hanover households are a person 65+ living alone, and that is exactly who a dedicated advocate keeps from falling through the cracks. 24% of senior households here have no vehicle (about 225 households), which is why a fully virtual advocate, plus Medicare-covered ride benefits where plans include them, matters. Setting up home care, meal delivery, and transportation is core advocate work, covered by Medicare.
About 14.9% of Hanover seniors live below the poverty line (New Hampshire: 7.4%), and many more qualify for help they never claim: Extra Help with Part D costs and New Hampshire's Medicare Savings Programs. Checking every one of those is standard advocate work. 30% of seniors here live with a disability, where equipment orders and prior authorizations pile up fastest. The federal government lists 6 primary-care shortage designations in Grafton County, so appointment hunting is a real problem an advocate takes over. Specialized care nearby: 1 Medicare-certified dialysis facility (avg 3/5 CMS stars) and 2 hospice providers.
Hanover, New Hampshire · Grafton County · served virtually statewide
From CMS Care Compare. ER medians below are CMS-reported; New Hampshire's statewide median is 160 minutes. Billing disputes, discharge planning, and referral follow-ups with these systems are everyday advocate work:
Medigap in New Hampshire follows the federal standardized plans, and your one guaranteed window to buy any of them without medical underwriting is the six-month Open Enrollment Period that starts at 65 with Part B. New Hampshire has no birthday rule, but unlike many states it was among the first to guarantee Medigap to under-65 disability beneficiaries (insurers may charge them more, but not once they turn 65). ServiceLink, New Hampshire's free SHIP counseling run by the Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services and reachable at 1-866-634-9412, gives commission-free help to Hanover residents. Many Hanover seniors also qualify for Extra Help and New Hampshire's Medicare Savings Programs but never claim them. The full, sourced rundown is on our New Hampshire patient advocacy hub.
New Hampshire's Choices for Independence (CFI) waiver lets Medicaid families get long-term care at home instead of a nursing facility, though it has an active waiting list, so applying early matters. Its self-direction option can pay the caregiver the person chooses, including a family member such as an adult child (but not a spouse), while their parent's Medicare paperwork piles up. New Hampshire does not have a PACE program, so CFI and ServiceLink are the main home-and-community paths. That split is exactly where an advocate fits: you handle the caregiving, we handle the Medicare side. See how Choices for Independence and Medicare fit together on our New Hampshire hub.
Utility shutoff notice? Use this call script to request payment plans, medical protections, and urgent help.
Read more
Get step by step support for chronic conditions. Advocates use Medicare covered Principal Illness Navigation and Community Health Integration to coordinate visits medicines and referrals.
Read more
Learn how Medicare Part B’s CHI addresses social barriers to care, who qualifies, costs, and how it differs from PIN, with links to official Medicare sources.
Read more
Three doors, all worth knowing. For free, unbiased counseling on plans and enrollment, New Hampshire's ServiceLink Resource Centers, the state's SHIP run by the Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services, at 1-866-634-9412 (or the national SHIP line at 1-877-839-2675). For local services such as meals, rides, and in-home help, ServiceLink also serves Hanover at 1-866-634-9412 (or the national Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116). And for one dedicated advocate who does the ongoing work with you, bills, denials, appointments, and benefits, Understood Care, covered by Medicare for most members and usually $0: call (646) 904-4027 or get started online.
Yes. Medicare has paid for professional healthcare navigation (Principal Illness Navigation and Community Health Integration services) since January 2024. Part B covers about 80% and a Medigap plan typically covers the rest, so most members in Grafton County pay $0. We confirm your exact coverage before your first session, and there are no surprise bills.
Per CMS enrollment data for 2025, Grafton County had 25,095 Medicare beneficiaries: 8,332 on Medicare Advantage plans (33.2%) and 16,763 on Original Medicare, with about 1,936 dual-eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Understood Care advocates work with both: Original Medicare members usually pay $0 through Part B plus a supplement, and we confirm Medicare Advantage coverage plan by plan before any work begins.
Per the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, about 1,428 of Hanover's 8,520 residents are 65 or older (16.8%), within a county of roughly 20,645 seniors (Grafton County). Most become Medicare-eligible at 65, and every one of them has the same federal benefits an advocate helps put to work.
Per CMS Timely & Effective Care data (period ending 09/30/2025), the median ER visit at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital runs about 264 minutes, and local hospitals range 118 to 264 minutes; New Hampshire's statewide median is 160 minutes. An advocate cannot shorten an ER line, but avoiding the ER for non-emergencies is advocate work: same-week appointments, urgent-care routing, and follow-up coordination.
No. Understood Care is fully virtual, delivered by phone, video, and secure messaging, so it works the same in Hanover as anywhere else in New Hampshire's ten counties. If leaving home is hard, that is exactly the situation the service is built for.
Advocates work virtually and are matched to you, not to a zip code. You get one dedicated advocate with their direct phone, email, and text (One Advocate, For Life), and they work with New Hampshire's programs, ServiceLink SHIP counseling, the Medicare Savings Programs New Hampshire Medicaid runs with an asset test, and the Choices for Independence (CFI) long-term-care waiver, and the county services that apply in Grafton County.
Those are New Hampshire Medicaid programs. The Choices for Independence (CFI) waiver helps people who meet a nursing-facility level of care stay home with personal care, homemaking, adult day services, meals, and respite. It has an active waiting list, so your application date sets your place in line, and its self-direction option can pay the caregiver you choose, including a family member such as an adult child (but not a spouse or a legally responsible relative), with a financial management service handling payroll. New Hampshire does not have a PACE program, so CFI and the ServiceLink network are the main home-and-community paths. Families we serve in Upper Valley & Dartmouth-Sunapee use these programs. Our advocacy is billed through Medicare, so for dual-eligible families the split works well: you run the caregiving, and your parent's advocate handles the Medicare side.
In New Hampshire we are in-network for Original Medicare (traditional fee-for-service Medicare); UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans (~34% of New Hampshire MA members); Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield (Elevance) Medicare Advantage plans (~16% of New Hampshire MA members); Cigna Medicare Advantage plans (~2% of New Hampshire MA members). Together that covers roughly 83.2% of New Hampshire's Medicare beneficiaries. Market-share data: 2024. Plan networks change, so we confirm exactly what your plan covers before any work begins - no surprise bills.
Upper Valley & Dartmouth-Sunapee
Local figures: US Census Bureau American Community Survey (2023, 5-year), CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment (2025), and CMS Care Compare, retrieved 2026-09-21. Statewide program facts were last verified on 2026-09-21; sources are listed on the New Hampshire hub, and the full county tables are on New Hampshire Medicare by the numbers. Understood Care is an independent private advocacy service and is not affiliated with any government agency or any hospital named above.