The free-help desk
Free Medicare counseling in St. Louis County
You typed free medicare counseling st louis county because a flyer, a radio ad, or a neighbor mentioned a seminar, and you need a door that does not sell you a product. This page is a directory by door: Missouri SHIP for Medicare questions, Aging Ahead if she lives in the county, the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging if she lives in the city, the Missouri Bar's lawyer search if you need an elder law attorney, and the Attorney General's consumer line if a free benefits seminar wants to move Dad's money. Each is a public directory. None of them is a service of New Plan Care.
Write the county line on the folder first. St. Louis County is not the City of St. Louis. Aging Ahead covers the county. SLAAA covers the city. Missouri SHIP covers the state. The numbers below are the ones on the public pages, opened September 10, 2026.
What is Missouri SHIP, formerly CLAIM?
If an older packet still says CLAIM, it is the same program under a new name. In 2023 the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance rebranded it. Missouri SHIP offers free assistance to Missourians eligible for Medicare and their caregivers, including help seeing whether they qualify for a Low-Income Subsidy and Medicare Savings Programs. Call 1-800-390-3330, or visit the Missouri SHIP website. DCI says the program is funded by a federal grant through the Administration for Community Living, in coordination with Missouri Connections for Health. The Department of Insurance's seniors page says Missouri SHIP has trained counselors who provide free, unbiased advocacy, education and assistance to people with Medicare and those who help them. The program's own site, missouriship.org, lists 1-800-390-3330.
Sources: Missouri DCI, Missouri CLAIM now known as Missouri SHIP (2023); Missouri Department of Insurance, Information for Seniors and Caregivers; missouriship.org. Opened September 10, 2026.
Who pays for in-home services through Aging Ahead in St. Louis County?
If she lives in St. Louis County, St. Charles County, Franklin County, or Jefferson County, the Area Agency on Aging is Aging Ahead. It is one of 10 Area Agencies on Aging in Missouri. It has provided supportive services in those four counties since 1973 for adults 60 and older, including Meals on Wheels, senior centers, caregiving services, and community options consulting. That is the agency's own list. It is a public agency, not a company that sends a caregiver for a private shift, and not connected to anyone who advertises here. Missouri's health department says the state has 10 Area Agencies on Aging that cover every county. Call the Missouri Senior Resource Line at 1-800-235-5503, enter the 5-digit zip code, and you will be transferred. Ask which in-home services they fund, which they only refer, and who pays the hours. Write the answer on the folder.
Sources: Aging Ahead, About Us; Missouri DHSS, Area Agencies on Aging. Opened September 10, 2026.
Does the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging help with paying for home care?
If she lives inside the City of St. Louis, you want a different agency. The St. Louis Area Agency on Aging serves older adults, and persons with disabilities ages 18 to 59, who reside within the boundaries of the City of St. Louis. The city's page lists (314) 612-5918, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ask the same three questions you ask Aging Ahead: what they fund, what they refer, and who pays. County residents should not start here. Help paying for home care, as a Medicaid question, is a different door again: Missouri's MO HealthNet application and a DHSS assessment, walked in Missouri Medicaid in-home care. The Area Agency can point you at that door. It does not replace it.
Source: City of St. Louis, St. Louis Area Agency on Aging, opened September 10, 2026.
How do I find an elder law attorney in St. Louis for Medicaid planning?
If the question is spend-down, a look-back, a trust, or whether gifting money this week will block MO HealthNet later, you need a lawyer, not a counselor and not this desk. The public searches lawyers at MissouriLawyersHelp.org, a site created by The Missouri Bar. That page points to the Bar's LawyerSearch tool, which can be filtered by city, ZIP, county, language, and areas of practice, along with discounted or pro bono services. The historical Lawyer Referral Service is now LawyerSearch. This desk does not invent a referral phone number, does not name a firm, and does not draft the papers. Bring the question in one sentence: in-home care, Missouri Medicaid, and whether a transfer in the last five years is a problem. SHIP answers Medicare. The attorney answers Medicaid planning. Keep the two appointments on two lines of the spreadsheet.
How do I spot a pitch that is not SHIP?
SHIP counselors are free and unbiased. Those are the Department of Commerce and Insurance's words. A seminar that asks you to move money, buy an annuity, or sign a contract on the spot is not SHIP. The pitch often sounds like a benefits review. The tell is the close: a product, a transfer, a signature before you leave the room. Write the SHIP number on the invitation and call that number instead. The Missouri Attorney General's seniors page is a consumer directory, not a smear sheet, and this desk will not name a company as a bad actor. Seniors who think they have been defrauded should call the Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-392-8222. The same page lists the Elder Abuse/Neglect Hotline at 1-800-392-0210. Missouri DHSS publishes that line as the Adult Abuse and Neglect Hotline, 1-800-392-0210, 7 days a week, 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., with reports also accepted online.
Sources: Missouri Attorney General, Senior Citizens, Resources; Missouri DHSS, Stop Adult Abuse. Opened September 10, 2026.
Two more public screens, if the question is who pays the premium
SHIP can help you see whether a Medicare Savings Program is on the table. Medicare.gov lists the 2026 federal QMB limits: $1,350 a month for an individual and $1,824 for a married couple, with resource limits of $9,950 and $14,910. Missouri DSS describes the Medicare Savings Program on its seniors page; apply on form IM-1MSP. NCOA hosts BenefitsCheckUp. United Way 211 says to dial 211 to reach a resource specialist 24/7.
Sources: Medicare.gov, Medicare Savings Programs (2026 limits); Missouri DSS, Seniors Disabled; NCOA, BenefitsCheckUp; United Way 211, 211helps.org. Opened September 10, 2026.
What to do tonight
- Write five numbers on the folder: SHIP 1-800-390-3330, Senior Resource Line 1-800-235-5503, SLAAA (314) 612-5918, AG consumer 1-800-392-8222, and 211.
- Circle county or city. That circle decides Aging Ahead or SLAAA.
- Put the Medicare card, the drug list, and any plan letters in the folder you will take to SHIP.
- If a seminar is on the calendar this week, call SHIP first. If a contract is already signed and you think you were defrauded, use the Attorney General number.
- If the question is who pays for hours at home, open who pays for in-home care and does Medicare pay for in-home care. Counseling and hours are different doors.
When to ask the care team or the doctor
SHIP counselors explain Medicare. They do not diagnose, change a dose, or decide whether she is homebound. If a plan comparison turns on whether she needs skilled visits, that is a question for the physician who treats her. If Aging Ahead or SLAAA asks about activities she cannot do, answer from what the care team has already written. A non-medical caregiver does not decide what a symptom means. Symptom and dose questions go to the physician. Benefit questions belong with SHIP. Money-moving questions belong with an attorney you found through LawyerSearch, not with a seminar.
Hours at home are a different door from Medicare counseling. SHIP will not send a person to sit with Dad. The Area Agency may fund or refer some supportive services. Private non-medical hours, if you buy them, are a third pipe. Keep the three labeled.