Who We Are

Seniors Speak Out was created by the Healthcare Leadership Council’s Medicare Today as a resource for older Americans, caregivers and advocates to help ensure seniors have access to high quality health care.

The Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC), a coalition of chief executives from all disciplines within the health care system, launched Medicare Today in November 2004, to reach out to Medicare beneficiaries who needed reliable information on how to get the greatest value from the Medicare benefits provided by the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003.

The Healthcare Leadership Council administers the partnership of more than 400 national and local organizations including National Association of Family Physicians and National Alliance for Hispanic Health. Medicare Today develops innovative tools for all partners to use, commissions research studies and undertakes earned media efforts and outreach to inform beneficiaries about the value of the new benefits under the MMA.

To make this website as helpful as possible, we will be highlighting community voices, and we encourage you to share your thoughts. A notable voice that you will see contributing regularly to this website is Thair Phillips.

After spending 8 years in the Air force as a B-52 bombardier and a war planning specialist, Thair Phillips worked extensively in the computer field as a system developer, project manager, and later formed his own business.  He worked as a contractor on multiple projects for both public and private entities including the Department of Labor, GSA, and the EPA.

Mr. Phillips became involved in public policy first, in the 1990s, with the Subacute Care Association and then as CEO of the Seniors Coalition, a non-profit seniors advocacy organization. Starting in 2009 he served for 10 years as the President and CEO of RetireSafe, also a non-profit seniors advocacy organization.

Mr. Phillips now brings his 20 plus years of experience to Seniors Speak Out, contributing weekly blogs on important issues, providing frequent surveys to gain your input on these issues and holding periodic webinars and fireside discussions with prominent experts. His goal will be to give a voice to older Americans on the issues that affect their lives.