A Medicare-covered service is helping seniors in the Phoenix area navigate healthcare and access local support, including transport, meal deliveries and home improvements, through one-to-one telephone guidance.
EZ Health pairs older people with a dedicated guide who can help identify services in their area, arrange appointments, deal with paperwork and find ways to reduce the cost of essential support.
For 77-year-old Carol Colborn, the service has provided practical help while she cares for her husband, who has Alzheimer’s disease, and undergoes treatment following a cancer diagnosis.
Colborn said the couple had struggled because neither of them could drive. After contacting EZ Health, they were helped to secure improvements to their home and register for a transport programme, saving hundreds of dollars in ride-share fares.
“It just liberated us. We’re no longer prisoners of our own home,” she said.
The company’s chief executive, Artem Petakov, said each member is assigned a guide who can identify services based on their postcode and individual circumstances.
“We give you a dedicated one-on-one guide that you speak to on the phone and that guide is going to be taking care of everything for you,” he said.
The support can include finding a suitable doctor, arranging transport to medical appointments, organising meal deliveries and helping people apply for assistance available in their community.
EZ Health says its service is covered by Original Medicare for eligible members, with some people paying nothing depending on their additional insurance or other coverage. The company says its guidance can be provided by telephone, without requiring seniors to use an app or travel to an office.
Petakov said older people could otherwise struggle with online systems and complicated healthcare processes, potentially abandoning their search for help or receiving less suitable care.
“The community has all the resources we need. Somebody just needs to help bridge the gap,” Colborn said.
