LSE's Helpline and Area Offices. LSE's unique combination
of brief services over the Helpline and extended representation through the
Area Offices is an innovative, effective, and efficient way to deliver legal
services to Maine's needy elderly.
LSE's Helpline gives every needy elderly Mainer with access to a phone the
ability to call toll free and speak directly with a live attorney or paralegal.
This is vitally important in a rural state like Maine, where the majority
of the population does not live in close proximity to a legal service provider's
office. This type of access is particularly important for seniors, who often
are unable to travel even the short distances necessary to visit a legal service
provider's office.
In addition to providing information and brief services, the Helpline is
a very effective referral service for those cases that LSE cannot take. The
Helpline's experienced staff is able to refer callers to the appropriate legal
or social service provider, which means that they avoid "runaround."
The Helpline also has its own Reduced Fee Panel of private bar attorneys to
help elderly Mainers whose income is between 125% and 200% of poverty, people
who otherwise would not be able to afford an attorney.
The other component of our service delivery system is our Area Offices in
Augusta, Bangor, Lewiston, Scarborough, and Presque Isle. The Area Office
attorneys and paralegals provide brief services and extended representation.
With the exception of the administrative office in Augusta, the Area Offices
are located within the local Area Agency on Aging. This unique relationship
between LSE and the Area Agencies allows elderly Mainers to address multiple
needs in one location - a type of one stop shopping. Also, co-location enables
LSE and Area Agency social work staff to work together to address clients'
multi-faceted concerns and needs.
LSE's Health Insurance Counseling Program. LSE has
joined with the Bureau of Elder and Adult Services and the Area Agencies on
Aging to create a Health Insurance Counseling program with a special grant
from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Health Insurance
Counseling program provides elderly Mainers with information and assistance
to help them navigate an increasingly complex health care system to get the
care they need. Disabled Medicare beneficiaries who are under 65 years of
age are also able to use this service. The Health Insurance Counseling program
is part of LSE's Helpline.
Senior Medicare Patrol. SMP is another
collaborative effort on the part of LSE and Maine's Area Agencies on Aging
to educate Maine's Medicare beneficiaries about their Medicare benefits and
about Medicare fraud, waste, and abuse. SMP is a volunteer-based effort.
Volunteers conduct community presentations and provide one-on-one counseling
to people to help them interpret their Medicare statements which can oftentimes
be confusing.
LSE's Reduced Fee Attorney Panel. As described above,
through generous involvement of the private bar, LSE has established a statewide
panel of attorneys who have agreed to provide representation on a wide variety
of matters on a reduced fee or flat fee basis. To be eligible for assistance
by the Panel, an individual must have income at or below 200% of the Federal
Poverty Guidelines. Panel referrals are made through the Helpline.
LSE's Client Education Materials. LSE has a large
collection of client education material prepared by LSE and other organizations.
In 2003, LSE published a new series entitled, Know Your Rights, a series of
ten consumer friendly brochures about issues of concern to Maine's elderly.
This material provides helpful, in depth information on many frequently asked
questions. This includes information on health care matters, MaineCare, probate,
powers of attorney, and surviving spouse issues. These materials are available
through the Helpline, the Area Offices or LSE's web site at www.mainelse.org.
LSE's Web Site. LSE's site, www.mainelse.org, contains
a description of LSE's services, eligibility guidelines, announcements, a
calendar of outreach events, full text versions of LSE's client education
materials, and links to other legal services sites, such as HelpMELaw.org
which is an extensive resources guide to legal services in Maine.
