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A Thanksgiving Idea
Family Caregivers and
the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
Holiday a good time to discuss signing up for drug
plan
By Josefina G. Carbonell
Assistant Secretary,U.S. Administration on Aging
Nov. 23, 2005 - During this Thanksgiving season, as we
reflect on our many blessings, we especially give thanks to family
caregivers for their selfless service on behalf of loved ones in need.
As you gather together this holiday season, please sit down with your
loved ones and discuss the new Medicare prescription drug benefit in
terms of the coverage, convenience and cost of the various plans. Help
older Americans in your life understand and enroll in the plan that best
meets their needs.
Older Americans will have their first opportunity to enroll in one of
the plans that make up Medicare’s historic new prescription drug benefit
under the Medicare Modernization and Improvement Act of 2003.
This
prescription drug coverage offers affordable access to prescription
drugs, better health care choices, and extra help to low-income seniors
and beneficiaries with disabilities.
The open enrollment period starts
November 15th and coverage begins on January 1, 2006 for anyone enrolled
prior to that date. But to get coverage, seniors must select from one of
the many plans approved by Medicare. While all plans meet Medicare’s
strict requirements, the plans differ in terms of coverage, convenience
and cost.
Most older adults can save an average of 50 percent
of their total drug cost under the new plans. Certain low-income
seniors, who qualify for extra financial assistance, will have almost no
drug expense.
Older adults must carefully research the available
options and select the plan that best meets their health care and
financial needs. Many will need assistance to make the best choices.
That’s why the involvement of families especially the 50 million family
caregivers in the United States, who often inform or make medical
decisions for those they care for, is so important.
Family caregivers—family, friends, partners, and
others who provide essential but unpaid services to loved ones with
chronic illness or disability—will play an important role in assisting
loved ones with this new prescription benefit.
As the President noted in
declaring November 2005 National Family Caregivers Month, family
caregivers provide most of the homecare services for the elderly and to
those who are chronically ill or disabled, often sacrificing their own
needs to offer their loved ones the opportunity to live with dignity and
independence in familiar surroundings.
The U.S. Administration on Aging is reaching out to
all older Americans and their caregivers as they move from awareness of
the prescription drug benefit to enrollment. We want to make sure all
older Americans can take full advantage of the new benefits both now and
in the future.
On our website, www.aoa.gov, we have included many links
to sources of information. For those without Internet access, help is
available at 1-800-MEDICARE. TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048. Finally,
we hope you have seen the Medicare & You 2006 handbook that was mailed
to every Medicare beneficiary.
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