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More Than Three Million Apply for Medicare
Prescription Drug Help
Sept. 23, 2005 - Jo Anne Barnhart, Commissioner of
Social Security, announced yesterday that more than three million people
have applied for the extra help available with Medicare prescription
drug costs. The extra help will pay most of the costs of monthly
premiums, annual deductibles and prescription co-payments - an average
of $2,100 in extra help per year.
I am extremely pleased with the results so far,
Commissioner Barnhart said. But our work is far from over. We are
continuing our outreach activities in cities all across the U.S. and we
continue to work closely with federal, state and local agencies and
groups to let all those who may be eligible know about the help that is
available.
In May of this year, Social Security began mailing
nearly 19 million applications to potentially eligible Medicare
beneficiaries. Applications were mailed over a 12 week period that began
in late May and continued through mid August 2005. In July, a new
Internet application located at
www.socialsecurity.gov was unveiled allowing people to apply online
for help with Medicare prescription drug plan costs. More than 1,000
people a day are now applying over the Internet.
Our online application for Medicare prescription
drug help just received one of the highest scores ever given to a public
or private sector organization by the American Customer Satisfaction
Index (ACSI), noted Commissioner Barnhart. The ACSI tracks trends in
customer satisfaction and provides valuable benchmarking insights for
companies and government agencies. The positive responses to both our
online application and to the mail-out applications are the result of
our commitment to making the application simple and easy to understand.
Social Security is now in the process of making
follow-up contacts with those who have not yet responded to the initial
mailing. Social Securitys on-the-ground outreach efforts with community
based organizations, advocacy groups and State entities are also
continuing. To date, more than 40,000 Medicare outreach events have been
held.
Our goal is to ensure that all those who are
eligible for help with Medicare prescription drug costs have the
opportunity to apply, Commissioner Barnhart said. I encourage all
those on Medicare, their families and interested community groups to
educate themselves about the Medicare prescription drug program and the
help that is available. Together, we can make sure no one has to make
the difficult choice of spending their limited income on prescription
drugs or other basic needs.
Click here for a
fact sheet about the help available to pay the costs of Medicares
new prescription drug plan is attached. More detailed information about
the new Medicare prescription drug coverage is available at
www.Medicare.gov.
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