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Asclepios
Your Weekly Medicare
Consumer Advocacy Update
ACT
NOW: Ask HHS for a Meaningful Commitment to Consumer Education
February 12, 2004 ♦ Volume 4, Issue 6
Please send all replies and subscription
requests to
mrcadvocacyupdate@medicarerights.org.
Ouch!
While some supported the new Medicare
drug law and others opposed it, few will disagree that the new drug
benefit can only help people if they understand it.
One level of understanding
is knowing the basics of the new law. The $22.6 million advertising
campaign now being unveiled by the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS)—consisting of $12.6 million in television and radio spots
and $10 million in flyers—may help to communicate some basics by noting
the highlights of the law. Whether these advertisements are more
educational or political is an open question.
An important second level of
understanding is knowing how the details of the law will personally
affect you. This cannot be achieved through colorful advertisements
alone. People with Medicare will need to be able to turn to counselors
who can help them navigate the complexities of the new law.
Many people with Medicare
will ultimately turn to their State Health Insurance Assistance Programs
(SHIPs). SHIPs, as described in a January 28 letter from Senator Max
Baucus, Democrat of Montana, and Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican
of Iowa, “offer cost-effective beneficiary education, counseling and
outreach services throughout the nation.” The 1,300 local SHIP offices
serve nearly three million people with Medicare per year and distribute
educational materials to millions more.
Given current SHIP funding
of only $12 million per year—less than the HHS ad budget and less than
30 cents per person with Medicare—SHIPs will not be able to accommodate
the impending onslaught of demand for counseling and education.
We join with Senators
Baucus and Grassley in voicing a bipartisan call for “substantially
increased funding” for SHIPs “in the next two fiscal years,” so as “to
ensure that Medicare beneficiaries receive all of the benefits and
protections that Congress intended this legislation provide.”
Medical Record
SHIPs are currently able to serve about
three million people with Medicare, or approximately 7 percent of the 41
million people with Medicare today (Baucus and Grassley, January 28,
2004).
The Medicare Rights Center, New York’s
SHIP subcontractor, estimates that six out of seven New Yorkers in need
of assistance go without it.
Federal appropriations laws in 2003 and
2004 explicitly state that “[n]o part of any appropriation in …[these
Acts] shall be used for publicity or propaganda purposes within the
United States not heretofore authorized by the Congress” (P.L. 108-7,
Div. J, Tit. VI, Sec. 626; P.L. 108-199, Div. F, Tit. IV, Sec. 624).
Fast
Relief
What You Can Do
Contact HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson to
ask for a meaningful commitment to consumer education. Ask Secretary
Thompson to honor the bipartisan request for substantially increased
SHIP funding over the next two fiscal years.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G.
Thompson
200 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 615-F
Washington, DC 20201
202-690-7000 (telephone)
202-690-7203 (fax)
It
Stings
As the components of the new Medicare
law gradually take effect, consumers will need a reliable source of
assistance to help them understand the complexities of the new
benefits. An accurate national media campaign could be one step. The
critical second step is giving SHIPs the funding they need to continue
providing cost-effective support for people with Medicare.
Tell Us
Your Story
While lack of prescription
drug coverage has monopolized headlines over the past year, most
Americans have little understanding of what it means to go through their
day with throbbing pain because they can't afford the analgesic their
doctor prescribed. It is vital for legislators and the public to see and
feel the plight of people battling to get the health care they need. The
Medicare Rights Center would like to hear from you. You can become a
part of our effort to make these powerful stories reverberate at the
local, state and national levels. If you would like to tell your story
to the Medicare Rights Center, please visit
www.medicarerights.org/maincontenthiddenlives.html.
Spread
the Word
Help build awareness of
key Medicare consumer issues by forwarding this action alert to a
friend. Engage your community by encouraging friends and coworkers to
subscribe today.
In each issue, the Medicare Rights
Center will provide you with up-to-date information on the issues and
advocacy strategies for addressing them. The list-serve is named for the
Greek and Roman god of medicine who, acclaimed for his healing
abilities, was at one point the most worshipped god in Greece.
Medicare Rights Center
(MRC) is the largest independent source of health care
information and assistance in the United States for people with
Medicare. Founded in 1989, MRC helps older adults and people with
disabilities get good, affordable health care. |
