What does Understood Care do?

Understood Care provides one-to-one patient advocacy for Medicare members and caregivers, including help with benefits, appointments, care coordination, medical bills, insurance questions, denials, and paperwork.

How can a patient advocate help with New York City, NY Patient Advocates | Covered by Medicare?

Understood Care advocates help with new york city, ny patient advocates | covered by medicare by explaining options, organizing paperwork, coordinating care, and helping families understand Medicare coverage and next steps.

Does Understood Care work with Medicare patients?

Yes. Understood Care focuses on Medicare patients and their families, with advocates who understand Medicare, Medicare Advantage, care coordination, coverage rules, billing issues, and appeal pathways.

Will I have a dedicated patient advocate?

Yes. This is Understood Care's first commitment: One Advocate, For Life. Every patient is matched at intake with one dedicated patient advocate and given that advocate's personal phone number, email, and text. Patients do not go into a call queue. The assignment is permanent: even after Understood Care has completed all tasks for a patient, they keep the same advocate. If a patient needs us again six months later, they will still have the same advocate.

How often will my Understood Care advocate communicate with me?

Understood Care follows a frequent-communication procedure with both active and follow-up patients. While the advocate is actively working on a patient's case, they communicate every 7 days by phone, text, or email with progress information. Once the patient has been helped with everything they needed, the case moves to a follow-up cadence: the advocate still checks in every month.

Does Understood Care use AI?

Yes. Understood Care is AI-supported. AI tools help every advocate surface programs, benefits, and services tied to where the patient lives, with the most up-to-date eligibility information. The result is that patients and advocates get the resources they need faster, while the human advocate stays in the loop on every patient's case.

New York City, NY Patient Advocates | Covered by Medicare

How it works in New York City

Real Help, Without Another Trip Across Town

Navigating care here means big hospital systems, long specialist waitlists, and paperwork from more providers than anywhere else in the country. Understood Care is a virtual service: phone, video, and secure messaging. For New York City 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 across all five boroughs 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.

The care landscape across the boroughs, in numbers

About 16.6% of New York City residents are 65+, close to New York's statewide 17.9%. Of the 1,448,136 Medicare beneficiaries across the five boroughs, 57.3% were on Medicare Advantage plans in 2025, in line with New York's 53%. About 679,394 neighbors are dual-eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, the group New York's CDPAP families know well.

Nursing home quality citywide

Of 168 Medicare-certified homes, 84 rate 4+ CMS stars and 12 rate just 1 star, a spread an advocate helps families navigate. Highest-rated nearby:

Amsterdam Nursing Home Corp (1992) (New York) · 5/5 stars
Archcare at Providence Rest (Bronx) · 5/5 stars
Bedford Center For Nursing and Rehabilitation (Brooklyn) · 5/5 stars

Aging at home in New York City

About 411,274 New York City households are a person 65+ living alone, and that is exactly who a dedicated advocate keeps from falling through the cracks. Setting up home care, meal delivery, and transportation is core advocate work, covered by Medicare.

Hospitals your advocate works around across the boroughs

From CMS Care Compare (45 Medicare-certified hospitals in the area; a sample below). Billing disputes, discharge planning, and referral follow-ups with these systems are everyday advocate work:

Hospital For Special Surgery New York · CMS rating 5/5
Lenox Hill Hospital New York · CMS rating 5/5
New York-Presbyterian Hospital New York · CMS rating 5/5
New York-Presbyterian/Queens Flushing · CMS rating 5/5
Nyu Langone Hospitals New York · CMS rating 5/5

New York facts your advocate works with

Medigap in New York has year-round continuous open enrollment with community rating, so New York City members can switch supplement plans in any month without health questions. HIICAP, the state's free Medicare counseling line (1-800-701-0501), routes callers to counselors serving each borough. EPIC (1-800-332-3742) lowers prescription costs for New Yorkers 65 and older. Full details, sources included, are on our New York guide.

Caring for a parent in New York City?

Many New York City families use CDPAP, New York Medicaid's paid family-caregiving program (administered through PPL), while their parent's Medicare paperwork piles up. That split is exactly where an advocate fits: you handle the caregiving, we handle the Medicare side. Start with our CDPAP eligibility guide and current pay rates.

New York City Questions, Answered

Does Medicare cover a patient advocate in New York City?

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 across all five boroughs pay $0. We confirm your exact coverage before your first session, and there are no surprise bills.

How many people in New York City have Medicare Advantage vs Original Medicare?

Per CMS enrollment data for 2025, New York City had 1,448,136 Medicare beneficiaries: 829,581 on Medicare Advantage plans (57.3%) and 618,555 on Original Medicare, with about 679,394 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.

How many Medicare-age residents live in New York City?

Per the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, about 1,404,296 of New York City's 8,483,844 residents are 65 or older (16.6%). That is the largest concentration of Medicare beneficiaries of any US city, and every one of them has the same federal benefits an advocate helps put to work.

Do I need to travel to an office in New York City?

No. Understood Care is fully virtual, delivered by phone, video, and secure messaging, so it works the same in New York City as anywhere else in New York's 62 counties. If leaving home is hard, that is exactly the situation the service is built for.

Will my advocate be based in New York City?

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 York's programs, HIICAP, EPIC, CDPAP, and the county services that apply across all five boroughs.

Can you help with CDPAP?

CDPAP is New York Medicaid's consumer-directed caregiving program, administered statewide through Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), and many families we serve in New York City use it. Our advocacy is billed through Medicare, so for dual-eligible families the split works well: you run the CDPAP caregiving, and your parent's advocate handles the Medicare side.

Patient Advocates in New York City, Covered by Medicare