EP16 – Medicare and Medicaid 101: What Menopausal Women Should Know

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About the episode

We’re taking a little bit of a turn on this episode—not to talk so much about menopause, but to cover two important topics that many menopausal women find themselves dealing with: Medicare and Medicaid.

Whether you’re supporting a parent or thinking ahead to your own future, this episode will help you feel more informed and confident about the choices ahead.

Our guest is Sharon Rowen, a badass trial lawyer and award-winning filmmaker from Atlanta. She joins us for a smart, straightforward conversation about what these programs are, how they’re different, and how to make sense of the options—so you can make confident, informed decisions for yourself and your loved ones.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Medicare = federal health insurance for people 65+ (and some younger folks with disabilities)
• Medicaid = joint federal/state program that helps with healthcare costs for people with limited income, regardless of age

We also break down Medicare’s “alphabet soup.”

• Part A = hospital insurance
• Part B = medical insurance (doctor visits, outpatient care)
• Part C = Medicare Advantage (bundled plans from private insurers)
• Part D = prescription drug coverage

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the fine print—or unsure what questions to even ask—this one’s for you.

About our guest

Sharon Rowen is a trial lawyer and filmmaker based in Atlanta. Her documentary, Balancing the Scales, tells the story of women lawyers in America. The film was broadcast nationwide on public television and Sharon has presented to audiences across the globe on gender equality for organizations including the US State Department, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft, Verizon and Prudential, and hundreds of law firms, bar associations and universities. Sharon is a founder of both the law firm Rowen & Klonoski and the film production company R&K Productions. She is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell, which is the highest level of professional achievement. She has also received numerous awards for her work promoting gender equality and diversity in the legal profession.

More to the point of what we are discussing in this show, Sharon is knowledgeable about the differences between original medicare and Medicaid advantage plans, and about the denials of, or requiring pre-authorization of, healthcare or drugs by insurance companies other than original medicare, and how our healthcare system is a for profit system that looks for profits rather than patient health. She also has, both in her legal career and in her personal life, navigated elderly persons through the maze of the American healthcare system.

Show notes and resources

• Balancing the Scales, a film by Sharon Rowen
• Bridging the Medicare Cost Cap: Know Your Options by Mark Miller via New York Times (article)
• Medicare.gov – The official U.S. government site for Medicare. Use it to check eligibility, compare plans, and get cost estimates.
• Medicaid.gov – The central resource for Medicaid basics, including a state-by-state guide.