Tina Heinkel

Tina Heinkel, SHIBA coordinator for Skagit County Community Action Agency in Mount Vernon, nominated Ellestad for the national award, calling her "a walking advertisement for the SHIBA program."She said Ellestad helps people with Medicare billing, determining the true amount clients should pay after supplement insurance payments are made.
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Heinkel said that years ago, when Ellestad and her colleagues at the medical bureau were working with the Federal Medicare Program, they organized a group to help process clients' insurance balances.
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"This was the beginning of the SHIBA program," said Heinkel, noting that it began in Skagit County and was used as the model for Washington and other states.