Alfred J. “Chip” Chiplin, Jr., one of the nation’s preeminent legal advocates for the elderly and an extraordinary human being, died July 10, 2017, after a two-year battle with cancer. Chiplin, 68, was a Senior Policy Attorney with the Center for Medicare Advocacy (CMA).
“No smile lit a room or brightened the world like Chip's,” the CMA’s executive director, Judy Stein, said in a statement. “We are broken hearted to share the news of his death. We will honor his spirit by continuing to advocate for quality health care and justice for all -- by doing our work. We send our deepest respect and condolences to his remarkable sisters, family, and the myriad people of all stripes who knew and loved him. His memory will be a blessing for generations.”
Chiplin was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 and took a medical leave from his job early this year to undergo immunotherapy. In March, when his cancer continued to spread and he was out of treatment options, his sister Jewel posted on his Facebook page that “he is at peace and not afraid.”
Chiplin had been at CMA since 1995. Prior to that he was a staff attorney for the National Senior Citizens Law Center and a consulting attorney with the Consumer Coalition for Quality Health Care. He also was a Fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and served on the Academy’s board of directors, including the executive committee. For many years, Chip was co-editor-in-chief of the annually updated Medicare Handbook (Wolters Kluwer).
In addition to being a lawyer, Chiplin was an ordained minister who served in many pastor and chaplain capacities.
When Chiplin took his medical leave, CMA established the Alfred J. Chiplin, Jr., Social Justice & Advocacy Award, to be given annually to an individual who works to advance civility in society and social justice for all. The inaugural awardee was Ben Belton, Senior Advisor to the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration during the Obama Administration, who was presented the award at CMA’s annual National Voices of Medicare Summit & Sen. Jay Rockefeller Lecture on March 30th in Washington, D.C.
We suggest that contributions to the Chiplin Award or to CMA itself would be fitting ways to ensure that Chip's light keeps shining. https://www.medicareadvocacy.org/donations/
A service for Chip Chiplin will be held at 11 am, August 3, 2017, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 1 Rock Creek Church Road, N.W., Washington D.C.
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