Washington is one of 18 states participating in running an initial program to help raise dual eligibility for both Medicare and Medicaid, as a result of AARP efforts.

It is also one of four that has already started signing paperwork with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to the AARP.

The program will help fix discrepancies and complications in both programs.

With over 10 million Americans eligible for both services, the uneven spending between both services could be consolidated, according to an AARP release.

The need “to integrate care across multiple delivery systems subject to different financial and regulatory requirements of two major payers—Medicaid and Medicare—presents policy makers with a complicated undertaking,” the release stated.

Both state and federal level policy makers run into issues when it comes to providing care delivery for those who need frequent support, said the AARP.

Health care should have options that are united, and not require roundabout methods for each individual qualification, said Toby Douglas in an interview with PBS, the director of the California State Department of Health Care Services. California is planning the same coverage project as Washington.

“[The state] is combining all these different programs under one umbrella and one coordinated system where individuals don’t have to navigate multiple systems on their own,” Douglas said.

The effects of the program are hoped to keep lower costs by avoiding only putting people in hospitals and nursing homes.

Seattle-area based native Reed Strong is a college senior at Western Washington University majoring in journalism, working with Northwest Prime Time to talk with local seniors and baby boomers to report on local issues to get those issues back to the community at large.