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SHINE Completes another Open Enrollment in 2021!

Did you know that SHINE, which stands for Serving the Health Insurance Needs of Everyone, provides unbiased, accurate Medicare information to make the best health insurance decisions possible?

Tracey Benson, SHINE Program Manager at the Barnstable County Department of Human Services

Tracey Benson, SHINE Program Manager, and the highly trained SHINE team provide objective, personal insurance counseling in trusted local settings.

SHINE counseling sessions are changing lives across the region. They allow residents to make good consumer choices, often resulting in cost savings. The SHINE Program supports public-facing organizations and agencies serving Medicare beneficiaries but doesn’t have the staff resources or training to provide this insurance counseling. They provided these services through continued pandemic conditions, pivoting to provide additional hybrid services, including in-person counseling sessions and counseling remotely via phone and email: this required coordination, support, and leadership, which Tracey and the regional SHINE office provided.

The Barnstable County SHINE office preliminary reports show over 1,200 people were counseled during this past Open Enrollment resulting in over $350,000 in beneficiary savings! A HUGE THANK YOU to our 60 local SHINE counselors, 30 volunteers who logged more than 1,280 hours.  Final numbers will be available in February 2022.

The SHINE Program is available year-round for your Medicare needs.