We appreciate Lori’s diligence in helping us navigate the Medicare landscape. We have been pleased with the plans we selected and have met all our needs with medications, doctors, OTC allowance and Silver Sneakers.
Advocacy / A steady voice
Advocacy Beyond the Enrollment
For me, advocacy is not separate from being a Medicare broker. It is at the heart of why I do this work.
Helping someone choose Medicare coverage is important, but my responsibility to my clients does not end when an application is submitted. Advocacy means listening when something doesn't seem right, helping someone understand a confusing letter or coverage decision, asking questions, finding answers, and standing beside clients when navigating Medicare becomes difficult.
That same commitment extends beyond the people I serve individually. Through community education and my involvement with the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals (NABIP), I have the opportunity to help bring the experiences and concerns of Medicare beneficiaries from our communities into a much larger conversation.
Because the people affected by healthcare decisions deserve a voice in the conversations shaping their healthcare.
At the client level
It Begins With One Person
Advocacy often begins quietly — with one person and one problem.
These moments are why I believe the relationship between a Medicare broker and a client should extend far beyond enrollment. When questions or problems arise, my clients know they have someone they can call — someone who already knows them, understands their healthcare needs, and can help them determine the next step.
The relationship doesn't end with enrollment. Sometimes, that's when advocacy matters most.
- A prescription that isn't being covered as expected.
- A provider issue.
- An unexpected change in benefits.
- A confusing notice.
- An appeal.
- A question about what happens next.
Advocacy Beyond Enrollment
The relationship doesn't end with enrollment. Sometimes, that's when advocacy matters most.
Client Stories
Support that continues after the decision.
Advocacy is practical: helping people understand, ask questions, and feel supported when something changes.
Read the Client Stories →Lori was a breath of fresh air. She walked me through the complex Medicare options with clarity and patience.
Lori assisted me with my Medicare plan review and really took her time to explain the often confusing Medicare system, assisted me in navigating my options and has provided support several years since I have enrolled.
The community connection
From One Client to an Entire Community
The questions I hear from individual clients are often the same questions being asked by people throughout our community.
That's one reason Medicare Literacy is such an important part of my work. Through Medicare 101 classes, community presentations, employer and union programs, senior centers, libraries, churches, retirement groups, and other local organizations, I have the opportunity to help people understand Medicare before they are faced with making important healthcare decisions.
Education is also an important form of consumer protection. Medicare beneficiaries are inundated with advertisements, phone calls, mailings, and increasingly sophisticated scams. Helping people recognize misleading information, protect their Medicare information, understand their rights, and know where to turn when something doesn't feel right is an important part of advocacy.
An informed Medicare beneficiary is better equipped to ask questions, recognize red flags, and make decisions with confidence.
Where education meets people
- Medicare 101 classes
- Community presentations
- Employer and union programs
- Senior centers and libraries
- Churches and retirement groups
- Other local organizations
Education First
Education gives people context. Advocacy helps give them a voice.
From Northeast Ohio to the national conversation
Giving Beneficiaries a Voice Beyond Our Community
NABIP Mission & Code of EthicsSome healthcare challenges cannot be solved one client at a time.
My membership in the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals (NABIP) gives me the opportunity to participate in advocacy beyond my own community — alongside benefits and insurance professionals from across the country.
Through NABIP's legislative advocacy efforts, including meetings in Washington, D.C., we have opportunities to bring real-world experiences from the people we serve into conversations with policymakers and legislators.
Those conversations matter because policy can look very different on paper than it does in the life of the person affected by it.
The concerns clients share with us — affordability, access to care, prescription coverage, confusing Medicare rules, misleading marketing practices, and other challenges — help give broader healthcare issues a human face.
Behind every policy discussion is a person whose healthcare, finances, and peace of mind may be affected. Their stories deserve to be heard.
One initiative that especially reflects why this work matters to me is NABIP's Brokers Making a Difference campaign.
The initiative highlights the role licensed, ethical brokers play not only in helping consumers understand healthcare coverage, but also in protecting consumers, advocating for ethical practices, combating misinformation, and providing ongoing support. NABIP describes the campaign as an effort to amplify the real-world impact brokers have on individuals and families across the country.
For me, one of the most meaningful parts of advocacy is helping ensure that beneficiary experiences aren't reduced to statistics.
By sharing real stories and experiences from communities across the country — including concerns surrounding misleading Medicare marketing, pressured sales practices, unauthorized activity, and other consumer-protection issues — brokers can help policymakers better understand what beneficiaries are actually experiencing.
Behind every policy discussion is a person whose healthcare, finances, and peace of mind may be affected. Their stories deserve to be heard.
A seat at the table
From Our Community to Washington, D.C.
Each year, healthcare professionals from across the country come together in Washington, D.C. for NABIP's legislative advocacy efforts.
I value the opportunity to participate in these conversations because I don't arrive only as a Medicare professional. I arrive carrying the experiences of the people I serve.
The questions clients ask me at my desk, the challenges I help resolve over the phone, the concerns I hear at Medicare education programs, and the stories shared by beneficiaries in our community all help inform the issues I care about when speaking with legislators and policymakers.
Advocacy gives those individual experiences somewhere to go.
From a conversation across my desk in Northeast Ohio to a conversation with lawmakers in Washington, the purpose remains the same: helping protect access to understandable, ethical, affordable healthcare.
NABIP continues to maintain an active federal advocacy program; its recent activity includes its 2026 Legislative Conference and Medicare policy advocacy related to beneficiary access and consumer protection.
The promise continues
Advocacy Is Part of the Promise
Medicare will continue to change. Healthcare will continue to change. And there will always be a need for people willing to ask questions, speak up, educate, and advocate.
I am proud to be part of a profession and an organization working to protect consumers and improve the healthcare experience for the people we serve.
But for me, advocacy will always begin in the same place it started: with one person who needs someone in their corner.
Education helps people understand Medicare.Advocacy helps give them a voice.
A good next step
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